Time for LeBron to put up or shut up

Can I just say I'll be glad when all this NBA free-agent nonsense is over with.

I'm getting tired of reading about who is visiting where. I hate speculation stories. They absolutely make me sick. Wake me up when somebody makes a decision.

If LeBron James is truly serious about wanting to play for a championship team, he'll leave Cleveland and go somewhere else. Many people around the NBA believe LeBron is more interested in being an icon and a billionaire than being a champion.

Time to put up or shut up LeBron. If he elects to stay with the Cavs, you know it's all about the money. The Cavs can pay him the most money.

However, Cleveland doesn't have enough money to bring in any of the top-flight free agents, so there is no way the Cavaliers are going anywhere next year.

Cleveland has tried to improve itself and put players around LeBron in recent years, but it hasn't paid off in a NBA title.

James would have to take a pay cut to leave the Cavs, and we all know these NBA guys like to have a lot of spare change around.

• It's been an interesting summer for the Carson Blue Jays. The local high school team has gone through its ups and downs this summer. I've seen some improvement in a lot of areas, but the team still has to develop consistency in all areas, especially defense and pitching.

The Senators struggled this season with a very young team. In the long run, their struggles will help them this coming season. You always learn more from a loss than a win, and I believe that the Senators need to buy into what the coaching staff is teaching.

Young pitchers Casey Wolfe and Charlie Banfield have shown a lot of promise, and it will be interesting to see if they crack the starting rotation behind Colby Blueberg when the high school season rolls around. Banfield especially needs to improve his control and do a better job of getting the ball down in the strike zone.

The Blue Jays have used Nick Domitrovich behind the plate, and I truly like him there. Domitrovich will be in the lineup somewhere because he is one of the team's top hitters, and he has the versatility to play all four infield positions, pitcher and catcher. Tim Baylor, who didn't play last year, could figure in the mix next spring, too. Baylor has a very strong arm.

• Chance Quilling, a soon-to-be- junior at Carson High has absolutely been raking the ball this summer for the Blue Jays.

Quilling has been hitting over .500 in recent weeks, and put on a show during the High Sierra Classic when he drove in 11 runs in two games. He also made a diving catch against the Badgers.

Quilling has shown his versatility, playing third, the outfield and catching this past week in the 4th of July Tournament.

• Baseball fans around the country are scoffing at the notion that Washington phenom Stephen Strasburg should be on the National League all-star team.

Why not? It's only an exhibition. Certainly Ryan Zimmerman and Josh Willingham are probably more deserving, but Strasburg has generated a lot of excitement in his brief career.

• Carson Tigersharks coach Gaby Phalan and local swimmers Tatum Boehnke, Ryan Hogan, Beth Lewis, and Jacob Cornwell are attempting to swim Lake Tahoe on Tuesday.

Hogan and Boehnke teamed to swim the English Channel last year.

The swimmers will start at Tahoe Keys at approximately 6 a.m. and finish on the north shore.

The swim is 22 miles in length.