FanHouse

Most of the time viewers watch golfers on the PGA Tour and are more jealous than the buddy of a powerball winner.

Today isn't one of those times.

The leaders at the Open Championship are battling their way around the links of Royal Birkdale in winds that are gusting to 40 miles-per-hour, hitting balls in places you'd never expect pros to be.

Nobody has broke par today and an Englishman named Simon Wakefield, who even the best of golf fans couldn't pick out of a lineup, fired an even-par round of 70 to post five-over, a number that is slowly becoming the mark to beat.

Justin Rose shot an 82, Jean Van de Velde fired an 80 and Adam Scott posted a 77 in winds on a day where the scoring average is 75.75, nearly six-over.

It appears nobody told Greg Norman that he's supposed to be struggling in these conditions. The Shark just made a birdie on the 14th hole to move in the lead at three-over, tied with K.J. Choi as they attempt to take advantage of the par-5 15th.

The weather has brought a lot of golfers back into the picture, including early favorite Anthony Kim, who made an eagle on the 17th hole to post 71. Kim stands at seven-over and as close as he's ever been to winning a major championship.

Bundle up, throw down another glass of coffee and remember how important a par is today. Our final pairing tomorrow could very easily be Simon Wakefield and Greg Norman. My how the world of golf is different without a certain Tiger Woods around.

Welcome to the live blog for tonight's UFC event, where we'll chat and provide commentary and round-by-round updates of all the UFC fights, including the main event of Anderson Silva vs. James Irvin. The show and our live blog will start at 9 p.m. Eastern.

Ian Thomsen of SI.com followed up on his potentially blasphemous rumor last week that, prior to acquiring Marcus Camby in exchange for a mint Charizard and two handfuls of Peanut M&Ms, the Clippers had offered to take Zach Randolph off New York's hands for absolutely nothing ... and the Knicks declined. As it turns out, the offer wasn't so sweet for the 'Bockers. Steve Adamek of the Bergen Record reports:

[T]he Clippers wanted a future first-round draft pick (remember, the Knicks owe Utah a No. 1 in one of the next two years via a long-winding road involving the Stephon Marbury deal), plus $3 million and wanted the Knicks to take Brevin Knight off their hands.

For the Knicks, trading first-round picks should be automatically off the table, unless someone's taking Jared Jeffries and Jerome James. You can't rebuild without young help, and it's hard to get young help without draft picks. With these new details, the deal becomes slightly less insane for each side. Los Angeles obviously got away for grand theft in its deal for Camby; even the Z-Bo trade which included a pick and a bit of cap relief would have been questioned, however.

Every time I say to myself, "Self, Zach is untradeable. No one will trade for him," I remember the time Shaquille O'Neal got traded for Shawn Marion, and the time Kwame Brown got traded for Pau Gasol. Miracles happen. You just have to believe, Knicks fans.

I happened to catch ESPN's Mike & Mike in the Morning this week when they announced the winning bid for a charity auction to have the show broadcast from a listener's home. The top bid was $57,100 -- all of which will go to the V Foundation for Cancer Research -- and although it's nice that a good cause is getting that kind of money, my first thought was, What kind of person pays $57,100 to have Mike and Mike come over?

Now I know what kind of person: Rush Limbaugh's ex-wife, Marta Maranda. The Palm Beach Post reports that Maranda, an aerobics instructor who met Limbaugh online and was married to him for 10 years, was the person who placed that top bid.

Maranda has not said publicly what made her decide to pay so much money to have Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic come over, and she hasn't said which of the many homes she bought after her divorce settlement will play host to Mike and Mike. Her primary residence is an $11.5 million mansion in Jupiter Island, Florida -- not far from where Tiger Woods lives -- but the code enforcement officer there says doing a live radio broadcast in a home would be strictly prohibited.

The Guardian is reporting that Chelsea is prepared to offer A.C. Milan a world-record €100 million transfer fee for Brazilian midfielder Kaká.

If completed, the audacious deal would smash the previous record transfer fee of €76 million, which Real Madrid paid for Zinedine Zidane in 2001. Milan turned down a €90 million from Madrid for Kaká last summer, but with none of that filthy Champions League lucre coming in next season, Milan might use this deal to balance their books and add a less expensive, albeit less talented central midfielder.

This comes just days after Milan signed Ronaldinho from Barcelona for €21 million, so that much-anticipated Brazilian renaissance at the San Siro might not happen as expected.

Kaká beat out Cristiano Ronaldo for the Ballon d'Or in 2007 after leading Milan to the Champions League title. He would join a very crowded Chelsea midfield, which currently includes Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Michael Essien, Jon Obi Mikel, Florent Malouda, Claude Makélélé and Shawn Wright-Phillips. Lampard, however, is expected to move to Inter Milan and be reunited with Jose Mourinho soon, while Makélélé and Wright-Phillips are believed to be on their way out.

While some Midwestern NBA fans may bristle, the reality on the ground is that Oklahoma City's cultural relevance to rich, young, mostly urban-bred athletes will be a punchline forever, or at least until Jay-Z opens a 40/40 there. In fact, insofar as judging books by their covers, Utah may have just ceded its long-held status as most despised recreation city by the NBA hordes. (Milwaukee's not that bad, no matter what Gil says. And the first Sacramento joke in the comments gets a ban.)

C.J. Miles has had issues with Utah, most them surfacing by theory or conjecture. Shoals, a few days ago, wondered if Miles' new YouTube rap career was a passive-aggressive plea for a Utah exit. And hey, well what do you know? I'll be darned, Miles has signed an offer sheet with another team. Possibly the only franchise and city which will be less enthused about Miles' rap stylings than Jerry Sloan, Salt Lake City and the Jazz. Yep, those Oklahoma City Thunder*.

Miles signed a four-year, $15 million deal with OKC on Friday. The Jazz can match. But while hovering in luxury tax territory, and considering Miles played only 700 minutes in his third season in Utah, it seems like the Thunder* has got itself a new guard. The signing seems slightly odd, but not too bad. Basically, consider Miles the new-age Damien Wilkins with a slight chance to be more. Being that Wilkens is "really, really mad" at his bosses for fleeing Seattle, maybe the transition to Miles will happen sooner than we think.

Seriously, it fits the Thunder*'s modus operandi: find young, potential-ridden players who soak up little cash and can play multiple positions. OKC doesn't need to be good for a few years anyway; why sign anyone older than, say, 23?

* Not confirmed.

This is probably not how Jerry Porter wanted to start his contract in Jacksonville.

The Jaguars' $30 million receiver underwent surgery to repair a torn hamstring and will miss training camp and the entire preseason. Porter suffered the injury during offseason workouts, and it hasn't healed nearly as quickly as he and the team had hoped. Head coach Jack Del Rio said the team is counting on Porter to make a full recovery before the team's opening game against Tennessee Titans in Nashville.

On the one hand, it's good that Porter is taking care of this now, because hamstring pulls can nag players over an entire season if not treated properly. (See: Steve Smith, 2006.) On the other hand, the Jaguars will now have to start training camp with a lot of receivers -- Reggie Williams, Troy Williamson, Dennis Northcutt -- who have questionable hands. Perhaps second-year receivers Mike Walker and John Broussard will get their chance to shine during camp this year.

Previously at FanHouse:
Porter Pulls Hamstring, Good Thing It's May

As had become apparent over the past few days, the Lakers were not interested in paying hyphy superstar Ronny Turiaf $17 million over four years. Thus, the Frenchman has relocated to the Bay Area and will suit up as a key cog in Don Nelson's big-man rotation for Golden State. Andris Biedrins expects to remain the starting center in Oakland (if he ever re-signs) and Al Harrington should be the default power forward (if he doesn't get traded). But Turiaf certainly isn't light years behind either on total basketball offerings -- it wouldn't surprise me to see any of them starting 50+ games and Golden State still have a decent season.

Meanwhile, we haven't really addressed what the Turiaf exit does to the Lakers. It was believed by several pundits/reporters that the Turiaf exit would create the necessary cushion in payroll to allow the addition of an albatross contract in trading for Ron Artest. While missing Turiaf's $4 million makes Kenny Thomas' $8 million functionally easier to swallow, it sure doesn't make the poison pill any more palatable.

And as Scott Howard-Cooper notes, losing Turiaf leaves L.A. a bit understaffed in the frontcourt. Behind Andrew Bynum (who happens to be coming off a serious-enough injury), there's Chris Mihm (who happens to be coming off a string of serious-enough injuries). Beyond those two, there's Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, the prospective trade bait for Artest (or any other stud small forward L.A. seeks). If Bynum's not ready, and Odom's gone -- that's a weak frontcourt (even with the addition of Thomas or Mikki Moore). Turiaf averaged almost 19 minutes a game. Who picks those up?

As it is, Odom can expect to play plenty of backup power forward to go along with his possible starting role at the three. A three-man big rotation excluding Mihm seems most likely, unless Mitch Kupchak can find a suitable sub this summer.

Using sport to unite diverse sets of kids isn't a new concept, but it's one constantly being put into more ambitious use. PeacePlayers International has been documented well by TrueHoop over the years. But a current NBA player is doing something similar this summer in an effort to promote compassion in the Middle East.

The Los Angeles Times had a story this week discussing Laker Jordan Farmar's summer plans.

The Lakers' guard, who is Jewish, will travel to Israel to run basketball camps for Israeli and Palestinian children in association with the Peres Peace Center. The goal of the camps, which take place Aug. 4 to 11, is to bring Israeli and Palestinian children together through basketball and create a foundation for peaceful relations between them in years to come.

"If you can have a good time with someone you're supposed to be enemies with, and you guys can work together, things can be better for your future," Farmar said.

It's a brilliant use of fame, as are most charity events players get involved in outside the scope of official league community work. NBA players do a good portion of community work during the NBA season, but ones who devote part of their summer to it stand out.

(Another concept oft pushed: athletes asserting a political voice. Farmar spoke at an Obama fundraiser in Newport Beach last week.)

Dear Brett,

I know that you're not happy with your situation in Green Bay. Forget them! I mean, it's cold there, they wear ugly green and gold uniforms and it is the smallest market in the NFL. You are a superstar. You deserve better.

Lucky for you, there are several teams that could use the services of a future Hall of Fame quarterback. Some are just a smart, savvy QB away from getting to the Super Bowl themselves. A couple of them play in the Packers' division ... and in the NFC North, revenge is a dish best served freezing.

Maybe you'd like to go to your southern roots. There are a couple of teams down south that could use your help. How would it feel to play a home playoff game under warm, sunny skies?

The NFL may be your oyster, Brett, and we are here to help. Please look over these cities' presentations to help guide your decision.

Minnesota Vikings: May give you the best chance to win another NFC North title Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Come and play in Tampa Bay! Chicago Bears: Yes, Brett: Stick it to those Packers! Carolina Panthers: We brought Vinny Testerverde out of retirement New York Jets: If you can make it there ... Miami Dolphins: Fun, sun and a chance to keep messing with Marino Washington Redskins: You are Daniel Snyder's kinda guy!