Florida Sentinel Bulletin

The Chicago Bulls have been riddled with injuries and player misfortunes all season, and that bug has struck again prior to Thursday night’s Game 6 showdown with the Brooklyn Nets.

While the official status of Luol Deng for Game 1 against the Miami Heat on Monday is still in question, the latest report paints a bleak picture. According to Aggrey Sam of CSN Chicago, Deng did not travel with the team to Miami.

LAS VEGAS – Floyd Mayweather, said Richard Schaefer on Tuesday as he looked across a large crowd that had gathered in the lobby of the MGM Grand specifically to catch a brief glimpse of the world’s best boxer, is a details man. The chief executive officer of Golden Boy Promotions, Schaefer said there are few details of a business deal that escape Mayweather’s eagle-eyed scrutiny.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. is as focused on the business of boxing as he is on punching. On this day, the people had crowded around a makeshift boxing ring erected in the lobby to help promote Mayweather’s welterweight title fight Saturday on Showtime Pay-Per-View in the Grand Garden Arena against Robert Guerrero.

When he bolted HBO for Showtime in February and signed his historic six-fight, 30-month deal, a contract that could net him more than $250 million, he bargained fiercely to gain absolute control. But at 36, he knows he’s closer to the end than he is to the beginning. Some day, there will be a new star in boxing. Part of his goal over the next several years, he said, is to bolster the sport for the next generation.

There was Tampa Stadium (the big Sombrero) first, and later there was Raymond James Stadium.

As far as Tampa Stadium is concerned, the late Lee Roy Selmon established his dominance on that surface, and became the first Tampa Bay Buccaneer to be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. He later was honored by being the first to be inducted into the Buccaneer Ring of Honor.

But when it comes to Raymond James, that’s the house that defensive tackle Warren Sapp (pictured) built, and to show their appreciation, Sapp, a first ballot Hall of Fame inductee, will become the fifth former Buccaneer to be inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor. Sapp will join former Buccaneer head coach, John McKay, tight end Jimmie Giles, Selmon, and left tackle Paul Gruber in the ring of honor.

Sapp, along with Derrick Brooks and John Lynch, helped take the Buccaneers from being known as losers, to Super Bowl XXXVIII champions. He was also a member of the league’s All-Decade team for the 1990s and 2000s; defensive player of the year in 1999, and a seven-time Pro Bowl selection.

Jason Collins just may be the bravest NBA center of all time. In the May 6, 2013 issue of Sports Illustrated, the Stanford grad reveals that he is gay.

The story is written in a first person perspective, and the NBA journeyman gets right to the point. I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m Black. And I’m gay. I didn’t set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I’m happy to start the conversation. I wish I wasn’t the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, “I’m different.” If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I’m raising my hand.

A kicker to the story is that his twin brother, Jarron, claims he had no idea.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A little known jockey and a lightly regarded horse pulled off an upset victory for trainer Doug O’Neill at last year’s Kentucky Derby.

On Saturday, he’ll give another relative unknown a chance of not only winning the big race but joining him in the record books if that happens. Kevin Krigger, the first black jockey in the Derby since 2000, will be aboard O’Neill’s Goldencents, considered a much stronger contender than last year’s winner, I’ll Have Another.

Only six trainers have won consecutive Derbies in 138 years, and no black jockey has won since 1902. The 29-year-old Krigger hails from St. Croix, Virgin Islands, and had some success on the smaller Northern California circuit before trying his luck in the big leagues of Los Angeles.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers got help along their defensive front in the fourth round of the draft Saturday. The Bucs traded up to the third spot to take Illinois tackle Akeem Spence (pictured), and then with the 126th pick, they took Michigan State defensive end, William Gholston.

Spence, 6-feet, 307 pounds, is thought to be an above average run stopper, and the 6’6” Gholston has the ability to be a dynamic pass rusher.

MILWAUKEE — The ageless Ray Allen scored 23 points, and broke the NBA career playoff record for 3-pointers, as the Miami Heat used another of their patented runs to win 104-91 at the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday for a 3-0 lead in their first-round series.

Allen’s five 3-pointers against the Bucks gave him 322 for his career, two more than Reggie Miller. LeBron James added 22 points in his standard strong performance for the Heat, and Chris Bosh had 16 points and 14 rebounds.

After losing Super Bowl XLVII, the San Francisco 49ers made a splash on the third day of the 2013 NFL draft by selecting South Carolina Gamecocks running back Marcus Lattimore with pick No. 131.

Thanks to his great combination of size, speed and overall athletic ability, the star back was considered to be one of the best prospects in the class during the regular season. In his three-year career, he totaled 2,677 rushing yards and 38 touchdowns for South Carolina.

Less than a week after Jay-Z relinquishes his interest in the Brooklyn Nets, he has signed a high profile athlete to his fledgling Roc Nation Sports that happens to be a woman.

Skylar Diggins, has officially signed with the Roc. The Notre Dame grad was welcomed into the fold via Jay-Z’s site Life+Times. Sports fans might recall that Diggins was a superstar during her Fighting Irish days.

The 22-year-old baller is still the scoring champ for women’s basketball at Notre Dame. In the 2013 WNBA Draft, Skyler was scooped up by the Tulsa Shock. She was a power player before even turning 18, and now in her ‘20s she continues to be a force to be reckoned with.