Random Thoughts for June 13th

• I'm glad that they finally had the Auburn Shooter turn himself in. The circus is going to die down in Auburn for a while but will be right back next week when the Harvey Updyke Tree Killing Trial begins. I'm hopeful that Desmonte Leonard pleads out and spends the rest of his days in jail. I doubt he'll plead though because of the conflicting report from his friend make it seem like the football players were the aggressors. True that was only one friend on Finebaum but we know how fickle juries can be in these big cases. Hopefully the police investigation will get to the truth.
• LeBron's performance last night in the fourth quarter did nothing to quiet his critics that say he shies away from the big moment. I thought he had turned the corner for this after his amazing Game 6 performance against the Celtics but it looks like he's reverting back to his old ways. LeBron only had 7 points in the 4th quarter to Kevin Durant's 17. It's not all of his fault though.
• LeBron did have a subpar 4th quarter but he and Dwyane Wade scored 14 of the Heat's 21 4th quarter points. LeBron and Wade each had 7 points while Chris Bosh had 3, Mario Chalmers had 2 and Mike Miller had 2. The Heat didn't score a point in the 4th quarter until 9:34 when Bosh hit his first free throw. They had another cold spell from 6:11-3:14. You can't go for nearly half the 4th quarter without scoring and expect to win a game. 
• The Thunder are for real. The way that Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook performed after facing a 13 point deficit was very mature. The two of them looked like grizzled Finals veterans in their debut. Thabo Sefalosha stepped up and showed his great defensive prowess on LeBron in the fourth. Serge Ibaka and Nick Collison provided a lot of help in the middle and chipped in a combined 18 points and 16 rebounds. 
• Another amazing thing about the Thunder is that they have overcome 13 point deficits in every series they've been in this year. ESPN's Daily Dime for June 13th brings this up. 
• Last night A-Rod hit a record tying 23rd Grand Slam. He is now tied with Lou Gehrig for most Career Grand Slams. A-Rod may be tainted by steroids but he will end up owning every major home run record by the time he retires. 
• The Saints need to give Drew Brees a serious contract offer. Drew Brees has turned that franchise around and helped them win a Super Bowl. The quarterback position in the NFL is one of the few positions that can age gracefully. Brees is only 33 and probably has 3 or 4 good years left in him. The Saints should give him a max deal for the next four years and draft another qb out of college to groom for his backup. The grooming of Aaron Rodgers worked pretty well. There's no reason to think it wouldn't work in New Orleans.
• After making hockey relevant in Los Angeles the NHL needs to avoid a lockout. The last NHL lockout nearly killed the league and it still hasn't recovered. I don't want to see the NHL go down this road again. Get a new labor deal done ASAP  and make sure the wave of popularity they saw after the Vancouver Olympics continues to grow. Soccer was once a niche sport and look how much it is growing.
• We are only 78 days away from the start of college football and 84 days away from the NFL starting!