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Robert Klemko of MMQB.com recently took a very detailed look at La'el Collins' tumultuous period before, during, and after the NFL Draft in late April and early May.

A month before the draft, Collins — an offensive lineman from LSU — was considered a lock to be drafted in the first round. ESPN's Todd McShay projected Collins to be the 11th pick and Mel Kiper predicted the lineman would go as high as No. 16.

If Collins had been taken in that range, he would have received a contract worth $10 million to $13 million over the next four years with all of it guaranteed.

However, that changed just days before the draft in late April when Baton Rouge police told ESPN they wanted to talk to Collins in connection with the death of Brittany Mills, a woman authorities believed he had been romantically involved with at one time. Mills was pregnant at the time of her death, but a paternity test determined earlier this month Collins was not the father of her child, ESPN reported.

Collins eventually was interviewed by police and was never named a suspect in her death. Collins' agent told Business Insider that at this point they are just waiting for the police to catch her assailant.

Before the paternity test results came out, Collins was removed from "multiple" NFL draft boards pending "additional clarity" on the murder case, according to Yahoo's Charles Robinson.

There was still some speculation that Collins would be drafted in one of the later rounds where a team could potentially get a first-round talent and only have to give him a contract with less than $100,000 guaranteed.

To avoid this scenario, Collins' agent, Deryk Gilmore, first lobbied the NFL to remove Collins from the draft and enter him in this summer's supplemental draft. That would give them a chance to fully clear their client's name to the satisfaction of NFL teams. The NFL denied this request, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported.

At this point, Collins' agent did the calculations, according to Klemko, and decided it was better for his client to go undrafted. The big differences were the amount of guaranteed money and the length of his first contract.

If Collins had been drafted late in the sixth or early in seventh round, his contract would have been terrible.

Players drafted in the sixth or seventh round this year received contracts worth $2.3 million to $2.4 million over four years with just $50,000 to $150,000 guaranteed and no hope of becoming a free agent until 2019.

If Collins went undrafted his situation would have been much better.

By going undrafted, Collins was able to choose among numerous offers: 29 teams contacted Collins' agent after the draft, according to Klemko. This allowed him to decide which situation was best for his future. The downside is teams were still limited by how much they could offer Collins.

The threat.

At this point Collins' agent made a bold move.

According to Klemko, Collins' agents told teams that if he was drafted after the third round, he would not sign with the team and would instead sit out a year and enter next year's draft. It was a gamble with multiple risks, and teams could have simply ignored the threat.

After the draft, one of Collins' agents admitted that the move was a bluff.

"We can put it on the record now: We were never going back in the draft," his agency's general counsel, Rick Smith, told Klemko. "If someone had drafted him, we would’ve had a long, long discussion about it, but at the end of the day you can’t go back in the draft. He could get injured, gain weight, or 10 great tackles could come out. Too many risks."

The bluff worked. 

Collins went undrafted and ultimately signed with the Cowboys; Dallas gave him $1.6 million, all the money left in their rookie free agent pool, according to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network.

While that is nearly $1 million less in total value compared to a late-round pick, the upside is that the Cowboys were able to make the entire $1.6 million guaranteed and Collins will be eligible for a new contract in 2018, when he can sign a more lucrative deal if he plays well.

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Salaries continue to soar in Major League Baseball as 25 players will make at least $20 million in base salary this season, up from 21 players in 2014.

This year's group of highest-paid players includes nine starting pitchers, seven first basemen, two shortstops, two right fielders, and a second baseman, third baseman, left fielder, center fielder, and designated hitter.

The New York Yankees lead the way with five players on the list, followed by the Los Angeles Dodgers (4) and the Philadelphia Phillies (3).

Salaries and contract information via spotrac.com and BaseballProspectus.com.

1. Clayton Kershaw — $30 million

Team: Los Angeles Dodgers

Position: Starting pitcher

2014 WAR: 7.6 wins

Contract: 7 years, $215 million (through 2020)

One thing to know: Kershaw's contract is the richest deal for a pitcher in baseball history and his average annual salary of $30.7 million is the largest for any player. This year he will make about $909,000 for each start.

2. Justin Verlander — $28 million

Team: Detroit Tigers

Position: Starting pitcher

2014 WAR: 2.8 wins

Contract: 7 years, $180 million (through 2019)

One thing to know: Verlander is in just the third year of his contract but has yet to pitch in 2015 as he has been sidelined with a strained triceps muscle and is not expected back before June.

3. (tie) Ryan Howard — $25 million

Team: Philadelphia Phillies

Position: First baseman

2014 WAR: -0.3 wins

Contract: 5 years, $125 million (through 2016)

One thing to know: Howard's contract has become a nightmare for the Phillies as they still owe him nearly $60 million and he is a shell of his former self.

It's easy to forget that the Indianapolis 500 is the greatest race on Earth, combining the best of oval-track racing like Nascar with F1-style open-wheel cars that can turn laps of 225 mph.

Then the 2015 race rolls around, takes over Indianapolis for Memorial Day weekend — and sees a shootout among three drivers for victory.

Juan Pablo Montoya took the checkered flag, claiming his second Indy 500 (the first was in 2000).

The 39-year-0ld Colombian started the race well back in the 30th position, but ended up in a duel with Team Penske compatriot Will Power and pole sitter Scott Dixon over the final 10 laps. A final pass after several lead changes gave Montoya the win, with Power coming in second.

The Indy 500 is a unique race — a strategic, team-oriented contest that can often come down to pure driver boldness at the end. A missed pass can drop a competitor back and crush 190 laps of hard work. Montoya had his work cut out for him: Power was last year's second-place finisher, and Dixon won in 2008.

The concluding laps, after a number of crashes had put the race under the yellow flag, were everything a fan could want. Montoya, Power, and Dixon screamed around the turns and straightaways in a tightly packed trio, swapping leads. Montoya found some daylight with three laps to go, and Power couldn't edge out his teammate.

It was then Montoya's turn to head for the victory circle and, for the second time, to drink the traditional milk that comes with an Indy 500 win. We're willing to bet it tasted very sweet.

SEE ALSO: Motorsports Tuesday: Mercedes-AMG and Nico Rosberg dominate in Spain

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The Houston Rockets have been one of the biggest surprises of the season, finishing second in the West in the regular season before making a run to the conference finals.

Despite a star-studded duo of James Harden and Dwight Howard, most people thought the Rockets would fall apart this season after a disastrous offseason that saw them swing for the fences in free agency and come up well short.

Heading into the summer of 2014, the Rockets were bent on adding a third star to their team and unloaded much of their roster to make it work financially. They lost Chandler Parsons to the Dallas Mavericks for nothing, gave a draft pick for the Lakers to take Jeremy Lin, and traded center Omer Asik to the Pelicans just to clear enough cap space.

Instead of using the extra cap space to sign a star, the Rockets missed on their two biggest targets. Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh both re-signed with their original teams for five-year max offers that were worth millions more than the Rockets could offer. Houston was left with a top-heavy team with little depth that many people didn't think could contend in the deep Western Conference.

However, Houston rebounded and wisely used that cap space and found bargain-bin players from around the league to create a diverse, well-rounded team.

Signings (Trevor Ariza, Josh Smith)

In the wake of losing Parsons, the Rockets signed Trevor Ariza to a four-year, $32 million contract. Though Ariza is older and doesn't have the upside of Parsons (or the cheap contract the Rockets could have kept Parsons on), he has filled in more than admirably. Ariza averaged 13 points and five rebounds per game while shooting 35% from three and often defending the opponent's best perimeter player during the regular season. 

The Rockets also made the bold move of signing Josh Smith, the player the Pistons spent $27 million to cut because nobody would trade for him. Smith has long been a divisive player — an elite athlete and defender, one of the best passing big men in the league who shot long jumpers too frequently and slipped into cruise control too easily.

With Houston, however, Smith played near the peak of his capabilities. Smith's basic numbers have been solid — about 12 points, six rebounds, two assists per game in the regular and postseason — but he's become more efficient (a combined 45% from the field, 35% from three-point range) and has been valuable on the court for the Rockets. With Smith on the court, the Rockets had a 7.4 net rating (second on the team) during the regular season and have a 2.6 net rating with Smith on the court in the playoffs, best on the team.

Trades (Jason Terry, Corey Brewer, Pablo Prigioni)

The Rockets have also picked up cheap players in trades throughout the year. They traded for Jason Terry in September, picking up what they thought would be a backup veteran guard. Instead, because of a wrist injury to starting point guard Patrick Beverley, the 37-year-old Terry has been forced to play and has played well, averaging nine points and nearly three assists per game with 38% three-point shooting in the playoffs.

The Rockets also traded for wingman Corey Brewer from the Minnesota Timberwolves midseason for a relatively low cost. Brewer has been productive in the playoffs, averaging 12 points on 46% shooting, 35% from downtown, with three rebounds per game. Though he's far from a go-to scorer, Brewer can heat up quickly, as he did in the Rockets' come-from-behind Game 6 victory over the Clippers, when he scored 15 points in the fourth quarter.

The midseason trade for 38-year-old point guard Pablo Prigioni has been crucial, too. Prigioni, like Terry at the beginning of the season, didn't figure to be a big part of the Rockets' plans, but because of Beverley's injury, he's had to play. While his basic stats are unimpressive, he provides needed ball-handling relief for Terry and Harden, and he's actually a pesky defender, even at his age. With Prigioni on the court, the Rockets have a 104.3 defensive rating in the playoffs, the best number of any regular rotation player on the team. 

The Rockets are still buoyed by Harden and Howard, the latter of whom is finally healthy and has provided the Rockets with a needed defensive anchor. However, what originally looked like a shallow team that would have to rely solely on star power has turned into a fairly well-rounded squad that can throw different looks at opponents.

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Golden State Warriors point guard Steph Curry, took a dramatic fall on the court Monday night. During the second quarter of Game 4 in the Western Conference finals against the Houston Rockets, Curry could be seen flipping over another player and landing on his back, as seen in this Vine, courtesy of Sports Illustrated's David Gardner:

Curry was able to walk off the court as the audience applauded, according to this tweet from the Warriors:

The Warriors say Curry suffered a head contusion, and his return to Monday night's game was uncertain. It appears Curry was able to do some physical activity shortly after the fall, as noted by CBS Sports' Ken Berger:

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LeBron James has an unprecedented amount of power within the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The ways in which this power manifests itself on the court are obvious. Since the beginning of the season he has taken on play-calling responsibilities, effectively eliminated the offense David Blatt installed in the preseason, and decided to play himself at point guard at one point. Without the injured Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love in the Eastern Conference Finals, he has basically become a one-man show, for better or worse.

But plenty of star players have this sort of freedom on the court. Off the court is where LeBron really separates himself.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst went on Zach Lowe's podcast before Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals and discussed LeBron's impending free agency, and he gave some good perspective on how LeBron always gets his way.

When discussing coach Blatt's future, Windhorst, who has been covering LeBron since high school, explained how LeBron uses a "passive-aggressive" strategy to get what he wants when he knows he has leverage.

Here's what Windhorst said when asked if Blatt would be fired:

"I don't feel that there's an issue with the organization [with Blatt]. But I do know this: nobody plays a better passive-aggressive game than LeBron James. LeBron will be a free agent. He's going to not pick up his player option. And there's this perception out there that LeBron got Mike Brown fired when he left the Cavs [in 2010], that's is just absolutely not true. What happened is LeBron went silent. The season ended and LeBron would not return the Cavs' calls, texts, or emails, and they sat around and because LeBron wouldn't say anything they panicked and fired Mike Brown. And this is the way LeBron plays.

(...)

"It's never been in LeBron's M.O. to demand, like, 'Trade this guy, trade that guy, fire this guy, fire that guy.' That's not who he is. But if he plays his passive-aggressive game with his free agency, which is just his way of exerting power, I can't predict what will happen."

When LeBron is in a position of power, he sits quietly and waits for the team to appease him. He's technically not making organizational decisions — and thus shoulders none of the blame — but he is, in a way, coercing his team into making decisions to make him happy.

When LeBron returned to Cleveland, he signed a two-year deal with an opt-out clause after the first year. This wasn't just a savvy financial move, it gave him a ton of leverage over the direction of the team because he can, in theory, leave at any time.

We've already seen LeBron's power in action a number of times this season. Before the year we saw the team sign LeBron's friend Mike Miller to a two-year deal, even though he's well past his prime. We saw the Cavs cave and include Andrew Wiggins in the Kevin Love trade, a move that many have speculated was supported by LeBron. Before the team made the Iman Shumpert/J.R. Smith trade that helped turn around their season, they even went to LeBron for approval.

This summer will be yet another display of LeBron's power. Tristan Thompson, J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, and probably Kevin Love will all be free agents. All of them stand to get significant raises, which would put the Cavs well above the luxury tax line. But LeBron's own free agency puts pressure on the team to re-sign all four of those guys, no matter the price. Not only do they risk looking cheap in LeBron's eyes if they let one of them go, they risk making the team worse before the summer of 2016, when LeBron will likely be a free agent again.

And then there's the David Blatt thing. Given the awkward nature of the LeBron-Blatt relationship, will he be back in 2015-16?

Blatt's future — along with the rest of the Cavs' offseason — is going to be heavily influenced by LeBron.

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You can't rely entirely on your lucky game piece if you want to demolish your friends and family members in a game of Monopoly. Here are a few math-based game tricks that you can take straight to the bank. 

Narrated by Sara Silverstein. Special thanks to Walter Hickey.

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Playing in his final game with SC Freiburg in the German Bundesliga, veteran defender Pavel Krmas was hoping to save his longtime club from relegation. Instead, the 35-year-old sealed Freiburg's fate with a disastrous own goal.

Down 1-0 against Hannover 96, Freiburg goalie Roman Bürki made a beautiful diving save on Hannover's Jimmy Briand's ... only to have Krmas inexplicably kick it back into his own net. Watch the gaffe here:

Disaster:

Freiburg would go on to lose 2-1, with Krmas' mishap being the deciding goal. To make matters worse, Freiburg finished only a single point behind Hamburger SV and Hertha Berlin in the standings and three points behind Hannover. A draw would have put them in a four-way tie for 17th place, and they would have stayed in the league on goal difference.

Instead, after a six-year stint in the Bundesliga, Freiburg will now drop back down to the German second division.

Watch the whole video here:

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Josh Smith hit a low point in December when the Detroit Pistons paid him $26 million to go away, buying him out of his contract after failing to trade him.

Smith was having a poor season, shooting 39% from the floor and 24% from three-point range, with an overall net negative rating when he was on the court.

However, since leaving the Pistons and joining the Houston Rockets as a free agent, he has had a revitalization. 

Smith's versatility is key for the Rockets. At 6'9", he's an athletic big who can play and guard several positions, handle the ball like a guard, and (when he's on) space the floor with three-point shooting. Though Smith has always been a frustrating player because of his own inconsistencies — something that hasn't changed in the playoffs — when "Good Josh Smith" is around, he takes the Rockets to a new level.

In the postseason, the Rockets are outscoring opponents by 0.2 points per 100 possessions when Smith on the court. While that number is unimpressive on its surface, consider it's the second-highest mark on the team, ahead of players like James Harden, Trevor Ariza, Jason Terry, and Terrence Jones. When Smith is off the court, the Rockets are being outscored by almost five points per 100 possessions.

Smith's versatility allows the Rockets to send some different looks on the court. They can play "big" with Dwight Howard at center and Smith as a power forward, where his shooting and passing in narrow spaces is crucial, or they can go "small," with Smith and another power forward splitting time as the de facto centers. When the Rockets go small, it creates interesting matchups in which Smith is key because of his versatility and ability to hit threes.

The latter has been perhaps Smith's biggest development this postseason. Smith shot 33% from three during the regular season with Houston and is a career 28.5% three-point shooter. However, in the playoffs, Smith is shooting a career-high 39% from downtown. In the Western Conference Finals, he has hit 8-19 from three-point range, good for 42%. The Warriors like to grant Smith space on the perimeter, encouraging him to shoot. However, when he's hitting them, he can walk into easy, free points like this:

As ProBasketball Talk's Kurt Helin noted, Smith has also been key in the Rockets' resiliency this postseason. In four elimination games this year — three against the Clippers in addition to Monday night's victory over the Warriors — Smith has averaged 15.7 points on 64% shooting, 53% from three, five rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game.

However, Smith still has a tendency to disappear at times, and it's put Houston in some bad spots this postseason. In the first four games of the second-round series with the Clippers, Smith averaged six points on 29% shooting. In a critical Game 2 loss to the Warriors, in which the Rockets staged a big comeback only to fall apart in 48 seconds, Smith had just 10 points on 5-17 shooting with one rebound and two assists.

The Rockets need Smith to realize their full potential. Kevin McHale told Houston Chronicle's Jenny Dial Creech, "We don’t get to where we are this year without Josh."

The Rockets are still down 3-1 to the Warriors, and no team in NBA history has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in the postseason. The Rockets rely on James Harden and Dwight Howard first and foremost, but Smith is their X factor, and if he's playing to the peak of his abilities, he gives the Rockets a chance to get back in the series.

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US women's national team forward Alex Morgan is one of the best and most recognizable soccer players in the world heading into the Women's World Cup in Canada.

But when she was one of the three finalists for the FIFA World Player of the Year Award in 2012, FIFA president Sepp Blatter didn't even know who she was, Morgan told Time.

From Morgan:

I have experienced sexism multiple times, and I'm sure I will a lot more. I feel like I'm fighting for female athletes. At the FIFA World Player of the Year event, FIFA executives and FIFA president Sepp Blatter didn't know who I was. And I was being honored as top three in the world. That was pretty shocking.

This isn't the first time Blatter, who recently called himself "a godfather" of women's soccer, has been embroiled in controversy surrounding the women's game. In 2004 Blatter suggested female soccer players should wear tighter shorts to generate more publicity.

Let the women play in more feminine clothes like they do in volleyball. They could, for example, have tighter shorts. Female players are pretty, if you excuse me for saying so, and they already have some different rules to men — such as playing with a lighter ball. That decision was taken to create a more female aesthetic, so why not do it in fashion?

More recently, players around the world were in an uproar over the use of artificial turf, instead of grass, at the Women's World Cup. Many players believe playing on artificial turf leads to more injuries and slows down the tempo of the game.

No men's World Cup has ever been played on artificial turf. The women originally planned to sue FIFA and the Canadian Soccer Association, believing they were being discriminated against based on their gender, before ultimately deciding to drop the suit to focus on the event.

While Morgan continues to prepare with the US national team, Blatter is running for a fifth term as FIFA's president. Elections will be held May 29.

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Fans have just assumed that HBO's "Silicon Valley" based its raunchy venture capitalist Russell Hanneman on Mark Cuban, but Sunday's episode pretty much answers the question.

In a scene with the guys of Pied Piper, Russ (Chris Diamantopoulos) says that he has been informed that his net worth had fallen below a billion dollars. The news sent him into a tailspin and he asked the guys to prematurely jump to a revenue-producing model of Pied Piper.

During that conversation, he describes the moment he became a billionaire.

"I remember the second I became a billionaire," Russ said. "I was a-- naked, sitting right there, just clicking and refreshing, clicking and refreshing, watching the stock rise. And when it happened, I popped a [expletive] so fast I went blind for a full minute, [expletive] all over those cushions."

Sound familiar?

Cuban told a very similar story (minus the raunchy, expletive part) in August 2014 during a podcast interview.

"Literally, I was sitting in front of a computer, naked, hitting the refresh because we were close — waiting until my net worth hit that billion when the stock price got to a certain point, and then I kinda screamed and jumped around and then got dressed," the "Shark Tank" co-host said.

Cuban didn't immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment on the "Silicon Valley" scene.

So, Russell and Cuban are both colorful characters. They both brought radio to the internet in billion dollar deals. They both have invested in several companies. And now, both of them watched their money grow to the billion dollar level. Those are some pretty compelling similarities.

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The U.S. women's national team enters the 2015 Women's World Cup in Canada as one of the favorites to win it all.

But if they're going to win their first World Cup since 1999, they'll have to do it out of the toughest group in the tournament.

The U.S. landed Sweden (ranked 5th in the world), Australia (10th), and Nigeria (33rd) at the draw in December. It was declared the Group of Death by FiveThirtyEight and others at the time, and things haven't changed much in the six months since.

The groups:

Some quick notes on why the U.S. group is so tough:

• The U.S.'s three opponents have an average of 1869.7 FIFA ranking points (highest of any group) and an average rank of 16th (2nd-highest of any group).
• Sweden is the best non-seeded team in the tournament. They're ranked higher than seeded teams Canada and Brazil. Apparently, Brazil was seeded over them by FIFA for geographical reasons.
• Australia, the third-ranked team in the U.S.'s group, would be the second-ranked team in all but one other group.
• The average U.S. group stage opponent (16.0) ranks 34 spots higher in the world rankings than the average Japan group stage opponent (40.0).

It's a tough group. The U.S. lost to Sweden at the Algarve Cup in 2014 — the same competition at which they lost 5-3 to Denmark, a team ranked below Australia. 

But as bad as it looks, the U.S. still has a good shot at making the knockout stages even if they stumble a bit. There are 24 teams at this year's World Cup and 16 will make the knockout rounds. At the last World Cup in 2011, there were 16 teams and eight made the knockout rounds. 

This year the top two teams in all six groups advance to the Round of 16 — as they do in the men's World Cup — but so do the four third-place teams with the most points. That gives the USWNT a good amount of wiggle room. Over the last three World Cups, half of the teams that finished in third place in their groups ended up with exactly 3 points. So even if the U.S. loses to Sweden and Australia, they have a chance to advance if they beat Nigeria by enough to make up the goal difference. If the U.S. finishes with 4 points or more, they should be all but guaranteed a place in the knockout rounds.

It's a rough draw, but the tournament format means it might not matter all that much.

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Tristan Thompson has emerged as a vital player for the Cleveland Cavaliers this postseason.

Following Kevin Love's season-ending injury, Thompson's minutes have jumped to 39 per game, and he's averaging nine points, 10 rebounds, and one block on 57% shooting.

Because of the Cavs' lack of depth, Thompson is hugely important, and he's producing in his big minutes. With Thompson on the floor, the Cavs are outscoring opponent by 10 points per 100 possessions, and their offensive rating improves from 107.6 to 109.8.

However, Cleveland will be in an awkward position this summer when Thompson becomes a restricted free agent. Early in the season, the Cavs attempted to retain Thompson long term by offering him a four-year, $52 million extension. Amazingly, Thompson turned it down.

This kind of move has worked for players in the past. Jimmy Butler looks like a genius for turning down a $40 million extension in October since he'll receive a max contract this summer. However, Butler is one of the best two-way players in the NBA. Thompson is a serviceable big man, a rebounding savant who's limited on the offensive end and decent on defense. For as well-paid as big men in the NBA are, committing any more than $13 million a season to Thompson is pushing the boundaries on what he's worth.

As a restricted free agent, the Cavs can match any offer Thompson receives. However, the Cavaliers are in a tough spot because Iman Shumpert will also be a restricted free agent, and J.R. Smith and Kevin Love both have player options this summer, which they can choose to take or become free agents (however, they'd both be smart to opt in and become free agents in 2016 when the salary cap jumps when the NBA's new TV deal kicks in).

If the Cavs retain all of these players at market value (along with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving on max deals), their payroll will skyrocket into luxury tax territory, resulting in harsh financial penalties from the NBA and little flexibility to make roster improvements in free agency.

Making matters more awkward, LeBron is already campaigning for Thompson, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin. James told reporters:

"Tristan should probably be a Cavalier for his whole career... There's no reason why he shouldn't... This guy is 24 years old. He's played in 340-plus straight games, and he's gotten better every single season. It's almost like what more can you ask out of a guy, even though we ask for more out of him."

James added:

"He plays his heart out every single night, and he has zero sense of entitlement in this league. All he cares about is coming into work. Whatever is given to him, he relishes the opportunity, and he's a great teammate. So he'll be here for a long time."

James wields an unprecedented amount of power with the Cavaliers, and is basically putting the onus on the Cavs to re-sign Thompson. Additionally, LeBron is represented by agent and friend Rich Paul of Klutch Sports Group, which also represents Thompson. In October, Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Thompson "has a decided advantage as a James underling to negotiate a better-than-market value deal with the Cavaliers."

Cleveland would obviously love to re-sign Thompson, as noted by their big offer before the season, but doing so will either require a big financial commitment to their current core of players or letting go of one of Shumpert, Smith, or Love.

Even with the huge salary cap jump down the road, the Cavs risk overpaying Thompson if they try to re-sign him before other teams come calling this summer. The ideal situation for the Cavs may be to let Thompson dangle in free agency, wait until a team offers him a contract, and then match it.

Though a team might intentionally offer Thompson a bloated contract to try and lure him from the Cavs, it likely wouldn't be much higher than the $13 million per season he was offered at the beginning of the year. The most an opposing team could offer Thompson is about four years, $71 million, and that's assuming any team would want to give a somewhat limited role player a max contract.

The bigger problem for Cleveland is that they're now under pressure from James to re-sign Thompson, and they may be forced to implicate their long-term financial flexibility to do so.

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The Philadelphia Phillies haven't been to the postseason since 2011, and after a dismal start to the year has them sitting at 19-28 and fourth in the NL East, some fans have been clamoring for the team to call up highly-touted prospects Aaron Nola and Zach Eflin to the majors.

Both Nola and Eflin are having very successful seasons on the Phillies' AA affiliate, the Reading Fightin Phils. Nola, the seventh overall pick in last year's draft, is 6-3 with a 1.87 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP. Eflin, acquired in the Jimmy Rollins trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers this past off-season, is 4-3 with a 2.28 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP.

When speaking with CSN's Jim Salisbury, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. not only shot down the idea of either of the right-handed pitchers getting called up anytime soon, but criticized fans for even suggesting it:

"They don’t understand the game. They don’t understand the process. There’s a process. And then they b**** and complain because we don’t have a plan. There’s a plan in place and we’re sticking with the plan. We can’t do what’s best for the fan. We have to do what’s best for the organization so the fan can reap the benefit of it later on. That’s the truth."

After reading Amaro's comments, fans took to Twitter to air their displeasure: 

Amaro later appeared on the 94WIP with Howard Eskin to try to clarify his earlier comments:

 "I didn’t say they don’t understand. Some fans don’t understand it’s not all Philadelphia fans. That was not the purpose of it. It is some fans who think that bringing [Zach] Eflin and [Aaron] Nola, for instance, to the Major Leagues at this time is the right thing for the organization. It’s those fans that really quite, don’t know — or bringing young minor league players to the Major Leagues before it’s time for them to really be ready to reap the benefits of being in the Major League. It’s those fans that really don’t understand."

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As the Oakland Raiders seemingly plot a move to Los Angeles, government officials in Oakland and Alameda County aren't willing to spend millions in taxpayer money on a new stadium that would keep the team in town.

Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf said she wouldn't support using public funds on a proposed $900 million stadium that currently faces a $400 million funding gap, according to Rachel Swan of the San Francisco Chronicle.

And why not?

Aside from the obvious, well-documented issues with spending public money on sports stadiums, the city and the county are still paying off the publicly funded stadium renovations that originally brought the team back to Oakland in 1995.

According to Swan, Oakland and Alameda County "still have to pay an outstanding balance of $80 million in bonds" related to the O.co Coliseum project, and they'll be paying it off until 2026.

"That money we’re paying now is general-fund money we could spend on police, parks or libraries," Schaaf said.

The Raiders are currently working on a stadium project in the Los Angeles area with the San Diego Chargers. Both franchises have faced local opposition to the use of public funds to build new stadiums for them.

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23-year-old golfer Byeong-hun An took home the BMW PGA Championship title on the European Tour, finishing 21-under par, upsetting the favorite Rory McIlroy.

In an interview after the tournament, An called his parents, Jae-hyung An and Jiao Zhimin, both medalists in table tennis at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, his inspiration, but noted that golf is more his speed:

"I mean, I wasn't very — I wasn't an athlete guy I think. Probably golf is the only sport I can play. I'm really slow and heavy [laughing]. I've never thought about playing table tennis. That's what my parents said, too, I don't think you can play table tennis. I don't think I'm quick enough."

Listed at 6'2", 209 pounds, An is bigger than most golfers. McIlroy is listed at 5'9", 161 pounds, for example, and Masters winner Jordan Spieth is listed at 6'1", 185 pounds.

According to ESPN's Alex Perry, An's win moved him into the top-60 in the world and got him an invitation to the U.S. Open in June and Open Championship in July.

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Authorities in Zurich, Switzerland on Wednesday arrested several high-ranking FIFA officials on racketeering and corruption charges and will likely extradite them to the United States, the New York Times reported.

In an extensive statement, the US Department of Justice accused the officials of a "24-year scheme to enrich themselves through the corruption of international soccer."

The DOJ's indictment includes 14 defendants with racketeering, wire fraud, money laundering conspiracies, and other offenses. 

Swiss prosecutors announced on Wednesday that they have opened criminal proceedings into both upcoming World Cups — the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Both tournaments will still take place as planned, officials said in a press conference on Wednesday.

The Swiss Attorney General has seized documents related to the case, according to a statement. The documents will be used in criminal proceedings both in Switzerland and abroad.

The Swiss investigation is independent from the US Attorney's Office probe that resulted in the arrest of the FIFA officials in Zurich. In the Swiss case, FIFA is considered the injured party, FIFA spokesperson Walter de Gregorio said at a press conference.

"The timing may not be obviously the best but definitely FIFA welcomes this process and cooperates fully with the attorney general of Switzerland and the federal office of justice," Gregorio said. "In this case, FIFA is the damaged party. This leads to the fact that there were no searches within the offices of FIFA, the people of the federal attorney are here, we cooperate with them, we provide all the information requested by them and this is for our own interest."

Gregorio noted that the president of FIFA, Sepp Blatter, is not involved in the Swiss procedure.

The Times, citing anonymous law enforcement officials, said the US federal charges span two decades of misconduct in soccer's world governing body. Officials told the Times that the US investigation is still ongoing and that Blatter has not been cleared of wrongdoing.

FIFA officials are in Zurich for the congress where Blatter faces a challenge from Jordan's Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein in a presidential election on Friday. The election will go forward as planned, FIFA officials said in a press conference.

According to a statement released early Wednesday from the Federal Office of Justice in Switzerland, the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District in New York is investigating several officials "on suspicion of the acceptance of bribes and kick-backs between the early 1990s and the present day."

That investigation involves schemes to pay FIFA officials and "other functionaries of FIFA sub-organizations more than $100 million."

The FOJ says that, in return, those various individuals and entities at the center of the investigation received "media, marketing, and sponsorship rights in connection with soccer tournaments in Latin America." The statement continues, saying "these crimes were agreed and prepared in the US, and payments were carried out via US banks."

American Chuck Blazer, a former top-ranking FIFA executive, was reportedly an informant for the FBI in the investigation, The New York Daily News reported in November.

The Times reports that these FIFA executives were charged: Jeffrey Webb, Eugenio Figueredo, Jack Warner, Eduardo Li, Julio Rocha, Costas Takkas, Rafael Esquivel, José Maria Marin, and Nicolás Leoz. Sports marketing executives Alejandro Burzaco, Aaron Davidson, Hugo Jinkis, and Mariano Jinkis are also expected to be charged, along with José Margulies, who authorities saw was an intermediary who facilitated illegal payments.

Here is the full FOJ statement:

FIFA is hosting a press conference here at 5:15 a.m. eastern time:

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FIFA's director of communications and public affairs Walter De Gregorio said in a press conference in Zurich on Wednesday that the World Cup in Russia in 2018 and the World Cup in Qatar will still go ahead, despite a corruption probe into football's governing body that has seen the arrest of several high-ranking FIFA officials on racketeering and corruption charges.

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland said in a statement on Wednesday it had opened up criminal proceedings "against persons unknown on suspicion of criminal mismanagement and of money laundering in connection with the allocation of the 2018 and 2022 football World Cups."

A separate probe has been opened up by the US Attorney's office which resulted in the arrest of nine FIFA officials and five corporate executives on Wednesday on charges of racketeering conspiracy and corruption which dates back to the 1990s, which could result in their extradition to the US. Officials are being investigated on the suspicion and acceptance of bribes and kickbacks for tournaments in the US and Latin America — including marketing, sponsorship, and media deals — that could total more than $100 million.

The Swiss and US law enforcement have co-ordinated on the proceedings, to avoid possible collusion, but these are not joint investigations.

Speaking at FIFA's press conference on Wednesday, Gregorio said in the Swiss case, FIFA is considered the "injured party." He added: "The timing may not be obviously the best but definitely FIFA welcomes this process and cooperates fully with the attorney general of Switzerland and the Federal Office of Justice."

Asked by a member of the press whether there should be a re-vote over where the 2018 and 2022 World Cups will be held, Gregorio responded: "Russia and Qatar will still be going ahead."

Pressed further by another journalist who asked how FIFA could categorically say those tournaments would still go ahead, Gregorio said: "What do you expect from us? You start to speculate [that for] Qatar and Russia [we will] have to re-do voting. Russia and Qatar will be played. That is fact today. Not more and not less."

FIFA officials are in Zurich for the FIFA Congress where FIFA president Blatter faces a challenge from Jordan's Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein in a presidential election on Friday. Blatter is not involved in the Swiss procedure, Gregorio confirmed, adding that FIFA does not plan to postpone either the Congress or the election following the events on Wednesday.

The bidding process surrounding the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups has been mired in controversy, which has seen members of FIFA's executive committee have been suspended following accusations they were given cash in exchange for voting for Qatar.

But a FIFA report published last fall, which has still yet to be published in full, from independent investigator and former federal prosecutor Michael Garcia into the alleged vote-buying, concluded there had not been enough wrong-doing to question the bidding process. It meant that Qatar and Russia would not face any sanctions from FIFA.

Garcia subsequently resigned from his role as FIFA independent investigator in December, protesting the way the governing body had handled the report, saying the 42-page summary FIFA did publish in November by German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert contained "numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations of facts and conclusions."

Several World Cup sponsors including Visa and Coca-Cola came out last year castigating FIFA's handling of its investigation into the bidding process.

Business Insider has contacted all the World Cup sponsors for comment on today's arrests, but at the time of writing, none had responded.

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Authorities reportedly arrested more than a dozen people as part of its investigation of FIFA corruption on Wednesday, The New York Times reported.

And the man who reportedly helped the FBI build its case is a former top-ranking FIFA executive from New York City. The New York Daily News published an investigation about former FIFA Executive Committee member Chuck Blazer's involvement in the corruption case in November, and BuzzFeed wrote about the "swindling suburban soccer dad" in June.

Blazer was "one of the most powerful men in world soccer" before he left FIFA in 2013 amid an ethics investigation, according to SB Nation, which noted that Blazer likely cooperated with the FBI's FIFA investigation in order to avoid jail time.

Blazer has pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, income tax evasion and failure to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR), according to a US Department of Justice statement released on Wednesday.

Those arrested on corruption charges on Wednesday include some of FIFA's highest-ranking officials. While FIFA President Sepp Blatter was not among those arrested, officials told the Times that the investigation is still ongoing and that Blatter has not been cleared of wrongdoing.

The arrests came as FIFA officials gathered in Zurich for their annual meeting. Arrested officials are expected to be extradited to the US, according to the Times. Authorities allege that the officials accepted million in bribes and kick-backs from the 1990s to today.

While Blazer's role in the case has not been officially confirmed by authorities, he's suspected of being a key player in the investigation.

How Blazer became an FBI informant 

Blazer reportedly turned on Jack Warner, the former president of FIFA's governing body for soccer in North America and the Caribbean, when he realized that he might be linked to Warner's ethics violations.

Blazer was reportedly Warner's right-hand man, and likely turned Warner in to ethics investigators to avoid being labeled a co-conspirator once Warner's transgressions became so obvious that it was likely he'd be caught, according to the Daily News. Warner was among the officials arrested on Wednesday.

The FBI and IRS reportedly convinced Blazer to cooperate by telling him they knew that he'd been evading taxes for decades.

To help the FBI build its case, Blazer reportedly took a keychain with a tiny microphone embedded in it around with him to meetings with FIFA officials, according to the Daily News. Some of these meetings took place at the London Olympics in 2012. Blazer reportedly emailed the officials the FBI was targeting and arranged to meet them at the games.

Blazer's lavish lifestyle

Blazer himself was reportedly enjoyed the perks of his position. The Daily News wrote about the millions of dollars he charged to credit cards to fund his extravagent lifestyle, which reportedly included a Trump Tower apartment just for his cats.

From 1996 to 2011, Blazer reportedly made $15.3 million in commission from sponsorships and TV rights, revenue from match tickets, and sales of luxury suite rentals, parking and venue concessions, according to the Daily News. Blazer allegedly hid the money in shell companies. He also earned millions more for his position with CONCACAF, the governing body of soccer in North America and the Caribbean.

CONCACAF reportedly paid thousands of dollars for fancy apartments and a Hummer car for Blazer, who racked up millions in personal expenses that CONCACAF paid for.

Blazer was known for eating at expensive restaurants frequented by celebrities and flying on private jets. He had a luxury condo in the Bahamas and had reportedly met Vladimir Putin, Hillary Clinton, Pope John Paul II, and Nelson Mandela, according to BuzzFeed.

CONCACAF investigated Blazer and in 2013 found that he defrauded the confederation, according to BuzzFeed.

How Blazer rose to the top of international soccer

Blazer's rise within FIFA was meteoric. In 1989, he was an unemployed suburban soccer dad who was stuck in debt, according to an extensive BuzzFeed profile of him. 

Blazer first got involved in soccer when his son started playing in 1976. He started coaching the team and became more deeply involved in the sport, despite never having played himself. He eventually graduated from his roles in youth soccer to and moved up the ranks of state and national soccer organizations. 

Blazer got elected executive vice president of the United States Soccer Federation in 1984. Blazer lost his spot within the USSF in 1986 when he failed to get reelected, but then he co-founded a new professional league called the American Soccer League, which eventually merged with another league after only two seasons, BuzzFeed reported.

Blazer met Warner in 1984 when they were both serving at CONCACAF. The pair became friends at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, according to BuzzFeed. Blazer convinced Warner to run for president of CONCACAF, and Blazer ran his campaign. When Warner won, he appointed Blazer general secretary in charge of the confederation's daily operations.

Blazer reportedly knew a lot about the business side of soccer and was an audacious salesman, making him a good candidate for reviving soccer in America.

Ken Bensinger wrote in BuzzFeed: "[Blazer] helped win Major League Soccer’s first real TV contract, and [last year] the MLS inked a $720 million TV deal. The U.S. national team, which he helped promote, is now a World Cup mainstay, ranked higher than powers such as France and the Netherlands. And more people in America are playing soccer than any team sport save basketball."

Blazer eventually got a spot on FIFA's Executive Committee, the first American to do so in nearly 50 years, and reportedly helped turn FIFA into a "profit machine," according to BuzzFeed.

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