Mike Pesca

R.A. Dickey's career as a major league pitcher has been as unpredictable as his signature pitch, the knuckleball.

And on Tuesday night, the New York Mets' 37-year-old phenomenon will hit a new pinnacle: the pitching mound at baseball's All-Star Game.

He won't be starting for the National League — manager Tony La Russa chose Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants for that honor. But the manager says says Dickey will pitch.

We've been counting down to the London Olympics, and now we're going to meet two women in rowing. The qualifiction for women's pairs was held recently in Princeton, N.J. Sarah Hendershot and Sarah Zelenka came from behind to win a spot on the Olympic team.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Now, in the NBA Finals, the Miami Heat now lead Oklahoma City Thunder two games to one. It's a best-of-seven series. The Heat won the latest game in as LeBron James scored 29 points, outpacing Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant who had 25.

NPR's mike Pesca was there.

Former NBA star Jack Twyman has died at the age of 78. Twyman played for the Rochester and Cincinnati Royals in the 1950s and 60s. But it was his friendship and assistance to an injured teammate that earned him the most recognition.

The debate over who is the greatest summer Olympian in U.S. history is relegated to a familiar list of names: Michael Phelps, Mark Spitz, Jim Thorpe, Carl Lewis, Jesse Owens, perhaps Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Then there's Ray Ewry, an all-but-forgotten Olympic great with a remarkable story.

Ewry won his 10th gold medal in 10 tries by leaping, bounding and hopping to such heights and lengths that spectators were awed — but also dumbfounded — that a human being could perform such feats. In fact, the French dubbed him L'Homme Grenouille, the "Frog Man."

Michael Phelps has won more medals, and more gold medals than any U.S. Olympian. But how many people have heard of Ray Ewry, perhaps the all time greatest Olympic athlete on land? Ewry entered 10 events and won 10 gold medals. That his events no longer exist, and that he won his last gold 104 years ago are what contributes to Ewry's relative anonymity.

Big name medal winners in high-profile Olympic sports can count on support from sponsors. But not so for lesser known athletes. That's forced some of them to take an unorthodox approach to fundraising.

The first round of the 2012 NFL draft was held at New York City's Radio City Music Hall Thursday. The top-two picks are two of the most highly regarded quarterbacks to enter the NFL in quite some time. After those players were selected, teams began furiously trading picks and players in order to secure their presumed slice of future greatness.

The national championship game in men's college basketball is set. The Jayhawks beat Ohio State in a close one and Kentucky got past Louisville.

At the nine-minutes-to-go mark in games one through four of Kentucky's romp through the NCAA tournament, the Wildcats have had leads of 13, 11, 18 and 30 points. So it was significant that the Louisville Cardinals actually found themselves tied with Kentucky at that nine-minute juncture.