By Brian Edwards
Posted 06/28/2010 at 01:41 PM

I was off over the weekend, but there was plenty of news coming out of the sports world. On that note, let's touch on a few issues and hit you with some links to get you caught up.

--We start with Michael Vick, who turned 30 on Thursday and was back home in Virginia hosting a football camp. Later that night, a 30th b-day party was hosted for him. I wasn't there so I obviously don't know the facts, but it has been reported that there was a shooting at the party. And here's where things get very interesting. The dude who got shot is named Quanis Phillips, whose name should ring a bell. Remember, Phillips was one of Vick's co-defendants in the dogfighting scandal. In other words, he's one of the guys that ratted Vick out. As a part of Vick's parole agreement, he apparently isn't supposed to associate with any of his former co-defendants. Phillips reportedly showed up at the party uninvited and was asked to leave. At this point, according to multiple reports, Phillips became irate and threw cake that hit Vick in the face. From here, we have a lot of gray area. An altercation apparently ensued, but whether Vick was involved or not remains unclear. According to Vick's lawyer and former Falcons' teammate Roddy White, Vick left the party shortly after the cake incident. After midnight, Phillips was shot in the parking lot and later treated at a Virginia Beach hospital before being released. Obviously, the NFL is investigating and I would imagine Vick's parole officer is as well. Stay tuned. Here's a link to the coverage from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

--At this link here, you can see a picture of the invite to the party. Allen Iverson, also known to get in a little trouble, is among the special guests included on the invite.

--SportsByBrooks does an excellent job of breaking down how former Miami AD Paul Dee, who was running the show in Coral Gables when the 'Canes got hammered with NCAA violations in the mid-1990s, was one of the lead investigators into the USC probe.

--This space has often discussed what a scum of the earth John Calipari is and always has been (Still wish Temple's John Chaney wouldn't have been restrained by Eddie Jones from dotting his eye after a Temple-UMass game a few decades ago!). The dude is dumb as rocks, too. On a number of occasions last week, he tweeted and talked to reporters about how great it was that so many Kentucky players were going to be first-round picks in the NBA Draft. Now, lest we forget, all of those guys with the exception of Patrick Patterson were one-and-doners. And that group didn't even get UK to the Final Four. In fact, the Wildcats remain in the longest Final Four drought in the basketball program's storied history. Therefore, it was great to see legendary UK star Dan Issel putting Cal in his rightful place last week. Check out this link from Jerry Tipton of the Kentucky Herald-Leader. Upon hearing that Cal ignorantly said "this is the biggest day in the history of Kentucky's program," Issel responded by saying, "The dumbest thing I've ever heard. If the goal is to be a feeder team for the NBA, maybe that was the greatest day. I thought the goal was to win a national championship." Issel, the all-time leading scorer in UK history, is absolutely correct. Again, as I've stated many times, it's an absolute given that Calipari will have the 'Cats on probation in the next 2-3 years.

--Roburt Sallie is transferring from Memphis to Louisville. Sallie averaged 10.5 points per game for the Tigers last season.

--Mark Bradley of the AJC opines on a sign-and-trade deal involving Joe Johnson. He claims the Mavs are interested and Caron Butler might be an option.

--It's becoming comical how so many NBA reporters and various newspapers are trying to 'scoop' the news when it comes to LeBron James. For starters, nothing is set in stone at this point. LBJ might be leaning a certain way today, only to lean a different way tomorrow. The bottom line is he's not going to make a decision until he hears every team's pitch, and that doesn't start until July 1st. As I've said several times in recent weeks, I think he's leaving Cleveland but I'm not sure where he's headed. If I had to guess, I'd say Chicago, but I'm certainly not ruling out the Knicks or the Nets, either.

--Derek Lee and Carlos Zambrano weren't the only ones exchanging words in the dugout this past weekend. Evan Longoria and B.J. Upton of the Rays also had a heated conversation.

--If you missed it, MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko saw his 10-year unbeaten streak ended Saturday night with a loss to Fabricio Werdum. The Cage Writer, Steve Cofield, has all the details.

--Are you getting fired up for this Saturday's UFC 116? I know I am! Check out Spike's Countdown show tonight and I'll have a preview of the event up on VI's UFC arena by Thursday.