2016 Home Run Derby Tonight!

We're less than an hour away from the start of the 2016 Major League Baseball Home Run Derby at Petco Park in San Diego, California.

The new-ish bracket––and timed rounds––format continues this year, which is sure to keep fans interested.

Here's the field of 8 participants, complete with the bracket and everything:

Who ya got?

I'm going, first round: Trumbo over Seager...Stanton over Cano...Myers over Duvall...Frazier over CarGo.

Semis: Trumbo over Stanton...Frazier over Myers.

Finals: Trumbo over Frazier.

The Big Fundamental Hangs up His Basketball sneakers After 19 Seasons

After 19 seasons in the National Basketball Association, Tim Duncan has officially called it quits.

At age 40, the future Hall of Famer will go down as one of the greatest power forwards in professional basketball history. And it did it in the most boring way possible, but it was an absolute pleasure watching him for nearly two decades.

• 5-time NBA champion
• 3-time NBA Finals MVP
• 2-time NBA MVP
• 15-time NBA All-Star
• NBA Rookie of the Year (1998)
• 10-time All-NBA First Team
• 8-time All-Defensive First Team
• All-time leading scorer in Spurs franchise history

Duncan currently ranks in the top 10 all-time in games (7th), total rebounds (6th), blocks (5th). Even at the power forward position, Duncan currently sits 14th all-time in points scored, as well.

Despite all of those accolades listed above, I think the most impressive feat is that the Spurs made the postseason all 19 of Tim Duncan's seasons.

Farewell, Mr. Duncan. It was fun.

Photo: NY Post

Gilbert Arenas Trolls (Harasses?) Former Teammate Nick Young

I (sort of) feel bad about this, but I must admit that I laughed out loud throughout this entire video.

So, apparently former Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas showed up at Los Angeles Lakers point guard––and Gilbert's former Wizards teammate––Nick Young's house...and he completely trolled him and his son. And, of course, Agent Zero made sure to address the Nick Young/Iggy Azalea cheating allegations throughout the process.

Check it out for yourself:

I wonder if this is really how Gilbert acts around his friends all the time?

Kevin Durant Chooses Golden State Warriors

Not even Tom Brady and the signing of Al Horford was enough for the Boston Celtics to win the Kevin Durant sweepstakes.

Instead of staying put in OKC, or signing with the Celts, the most-coveted free agent of the 2016 NBA off-season has decided to sign a two-year, $54 million contract (with option for Year 2) with the Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors.

The roster for GSW will now consist of Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andrew Bogut, Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston. Now that's scary.

Largest Contracts of 2016 NBA Free Agency (so far)

The NBA's free agency period officially got underway on Friday, and there hasn't been a shortage of lucrative contracts. And, believe me, more than a handful of players are being vastly overpaid.

I'm not even much of an NBA guy and I can tell you that.

Here's a list of some of the biggest contracts agreed to/signed so far this off-season:

Mike Conley (Memphis Grizzlies): 5 years, $153 million––richest contract in NBA history

DeMar DeRozan (Toronto Raptors): 5 years, $145 million

Andre Drummond (Detroit Pistons): 5 years, $130 million

Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards): 5 years, $128 million

Nicolas Batum (Charlotte Hornets): 5 years, $120 million

Al Horford (Boston Celtics): 4 years, $113 million

Hassan Whiteside (Miami Heat): 4 years, $98 million

Chandler Parson (Memphis Grizzlies): 4 years, $94 million

Evan Fournier (Orlando Magic): 5 years, $85 million

Ryan Anderson (Houston Rockets): 4 years, $80 million

Joakim Noah (New York Knicks): 4 years, $72 million

Bismack Biyombo (Orlando Magic): 4 years, $72 million

Luol Deng (Los Angeles Lakers): 4 years, $72 million

Dwight Howard (Atlanta Hawks): 3 years, $70.5 million

Evan Turner (Portland Trail Blazers): 4 years, $70 million

Kent Bazemore (Atlanta Hawks): 4 years, $70 million

Ian Mahinmi (Washington Wizards): 4 years, $64 million

Timofey Mozgov (Los Angeles Lakers): 4 years, $64 million

Marvin Williams (Charlotte Hornets): 4 years, $54.5 million

Eric Gordon (New Orleans Pelicans): 4 years, $53 million

Courtney Lee (New York Knicks): 4 years, $50 million

Jordan Clarkson (Los Angeles Lakers): 4 years, $50 million

Matthew Dellavedova (Milwaukee Bucks): 4 years, $38 million

Jeremy Lin (Brooklyn Nets): 3 years, $36 million

Al Jefferson (Indiana Pacers): 3 years, $30 million

Jared Dudley (Phoenix Suns): 3 years, $30 million

Yes, that's right. The Memphis Grizzlies awarded the richest contract in NBA history to Conley, who has yet to accumulate any NBA All-Star selections. Plenty of money to go around this off-season!

Let's Just Hand Jose Altuve the AL MVP Right Now

It's only July 3, still over a week away from the All-Star break. Yet, here I am, discussing the thought of Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve winning this year's American League MVP award.

I mean, just take a look at what the 26-year old has done in the team's first 81 games:

370 plate appearances/318 at bats
113 hits (leads MLB)
62 runs scored
.355 batting average (leads MLB)
14 homers
49 RBIs
.428 OBP (second in MLB)
21 stolen bases (fourth in MLB)

The three-time (soon to be four-time) All-Star selection has always been a hit-machine who steals bases and puts runs across the board for Houston. But one thing that's different in 2016: Altuve is now a power-hitter as well.

His previous career-high for home runs is 15, which he hit last year, with 66 runs batted in. He's already one shy of tying that career-high and he still has half a season to go.

With exactly half of Houston's 162 games in the books, Altuve is currently on pace to shatter numerous career-highs:

226 hits
124 runs
.355 batting average
.428 OBP
28 homers
98 RBIs
42 stolen bases (not a career-high)

In 26 games during the month of June, Altuve recorded a hit in 24 games, which includes 13 multi-hit games. He was awarded the AL Player of the Month award, becoming the first Astros player to win the award since 2008.

Not only is Altuve putting up some fantastic, MVP-worthy numbers, but he also has the Astros at 43-38 and 8.5 games behind the first-place Texas Rangers in the AL Central.

Oh, and might I also add that he's currently holding my fantasy baseball team together.

Keep hitting, Jose. Keep hitting.

Fantasy: No. 2 Wideout Behind Antonio Brown?

Here's a link to my newest article on All-Out Blitz––"Fantasy: No. 2 Wideout Behind Antonio Brown?"

http://bensalloutblitz.com/?p=9506

Who's your pick?

Julio Jones...Odell Beckham Jr....DeAndre Hopkins...Dez Bryant?

Happy Fourth of July Weekend, Sports Fans!