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Just a few hours after arriving in Brazil, LeBron James sized up the World Cup final and said it trumps the NBA finals. “This is the highest you can get,” James said Saturday, a day after announcing he was returning to play for the Cleveland Cavaliers. “This is bigger than the NBA finals in the sense that it’s the world and you have so many countries here.” …

Host nation Brazil’s miserable run of form at the World Cup continued with a 3-0 loss to the Netherlands in the third-place playoff in Brasília on Saturday afternoon. Any hopes of Brazil saving face at its own party evaporated within two minutes, when Thiago Silva pulled down Arjen Robben on the edge of the area. Silva, who missed the 7-1 semifinal rout against Germany through suspension and was supposed to bring stability to a shaky Brazilian backline, was lucky only to receive a yellow card for the foul. Robin van Persie made no mistake with the penalty, firing his spot...

The most entertaining World Cup in a generation comes down to a final match that pits the planet's best player against the tournament's best team. Lionel Messi will lead Argentina out against Germany at Maracana Stadium on Sunday for a game that will define careers, cement legacies and be watched by a global audience of about a billion viewers. And it's a matchup that means more to both sides than just a chance to lift one of the most hallowed trophies in sports. For Messi, it's a chance to firmly make his case for being perhaps the greatest ever to...

Runner Up Game at 4:00 PM on ESPN. Brazil vs Netherlands. Brazil needs to redeem itself from humiliation at the hands of Germany in Tuesday's semi-final.

The bullring Iowa short oval is the perfect track for Target Chip Ganassi Racing to get its season in order, and after a day filled with rain delays, defending Verizon IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon led an all-Target front row for Saturday night's 300-lap race. The Kiwi's record-breaking 186.256mph average was set after his No. 9 Dallara-Chevrolet engineers used information from earlier qualifying runs made by Ganassi teammates to make a few quick tweaks before heading out, and it made all the difference. Tony Kanaan will start second in the sister car (185.891). "We missed a bit on balance in...

100 years ago today, the most iconic baseball player who ever lived made his Major League debut. The 19-year-old pitcher got the win for Boston, giving up three runs — two earned — over six-plus innings against Cleveland. In that first game, he failed to display the sort of power at the plate for which he would become famous, going 0-for-2. The rest of the season was equally unremarkable — he appeared in just three more games with the Red Sox before being sent back to the minors. But it didn't take long for Babe Ruth to become a sensation....

There is something not quite right with Lionel Messi at this World Cup. I am the Argentina captain's biggest fan and he is the most wonderfully gifted player since Diego Maradona but, here in Brazil, I have been disappointed with what I have seen. Some people might say there is not much wrong with Messi at all, because Argentina are in the final and he has scored four goals to help get them there. But there is no question in my mind that the Barcelona forward has become quite static on the pitch in this tournament.

From great group stages to penalty shootouts, Luis Suárez’s bite and Brazil’s Mineiraço, the story of the 2014 World Cup

Life is a challenge these days in Germany if you are not a football fan. You simply cannot avoid it. The media is awash with interest in Sunday's World Cup final, with the 'Nationalelf' (national 11) involved against old rivals Argentina. The stunning 7-1 semi-final win over hosts Brazil resulted in football euphoria only seen before in the country when West Germany won previous World Cup tournaments in 1954, 1974 and 1990. "Three days to go", "two days to go", "one day to go" - these have been the headlines from Germany's biggest selling tabloid Bild. It's the countdown to...

BEMIDJI -- Guns will be drawn and shots will be fired this weekend, but it will all be in good fun. The Wild Rice Peacemakers, a cowboy mounted shooting club, will host the third annual Blackduck Dental Clinic Raid on the Gold Mine shooting competition this weekend at the Beltrami County Fairgrounds. The two-day event will feature mounted shooting and cash prizes. The competition involves competitors on horseback riding through a course to shoot a total of 10 balloon targets. Participants must shoot five of the balloons with a revolver before drawing a second revolver to shoot remaining targets. Competitors...

Axelle Despiegelaere, the Belgian teenager who landed a modeling gig with L’Oreal after pictures of her at the World Cup went viral, filmed one video and was apparently released by L'Oreal.. after a controversial Facebook post of her apparently big-game hunting came to light. Despiegelaere shot to international notoriety when photos of her in Red Devil gear on June 22 as she cheered on her team went viral. She announced the deal with L'Oreal this week. But just as quickly, things turned the other direction when she posted a photo of herself with a hunting rifle next to a dead...

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Dodgers fans will have to come back to the stadium to get their Hello Kitty travel mug after the delivery truck did not make it on time for Thursday night’s giveaway. The Dodgers will instead give out vouchers good for one Hello Kitty travel mug that could be redeemed at the stadium beginning Monday through Aug. 24 between 10 a.m and 5 p.m. “Earlier today, the truck carrying a portion of the Hello Kitty giveaway items was disabled and therefore the mugs did not make it to Dodger Stadium for distribution at tonight’s game as scheduled,”...

The Centers for Disease Control tells us that in recent years there has been a jump in the percentage of young people diagnosed with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder, commonly known as ADHD: 7.8 percent in 2003 to 9.5 percent in 2007 and to 11 percent in 2011. The reasons for the rise are multiple, and include changes in diagnostic criteria, medication treatment and more awareness of the condition. In the following post, Angela Hanscom, a pediatric occupational therapist and the founder of TimberNook, a nature-based development program designed to foster creativity and independent play outdoors in New England, suggests...

LeBron James is removing his talents from Miami. Four years after stunning the NBA world with “The Decision,” the Miami Heat forward announced an even larger revelation on SI.com Friday, perhaps destined to be called “The Redemption.” James, 29, will return to the Cleveland Cavaliers, close to his hometown of Akron and far from the sunny beaches where he led the Heat to four NBA Finals appearances, two ending in championships. "I’m not promising a championship," James says in the first-person essay. "I know how hard that is to deliver. We’re not ready right now. No way. Of course, I...

The San Francisco Giants are considering a new dress code for fans, which may include a ban on fake Native American headdresses and other “culturally insensitive” clothing. The proposal for a new dress code comes after two Native Americans were detained during a Giants game last month after asking a fan to remove a headdress they found disrespectful. If approved, the new policy could be a first for a major-league sports franchise,

Before anyone ever cared where I would play basketball, I was a kid from Northeast Ohio. It’s where I walked. It’s where I ran. It’s where I cried. It’s where I bled. It holds a special place in my heart. People there have seen me grow up. I sometimes feel like I’m their son. Their passion can be overwhelming. But it drives me. I want to give them hope when I can. I want to inspire them when I can. My relationship with Northeast Ohio is bigger than basketball. I didn’t realize that four years ago. I do now.

If you're upset with the Cowboys' placement at No. 24, just know that placing them even lower was considered. Ultimately, it's tough to rank a team coming off an 8-8 season lower than this, but there are a lot of warning signs that this is going to be a very ugly year in Dallas. The defense was bad last season, and arguably the three best players are gone. Defensive end DeMarcus Ware was cut. Defensive tackle Jason Hatcher signed with Washington. Linebacker Sean Lee is already out for the year with a torn ACL suffered in an offseason practice. You...

SAN DIEGO - The family that drew national attention when they were rescued at sea off their sailboat, Rebel Heart, in April is finally setting the record straight. Charlotte and Eric Kaufman and their two daughters were about 1,000 miles west of Cabo San Lucas in the Sea of Cortez when 1-year old Lyra became sick. That was when their adventure of a lifetime turned into a nightmare. It began with a fever, then a rash and then Lyra became lethargic. That was when the couple used their satellite cell phone to call a doctor. He advised them to begin...

I’ve always been a big sports fan, which explains why I have absolutely no interest in soccer. The fact is, I’d rather watch my accountant get his toenails clipped than take in a soccer game — and that includes the World Cup final, which I’m sure will be as scintillating as any other soccer game. In soccer, they spend hours frantically trying to score. That’s not sport. That’s a young guy trying to convince his date that he likes her for her personality. If you could bottle soccer, you’d have a cure for insomnia. But it’s not just because it’s...

Record goals, Suarez gnaws, that James Rodriguez strike, passion, drama, colourful fashion - what a World Cup this has been. It was a tournament that started with a bang as the hosts came from behind to beat Croatia, and has since delivered fantastic entertainment almost game after game.