Thursday Blogdome: If you want to steal LeBron, you'll have to go through the Iron Chef

* Cleveland Ups LeBron Ante: Iron Chef Will Cook For Him. Previously on That NBA Lottery Pick, we have chronicled NBA cities doing their best to court free agency superstar LeBron James. Some have done it through song, some have promised riches beyond belief, and some have promised strippers. Well, the Cleveland faithful now can add food to their list in ways of courting LeBron James. [That NBA Lottery Pick]
* Lou Piniella Ain’t Scared of A Little Petroleum In His Diet. Despite the massive BP oil spill that’s terrorizing our nation’s gulf coast and killing off all of our nation’s pretty little birds and fishies, Cubs manager Lou Piniella has no plans of canceling his attempts at mining our nation’s freshly barren sea. My advice? Bring a huge net. [With Leather]

* Bryce Harper College Baseball Career Possibly Over With Ejection For Drawing Line In Dirt. An old friend of Busted Coverage, Matt Youmans of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, was in the stadium last night as a 17-year-old future multi…multi…multi-millionaire argued a called third strike and was ejected. That someone would be Bryce Harper, the kid who will be the first pick in Monday’s MLB Draft. [Busted Coverage]
* PETA Ranks Vegetarian-Friendly Major-League Stadiums. Animal-friendly baseball fans don’t have to settle for popcorn, peanuts, and cracker jacks anymore. They can score veggie dogs, faux steak sandwiches, and vegan versions of other stadium favorites at many big-league ballparks. Check out PETA’s list of the top 10 vegetarian-friendly major-league ballparks of 2010 to see where your team ranks in the standings: [The PETA Files]
* There’s No Crying In Baseball Tigers Fans. Speaking of tears, Jim Joyce was absolutely heartbroken after the game. He sounded completely distraught in his post game interview. So much so that you could almost hear the violins playing in the background, quietly, beneath his voice. [Deuce of Davenport]
* Troy Tulowitzki To Sport A Kenny Powers Look For A Non-Kenny Powers Purpose. Now that Jared Allen has shorn off his once-majestic mullet, a great void has been left in trashy culture representation among the major sports. Lucky for us (and a passel of needy children) that Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki has seen fit to grow a mullet of his own for charity. [The Sporting Blog]
* Also: Robbie Ross of the Hickory Crawdads (Single-A, Texas Rangers affiliate) has allowed only four earned runs over his past seven starts, and retired 23 straight in an 8-0 win over Charleston on Tuesday … In case you were too busy to attend, here’s what you missed at the Jose Lima funeral … (Fake) headline of the day: Can smoking Indonesian toddler plug oil leak with cigarette butts? … Nick Swisher, Scientologist?
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Contact Rick Chandler at rickchand2gmail.com. Giddy-up.