Macca

Wimbledon starts on Monday ... both of the following links are constantly updated ... Ladies seeds, draw & schedule Men's seeds, draw & schedule On the Ladies side ... Serena, Ivanovic, Sharapova & Safarova are in one half of the draw whilst Wozniacki, Halep, Makarova & Kvitova are in the other half of the draw. On the men's side ... Djokovic, Nishikori, Wawrinka & Raonic are in one half of the draw whilst Ferrer, Murray, Berdych, Federer & Nadal* are in the other half of the draw. There's plenty of Aussie representation as well ... 13 Aussies in all are represented in the singles. *Nadal is seeded at #10 and is drawn to play Berdych in the round of 16 and Murray in the Quarter finals (if all 3 players make it that far)

The new season of 'True Detective' has started ... Foxtel is showing the new series on their showtime channel. Keep an eye out for 'Mr Robot' too ... looks another winner.

It seemed to be more a match-up issue with Bogut ... also, the way Kerr designed his team to beat the Cavs, Bogut became surplus to that design. He certainly aided in a big way to getting the Warriors to the playoffs though so he fully deserves his championship ring. He also did quite well in games 2 & 3 against the Rockets in the conference finals. The Warriors seem to have a team that can get back to the final too - Thompson, Green & Curry have just hit their prime and on an overall basis, they've got a very good roster with excellent flexibility. The issue for them is always going to be the strength of the Western conference. ... anyway, the league is soaring ... NBA salary cap projected to hit $108 million in 2017

Yep, the Blackhawks just too good ... their 3rd Stanley cup in 6 years and 6th Stanley cup all-time - highlights game 6 ... here's Jonathan Toews with the iconic moment ...

It's far too early to tell after 25 games (in my opinion) My ambition for Jimmy would be for him to be the best player he can be - if that's in our best dozen players in a team that can play finals, he will have done quite well. Any more than that is purely up to the player himself. .

... old dee, you would know that any given player needs 60-70 games under his belt before we can give a more accurate appraisal of a player. That rule of thumb has always been a good benchmark figure. By the end of the season Toumpas might have played a total of 36 games (he's still only played 25 games - a number of those games as a sub) I still see him as a young draftee finding his way. It's true he's out of contract so there are any number of outcomes - he might receive a decent offer elsewhere, we may want to keep him no matter what, we might want to trade him if the right offer came along, he might want to move anyway, who knows?

It's always best to wait and see with draftees and/or players who haven't been given enough opportunities - unless it's absolutely obvious and even then it's easy to jump the gun. Hogan, Brayshaw, Salem & Viney all look to have bright futures but all 4 will still need to improve a lot before we can lay claim to them being top players. Toumpas still hasn't proved himself to a large degree but who is to say whether he will prove himself to be a top player or not? My evaluation (so far) is that he runs hard to position and is creating lots of options - he likes to get his hands on the ball which is always a good sign. I'd like to think that his composure under pressure will improve as he gets more games under his belt - 30-40 more games will bring him up to the 60-70 game benchmark (when we can then confidently make a more defined evaluation) That evaluation might happen earlier if he hits his straps before that 60-70 game benchmark. Again, we just have to wait and see. I'm just happy to see him given opportunities over other players who have been given lots of opportunities previously (and have been found wanting)

The aggressive declaration make sense when considering the strength of the opposition. There isn't any rain forecast so it could be supposed that we wanted to have a crack at them late on the 3rd day - so far, it's worked. All the same, the wicket is taking a bit of spin and all our fast bowlers are in good form - they might get to 250 and one of their batsman might get stuck in. All our bowlers would be itching to get their hands on the ball.

Smith's batting average went up from 51.86 to 55.06 after his mammoth innings and I'm tipping he'll end up averaging over 60 for his entire career. Apart from "The Don" only 4 players have averaged over 60 in Test cricket ... Highest Career Batting Averages* His confidence at the crease is amazing and he's in top, top form - I can't see why he can't keep getting better. For the first Test in England you'd reckon that Rogers will come in for Shaun Marsh whilst Mitch Marsh may be preferred for Watson ... I can't see the selectors not picking either Mitch Marsh or Watson for balance (especially if Starc & Johnson both play) Harris might have to sit out for a bit too - Hazlewood is in fine form. *minimum 15 innings .

From all reports Tampa have been the better team in the Blackhawks 2 wins ... the teams are evenly matched all the same (the stats from the 4 games thus far back up that claim) Chicago have the experience but Tampa aren't going away in a hurry either ... a 7th game is on the cards.

Lance Armstrong: 'I've admitted to it all and suffered enough' 15 years of blatantly cheating with a concoction of various PED's and he thinks he's suffered enough? The man is quite delusional if he thinks things can just move on as a matter of course. Yeah, sure, there's been plenty of other drug cheats but has anyone gone close to the lengths that this bloke went to? Stomped on more than a few people in his manic pursuit of success and money too. He says he hasn't got 100 million to lose (re the whistleblower lawsuit) ... maybe not a "visible" 100 million would be more like it. .

Cleveland rocks Matty is the talk of America today and the Cavs are just willing themselves over the line ... however, Curry found his range in the 4th quarter and there's still a lot to be played out - LeBron has been superb. The vital 4th game coming up on Friday (our time) ... you almost feel it could be the defining game now - either the Cavs go 3-1 up or it's all square heading back to Oakland. A more than fascinating series so far.

Cleveland have turned both games into scraps with James being a domineering force. With the next 2 games being in Cleveland the series could go either way now. I still expect Golden State to hit their straps and win the series but the Cavs are playing very good defence even without Love & Irving ... we can probably expect more of the same. Game 2 was a fascinating match. My guess is we'll go back to Oakland with the series tied 2 all.

It's a big ask now isn't it? ... the Cavs just have to win tomorrow to get into the series. For that to happen it'll probably need a monumental performance from James, all the same. Maybe 1 or 2 of his teammates can step it up - that needs to happen as well.

Tampa get one back so at least their home fans will get to see them at least one more time ... I reckon the Lightning might sneak a win out of the next 2 in Chicago anyway - if not, then the Blackhawks will be hard to stop with a 3-1 lead. ... today's highlights

Yep, they're one hell of a team GV ... the dominance of them, Real Madrid & Bayern seems set to continue as well. Not sure that any of the England clubs can get near them to be honest ... Juventus did very well to make the final and they might have a bit more spending power after their successful run - they'll need that of course to keep pace with the other 3 big European clubs. All three teams (Barca, Real & Bayern) have absolutely quality strikers and/or goal scorers who can also all work in unison. Messi would have to be the most unselfish "great striker" that I've seen play. He would be a nightmare to try and mark (any defender marking him would also be constantly making sideways glances at Neymar & Suarez in the process - quite a task!)

A 3-2 Barca win is my tip ... Juve will need to come out and try and score goals but the firepower from Barcelona should be too much. Came across this article focusing on Andrew Jennings in today's Age ... he's the man responsible for exposing much of what is now being revealed about the goings on at FIFA The reporter who exposed the FIFA scandal that toppled Sepp Blatter

Adam Voges set for Australian Test debut as Fawad Ahmed's chances drift Australia (likely): David Warner, Shaun Marsh, Steve Smith, Michael Clarke ©, Adam Voges, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood. West Indies (likely): Kraigg Brathwaite, Rajindra Chandrika, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Shai Hope, Jerome Blackwood, Denesh Ramdin ©, Jason Holder, Jerome Taylor, Shannon Gabriel, Veerasammy Permaul. The above teams haven't been confirmed but the Aussie team that is listed by the journo (Chris Barrett) seems the most logical eleven. Watson in the all-rounders spot at no.6 is a good move and the move of Smith to no.3 seemed an inevitable one given his rapid rise as a batsman. Fawad Ahmed can count himself a little unlucky as the wicket might take spin. The match starts at around midnight tonight.

Sepp Blatter to resign as Fifa president amid corruption scandal

In further developments there's apparently some talk from Uefa of a "breakaway" World Cup in 2018 (or another European Championships) ... not sure that Uefa could get all it's member nations on board though - especially the eastern European countries ... also, Spain & France voted for Blatter in last Friday's elections - obviously Russia wouldn't be a part of it either. The top South American nations could be invited to this alternate World Cup as well ... on the surface, it seems like quite a far-fetched idea but I'm thinking there might be some kind of split regardless. Here's the story anyway (from The Independent) ... Fifa corruption: Europe plots to stage an 'alternative World Cup' in place of Russia 2018 Also, things might hot up if Blatter ends up being implicated in the bribery scandal ... and then there's the separate issue of the Swiss authorities investigation the awarding of the World cups to Russia & Qatar. Bribery Inquiry Drawing Closer to FIFA’s President, Sepp Blatter

Yep, a bit of a non-event in the end GV ... well done to the Gunners all the same. That's 2 cups in a row for a team that gets criticised for not winning enough silverware. Anyway, this goal on the weekend by Messi (in the Copa del Rey Final) was something special ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAwEuOgI7yU

With the Blackhawks now through here is the schedule for the best of 7 finals ... all times AEST Game 1: Thursday, June 4 ... Chicago @ Tampa Bay 10.00am Game 2: Sunday, June 7 ... Chicago @ Tampa Bay 10.00am Game 3: Tuesday, June 9 ... Tampa Bay @ Chicago 10.00am Game 4: Thursday, June 11 ... Tampa Bay @ Chicago 10.00am Game 5: Sunday, June 14 ... Chicago @ Tampa Bay 10.00am Game 6: Tuesday, June 16 ... Tampa Bay @ Chicago 10.00am Game 7: Thursday, June 18 ... Chicago @ Tampa Bay 10.00am

I thought it was great entertainment - he's got some nice moves. It was sort of like an individual "haka" and I loved it. Brightened up what was an otherwise totally one-sided game. I laughed at the way Bruce kept trying to talk Carlton up. The actual game was over half way through the first quarter. Goodes has had a fantastic career and he's always brought individual brilliance to our sport. We need more who can express themselves like Goodes. As for the booing - these things happen. There might be some racial connotations but I see it more as people seeing him as some sort of villain - and there's always a need for a villain. ... Here it is again for those who haven't seen it

FA Cup tonight (actually, tomorrow morning at 2.30am) Arsenal vs Aston Villa ... Preview & Match Facts

FIFA corruption scandal's best social media responses