Links and videos from recent happenings around the sporting world. If you come across good articles, videos, etc. – please pass them along, I’d love to take a look.

National Hockey League:

The following story could only come from Canada. Edmonton Oilers center Gilbert Brule and his girlfriend picked up an unusual hitchhiker last week – U2 lead vocalist Bono.

This is another great – mostly Canadian – story about some Canucks fans and their epic roadtrip to San Jose for Game 4 where they ended up partying with the owner after the game and much, much more. Read it – trust me.

Photo via zimbio.com

Despite losing 8-1 in Game 3, expect Roberto Luongo to bounce back in Game 4 tonight. Vancouver better hope he shows up – obviously the Bruins are fired up after the hit on Horton. The rest of this series should be awesome to watch – expect physical, chippy, and even dirty play at times as the series continues to play out.

Canucks defenseman Aaron Rome was suspended 4 games for his  devastating hit on Nathan Horton in Game 3.  As Scott Burnside points out, the NHL finally gave a clear and concise reasoning behind a tough disciplinary ruling.

College Football:

Phil Steele released his 2011 Preseason All-American Team and three Broncos made the list – OT Nate Potter (1st team), DT Billy Winn (2nd team), and QB Kellen Moore (3rd team).

There’s been a bunch of talk recently about paying student-athletes but Jay Paterno – Penn State assistant coach and son of the legendary Joe Patero – says they’re already getting a pretty good deal.

While we’re on the topic of paying players – South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier proposed paying players $300-a-game stipendof his own money and unsurprisingly six other SEC coaches agree.

Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano proposed an interseting idea to eliminate kickoffs – Andy Staples (SI) says the plan will produce safer, more interesting games.  I love kickoffs and was pretty skeptical about this but Schiano and Staples make some compelling points.

The NFL lockout has put undrafted free agents and veteran free agents in an precarious situation – Oregon’s Spencer Paysinger is waiting for the lockout to end & several Boise State football players ponder their futures.

If you’re dying for the actual football season to start so we can stop talking about scandals you’ll enjoy these links on Gary Patterson’s 4-2-5 defense - Why the 4-2-5 defense and the 4-2 defensive package. (HT Saturday Spirit)

Don’t worry Buckeyes – you don’t have your own section this week but I haven’t forgotten about you. QB Terrelle Pryor ended his Ohio State football career yesterday amid the NCAA investigation. This shouldn’t come as a surprise with Pryor being in the center of the investigation. The silver lining for all you Buckeyes is that Pryor won’t be required to talk to the NCAA and is no longer a player so the boosters can pay him to keep his mouth shut potentially saving the program.

The latest report surrounding Pryor and the OSU program is that he made up to $40,000 signing memorabilia. I’m sure there will be even more alleged violations reported over the next few weeks.

Ohio State released the Jim Tressel (former head coach) and Gene Smith’s (athletic director) email and text records showing lots of contact between Tressel and Pryor’s mentors.

OSU President Gordon Gee seems to be backpedaling from his previous statements about the school’s compliance and now says the school must “scrub everything”. I can’t help but wonder if Gee or Smith will be the next to go..

Surfing:

Surfer Magazine put up a great photo gallery titled “Neon and Neoprene” – Surfing through the ’80s with Jeff Divine.

Shane Dorian and Billabong developed a self-inflating big wave survival wetsuit.  I can only imagine how valuable this could be for the world’s best big wave surfers:

Soccer:

The U.S. opened its Gold Cup against Canada last night winning 2-0 getting goals from Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey. Here’s a Gold Cup Preview from The Big Lead – Duffy expect a U.S.-Mexico final and if not does the U.S. fire Bob Bradley? If last night’s performance was any indication, they should easily make the final to face their rivals.

With the transfer speculation surrounding Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri new signings are off the agenda until their futures are resolved.  It could be a looong summer as an Arsenal fan..

National Basketball Association:

Shaq announced his retirement last Wednesday - writer Amar Shah talks about knowing and hanging out with Shaq in high school. I can’t wait to see what The Diesel does next – a TV analyst on ESPN or TNT seems like a perfect fit but we’ll see what he decides to do.

This was written after Miami’s win in Game 3 – before the Mavs tied the series last night 2-2 – but it’s easily applicable to the series as a whole - Lebron can’t win, even when the Heat win. I’m not a LeBron hater but I’m not a huge fan of him either – he is one of the most exciting players to watch in the NBA and it isn’t debatable – but Adande makes some great points about LeBron’s perception.

Lacrosse:

As I mentioned last week, my friends over at Lacrosse All Stars went to Thailand to Grow The Game. Here is LAS’ recap of Day 5 (Gameday), Day 6, and the Grow The Game Invitational: First Thoughts And Reflections. From the looks of things the trip was a great success and an amazing experience.

Golf:

Tiger Woods pulled out of the U.S. Open due to his unhealed knee and Achilles injuries as Jack’s record grows safer with each Tiger withdraw. After dominating at a young age it seemed inevitable that he would pass Jack’s record but now I just hope he can heal enough to be competitive again on a regular basis. Golf isn’t quite the same without Tiger in the mix.

Media:

Last week, New York Times Magazine did a full profile of  Bill Simmons and his new site Grantland expected to launch today. I haven’t read the entire profile but some of you “Sports Guy” fans might enjoy it.

Video Games:

The FIFA ’12 Gameplay Trailer was released last week showing some of the gameplay features in action. I can’t wait for this to come out in the Fall – FIFA is about the only game I never get bored playing:

(HT EPL Talk)

Any good articles or videos I missed? Happy Humpday Everyone!