Legendary announcer Dick Enberg will call his 32nd and final Wimbledon tournament starting Monday.

“It’s part of 5 decades, starting in 1979, a total of 32 Wimbledons,” Enberg told the San Diego Union-Tribune via email from England. “The decision was mine to make this my last Wimbledon and ESPN was sensitive to give me a chance to say goodbye to an event that has been my favorite.”

Enberg will do 10 “vignettes” to reflect on his 30-plus years calling action from Wimbledon. He will return to his play-by-play duties with the San Diego Padres on July 6.

[H/T Fang's Bites]

Yes, that’s ESPN’s Mike Greenberg dressed as Justin Bieber.

No, I have nothing else witty to add. The photo speaks for itself.

[H/T Deadspin]

Sports fans who think Gus Johnson’s hot sauce-in-the-Jockeys announcing style is the height of entertainment should be overjoyed to learn Johnson is “neck and neck” in a competition with Bob Papa to be play-by-play announcer on the NFL Network next season. So reports Phil Mushnick of the New York Post.

Johnson’s enviable ability to derive excitement from the most mundane sports action would be put to the test if the NFL Network has late-season snoozers akin to last year’s Dec. 23 matchup, which pitted the Super Bowl-bound Steelers against the No. 1 pick-bound Panthers. In case you forgot, that game ended in a 27-3 blowout win for Pittsburgh.

Whoever does the play-by-play for the NFL Network won’t have to keep Joe Theismann and Matt Millen awake this season. As Sports Illustrated reported, they’ve been replaced by Mike Mayock.

Dan Patrick landed Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant this morning to discuss his homophobic comment towards referee Bennie Adams.

“It was just stupid and ignorant,” Bryant said. “In this situation, seeing how many people were affected, it helps you understand the weight that comes from that word. That’s why it’s very important for me to communicate how sorry I am to use the word.”

Bryant hasn’t talked to Adams yet about Tuesday’s incident.

“The next game he calls for us I’ll definitely make a point to reach out to him,” Bryant added. Read more

In honor of Jackie Robinson Day, Major League Baseball is launching a new digital campaign called “IAM42.”

www.IAM42.com is designed for fans to make a personal connection with Jackie Robinson through online video sharing and social networking outlets.

The site, which launches Friday, features personal video tributes from more than 60 current players and legends to honor the 64^th Anniversary of Robinson’s historic moment, including Baseball Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Lou Brock and Andre Dawson; and MLB All-Stars Jason Heyward, Prince Fielder, David Price, Mariano Rivera and David Wright. It will be updated throughout the year leading up to the 65th anniversary of Jackie Robinson Day on April 15, 2012. Read more

The Big 12 Conference and Fox Sports reached a 13-year agreement for the exclusive cable rights to 40 regular season football games, along with a variety of Olympic sports events and conference championships.

According to the Sports Business Daily, the deal is worth an average of $90 million per year.

The new deal takes effect with the 2012 football season and nearly doubles the number of regular season games under its current agreement. A majority of the telecasts will be shown on Fox Sports Net and several other games will be scheduled on FX as part of its recently announced college football slate. Read more

ESPN The Magazine has dubbed San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey as their “NEXT” athlete for 2011.

The National League Rookie of the Year hit .305 with 18 home runs in only 108 games.

Joining Posey in their respective sports are Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers, Evander Kane of the Atlanta Thrashers and Patrick Peterson of LSU.

For the most part, ESPN The Magazine has got it right in selecting the next breakout athlete.

Well, minus 2004.