Pictured above: the sports book at the Monte Carlo Casino in Las Vegas. At some point in the 30-odd hours I’ll be sauntering in there to lay some money down on either Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz (35-3, 17KO) or Juan “Dinamita” Marquez (50-5-1, 37KO). Which Juan should I pick? (Went for it…)

I recently enjoyed the privilege of informing the group of guys who I’m traveling to Vegas with this weekend for a bachelor party (my first time in Vegas in fact) that we’ll be out there for the fight of the year. Depending on how everyone does at craps table, perhaps some of my comrades will join me in laying down some winnings on the fight. I’m definitely betting on this fight, and I’m leaning towards Diaz at the moment – just because I want to root for him.

Boxing trainer and fight writer, Gordon Marino, breaks down Diaz-Marquez II over a Huffington Post. Check out a clip below of the their first meeting back in Feb ’09, ruled in Marquez’s favor in the ninth round.

NOTE: I previously posted that I was looking for a good boxing book, and was advised by the good men at No Mas to read The Harder They Fall by Budd Schulberg. Just finished it. I Highly recommend it.

T.O. is taking his pageantry to Cincinnati. Ochocinco and him are already acting foolish together on Twitter.

Big deal. Did you see the music video for Dancing Pigeons’ song Ritalin? Boy, oh, boy, it’s good.

Dancing Pigeons – Ritalin from Blink on Vimeo.

via Laughing Squid

I’d like to go on record saying that I’m extremely surprised – but no less satisfied that it exists – that an ad aligning the longevity of the Isner-Mahut match with sexual longevity only got 756 views (as of this moment) on YouTube.

H/T to SI’s Bryan Armen Graham for tweeting this a few minutes ago.

The annual American Century Tahoe Celebrity Golf tournament took place over the weekend in Lake Tahoe. It’s always a character driven event. Posted some quick photos of the newly kempt, but no less ridiculous Jared Allen, the ever increasingly sinister Michael Jordan, and others below.

Golf Digest’s senior travel editor Matt Ginella (I want your job) posted a good write-up on the event – check out Lance Armstrong’s mom, stuck in a bunker.

In lieu of being able to be Ginella, I’ll be trying my hand at the game American Century has posted on WGT.com that allows you to play the back nine at Edgewood Tahoe. One lucky winner is going to win a trip to the 2011 tournament. I’m still trying to get my swing down, good thing this game is nicely addictive.

It’s been a little over week since World Cup 2010 came to a close, and there are precisely 1,418 days until the next World Cup. Here are just a few of the things I’m doing in the short term to keep the momentum going:

• For starters, I’m planning on watching the MLS All-Stars vs. Manchester United match next Wednesday. Hope to see something reminiscent of the fan activity that I saw during the World Cup at whatever bar I end up at (MLS vs. Manchester United, July 28th, 7:30 EST)

• I’m going to read Soccernomics. Been told that it’s perfect for fans of Moneyball

• Going to attend my first MLS game, and it should be a good one I’m told – LA Galaxy vs. NY Red Bulls, August 14th; Henry vs. Donovan

From there, hopefully I’ll find myself at a few choice NYC bars – Central Bar, you’re a fantastic soccer bar – for some EPL games, which I’m told mostly happen in the early morning EST. I’m not opposed to starting off my Saturday (or my Wednesday) in this manner.

It’s no exaggeration, thanks to the World Cup I became a newly co-opted soccer fan. Special thanks is deserved to the folks at Verizon who hooked me up with a Droid Incredible to go around and take pictures of World Cup as it was happening in New York City.

Check out the full digest of pictures on Flickr, and some of the real time updates I was making on Tumblr at: 8000MilesAway.com.

Here’s the best of the best of the 15 games, at 12 different locations, that I took in during the World Cup…

Enjoy, and as my buddy Dave, who’s taking me to that Red Bulls game, told me: If you save $3 a day, you could go to Brazil in 2014.

8000 Miles Away: Best of World Cup: Part One

8000 Miles Away: Best of World Cup: Part Two

Thierry Henry stopped by for a three minute segment with Fallon last night. Jimmy conducted a short interview in which he proceeded to remind Henry what a nightmare the World Cup was, then Jimmy got in goal…

Soccer Star Thierry Henry Takes Shots on Jimmy

I didn’t watch the ESPYs last night for fear that Brian Kownacki and Fordham baseball would lose out for Best Play – they did, to frickin’ Favre. However, I appreciate the effort put forth by the following players who (it seems like, at least) made the broadcast a success:

• Chris Johnson, who succeeding in thanking god, Twitter, Ustream (I believe in that order)

• Steve Carrell and Paul Rudd who succeeded in mocking The Decision (check that off the list)

• Brooklyn Decker, who succeeded in appearing mesmerizing

The AP reported this morning that French striker Thierry Henry joined the New York Red Bulls today, and is scheduled to see his first action with the team on June 22 when the Red Bulls face the English Premiership squad from Tottenham Hottspur FC.

Naturally, the Red Bulls website is lousy with all things Henry at the moment. I’m going to act like a real fanboy and link you to some of the items, like this pretty stylish t-shirt.

I’d say Henry’s arrival is a pretty good opportunity for the newly co-opted soccer fans in the metro-NY area to keep the World Cup fervor going. I have tickets for the August 14th match between the Red Bulls and Landon Donovan and the LA Galaxy.

Check out this behind-the-scenes video from the team’s site of Henry’s recent Red Bulls photo shoot.

(Screenshot via NewYorkRedBulls.com)

Posted today on the Cavs’ NBA.com site:

I checked a few other news sections of NBA.com team sites, and it’s a Times News Roman and Helvetica festival, so it’s not like we’re having fun at the expense of Dan due to some outbrain league look-and-feel policy. Although I’m starting to think that some we might be making fun of him due to some web dev practical joke.

H/T @ Darren Rovell for finding this.

Lebron probably believes that whole mixtapes dedicated to his kingship settling in the Southeast are in the works, but for now he’ll have to settle for Clipse’s Pusha T making mention of his free agency process in a freestyle.

Miss Info has the full detail on Pusha T and ‘Bidding War.’ It has more to do with an upcoming collaboration with Kanye West, and less to do with Lebron’s calamitous bilking in the media.