Start the countdown, the University of Arizona can't wait:

353 Days until the 2013 NCAA Men's College World Series. Until then, we will miss you all. #cws

— College World Series (@cwsupdates) June 26, 2012

Hail to the champs:

National Champions! @ArizonaBaseball #Beardown #CWS twitter.com/IM4UACATS/stat…

— Matt Brown (@IM4UACATS) June 26, 2012

It's a great day to be a Wildcat:

Yes, Wildcats, YES!!!!!!!!!!!!! BEAR DOWN ARIZONA!!!!! @ArizonaBaseball @AZATHLETICS #CWS

— Jennie Finch (@jfinch27) June 26, 2012

SEC pride ran deep for LSU coach Les Miles, who cheered on his intra-conference rival for at least one night and delivered some compelling play-by-play:

Just good at bats!! Geaux SC!!

— Les Miles (@LSUCoachMiles) June 26, 2012

Things got a little out of hand for Metta World Peace on Twitter -– even more so than usual. He issued challenges to President Obama, Ron Artest and LeBron James, among others:

I would play lebron for 500k. One on one.. Can't do more than that.. His paper way longer

— Metta WorldPeace (@MettaWorldPeace) June 25, 2012

After later claiming he was “hacked,” Metta World Peace posted this update. He was still tweeting as of Tuesday:

"Due to lack of brains , we will cancel @mettaworldpeace twitter acct"Sincerely ,Twitter"sorry guys"Sincerely ,Metta

— Metta WorldPeace (@MettaWorldPeace) June 26, 2012

More vacation fun - NBA style:

Ridin the Sugar Cane Train..Maui HI twitter.com/Real_T_Mac/sta…

— Tracy McGrady (@Real_T_Mac) June 26, 2012

Chris Paul has plans for later this summer, but in the meantime:

Home sweet Home!!! Finally back in NC for 1 last week before training and off to #London2012 #FamilyTime

— Chris Paul (@CP3) June 26, 2012

Even with this victory, swimmer Ryan Lochte has unfinished business before heading to London. Michael Phelps and Lochte swim again Tuesday in the 200-meter event:

Never an easy race in 400IM. Especially when u have @MichaelPhelps in there. First two Americans in swimming headed to London #jeah

— Ryan Lochte (@ryanlochte) June 26, 2012

This one sounds like a punch-line for "Boston Powers:"

Starting in the OF for the Red Sox this season is like making a wish on The Monkeys Paw.espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id…

— Seth Meyers (@sethmeyers21) June 25, 2012

Elsewhere:

• With reports having him being close to a deal with the Heat, the value of Ray Allen to the Celtics might be just a simple matter of dollars and sense, writes Glenn Davis. (International Business Times)

• Supermodels Bar Refaeli and Irinia Shayk battling it out over Ronaldo’s gelled up hairdo on Twitter. Playing Spain might just be a cakewalk after getting caught in the middle of this social media melee. (FanFeedr)


If you see any offbeat and fresh newsy links from your favorite sports site that might be of interest to others, pass them along to me @billsperos or bsperos1@gmail.com.