Star Trek Into Darkness comes into theaters on May 17th, so what better way to promote it than an ESPN commercial starring one Stephen A. Smith?

Actually, wait. There are a gajillion better ways to promote this movie than by subjecting us to seven Screamin' Stephen A's. Although, really this commercial isn't all that special when you consider Stephen A. Smith appears on ESPN and ESPN2 at the same time multiple times a week.

Trekkies will flock to the premier regardless, but the last thing we need more of is Stephen A. Smith. Unless it's Jay Pharoah doing Stephen A. Smith that is.

Last night's Spurs-Warriors game was a true NBA playoff classic.  A game that went into double overtime and included a 16 point comeback with 4 minutes to play at the end of regulation.  A game that had the league's most exciting young superstar, Steph Curry, put up 44 and 11 while playing all 58 minutes, including a stretch of 14 points in less than 3 minutes in the third quarter.  A game that featured so many thrilling twists and turns - players fouling out, players getting sick, players you've never heard of making huge baskets (Kent Bazemore?!?!) that finally ended when Manu Ginobili hit a game winning three with just over a second left.

Last night's Spurs-Warriors game was overshadowed by a much greater, much more evil presence though.  A presence that gave millions of Americans nightmares as they laid down their heads, hopelessly searching for peace after the terror they had experienced.

The terror that is Screaming Spurs Lady.

New York Knicks fans watching their team's second-round playoff series with the Indiana Pacers are certainly liable to suffer from flashbacks to the 1990s, when the Knicks and Pacers met six times in the playoffs in an eight-year span, each winning three series. 

But tonight, those watching from home will have an extra strong reminder of that intense rivalry, because they'll be hearing Reggie Miller's voice as one of the greatest villains in New York sports history returns to Madison Square Garden to provide color commentary during Game 2. 

What’s the most impressive baseball statistic so far this decade? Try this one on for size: Since 2010, Major League Baseball and its franchises have struck deals with cable television networks worth $28.4 billion.

To put that in perspective, that’s more than the total market capitalization of Time Warner Cable ($27.9 billion), and more than the net worth of Michael Bloomberg ($27 billion), the 12th-richest man on the planet, according to Forbes.

Baseball’s cable gold rush began in 2010, when the Texas Rangers signed a 20-year, $1.7 billion extension with Fox Sports Southwest. Since then, TV money started flying into ballparks faster than home run balls flew out of them. To wit:

Deadspin shared this video yesterday and it's too good not to share with you.  If there's anything I'm a sucker for it's great blooper reels.  That and GIFs of cute animals.  The latest blooper reel to make its way around the interwebs is that of outdoor TV host Bill Dance.  He's on the Mount Rushmore of outdoor hosts along with Hank Parker, Roland Martin, and Jimmy Houston.  That's why it's so great to watch him break fishing reels, fight off angry ducks, and drive a variety of vehicles into water.  I could watch 30 minutes of these.  DAD GUM IT!!!

[Deadspin]

All Times Eastern

College Baseball
Georgia Tech at Ohio State -- Big Ten Network, 7 p.m.

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

Cycling
Giro d'Italia
Stage 4: Policastor Bussentino-Serra San Bruno -- beIN Sport, 9:30 a.m.

English Premier League
Manchester City vs. West Bromwich Albion -- ESPN2, 2:30 p.m.
Wigan Athletic vs. Swansea City -- Fox Soccer, 2:30 p.m.

No coach and sideline reporter have ever quite had the relationship that Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and TNT's David Aldridge have "enjoyed" over the years.  Traditionally, their "interviews" consist of Aldridge trying to coax more than 10 words out of Pop with his trifecta of questions.  So naturally, after getting torched by Steph Curry in the 3rd Quarter of Game 1 and trailing by double digits, this would be the one time Pop pleaded with DA to ask more questions.  He even had a smile on his face!

Popovich is a lot like Roddy Piper, just when you think you got the answers, he changes the questions.

UPDATE: He must have known something we didn't, the Spurs won in double OT.

Video via cjzero

Monday, May 6

G1: Chicago Bulls @ Miami Heat (TNT 7PM) Marv Albert, Steve Kerr
G1: Golden State Warriors @ San Antonio Spurs (TNT 9:30PM) Dick Stockton, Chris Webber

Tuesday, May 7

G2: Indiana Pacers @ New York Knicks (TNT 8PM) Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller
G2: Memphis Grizzlies @ Oklahoma City Thunder (TNT 9:30PM) Matt Devlin, Mike Fratello

Wednesday, May 8

G2: Chicago Bulls @ Miami Heat (TNT 7PM) Marv Albert, Steve Kerr
G2: Golden State Warriors @ San Antonio Spurs (TNT 9:30PM) Dick Stockton, Chris Webber

Friday, May 10

G3: Miami Heat @ Chicago Bulls (ESPN 8PM)
G3: San Antonio Spurs @ Golden State Warriors (ESPN 10:30PM)

Saturday, May 11

G3: Oklahoma City Thunder @ Memphis Grizzlies (ESPN 5PM)
G3: New York Knicks @ Indiana Pacers (ABC 8PM)

Sunday, May 12

G4: Miami Heat @ Chicago Bulls (TBA)
G4: San Antonio Spurs @ Golden State Warriors (TBA)

H/T Sammy!

Orb won a rain-soaked Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on Saturday and becomes the next in a three decades plus line of next great Triple Crown hopes.  It's often said that horse racing has gone the way of boxing and the pursuit of the Triple Crown doesn't have the interest it once did, so that makes it all the more surprising that Saturday's race tied for the best overnight rating in 21 years.  From NBC...

It has been far too long since we welcomed the one and only Darren Rovell into the great theater of Twitter Wars.  Since his move from CNBC to ESPN, Rovell has dialed back his back and forths on Twitter, refusing to engage arch nemesis Richard Deitsch in protracted battle in spite of innumerable barbs from the SI stalwart.

But if there is one story Rovell has been engaged with critics on, it's the Kings' relocation saga that finally drew to a close recently.  In spite of reports to the contrary early on, a new ownership will be keeping the Kings in Sacramento as opposed to moving them to Seattle.  Rovell is not an especially popular man with Kings fans since he tweeted out an empty arena pic in Sacramento and has had it out with SB Nation Kings blogger Tom Ziller on multiple occasions.

While many in the national media reported the overwhelming narrative of the Kings' inevitable move to Seattle, NBC's Aaron Bruski was out front with serious questions about the move and the closeness of the competition between Seattle and Sacramento ownership groups.  As far back as January, he had the Seattle move as far from a done deal.

Bruski and Rovell have a bit of a history too.  Bruski fired a shot at Rovell back in March claiming a tweet about the Kings sale to be inaccurate.  Today he fired another shot at Rovell and finaly drew ESPN's sports business reporter out of his corner.  Once Yahoo's Kelly Dwyer stepped in, we returned to the days of yore when this brand of entertainment happened all the time.

A great champion of Twitter Wars gone by battles not one but two would be kings.  Get your popcorn ready, here we go...