Pau Gasol was “without words” after hugging fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal following his victory Monday in the French Open:

Grande Rafa!!! Sin palabras RT“@javino777: Enormes @paugasol y @RafaelNadal twitter.com/javino777/stat…”

— Pau Gasol (@paugasol) June 11, 2012

Defending Masters champion Bubba Watson managed to squeeze in a little tennis via Twitter, cheering on a fellow Southpaw:

Congrats @RafaelNadal, he's good at tennis!! #lefty

— bubba watson (@bubbawatson) June 11, 2012

Chicago Bears wide receiver and former Miami Hurricane Devin Hester is one of many in @KingJames’ court when it comes to making a pick in the NBA Finals:

Man I'mhappy for the Heat, now @KingJames has a good chance of winning a ring. Good luck bro.

— DevinHester (@D_Hest23) June 10, 2012

Miami Heat Managing General Partner Micky Arison shows some “medal” mettle heading into Game 1:

Ready for battle. OKC here we come! #letsgoheatinstagr.am/p/LtLze_u8E7/

— Micky Arison (@MickyArison) June 10, 2012

Marlon Wayans summed the feelings of millions of boxing fans, or perhaps former boxing fans, in the wake of the controversial scoring giving Tim Bradley the decision over Manny Pacquiao in their welterweight title fight:

If this Pacquiao fight does not fix this I swear I'm never watching boxing again. This is just highway robbery. I used to love boxing

— marlon wayans (@MARLONLWAYANS) June 10, 2012

The U.S. Open begins Thursday and Stewart Cink is impressed with the venue:

Just arriving in San Fran. Very excited to see Olympic. Last time I saw it was in '98 Open. A lot has changed since then...

— Stewart Cink (@stewartcink) June 11, 2012

Torii Hunter was a mile high after the Angels rampaged through Coors Field this weekend. He went 9 for 15 with three homers and nine RBIs in a three-game sweep:

Had a fun time at Coors field. That stadium was better than what I thought it would be. Great place to hit!

— Torii Hunter (@toriihunter48) June 11, 2012

We know who Polly Pruebred will be rooting for in Omaha. This You Tube clip was tweeted by the athletic director at Stony Brook University before Sunday’s 7-2 victory over LSU:

@SBAthletics baseball team introduction song. Only b/c its what people OUTSIDE our team & Athl Dept think not us: youtube.com/watch?v=tEVsRL…

— Jim Fiore (@JDFiore) June 10, 2012

Elsewhere:


• A Canadian junior hockey coach faces a one-year suspension for allowing his players to study for exams instead of attending the opening ceremony for a recent tournament. In addition to coach Brian Cranford’s suspension, the Mount Pearl Junior Blades team was fined $2,000 by hockey’s governing body in the province. “We had a good reason for not going,” Cranford told CBC News. “We’re right in the middle of university exams.” (CBC News)

• In case you haven’t been paying attention, here’s a quick “Miami Heat For Dummies” primer. (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

• You want tickets to Game 1 Tuesday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena? Good luck. So does everybody else. (The Oklahoman)

• Only CBC commentator extraordinaire Don Cherry can turn Game 5 Stanley Cup hockey talk into discussion of a Communist conspiracy. (Awful Announcing)

If you see any offbeat newsy links or interesting items from your favorite sports site or Twitter that might be of interest to others, pass them along to me at bsperos1@gmail.com or tweet them to me at @BillSperos.