Any notion of transparency is believed only by the naive.

Whatever glowing perceptions we have of a public figure, particularly in sports, too often are exposed by lurking warts and skeletons. Just because Steve McNair made a remarkable commitment to community service -- in lockstep with a football career defined by his legendary toughness and tolerance for pain -- doesn't mean he led a perfect life.

In truth, he had a 20-year-old girlfriend on the side, a woman who worked as a waitress at a restaurant visited by McNair, his wife and their four sons. McNair and the girl, Sahel Kazemi, often hung out at his rented downtown condominium and her apartment. Sometimes, she would arrive home in a limousine, and, not long ago, her personal vehicle of choice curiously shifted from a Kia to a black 2007 Cadillac Escalade.

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I have never seen such pain in an athlete's eyes. Did you see Andy Roddick's eyes, wide open, and something deep pleading to come out?

"No," he said to the crowd afterward, "I'm one of the lucky few that gets cheered for."

And he thanked the fans.

Yes, Roger Federer had just won Wimbledon. He beat Roddick 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 16-14 Sunday for his record-breaking 15th major title.

That's right, the last set was 16-14, or 10 games longer than any previous fifth set in a major. Turns out that while this wasn't quite the drama or quality of last year's final, Rafael Nadal didn't have to be here for a classic Wimbledon. Instead, Pete Sampras, who had won 14 majors, was there. And Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg. History came together to watch history being made.

The Celtics have received a commitment from Rasheed Wallace, according to Marc Spears of the Boston Globe, giving Boston another greybeard who can help with a 2010 title run. Wallace, an unrestricted free agent, was being wooed by the Celtics and Orlando Magic.

His exceptional shooting skills, solid defense and toughness would be a help for any seasoned club, but all the Celtics could offer was a mid-level exception (about $5.6 million to $5.8 million) for two seasons. Wallace, who turns 35 in September, is close friends with Kevin Garnett, so much so that he was criticized by teammates for his hugging of Garnett after the Celtics eliminated the Detroit Pistons from the playoffs in 2008.

Wallace indicated that he was going to take a few more days to make a decision, but apparently he informed club officials that he plans to sign on July 8.

Looking to cycle spot-starters each day? Check out the Stream Team, where we tab pitchers that are likely to help you in your quest for fantasy gold.

After yet another poor Stream Team start, this one a no-strikeout, two-HR allowed head-scratcher from Vin Mazzaro, I was in the dumps. Three straight stinkers left me with a pretty bad success rate. Luckily, Joe Blanton came out and locked the Mets down by scattering four hits through 7.1 innings, allowing no runs while striking out five batters. He also gave the Stream Team our first win! Who should we stream as we play for our second victory?

Hunter Mahan started the day at the AT&T National -- the tournament Tiger Woods has hosted for three years now -- tied for 16th, six shots off the lead. And with just about every hole location qualifying as a sucker pin, nobody gave him much of a chance. Which is why it was something of a surprise when he signed for a 62, good for the top spot on the leaderboard ... right next to Tiger.

Sports continued to be overshadowed last week by the shocking death of a beloved superstar whose performances thrilled millions of fans worldwide for almost four decades.

Fred Travalena, we're going to miss you.

According to various news reports, he wasn't the only celebrity who passed away. Rumor has it that Michael Jackson was downloaded. The first clue was when Katie Couric, Brian Williams and Charles Gibson did their evening newscasts wearing one sequined glove.

With the introduction of the 2009 All-Star teams, the next step for fans is to complain about their favorite players not making the squad. Thus, we'll get a head start and go through each position in the American League.

The rosters, which will be complete once the fan vote for the final player in each league concludes, were announced during a selection show on TBS Sunday. Remember, this season baseball added yet another pitcher to the roster, in hopes that the game doesn't end in a tie like the 2002 debacle. The concern once again came to the forefront last season as the game went deep into extra innings and the pitching depth began to run out.

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News that reigning WNBA All-Star Candace Parker, without question the best women's basketball player in the world, got pregnant last winter surely sent a chill through the bones of WNBA boosters, Los Angeles Sparks management, and Parker's business partners. But Candace promised she'd be back quickly, better than ever.

Parker, who is married to fringe NBA forward Shelden Williams, gave birth to daughter Lailaa on May 13. Tonight, less than two months later, she will return to the Sparks line-up.

As they prepared to fight in the main event of UFC 100, Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar took a little time this week to heap praise on the first Ultimate Fighting Champion, Royce Gracie.

Mir said seeing Gracie win UFC 1 opened his eyes to a whole new style of fighting and made him want to become the Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt that he is today. And Lesnar fondly recalled seeing Gracie's battle with Kimo Leopoldo at UFC 3, which was Gracie's eighth UFC fight and the first time Gracie was ever seriously challenged in the Octagon.

It seems Hedo Turkoglu really has made up his mind this time. After a stormy Friday that had Hedo in Portland for five years NO WAIT make that Toronto, the dust has settled and Turkoglu will apparently be a Raptor. For real. (We think.)

Turkoglu's agent Lon Babby admitted Saturday that Hedo made a verbal committment to the Blazers Friday before changing course. That might seem like bad pool, but that's one of the dangers of negotiating deals during the free agency moratorium the first week of July. Last-minute reversals have happened before, and they'll happen again. (It's also worth noting no one confirmed a Portland deal on the record during Friday's crazy hours. Everything was anonymously sourced.)

The votes are in and counted and St. Louis is ready to host the 80th Midsummer Classic on Tuesday July 14, so who will be representing the American and National League in the Gateway City?

There will be 33 players on each league's roster, with the eight position-player starters selected by a fan vote, eight pitchers (five starters and three relievers) and one reserve at each position selected by a vote among the players, coaches and managers and the remainder of the roster filled by the managers of each team -- Joe Maddon in the AL and Charlie Manuel in the NL. As has been the case the last few years, fans will also select the final player for each league in a vote to be conducted in the next week.

After the jump see the full rosters for the 2009 All-Star Game.

Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

A week ago Sunday night, Mariano Rivera earned his 500th save. Which should make us realize a few things about closers:

• The truly great ones are the those who can sustain it for a long time. Getting 40 saves a year for 12 years would still leave one short of 500.

• Even getting to the second tier isn't easy. Only 18 players have had as many as six 30-save seasons: Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, Lee Smith, Billy Wagner, Troy Percival, John Wetteland, Dennis Eckersley, John Franco, Jason Isringhausen, Robb Nen, Jeff Reardon, Todd Jones, Jose Mesa, Roberto Hernandez, Randy Myers, Rick Aguilera, Tom Henke and Todd Worrell.

In other words, the shelf life for a typical closer is a short one. They can burst onto the scene – and flame out quickly (right, Mr. Gagne?)

• But it also means that teams can find short-term solutions for the ninth inning any number of ways.