Some LeBron jokes, musings on Jeter and paying tribute to the Rapid Roman

In honor of MeBron James’ smug and futile quest for an NBA Championship, I offer a couple of jokes making the rounds:

Why did James skip college?
He was afraid of the Finals!

James was asked for change for a dollar, but only gave 75 cents. He didn’t have a fourth quarter.

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The Peoria Chiefs, a Single-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, are going to host “LeBron James 2011 NBA Championship Replica Ring Giveaway Night.” The jewelry will resemble the one James didn’t earn against the Dallas Mavericks the other night – meaning, fans showing up to the ballpark for the joke promotion will be receiving nothing but a handful of air.

Methinks it’s not-so-good to be King these days.

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The unfortunate thing about Derek Jeter’s trip to the 15-day DL is that he probably won’t get his 3,000th hit at Yankee Stadium.

But he still might do it in New York.

Jeter is scheduled to return to action on June 29 for the second of a three-game home series vs. the Milwaukee Brewers. The Yankees legend would need to get six hits in two games in order to reach the milestone in the Bronx. Possible, but not likely.

Interestingly, the Yankees will then embark on a six-game road-stand, with the first three games of the trip being played against the Mets at Citi Field. So, it will be kind of a like a home-field atmosphere with nearly as many Yankees fans as Mets fans in attendance.

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I can get pretty provincial when it comes to my hometown of Rome, N.Y., so please indulge me this burst of pride.

I was thrilled to hear that Richie Evans, a 9-time national driving champion known as the Rapid Roman, will be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame along with modern-stars Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip this year.

I’ve never been a huge racing fan, but I fondly remember my dad taking me to watch Richie compete at various tracks in upstate New York and feeling a great sense of pride because Richie always won and always represented the Copper City well.

Evans was one of the true pioneers of the sport, but I wondered if he would ever receive his just-due nationally because pioneers tend to get forgotten and it didn't help that he was a Yankee in a sport dominated by southern bias.

And since I'm tooting my home town's horn, I'd like to mention that Betsy Ross' Old Glory first flew in battle during the Revolutionary War at Fort Stanwix; Pledge of Allegiance author Francis Bellamy is a graduate of Rome Free Academy and Basketball Hall of Famer Pat Riley is a Rome native. (We won't mention that Riley is the executive who signed MeBron to a Miami Heat contract.)

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I have good vibes that common sense and decency will prevail and the NFL owners and players are going to get a new labor agreement ironed out in the next few weeks.