Shaq looks to make big splash
The Cleveland Cavaliers need to hire a lifeguard. Fast.
Recently acquired Shaquille O'Neal has conjured up a unique way to prepare for the coming season and make some money to boot.
The "Shaq Vs." reality show will feature the 15-time All-Star and new Cavalier challenging top athletes in their respective sports in an ABC series that began taping this week and which will debut Aug. 18.
O'Neal, 37, will swim against Michael Phelps, try his football skills against Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, box retired world champion Oscar De La Hoya and trade tennis volleys with Wimbledon champ Serena Williams.
O'Neal will negotiate a handicap before each competition. His best chance against Phelps will be a cannonball diving match.
O'Neal's contract forbids opponents from challenging him to a free-throw shooting contest.
• RACE OF THE AGED -- It took Hershel McGriff 23 years to get a chance to defend his NASCAR regional title at Portland International Raceway.
And after more than two decades, McGriff fell short Sunday.
But it's understandable.
It was the first time NASCAR raced on the Oregon road course since McGriff won there in 1986.
Give McGriff credit for perseverance: The 81-year-old became the oldest to start any national NASCAR race and finished 13th.
• DOLPHINS IN TUNE -- The Miami Dolphins are reigning AFC East Division champions. Time will tell if they can match or improve on last year's 11-5 record after going 1-15 the previous season.
But one thing is certain, the "Fish" have an all-star lineup ready to sing the National Anthem, and they won't have to be paid.
Owner Stephen M. Ross introduced Grammy Award winner Marc Anthony on Tuesday as the newest minority owner of the team. A month ago, Ross sold part of the team to singer Gloria Estefan and her husband, producer Emilio Estefan.
It has not been disclosed how much of the team Ross sold the singers.
Ross joined with singer Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville Enterprises in a deal that renamed the team's home field Land Shark Stadium, after a beverage brewed by Anheuser-Busch InBev.
• TAME TIGER -- Rick Reilly of ESPN challenges Tiger Woods to work on the basic element of his game: composure.
He cites Woods' meltdowns at the British Open at Turnberry en route to missing the cut.
"He spent most of his two days at Turnberry last week doing the Turn and Bury," he wrote on espn.com. "He'd hit a bad shot, turn and bury his club into the ground in a fit. It was two days of Tiger Tantrums. In front of a worldwide audience.
"A whole lot of that worldwide audience is kids. They do what Tiger does. They swing like Tiger, read putts like Tiger and do the celebration biceps pump like Tiger. Do you think for two seconds they don't think it's cool to throw their clubs like Tiger, too?"
COMPILED BY JEFF WOLF LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
