If you had one of those basketball dry-erase boards, you couldn’t have drawn it up any better.

You want tension? Put the world’s best basketball player — arguably performing at a higher level this season than anyone, ever — in a 10-point hole to start the fourth quarter. Lay the lingering pressure of “The Decision” on him. Remind him of what happened on this exact floor in Game 6 two years ago. Take away his headband.

You want drama? Make every possession feel like a tug-of-war between Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan. Start one of those patented Heat runs, the kind that erases a 10-point lead faster than a South Beach winter. Give Miami the lead (in exchange for Mike Miller’s shoe). Then …

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“If I had won today or if I ultimately win, I’ll look back at the other Opens and think it was positive. If I never get one, then every time I think of the U.S. Open, I’ll just think of heartbreak.”

For Phil Mickelson fans — yes, I’m one of them — that quote cuts especially deep because the truth is, Lefty is never gonna win a U.S. Open. He will be the Greg Norman of the Masters. I’ve invested hundreds of major-championship hours over the years rooting for Mickelson. And days like Sunday, it feels like a waste of time.

I’ve never seen Phil hit the ball as consistently as he did the past four days. Never. You can count his bad swings …

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It’s Friday! That means Ten Big stories in 10 little bites. We hit Brandon Crick and Albert Pujols, Bill Simmons and Derrick Rose, Nick Saban and Tiger Woods. But first, it’s perhaps the most underrated weekend of the year.

When I think of sports activity, I think of April (Masters, MLB Opening Day, Final Four). I think of October (World Series, college football and the NFL, NBA and NHL debuts). But Father’s Day, especially this year, is hard to beat.

Earlier in the week, I asked on Twitter what single game/event fans would watch if they had to pick just one. I received votes for the US Open, the NBA Finals, the Stanley Cup Finals, the Confederations Cup and, of course, the CWS. I suppose …

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Two years ago in May, Jim Delany was exercising in his Chicago home (treadmill, if I remember right) while taking my questions about college baseball.

Delany is a huge fan — his dad was a standout at Seton Hall and later a high school coach. Yet because it was baseball — not the BCS — the Big Ten commissioner’s opinions had gone mostly under the national radar.

Delany had spent 10 years seeking radical NCAA reform. He had proposed expanding the CWS to 10 teams and reserving two spots for northern schools. He told me that he was tired of beating his head against a wall. If the NCAA didn’t make life easier for northern schools, well, the cold-weather programs may have to form their …

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It’s Friday! That means Ten Big stories in 10 little bites. We cover LeBron James and Tony Parker, Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods, super regionals, the college football playoff and Bo Pelini’s permanent captains. But first, I’m angry today.

I can count on two hands the number of sporting events I enjoy more than a great Grand Slam tennis final. I don’t pay much attention to tennis during regular tour events. I don’t watch much tennis during the first few rounds of Grand Slams. I wait for the big ones. That’s because when Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic get together, it’s usually a five-hour epic.

I went to bed Thursday night knowing that Friday morning, Nadal and Djokovic were meeting in the French …

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The last time Bill Callahan called plays, his offense put up 51 points. And his team lost by two touchdowns.

Callahan and his fancy play sheet are back in the spotlight. I can’t imagine a more combustible play-caller/quarterback combination than Callahan and Tony Romo. Pass the popcorn!

What did Jerry Jones see in Callahan that inspired him to undercut Jason Garrett’s authority? Hard to say. Callahan’s record has more smudges than shine, especially the past decade. There was the Super Bowl debacle, then the Nebraska debacle. Callahan is not a head coach and often he wasn’t a very good coordinator, either. (I’m imagining Joe Dailey and Tim Brown running into each other at an airport bar somewhere, striking up a conversation and forgetting …

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Former Husker golfer Brandon Crick, from McCook, Neb., will be in the field for next week’s U.S. Open.

He earned one of the spots from the Memphis regional with a 36-hole score of 5 under par.…

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LeBron James. Game 7. What more you could ask?

The two players to whom LeBron James is most often compared are Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan.

Magic made the playoffs in 13 seasons. He played 190 postseason games. How many times did he face a Game 7? Four. In 13 seasons, over 179 playoff games, Jordan played in a Game 7 just three times.

That tells you all you need to know about the rarity of tonight’s Eastern Conference Final. And why it’s the most compelling game of the NBA playoffs so far.

Joe Posnanski looks at Game 7 from the LeBron perspective, while David Aldridge assesses the massive ramifications of a Heat loss.

Frankly, I can’t imagine Miami losing. Can’t fathom it …

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It’s Friday! That means Ten Big stories in 10 little bites. We hit LeBron James, George Brett and Gordon “Gee, I probably shouldn’t have said that.” We hit Julie Hermann and Doc Sadler, Mark May and Brian O’Connor, SEC scheduling and a little College Football Playoff talk.

But first, Tim Miles’ new crib.

The media, myself included, put on hardhats and took a tour of Pinnacle Bank Arena this morning. It’s 85 percent finished and will open in mid-August. You can see the photos and video on Omaha.com — I’ll have a story to go with it later today.

The building itself is obviously impressive, but there’s only so much you can do with an arena. What stood out to me is the development …

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Surprise, surprise, the big news in college sports is scandal in the Big Ten.

Rutgers isn’t competing in the Big Ten yet, but the ribbon is already cut. There’s no going back now.

Ohio State’s tattoo scandal was bad. Penn State’s Sandusky scandal was much, much worse. But for sheer administrative bloopers, it’s hard to beat Rutgers. I’m picturing a new reality show on Channel 438 — “Punk’d in Piscataway.”

In case you missed, it, Rutgers fired an athletic director because he failed to fire an abusive basketball coach, then Rutgers hired a new A.D. who … drumroll please … used to be an abusive volleyball coach! Hey-o!

Anyway, ESPN’s Dana O’Neil breaks down the details. Forbes says the Big Ten shares in …

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