FanNation

LeBron's Guarantee

They've been dubbed "The Redeem Team," a star-spangled group of millionaires set to reclaim America's dominance in basketball. "I want U.S.A. basketball to be dominant again," LeBron James tells Time Magazine's Sean Gregory this week. "Every time people see the red, white and blue, they fear us."

Guest Post: Matt Dollinger

Matt Dollinger is a rising senior at Indiana University and a summer intern at SI. Raised in Bloomington, Ind., Dollinger, 21, has traveled as far as Japan and China, but never to New York City before this summer. We asked him to write about his long-awaited pilgrimage to Shea and Yankee stadiums. [Editor's note to employers: This kid is good. Hire him one day]

Five At Twelve

Each day during the noon hour, we'll offer five reading recommendations from around the Web.

1. The QB arrived that day: Rivers led by example in AFC title game loss (By Nick Canepa, San Diego Union-Tribune): A look at the day Chargers quarterback Phillip Rivers became the Man in San Diego. Stay classy, Phil.

2. Marbury should follow Shockey out of town (By Barbara Barker, Newsday): Knicks guard Stephon Marbury can't leave the Big Apple soon enough, says the writer.

3. Owner Rankings, Part 2: Kraft's No Joke (By Michael Silver, Yahoo! Sports): The former SI scribe spreads the love for Pats owner Robert Kraft in a ranking of NFL owners.

Amy Winehouse Day

It's going to be a crazy day in baseball today. Amy Winehouse crazy. And it's going to involve a New York team.

Why?

Because history tells us so.

On July 24, 1934, Yankees centerfielder Earle Combs, the famed leadoff hitter for Murderers Row, crashed into the wall at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis and suffered a fractured skull. He was out for the remainder of the season.

On July 24, 1978, Billy Martin resigned as Yankee manager, uttering the now-famous "one is a born liar (Reggie Jackson), the other (George Steinbrenner) a convicted one" comment.

China, by a field goal

One of my favorite activities at the Olympics is making fun of SI writer Brian Cazeneuve when one of his medal picks gets eliminated in the preliminaries. You can read all of Cazeneuve's picks this week as SI's Olympic preview hits newsstands and mailboxes in the next 48 hours. Mr. Michael Phelps is on the cover.

Earlier today the United States Olympic Committee announced its team members for competition at the 2008 Olympic Games.

Some highlights: