fall in national's park. nick's december as to what time it's going to start. ross detwiler goes to the mound against the nationals. in case you didn't hear the news the nats did get their first round selection of the 2009 first year player draft, steven straysburg signed today or hopefully will sign soon with the nationals. . ♪ >> next on "espnews."

back in the magic kingdom, orlando gets a chance at rerecommendation. what they must do to avoid a 3-0 hole. last year the red wings ended the penguins' season on their home ice. see if pittsburgh. avoid a replay. the yankees rarely need more motivation to bead the red sox. why they do this time around. >> strasburg is considered the best baseball player. >> with the first selection in the 2009 first year player draft, the washington nationals select stephen strasburg. ♪ rises up and knocks it down.

>> pau's first dunk. it is a clinic from a very focused kobe bryant. >> a jam-packed show for you. helping you stay current with the latest news, scores and high lights. a shocker out of college basketball. tim floyd has extend down as head coach of usc. with more on this story later on epses -- "espnews." >> the magic with an opportunity to make this thing a series, and to do that they actually need a win tonight in game three. joining us from orlando, the site of the matchup, rachael nichols. you have been around the magic before. what's they're mindset? >> it's interesting. dwight howard told me that somebody sent him a box of mustard seeded. there's a phrase that says if

you have faith, even just a mustard seed, you can move mountains. dwight howard says faith i got. we says we know we can even this series and it starts with this game tonight. >> very deep. court in theley had a good look at the end of regulation in game two at the bucket. how is he dealing with that miss? >> you know, it's interesting. he says he actually went home and he watched tv as much as possible to see as many replays as possible. a lot of guys would just turn the tv off. he said he wanted it to sink in and wanted to get past it. when he got to practice, a lot of players were saying, look, dude, it's okay, it's not your fault. if we played well we would have won the game. so they're trying to take the pressure off him and see how hi does tonight. >> we heard stan van gundy, they didn't lose on that specific play. rachel, magic need a whip. what are the things the coaches are telling the players?

>> the biggest thing is turnovers. they turned the ball over a playoff high 20 times in the last game. 20 chances to score. so they're looking to cut that number in half. if you don't have the ball you can't score and that's something the magic coaches have to emphasize. they want dwight howard to pass out more. he is getting double-teamed and he says, there's in my lap. so they want him to pass out of the double-team. let the guards go at and it have the offense run through him. >> rachel nichols down in orlando, game three, magic and lakers in orlando. coverage on abc at 8:30 eastern time. enjoy the matchup. >> thank you. >> and don't forget when the game is over, postgame news conferences for you. you can catch them here on "espnews." >> ed werder is reporting that

the vikings have stopped but suring brett favre after he didn't make it to practice. >> taking a look at the favre timeline. since then he has sent x-rays to the vikings and underwent shoulder surgery. this week the vikings gave the deadline to favre on his decision to play, and the vikings have suspended a pursuit of favre, at least for enough. >> baseball now, always nice to be the popular guy. will silva, that's usually your role on this show. teixeira is that guy. he has overtaken youkilis in the latest all-star balloting.

youkilis the start last year. in the all-star game. the two teams matching up right now. boston with the four-spot early. top third, already on top. red sox have dominated the yankeess so far this season. won five straight against them. big reason why? the offense. batting .303 with eight homeruns and 14 doubles. j.d. drew, two-run double. seven rbis in his last six games. >> the nats get the top pick for the first time, and select stephen strasburg. he went 22-7 with a 1.59 e.r.a., the nats are encouraged about trying to sign the player. >> we're optimistic about signing our draft choices. we don't negotiate throughed the media. we're going to begin the process, which i have begun already. i have spoken to scott boras in a congratulatory phone call and

a great and detailed conversation with stephen strasburg. he was elated to be selected by the nationals and was having a great time there in california with the rest of his teammates at san diego state. >> if the nats feel they can have strasburg help them out he would be just the seventh player in the last 30 seasons to reach the majors without playing in the minors. the last player was nady in 2000. >> still to come here on "espnews," tim floyd has resigned as usc's head coach. we talk to an insider and tell us how much the violation of recruiting violations affected the decision.

tim floyd has resigned as he head coach of usc. last month he was accused of giving 1 then to a man who steered of j. mayo to the trojans. and to talk about the situation with tim floyd resigning from his position we bring in andycast. in his letter he said i no longer feel i can offer the level of enthusiasm to my cutties that is deserve bid the university. any indication this was coming? >> in talking to a good friend of his, in the nba, they got the sense -- he got the sense that tim was going to fight this, the allegations over the last couple weeks, but something obviously

changed. when it got permanent and linked him directly to the $1,000 he allegedly handed to of j. mayos handler in route to the nba all-star game two years ago it started to pick up steam directed at tim floyd and those kind of alwayses started to be a little more overwhelming. we have seen recruiting dropping left and right from usc's program. daniel gibson, hackett, taj gibson, deciding to stay in the draft. so the program, which had been on a huge high after their ncaa tournament run, knocking off michigan state and looking like a player next year in the ncaa tournament had really completely unraveled and all that got to tim and forced his resignation today. >> you're talking about that factor. any other factor that would push

him to leave the program. >> the has the fbi looking into where the money went from how rodney gillery used his money, did they use the sickle cell charity money last year so there's a lot of sort of issues at hand here, and also if you remember the ncaa combined the two investigations, football and basketball, to really kind of speed up the process. the reggie bush investigation going on, and now this is my opinion here. that usc had to do something to show the ncaa they were acting in good faith and they were going to do something so that they weren't going to get hammered. i'm not saying i know with 100% certainty they were going to serve up basketball, but be hard to see them doing much to football. pete carroll has never been linked directly to the ceilings that's the big difference here with the allegations directed at

tim floyd. >> andy, as far as the timing is going down, the ncaa -- do you get the sense that there's a possibility that because o steven fstrays, stephen strasburg, dustin ackley, ackley, donovan take it, donovan take it, jorge sanchez, wh are involved, the ncaa waited to see what was going to happen with that case at baylor. then they went in after the fact with their ncaa investigation and their allegations, that's because they can get more information through the federal authorities because these people are under oath. and they're not when they go in front of the nba. so that is one think i was told, the ncaa was waiting to see what would happen as they're working on the investigation. a little different than these other cases where they speed up the process a little more because it's just the ncaa.

the interesting thing is what will happen next at usc. from what i have been told in the last couple hours, a lot of people would be very surprised in the college basketball community if elite head coaches would run to a job like this with those allegations hovering over it from the ncaa and the feds, and so what you're more than likely going to see at this juncture is maybe a coach step down who can take the gamble and go a step up, sort of above reproach. somebody one randy bennett of st. mary's. there's a guy that would love the job, the former new mexico state coach, he could be an option because he is not attached to the program but the kind of guy i'm talking about is jamie dixon of pitt. you would think this would make a lot of sense for him but not at this time, not with everything going on at usc. >> andy, you mentioned tim floyd

and the coaches that could go potentially to usc. what about the flip side. a guy that was linked with arizona, memphis, turned those jobs away. do you think tim floyd coaches again at the college level? >> i don't. unless he is completely exonerated i would be very surprised if he does. he as a good friend in the general manager of the chicago bulls who tim hired to go to chicago when he was head coach. they were at ohio state together. i can see him bringing tim back into the fold with the bulls. that would make more sense than tim going back in college. the only job i can see right now is helping his good friend down at southern miss. >> espn.com, andy katz. thanks for the insight. >> riff tom brady returning to in the patriots, new england, at least for the moments, appears

to be everybody's favorite to win the afc east this seen. almost everyone. six days good new jets head coach said he is not here to kiss bill belichick's ring. there won't be a a board big enough to hold off the stuff. >> i'm not going to concede anything. do i recognize the fact that belichick is a heck of a coach? absolutely. my thing is i'm not intimidated by him or anybody necessary this business, period. >> you didn't think rex ryan was going to back down, did you? rex ryan said he didn't come to new york to kiss bill belichick's ring, and his loss wouldn't hurt him. >> you don't come here to bow down -- nobody is entitled until you step on the field.

>> he let us know we shouldn't be afraid to say what we want. it's my first year and they already engrained that in me, we play for the super bowl. that's the way he plays. >> you have respect for the three rings he has and at the same time we're not going to submit to anybody. >> rex line learn that from the man. >> you can't worry about that. i mean, nothing wrong with it. >> it is fun to ruffle featheres. >> in fact, rex ryan has already done that. ryan said, if i was younger why take care of him myself and you got the sense he was only half joking.

espn. >> the rex ryan will have work to do when it comes to challenging the patriots. since belichick bill they're coach the jets are 6-12 against new england, and the jets have been outscored by over five points a game. >> baseball now, rough news for philly fans, brad lidge, who struggled with an e.r.a. over 7 and six blown saves in 19 chances is heading to the dl thanks to a sprained knee. speaking of injuries, phillies taking on the mets today. a big matchup in the n.l. east. johan santana, has had good success against philly. 3-0 and right now new york clinging to a one-run lead in the bottom of the fourth. beltran has a two-run shot.

ibanez on a tear. his 20th home ohm of the season. >> pirates and braves needed 15 innings yesterday. do it in just nine today. 3-1 game pirates on top in the bottom of the fourth. laroche gets the pirates going there chipper jones has been on an absolute tear. eight rbis in his last three games. >> despite an e.r.a. nearly as good as his cy young number has year, has had a hard time winning this season for the tribe. he tried to win a second start for the first time this season. a victory over the royals would pull cleveland out of the last place. they have a .276 on-base personal. the royals are leading right now in the top of the fifth. olivo, his second homerun in june, averaging just two

homeruns in the month of may. >> evan is alall mighting, leads derek jeter for the 2009 all-star game. rays hosting the angels and so far it's all angels. leading 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth. taylor, an rbi sing until the first, followed up by an rbi groundout by juan rivera. >> mariners and the o's, seattle opening a nine-game road trip in camden yards, orioles leading 1-0. roberts 1-2 with a run. keep you updated here on "espnews." >> espn the magazine is learning from two independent sources, jeremy mayfield tested positive for methamphetamine drug a --

during a random drug test. he said he ingested a double-dose of an over the counter allergies mention and a previbed drug for attention deficit disorder. a third drug came up positive. the name of the drug has been removed from court documents because of a gag order. mayfield's attorney contended it was a false positive. >> still to come, terrell owens participates at bills' come on. come on.

come on. there for you... ( car starts ) and life's daily miracles. ♪ who's the best? this guy is. ♪ ( clapping ) ♪ to the point of no return... ♪ ♪ return there for you and your guilty pleasures. ♪ how long... ♪ how long ♪

>> game three of the nba final at the top of the hour on abc. the magic trying to make this a series by winning game three on their homecourt. charles barkley was asked on pti if the lakers team could be a dynasty. >> i said last year, the next three or four or five years, other than kobe bryant, everybody else is relatively young and you can get them guys off the street to go with kobe and gasol and bynum and odom. so this team could be dangerous the next two years for the nba. >> and of course, when game three is over, this is where you want to be, "espnews." we hear from kobe bryant, dwight

howard and the coaches after the game is done. live press conferences right here on "espnews." >> terrell owens continues to headline all things bills these days. reported to buffalo's minicamp. by his count he dropped a lot of passes today. >> drops are part of the game. i'm a professional, and you should go in the game, every game prepared, and there are drops, and that's just part of it. but i'm pretty sure i would assess my performance and say i could have played better. but that wasn't the case. >> there's no pressure on me at all. i know what i'm capable of. i'm very thankful and gracious for the opportunity, and i'm going to embrace it i feel good. i can play this game, and i know here turk is going throw the ball down the field. i feel very confident in the

guys that we have in rotation on the offensive side of the ball, and i know -- don't talk much about the defense but those guys fly around. i'm looking for big things from those guys. they're going to be instrumental in what we do on offense. >> other nfl news and notes. federal bankruptcy judge has given michael vick a july 2nd july 2nd deadline how he is going to pay back his creditors. ordinarying to the green bay gazette fav fav's friends and families have blocked off hotel rooms for the weekend of the packers-vikings game. the story that continues to give and give. >> matt bush, the number one overall pick of the padres in the 2004 draft pled guilty to assault charges. one day after playing, mickelson

played today. >> still to come, the penguins trying to avoid repeating history. >> plus, lakers and magic getting ready for game three. hear about the final adjustments both teams will make. stay current with "espnews." ♪ ah, man, love that drinkability. drink-a what? drinkability. it's what makes bud light so incredibly refreshing. it's like a wave of refreshment, gently washing over your whole body.

it's getting bigger. here comes the refreshment. [ sfx: screaming, wave splashing ] whew. well that almost never happens. easy drinking, always refreshing. bud light. the difference is drinkability. [ sfx: hairdryer ] no hard feelings.

from hotwire.com. when four-star hotels have unsold rooms, they use hotwire to fill them... so you get the lowest prices, guaranteed. ♪ h-o-t-w-i-r-e ♪ hotwire.com