Sloan will not receive that many chances to play since a good chunk of the 10-day contract will be eaten up by All-Star weekend festivities.

Follow Ryan Gaydos on Twitter @RyanGaydos

With the majority of the tour at the World Golf Championships this week, the field seems considerably smaller for the Mayakoba Classic.  However, this is just another chance for us fantasy geeks to do what we do best . Below are the top five fantasy golfers to play at the M.C. in Mexico:

1. Johnson Wagner – “Mr. Mustache” is the defending champion of the event and the course down in Riviera, Mexico is one of the his personal favorites.

2. Charles Howell III – Howell III is one of the veteran golfers attending this weekend’s event and brings a sense of experience to an amateur-like tournament.

3. . Harrison Frazar – The 40-year old is averaging 69.7 strokes per round this year and  remains one of the best fairway players on the entire tour.

4 Spencer Levin – Levin has 2 top-ten finishes on the year, but he shot a miserable plus 6 at the Northern Trust Open last weekend.

5.  Joe Ogilvie – Ogilvile made some sensational puts last weekend at the N.T.O. and his short game just seems to be clicking right now.

Oden has not played a game since December 2009 but SI.com’s Chris Mannix reports that Oden is not ready to retire just yet.

The Trail Blazers are unlikely to offer Oden a contract this summer.

Follow Ryan Gaydos on Twitter @RyanGaydos

“The long-term viability, to me anyway, is somewhat in question as far as what this game is going to look like 20 years from now,” Aikman said. “People couldn’t get [the NFL Network] in the homes and, all of sudden, fans, me included, were saying, ‘I wasn’t getting the Thursday night game and I was OK with that.’ That’s not a good thing.”

Aikman makes a solid point. The NFL has struggled with several cable companies, with the biggest one being Time Warner Cable, to get the NFL Network on their channel list and that has not been a good sign for many fans. The problem is these cable companies want to much money and the NFL is not willing to give it to them. Personally, I am a subscriber to Time Warner Cable and it is awful what they do. I have called them several times begging to allow NFL Network but they claim it is the NFL’s fault not their own.

Aikman also believes the product that is the NFL is currently dropping.

“At one time, watching football was an event,” Aikman said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “’Monday Night Football’ was a big event. Now you get football Sunday, you get it Monday, you get it Thursday and, late in the year, you get it on Saturday.”

This is where I disagree with the Dallas Cowboys legend. I still believe watching football is an event. Not only do I enjoy watching my favorite team, the Green Bay Packers, but I also enjoy watching every other game on television. I watch Monday Night Football every week and would watch Thursday Night Football if Time Warner Cable would allow me to. I also enjoy having Wild-Card and Divisional games on Saturday during the postseason. In fact, if the NFL decided to add a game every week on Saturday’s during the regular season I would watch that as well.

“I think we’re going to look back at this point in time and say these were the missteps that the National Football League took that kept football from being the No. 1 sport,” Aikman said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “I believe, and this is my opinion, that at some point football is not going to be the number one sport. You talk about the ebbs and flows of what’s popular and what’s not. At some point, the TV ratings are not going to be there. I can’t justify that because the numbers say otherwise (now), but I guess time will tell.”

Aikman did not elaborate what sport he thought would become No.1 in the U.S. but that he is certain it will not be the NFL. Once again, I have to disagree with Aikman on this one. Every year the Super Bowl is rated higher than the one before it, there are games every season that have the highest ratings of all-time and no other sport comes even close to the popularity. The NBA is broken and has been going downhill for quite some time while MLB’s no salary cap has been hurting the league for years. The only sport that could compete is NASCAR and I just do not see it becoming more popular than the NFL.

Aikman said the concussions are also hurting the league and if the NFL cannot find a way to keep these players safe without ruining the game then they are in big trouble.

“I don’t know if I would encourage him to play,” Aikman said if he had a son who was looking to play football.

Aikman is currently the lead analyst for NFL on FOX.

Jacobs could never make up his mind during the last two years, saying he wanted to be traded just as often as saying he wanted to retire in New York.

That has changed, and it looks like the Giants could be holding on to the bruising back.

“Well, I have spoken to my agent and I do expect to be fully back with the New York Giants next season,” Jacobs said. “These guys in the front office, they’ve been doing this for years. They know what they gotta do. I want to be back. But they actually know what has to be done if they want me back.”

The Giants cap situation is pretty murky. I’ve heard they are as much as $9 million over the cap, and Spotrac says they are $1.5 million under.

Any way you spin it, the Giants will have to make some tough decisions on their veteran players. They have some guys like Victor Cruz who deserve a raise, and they might want to make some moves in free agency.

Jacobs could think he’s going to remain a Giant, but with a $4.4 million base salary and a March $500,000 roster bonus, he’ll have to take a large pay decrease to do so.

“If they don’t want me back then that’s another story in itself, then nothing has to be done. But I got a feeling that they do. So, you know, things get worked out. I definitely plan on being [with] Big Blue for the 2012 season.”

Now, as a senior advisor to the Tampa Bay Rays, Zim’s likeness has been interwoven into an incredibly creepy “Zim Bear” plush doll which will be given away at a Rays home game this season (to the 2,000 or so that show up, that is).

You have to wonder what nightmares the Zim Bear will appear in. Just imagine him staring at you from a cracked closet door, or from a nightstand.

I digress.

Love ya Zim, but this one is flat out odd.

H/T to Sports Grid.

Thanks to @Jonathan_Gantt

I don’t know whether to say this is cool or just plain creepy.

I mean I love Don Zimmer but come on, this is just weird.

The Tampa Bay Rays plan to hand out the Zim Bear to fans attending the June 29 game against the Detroit Tigers at Tropicana Field.

What do you think of this giveaway?

Is it a case of too little too late?

The assumption had been that Tevez was talented enough to net a transfer anywhere. The drawback? His demands would have been far too high for a player prone to mood swings and language-specific Amnesia. He was said to have snubbed some offers and asked for too much elsewhere. All whilst he played no football.

It is fantastic that he has finally –finally –admitted he was wrong, but one feels that his mind was made up for him by his advisors. Remember, these are the same advisors that own shares in Tevez and net a percentage of his transfer fee. If he is not likely to move and not even likely to play those advisors are potentially out of pocket.

“Be the bigger man, Carlos!” you can almost hear them saying.

The thing that Manchester City fans must take solace in is how manager Roberto Mancini stood his ground. The Tevez incident, where the attacker reportedly refused to play and then denied any wrong-doing, then fled Manchester, had been ring-fenced by Mancini. He declared his stance then made sure he would not be drawn back into it. It was a move that suggested that he wanted to put a buffer between the want-away Argentine and the rest of his squad.

Since then the team have worked hard, overcoming European set-backs and league blips, to hold onto top spot in the English Premier League.

The problem now is that Mancini must keep putting his team first. If Tevez came back in how would the likes of Dzeko, Balotelli and Aguero feel? Indeed, even if the tactics were changed so that Tevez could retake his role as terrier between the striker and midfield then a Balotelli or Dzeko or Aguero could remain happy, but a Johnson, Milner, Toure, Silva or Nasri would have to be left out.

Mancini surely couldn’t be that foolish.

Of course the fact remains that Tevez is incredibly talented. Before even considering throwing him back into the mix he must prove that he, and he alone, chose to put humble pie on the menu. Then he has to work hard in training. Then he has to cut it in a few reserve games. Then he has to be willing to sit on the bench and come on against lesser opposition. Then he has to come into the starting line-up when Mancini is good and ready. Then he has to be prepared to be subbed off.

Sound like Tevez?

Oh…just in… Aguero has just scored this season’s fastest ever goal against Porto. After 19s. Good luck replacing that, Carlos…

Here is my latest compilation of waiver wire pickups to grab before your competition:

Small Leagues: 8-10 man leagues

PG Devin Harris, UTA – Harris is a very streaky scorer, but has been on fire over the last week.

SG Marco Belinelli, NO – Belinelli is one of the strongest 3-point shooters, averaging 15 points and just over 2 3-pointers in the last eight games.

SF Ersan Ilyasova, MIL – Ilyasova is back starting in Milwaukee and has racked up an outstanding 81 points and 57 rebounds in the last four games alone.

PF Marreese Speights, MEM – Speights has been a strong part Memphis’ success, with 12.4 points and 9.4 rebounds in the last nine games.

C Matt Bonner, SA – Bonner will get plenty of minutes with Tiago Splitter out for two weeks and with Tim Duncan already missing games to rest.

Large Leagues: 10-14 man leagues

PG Isaiah Thomas, SAC – Kings’ coach Keith Smart finally got the rookie into the starting lineup over struggling guard, John Salmons.

SG J. R. Smith, NYK – Smith has been a great compliment to point guard sensation Jeremy Lin while Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony have been out with injuries.

SF Kawhi Leonard, SA – The rookie is getting more and more playing time with all the Spurs’ injuries and is a personal favorite of head coach Greg Popovich.

PF Channing Frye, PHI – Frye continues to be a great 3-point shooter from the power forward/ center position and has hit 7 shots from downtown his last two games.

C Gustavo Ayon, NO – Ayon has started the last seven games for the Hornets, posting a decent 7.9 points and 7.5 rebounds since cracking the starting five.

I miss Shaq in the league but love seeing things like this video below.

They are to funny!