Denied

Sports thrive on controversy. People love drama, so long as it is not their own. How else can you explain baseball playing second fiddle to hockey, cycling, the NCAA, and basketball in the middle of July? Sports fan should be talking about the close division races, who's going to be traded, A-Rod's imminent 600th home run. Instead, we are talking about Ilya Kovalchuk, Lance, LeBron, still, and corruption in the NCAA.

Ilya Kovalchuk just signed a 17 year, $102 million deal with the NJ Devils that was overturned by the NHL. While the 17 years seemed ridiculous since he would be making coin while 44, it seems the purpose behind it for the Devils was to save cap room by adding years, which is against league rules. Who knows what will happen with him next, given he turned down a $101 million, 12 year extension with the Thrashers last season.

While outrageous,the Kovalchuk deal is not unprecedented. Magic Johnson, Steve Young, and my favorite, Bobby Bonilla all received equally ludicrous deals. Look them up if you are bored, I'm sure you will be entertained.

Lance Armstrong is making news as well. We are in the midst of the Tour de France after all. Lance has been nowhere close to wearing that yellow shirt this year. He is making headlines though for what has been happening stateside. There is currently a federal investigation underway to determine if in fact he was a doper. It seems that Floyd Landis could be the Jose Canseco of cycling, a crazy character that likes to drag others down with him.

The NCAA just keeps uncovering more and more players receiving cash money from agents. As a player, who knows they are talented enough to go pro before graduating, why care about breaking the rules? No punishment comes down on them, only the agents and the school. USC was punished, and now Florida is being investigated. There needs to be change in the systems of funneling collegiate athletes to the pros. It is not fair to the fellow students, fans of the competitions, or colleges playing by the rules, (if they exist).

LeBron will continue to make headlines for years. He is the best athlete on the court and can possibly win multiple championships. I think NBA's best interest to see the Heat not win for a couple years though. Build up the anticipation and create controversy that LeBron not only could not win in Cleveland, but at all.

So instead of talking about A-Rod's chase for 600, which is a pretty big deal, we are discussing the topics above. 600 home runs is a pretty elite list, and the man that controversy seems to follow is about to crack into the list, albeit with an asterisk attached to his name. Maybe winning a title really did shake off any detractors and instead of hating on the man, people just do not care anymore.

As of now, the most memorable event of the season is not the NL winning their first All-Star game in 13 years. It will not be A-Rod's 600th home run. It is not Roy Halladay's perfect game. It is not Dallas Braden pitching a perfect game on Mother's day, with his grandmother, who raised him after his mother died of cancer, in attendance. Though that is pretty dang heartwarming.

It is the perfect game that wasn't. Jim Joyce stealing a perfect game from Armondo Galarraga's grasp. How controversial was that? Everyone was talking about it the next day. Everyone. It just shows how people love to hear drama.

Baseball can gain those headlines back. All MLB has to do is release another name from "The List." That'll certainly bring back some controversy.