In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Serena Williams made some insensitive comments about the Steubenville rape case, which she is now claiming was a misquote.

Most of the article was your typical athlete profile with some vapid quotes thrown in, such as:

"Can you believe I've never been asked to host Saturday Night Live?" she says. "And I'm funny. Ask my friends."

But it was her quotes about the Steubenville rape case that caused immediate controversy with many latching onto her saying, "I'm not blaming the girl, but" and sharing her opinion on the situation.  Here's the quote from Rolling Stone:

After several blowouts, Game 6 of this year's NBA Finals finally delivered a classic.  And not just any classic, many who follow the NBA were calling this game one of the best in NBA history.  The Heat defeated the Spurs in overtime to force a Game 7 thanks to in no particular order: LeBron James ditching his headband and finding super powers, Mike Miller's missing shoe, the refs, Ray Allen, Chris Bosh's defense, Gregg Popovich sitting Tim Duncan, missed Spurs FTs, the release of bad karma from front-running Heat fans leaving early.

With what could best be described as middling ratings for Game 1-5, the epic Game 6 saw ratings go way up and scored a 14.7 overnight rating, the second best Game 6 for ABC.  Here's more from ESPN...

Three and a half years ago, the UFC sold a 10% share of their company to the Abu Dhabi-based Flash Entertainment. It was the first sale of UFC equity since Zuffa bought the company nearly a decade earlier. But could another sale of a much larger piece of the company be on the horizon? It might not be as far-fetched as you think.

Wishing injury upon an opposing player?  Probably not one of those areas you want to venture into as a broadcaster, even if you're joking.  That's what one Braves announcer (who we believe to be Joe Simpson) did with Mets phenom Matt Harvey at the dish on Tuesday.  Harvey pitched 6 no hit innings and the Mets won 4-3, but it's kinda depressing when the TV crew has to resort to "hoping the opposing pitcher gets a strained oblique" as keys to the game.

In the announcer's defense, at least he didn't wish a particularly painful injury upon Harvey like a torn rotator cuff or sepsis or something.

You might be getting sick of seeing this same story repeated almost every week, but NBC Sports Network is once again celebrating their NHL coverage. Specifically, Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals was the most-watched game in network history (3.964 million). Just a couple of days later, Game 3 raised the bar even higher with 4.001 million viewers. 

Game 3's enormous numbers are the second-highest in network history, trailing only the U.S. Women's gold medal soccer game (4.350 million viewers) during the 2012 Olympics. 

All Times Eastern

College Baseball
College World Series, Omaha, NE
Elimination Game
Indiana vs. Oregon State -- ESPN, 8 p.m.

College World Series Postgame -- ESPNU, 11 p.m.

College Basketball
Inside College Basketball: Draft Special: The Backcourt -- CBS Sports Network, 8 p.m.
Inside College Basketball: Draft Special: Boom, Bust, Blah -- CBS Sports Network, 9 p.m.

College Football
College Football Live -- ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.

The Lone Ranger doesn't release in the theaters for another couple of weeks, but Rich Rodriguez and his coaching staff look ready for a grand premiere if a new video is any indication. Rodriguez and members of his coaching staff dressed up as cowboys that no thief weaker than Buford Tannen would want to cross paths with. Not only did they look the part, but Rich Rod shows off an intimidating look with a scowl and a cigar, and then moments later is seen showing off  a lighter side as he and his cowboy pals yuck it up in the saloon.

The pictures are great...

... but the video is a must see.

This is a real thing that was "debated" on First Take this morning.  Whether or not the San Antonio Spurs... in GAME 6 OF THE NBA FINALS... should rest their best players and concede victory in a game that could win them the NBA title.  This is a thing Skip Bayless advocated San Antonio doing "if they could get away with it."  Whatever that means.

ESPN - The WorldWide Leader in Create Education Better.

While News Corp. Chairman and Global Media Titan Rupert Murdoch plans his next move in his impending divorce, he's also thinking about his worldwide empire and how he can create a new sporting event. The Guardian in the UK reports that Murdoch who owns channels in Italy, Germany, the UK, Asia and of course, the US, wants to start a new "Super League" soccer tournament that would involve teams from the English Premier League, Germany's Bundesliga and Spain's La Liga.

The Chicago Blackhawks fell to the Boston Bruins 2-0 in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals, giving the Bruins a 2-1 series lead. As the Blackhawks were getting dominated by the Bruins, a Chicago area radio station Q101 said the team was "raped basically" on Twitter, setting off a brief firestorm for their poor choice of words.

@BrianYarvual it was in reference to a bruin man handling a blackhawk against his will, move on

— Q101 The Alternative (@Q101Chicago) June 18, 2013

The fact that this station thought that comment was at all appropriate and initiall responded by saying "move on" is mind-boggling. Their apology for saying the game was rape was the typical "sorry you were offended" junk that is par for the course in incidents like this.

We included a word in our tweets this evening during the game that offended some ppl. That was NOT intended.Pls accept our apology.

— Q101 The Alternative (@Q101Chicago) June 18, 2013

It was removed but we realize words matter & truly apologize for any offense or anger it may have caused.

— Q101 The Alternative (@Q101Chicago) June 18, 2013

Q101 used to be one of the most popular radio stations in the Chicago market before it was sold. The intellectual property of the station was purchased by Broadcast Barter Radio Networks, who turned the station into an internet-only format. Many Chicagoans feel that the new station is nothing but a shadow of its terrestrial self and have distanced themselves from the new station. 

But to get back to the original point, I don't think Q101 really attempted to antagonze anyone. They just have no awareness or common sense. That's obviousty not an excuse or a justification, but it does explain how something like this is able to happen so routinely.

[h/t to Matt Lindner for the tip]