Tuesday Links – LeBron Bails on Dunk Contest, Jose Offerman Banned4lyfe, & Podcasts You Should Be Listening To

A bit of a slow day yesterday, so not a ton of buzz coming from ESPN right now (besides this Brett Favre character, never heard of him). Rest assured, someone will say or do something to cause headlines soon, so until then kick back, follow me on Twitter, and check out some links, brought to you by Dora the Explorer.

• Some of the biggest news yesterday was the announcement of (most of) the field for the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. LeBron James has once again decided to pass on the contest despite throwing his name in during Superman Returns last year’s contest. Defending champ Nate Robinson highlights the field, including L.A. Laker Shannon Brown, Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace, and a dunk-off between Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan and Eric Gordon from the L.A. Clippers. I’m calling it now: Brown by a landslide.

• Jose Offerman has been banned for life from the Dominican Winter Baseball League after attempting to assault an umpire during a game. Offerman’s actions resulted in the resignation of four American umpires, who all left the Dominican Republic afterward. Jose’s temper has flared up before, and I for one am happy to see a league step up and defend its umpires with more than just a petty fine.

• Episode 6 of The Obstructed View, a weekly Red Wings podcast, is up and available for download. This week’s episode features D4L’s very own Jessie Boik, as well as Andy and Mike Petrella. I’ve been slacking a bit over the past couple weeks about listening, but the show has gotten better (and longer) each episode I’ve listened. This week’s is a tidy 65 minutes (compared to 80+ the last two weeks), but I’d still recommend downloading it off of iTunes.

• What is Charles Barkley wearing? [via @Jose3030]

• Bless You Boys takes a look at the other side of the Jose Valverde signing: who is the odd man out? Personally, I wish the Tigers would have never signed LHP Brad Thomas, but now with the abundance of lefty arms in their bullpen, Thomas is nothing more than dead weight. I’d like to see him be the guy to go before any of the others that Kurt mentions.

• MLive’s It’s Just Sports interviewed Brian Packey of the new Detroit Bad Boys. Packey was in charge of Motown String Music at SB Nation before DBB got involved, and he’s made a seamless transition to the new site with DBB veterans Matt Watson, Mike Payne, and Kevin Sawyer also in tow. Packey discusses the move as well as the Pistons’ season thus far.