Second Thoughts / Compiled by Troy Schulte
Basketball fans spent all last week waiting to find out where LeBron James was going to end up.
It turns out that an Ohio bakery knew the scoop all along.
Caroline's Cupcakes in Jackson Township, Ohio, posted on its Facebook page July 5 that it received a tip that James was planning a return to Cleveland.
"Just texting with a friend who is directly tied in with Lebron and his camp, and he swears on his life #TheReturn to Cleveland is a done deal," the Facebook post read. "... are you ready to get out your old jersey and welcome Lebron home?!?"
Five days later, Caroline's Cupcakes came back with more information.
"Alright boys and girls, we're SOLD OUT for the day! See you tomorrow at 10 a.m. Now let's hunker down for #TheReturn, which is widely rumored to be happening sometime tonight."
Caroline's was a bit off on that one. Instead of it happening Thursday night, James announced his intentions Friday morning. But the staff at the cupcake shop can join independent reporter Chris Sheridan, who runs Sheridanhoops.com, as the only people who seemed to know what was happening before it was announced officially.
Ticket exchange
All those spurned Miami Heat fans can get something in return for their LeBron James jerseys.
The No. 6 jerseys were made obsolete Friday when James announced he will return to the Cleveland Cavaliers, which is where the St. Lucie Mets come in.
St. Lucie, the Class A affiliate of the New York Mets, announced Friday that Heat fans can arrive at Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie, Fla., for any game throughout the next week and exchange a James Heat jersey or a T-shirt for a season ticket to all remaining home games. The package includes a special cup and a new Mets T-shirt, and the James apparel will be donated to a local Goodwill.
The Mets have six home games over the next seven days and 25 home games remaining this season, so there is plenty of time to change allegiances.
Let's make a deal
College administrators arrange home-and-home football series every day, but most of the time athletic directors do it through phone calls and emails.
Athletic directors at Kansas State and Mississippi State did it all out in the open recently. Mississippi State's Scott Stricklin and Kansas State's John Currie agreed to a home-and-home series in 2018 and 2019 through a Twitter exchange this week.
It started when Stricklin took part in a recent internet craze called "Chillin 4 Charity" in which coaches, players and administrators get water dumped on them and donate money to a charity. Then, they challenge three peers to do the same.
Stricklin challenged Currie to have water dumped on him, and at the end of his video Currie challenged Stricklin to the series. Later that day, Stricklin proposed the games be played 2016 and 2017. Currie replied that his schedule wasn't open those years, so he proposed playing in Manhattan in 2018 and Starkville, Miss., in 2019.
"Let's do it!" Stricklin responded on Twitter. He later added "Pleasure doing business with you, @John_Currie. #HailState."
Sports quiz
Q. How many times in his career has LeBron James led the NBA in scoring?
A. Once. James averaged 30.0 points a game in 2007-2008 to lead the NBA.
Sports on 07/13/2014