Ever since Tiger Woods won the US Open in epic fashion and then announced he is taking the rest of the year off to rehab his knee, there hasn't been much to report in the world of golf. That is, until the 'Tiger Woods Apple Core Saga of 2008'.

Darren Rovell, from CNBC, is keeping track of the remnants of an apple supposedly eaten by Tiger Woods during his glorious US Open run. It's a story of intrigue, hard reporting, America's most beloved piece of fruit and mystery.

Rovell first started this journey of produce investigation by tracking down and messaging the 'buyer' and 'seller' of the Tiger Woods apple core that sold for $36,000 on eBay this week. The seller's description here:

"I was at the US Open this Friday, following Tiger Woods down the 12th Fairway, after his tee shot, he was eating an apple, 30 yards from his ball he discarded his apple core in the rough, I asked a photographer to kick it over my way, and he did, I never touched the core, Scooped it up in a empty beer cup, as not to disrupt the DNA, I've got lots of witness'...all moneys go to my daughters college fund."

Rovell doesn't believe it. He's a man of facts and mission, and without (1.) photos of Tiger eating said apple, (2.) a written letter from Tiger explaining he did indeed discard an apple matching that description, or (3.) signed affidavits corroborating the seller's story from several eyewitness friends, vindication will not arrive from that particular CNBC reporter. (More photos and speculation after the jump):

(The '$36,000' - first apple)

It turned out to all be for nought anyway, as eBay has removed the apple from its listing. Additionally the 'buyer' of the $36,000 apple responded to Rovell saying he had no intention of paying for it and that it was merely a joke to bid on it. The prankster 'buyer' also revealed the somewhat dismaying fact that he did not earn that amount of money during a year of work.

But the saga does not end there, my friends. Another eBay Tiger Woods apple has emerged for sale. Having become an expert on celebrity apples this morning, I can safely say this new apple looks to be more authentic. Although the 'evidence' is still not up to Rovell's standards, I am quite impressed with the accompanying US Open plastic cup and the intact, analyzable dirt particles stuck into the apple.

(The second and 'more believable' $630 apple?)

Plus it's a green granny smith apple, that totally seems like Tiger's playoff snack style. And to sweeten the deal, Tiger supposedly ate this apple during the suspense-filled playoffs against Rocco Mediate in the US Open.

This thing is up to $630 this morning, so if I were you I would act fast. And if you're the type of person that would buy this apple, would you also finish eating it or save it? A friend of mine thinks by eating it, you might be transferred Wood's golfing prowess. It's possible, right?

CNBC: Getting To The 'Core' of the Tiger Woods Apple, June 26, 2008

CNBC: Tiger Apple Core Proven Fake Until Real, June 25, 2008

USA Today: Tiger collector to eBay: How do you like these apples?, June 25, 2008

eBay: The Real Deal Apple?

Phil Ivey, a professional poker player, made a huge $2 Million bet on the LA Lakers to win the NBA Playoffs this year. And with the Lakers losing the first two games to the Boston Celtics, Ivey was sweating big time.

The Tao of Poker blog recounts the evening last night when he witnessed Ivey competing in the preliminary rounds of the World Series of Poker while trying to keep track of the Lakers in game 3 of the series.

According to a post on the blog by Pauly:

Ivey was intensely sweating Game 3. He supposedly greased the guy with the remote to turn off the [WSOP] tournament clock and put the Lakers/Celtics game on instead...

...The game started right around 6pm. For the next three hours, Ivey could not sit still. He stood up a lot, paced back and forth, and constantly checked his crackberry. I had never seen so much emotion out of Ivey before. His usual expressionless face that was cool as a tenor sax solo from John Coltrane had disappeared and replaced by intervals of anxiety.

Check out some of these glorious photos of the man stressin' out after the jump:

The rest of the photos and Ivey's happy face when the Lakers won at Tao of Poker.

Yeah, the Lakers won Game 3 and Ivey was happy, but this guy has some serious balls. A $2 million bet is insane. Especially with the exposed and disgraced former NBA ref, Tim Donaghy, claiming that the NBA wanted him to fix games for better ratings, I wonder if bets like Ivey's are coming under extra scrutiny. Could the guy know more than he's letting on?

Yeah, I know, entirely unlikely. And Donaghy is definitely full of crap. But come on, a $2 million bet against the team (Celtics) with the best regular season record?

I think this bet got me more interested in the Finals.

Tao of Poker via Opening Bell

Minor League Baseball is well known for its wacky promotions and free giveaways, but this one might be going a little too far.

The independent league Grand Prairie Airhogs, playing out of Grand Prairie, Texas (between Dallas and Fort Worth), are giving away an all expenses paid funeral to a fan at today's game.

According to the team's press release:

“We thought this promotion was a great opportunity for us to showcase Irving’s newest funeral home,” said Chapel of Roses Funeral Director, Charlotte Chism Waldrum. “We are excited to be partnering with the AirHogs in their inaugural season."

Upon the winning fan's death they will be garnered with a casket with their choice of color (black?), professional fees (undertaker charges), burial preparation (embalming), use of facilities (burial plot space), vehicle services (hearse), and the burial plot will also include a 24" x 14" granite marker with a zinc base. You gotta go with the zinc on that kind of hardware.

As the press release continues, more strange details emerge:

Fans of all ages are welcome to participate in the promotion. Registration will be accepted immediately and will continue until 6:15p.m. on June 3. Fans can either call to register or can visit the fan assistance booth during the games. Twenty people will be selected randomly from the pre-entries and will be announced after the pre-game funeral march. Throughout the game, competitions will be held between the twenty selected to determine who will be the winner. The lucky individual will be selected in the middle of the eighth inning.

Some of the in-game-festivities will include: pallbearer races, mummy wrapping, eulogy deliveries, and much more! Fans are encouraged to wear black to the game.

You've gotta be kidding me with this one. Fans of all ages? What if some little kid ends up winning this thing? That's going to be pretty morbid. And it appears as though 'The Airhogs' have very little respect for the dead with 'games' like pallbearer races and eulogy contests.

However, as far as funeral home/minor league baseball promotions go, this is some brilliant marketing. Being the inaugural 'season' for both the team and the funeral home, it's a can't miss crossover, right? Everybody's gotta die sometime.

Grand Prairie Airhogs: Airhogs Give Away Free Funeral, June 3, 2008

CNBC Sports Biz: Free Funeral, The Latest Promotional 'Plot' For Baseball, June 3, 2008

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) continues to expand and so do their payroll numbers.

Our friends over at CagePotato explain the numbers for this weekend's UFC 84 and point out some major wage discrepancies.

To read about it, go here.

The rise of sovereign wealth funds benefited big banks on the verge of ruin last year, could the same happen to some of our suckiest sports teams? I swear, if they get rid of our cheerleaders, I'll take up chess.

Soccer's top league, the English Premier League, is facing serious issues of foreign ownership. Billionaire Russian oligarchs, Chinese businessmen, a few sheikhs from the Middle East, and even a couple of dastardly Americans have taken over ownership of the game's most prestigious soccer clubs.

American businessman Malcolm Glazer, the owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, currently also owns Manchester United. While Tom Hicks (Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers) last year purchased famed Liverpool FC jointly with George Gillet (Montreal Canadiens).

Those guys are collecting teams like a serial killer collects bodies. But could it all happen here? Could 'America's Team' be owned and managed by some dude from a country we can't pronounce?

Darren Rovell from CNBC's Sports Biz makes a prediction:

But with the rise of Sovereign Wealth Funds and the relative declining value of the dollar compared to the rest of the world’s currency, I’m predicting that there will be at least five non-U.S. citizens owning teams in the NBA, NFL, Major League Baseball or the NHL in the next decade.

Add to the fact the drying up of the financial markets--which means you need more cash upfront to pay for a team and this thing seems like a slam dunk.

Of course this prediction doesn't include the Seattle Mariners, currently owned by the president of Nintendo and the few Canadian NHL teams that are actually owned by Canadians. Those guys are as American as apple pie in my opinion.

Once a billionaire steps up with enough money to buy a big American sports franchise, it will probably ruffle some feathers. Xenophobic protests and maybe even some racists insults will no doubt be hurled. I would stay away from the message boards for a while. But ultimately, who wouldn't love an owner with seemingly limitless capital to buy up all the top hitters, dunkers, and passers?

It won't be completely smooth sailing though. As Rovell points out, most American leagues require a 'financial background check' from potential owners.

The NFL will be the hardest because the league doesn’t allow corporations to own teams, meaning that foreigners will have to present their personal tax returns. But even after all this, the financials are just too good and a lot of these people don't mind putting their money into something that doesn't necessarily generate immediate cash flow.

Who knows, maybe with the new ownership, some of the age-old team names will be changed too? Go New York Yangtzes!

CNBC: Foreign Ownership of U.S. Sports Teams - I'm Predicting More, May 23, 2008

Major League Eating takes one more step toward being a reputable sports business.

MLE, the governing body of all those (hot dog, sushi, hamburger, etc.) eating contests, is now releasing its very own video game for the Nintendo Wii.

Created by Mastiff Games, Major League Eating: The Game allows you to play as all your favorite stars of the shoving-food-down-your-throat-leagues, such as Joey Chestnut, Takeru Kobayashi, Patrick Bertoletti, Tim "Eater X" Janus, "Crazy Legs" Conti, Sonya Thomas and Juliet Lee.

Puking, although beautifully graphic and vibrantly colored, signals your premature departure from the game. This Wii game also contains offensive and defensive strategy through the use of belches and 'mustard gas' to slow down your opponent.

It looks a lot like an old school Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat game, I guess the only difference is instead of trying to kill your opponent, you're trying to kill yourself through unhealthy eating habits and an increased likelihood of obesity.

It's cool though, for all of you who have seen the famous Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest featured on ESPN alongside real sports, this should all be familiar to you. It's just another way to increase exposure to a fast growing brand.

Ironically none of the characters featured in the game appear to be overweight. And although, many of the top 'athletes' in the sport are young, thin anomalies to the science of metabolism, most of them are overweight guys trying their luck at something they look like they were built for.

Don't worry Moms and Dads, there is also a character in the game named 'Dan the Paramedic' who is on standby in case anyone goes into cardiac arrest or worse. 'Safety is always priority in competitive eating.' The game even features 'Bunnettes', which are there to monitor the progress of the players by counting the number of items they have consumed.

According to a post by Darren Rovell of CNBC, Tim 'Eater X' Janus reviewed the game and said:

"The game is good," said Janus, who while not eating is actually a trader. "You can chose how you want to flip the food into your mouth, but you have to monitor how you chew, how many pieces you can fit in your mouth and how full your stomach is."

Janus is a trader? I bet he's all about those 'pork belly futures'. High five, nice one!

MLEgame.com

CNBC Sports Biz: Major League Eating: The Game Now on Wii, May 12, 2008