Khloe Kardashian's Extravagant Victory Gift to Lamar Odom: $400,000????

Khloe Kardashian, Lamar Odom -- AP

If you are from LA, live in LA or judt have turned on the TV recently, then you know that the Lakers won the NBA championship against the Celtics. Lamar Odom, husband to Khloe Kardashian is a member of the Lakers team, and she was so happy and proud of his accomplishment, that she bought him a $400,000 Rolls Royce. Apparently, there are some people (haters) talking about the expensive gift that has resulted in Kardashian taking to Twitter to say that she paid for the gift herself.

Kardashian writes:

"People r so pathetic. Y would I give some1 a gift w/ their money? That's lame. I actually make my own money. Shocking I know. Stop hating!"

Kardashian's mother Kris Jenner told E! News that the car is: "a brand new 2010 Rolls Royce...drop top coupe, white on white."

This wouldn't be the first time that Khloe Kardashian has been involved in rumors. In fact, as of late - pregnancy rumors have followed the reality star. She has had to continually dismiss the rumors and even went so far as to take a pregnancy test which showed that she is not expecting her first child.

Instead of putting Kardashian down for purchasing a gift like this for her husband, shouldn't people be happy that she is in a position to do so?

A-Rod and Mac make Forbes' list of most disliked sports figures!!! WOW

I thought that finally winning a World Series title and staging fewer weird magazine photo shoots would soften Alex Rodriguez's(notes) image with the public.

Same goes for Mark McGwire admitting to and apologizing for his PED use last winter.

But the world is an unforgiving place sometimes, as evidenced when both men still placed in the top 10 of the "Most Disliked People In Sports" survey recently conducted by Forbes.com.

McGwire is sixth on the list, while A-Rod checks in at the eighth spot. Their company includes a dog fighter (Michael Vick), a serial adulterer (Tiger Woods), a guy who drew a gun on a teammate (Gilbert Arenas) and a guy accused of rape before charges were dropped earlier this spring (Ben Roethlisberger).

Check out the whole Forbes.com survey here

I'm not a big fan of either ballplayer, but it seems unfair to group them with the above crowd, especially when none of the NFL's banned-substance suspendees — or the more selfish and unapologetic Manny Ramirez(notes) — are anywhere to be found among those most deserving of scorn. McGwire doesn't earn as many points as he should for his fight to prevent child abuse. And I've often thought that A-Rod's public image is a simple product of his ineptitude when dealing with superstardom and Scott Boras' ability to get Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks to bid against himself back in 2000.

That's not to say that I don't understand that both players have turned themselves into lightning rods after making the decision to use PEDs to boost their stats. But those are actions that should lump them in with the other listed figures like Al Davis, Jerry Jones and Terrell Owens ... not with the crop whose moral failings had an actual impact on others.

Better luck next year, fellas.

Yahoo

Scenes from the Los Angeles Lakers' championship parade!!!

On Monday, the Lakers and the city of Los Angeles celebrated their 2010 NBA title with a parade through their fine city. Thousands upon thousands of Angelenos showed up, cheering on their back-to-back champions as only Californians can. Let's enjoy some of the best pictures from Monday's festivities.

Ron Artest(notes) kept things pretty normal, all things considered. Yeah, he showed up just a little bit tipsy, smoking a cigar and wearing a feathered top hat his daughter made in art class, but that's normal for Ron Artest. At least he finally changed clothes.

Man, Kobe Bryant's(notes) index finger is a lot more injured than we were led to believe. He definitely needs surgery.

Seven people were arrested at the parade, including these two young ladies for "excessive blanketing." Kids these days and their crazy blankets. It still doesn't seem fair that they'd be thrown in jail for blankets, but I'm hardly an expert on the California penal code.

Unlike Ron Artest, Pau Gasol(notes) still hasn't showered since Thursday night. It's not really that big of a change for him though — Wednesday is his weekly shower day.

a) ZING!

b) Shaq is like, "What's that? I can't see your sign behind my enormous stacks of money and four championship rings. Have you heard this new Owl City song? It's really, really good."

c) But still, buuuuuurrrrrnnnnnn.

I'm not that surprised that Pharrell Williams would be a Lakers fan, but I'm kind of shocked he didn't get better seats.

As you can tell by Derek Fisher's(notes) supremely unimpressed face, anything more than four titles is a total bore. It's such a drag winning five championships in 11 years.

We should all be very happy that the gigantic Peja Stojakovic heads that have become so famous in New Orleans have finally spawned. Fun fact: Pau Gasol's is life-size.

It was pretty nice of the Lakers to let impartial commentator Earvin "Magic" Johnson ride in their parade. Journalists don't usually get that chance.

Yep, he's a champion.

Steve Smith broke his arm, but how?

Here's what we know about the injury to Carolina Panthers receiver Steve Smith: Over the weekend, as first reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter, Smith broke his left arm in a flag football game. It was the same arm that Smith broke last December, though not in the same place. Last time, it was his forearm.

Schefter's report, in which Smith's injury was disclosed by his agent, specified that Smith suffered the injury in a flag football game that took place during a camp he runs for kids. However, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk now reports that from what he's heard, Smith actually broke his arm in the championship game of an adult flag tournament in which Smith has been a longtime participant.

The difference could be significant if Smith's contract has language prohibiting other specific kinds of athletic activities – it's not uncommon for big-ticket contracts to have language prohibiting player participation in risky athletic endeavors. If Smith had a waiver for his football camp, that might be a reason to float a different story out there. We're not saying that's what happened, but if it did, that would be a possibility.

In late April, Denver Broncos left tackle Ryan Clady tore his patellar tendon in a pickup basketball game and will miss an indeterminate amount of time as he recovers. That's just bad luck; one can only imagine the kinds of tantrums we'd see out of Denver coach Josh McDaniels had Clady been injured in a flag football game. The Carolina brass are more measured in its reactions, but it probably wouldn't be too happy if it went down this way. Stay tuned for more on that part of the story.

Initial reports have Smith undergoing surgery Sunday night and possibly being ready for the start of the regular season. If that's the case, the Panthers need to get a bead on who's going to catch passes from Matt Moore(notes) or Jimmy Clausen(notes) alongside Smith, so there are more opportunities for Dwayne Jarrett(notes), Armanti Edwards(notes) and Brandon LaFell(notes) (as well as the rest of Carolina's relatively anonymous receiver corps) to shine and gain playing time; Edwards is one to watch. The 31-year-old Smith, who led the team with 65 catches for 982 yards and seven touchdowns in 2009, has said that he wants to see another Panthers receiver step up and challenge him for reps and catches. Now, for better or worse, is the time for that to happen.

Yahoo

Redskins trade for Jammal Brown; reinforce offensive line!!

In one offseason, the new Washington Redskins brain trust of Mike Shanahan and Bruce Allen have done more for the team's offensive line than former VP/Football Operations Vinny Cerrato did over several years. First, Washington selected Oklahoma tackle Trent Williams(notes) with the fourth overall pick, and now Shanahan and Allen have engineered a trade with the New Orleans Saints. The ‘Skins get tackle Jammal Brown(notes), and the Saints get ... well, the compensation is pretty interesting.

The Redskins already owe the Philadelphia Eagles a mid-round conditional pick for Donovan McNabb(notes) (either third- or fourth-round, depending on certain escalators), and they now owe the Saints another conditional mid-rounder (same deal) - basically, the compensation to the Saints is dependent on the compensation to the Eagles. One team will get Washington's third-round pick in 2011, and another will get the team's fourth-rounder. There are other late-round picks involved - a possible 2011 fifth-, sixth-, or seventh-rounder back to Washington from New Orleans, and a 2012 sixth-rounder in the same direction. Again, these are all based on 2010 playing incentives, so we'll have to wait and see how it shakes out. What we do know is that Cerrato probably would have skipped the complicated stuff and just given the Saints Washington's entire 2011 draft for Brown, which is yet another reason it's good that Shanahan and Allen are in charge now.

Why such low compensation for a left tackle who went to the Pro Bowl in 2008 - a player who the Saints slapped with a first- and third-round tender this past offseason? Brown is a talented player, but a pretty serious injury risk - he missed the entire 2009 season after hip surgery, and he's never played a full 16-game season in his NFL career. Still, if Brown comes back from injury as he was, the Redskins made a great trade that reinforces a line that was overwhelmed in 2009 after years of neglect. The question about Brown is how much he's been helped by Drew Brees'(notes) quick release. While the Saints' lines have been highly regarded in overall pass-blocking numbers over the last few seasons, aficionados of offensive line play also note that Brees is virtually unparalleled when it comes to getting rid of the ball in time. Will Brown regress back to the mean with a quarterback who's not quite as quick-twitch?

The next step for Brown, as it still is for McNabb, is to come to terms on a longer deal. Brown is a restricted free agent once he signs his tender, and McNabb is under contract through the end of the 2010 season, as well. For the first time since George Allen (Bruce's dad) created the "Over the Hill Gang" in the 1970s, the Redskins seem to have some real sense behind their trading of draft picks. Initial word has Williams playing left tackle though he played just one college season on the left side; this will be sorted out in a Redskins offseason that just gets more and more interesting every day.

Source: Yahoo

Tiger Woods' Mistress -- He's the Daddy

Tiger Woods' Mistress -- He's the Daddy

Jubilant Celebration Over Lakers' Win Turns Rowdy!!

A jubilant celebration over the Los Angeles Lakers' dramatic win in the NBA championship game turned rowdy in scattered sections of the city, with raucous revelers hurling rocks and bottles at police, setting fires and jumping on vehicles.

Police spokesman Cleon Joseph said Friday 38 people had been arrested, most for public intoxication and others for vandalism and inciting a riot.

Television news footage showed one man being beaten and a car set on fire. Broken glass and burnt debris lined the streets.

Several people were seen jumping on a taxi as it attempted to leave the area near the arena after the Lakers beat the Boston Celtics 83-79.

Someone opened a rear door of the vehicle while others rocked it back and forth. The taxi eventually made its way through the crowd and out of the area.

Some men ran shirtless in the streets, while other people revved car engines and honked their horns in celebration. Some people set off fireworks.

Hundreds of officers massed around Staples Center before Game 7 of the NBA finals Thursday night, aiming to prevent a repeat of the violence after the Lakers' championship win last year.

Despite the massive deployment, pockets of violence erupted in neighborhoods near the arena, and there were reports of windows being broken at businesses.

No major problems were reported in the rest of the city.

Jazmine Rodriguez, 24, lives in an apartment building not far from Staples Center. She said every car on her street had its windows smashed.

"When we came down here, only one window was smashed. The cops told us to go back inside, and (revelers) smashed the other one," Rodriguez said.

Delmi Ramos tried to salvage what she could from her car, which was filled with shards of broken glass.

"It's these young people who don't know how to behave," she said. "They cause damage to people, to the community, because they don't know how to celebrate in a healthy way."

Los Angeles firefighters responded to 37 incidents within a half-mile of the arena in three hours, spokesman Brian Humphrey said. There were 15 rubbish fires, three vehicle fires, one vegetation fire and 18 medical aid requests.

Eight people were transported to hospitals. Humphrey didn't know the nature or extent of the injuries, but said some were serious.

One police officer suffered a broken nose after someone threw an object at him, Police Chief Charlie Beck said.

Police were bracing for another crowd-control challenge Monday, when the Lakers will hold a victory parade from Staples Center to the edge of the University of Southern California campus. A team statement estimated 500,000 to 2 million people might line the two-mile route.

The event appeared to be significantly downsized from past years, when championships were celebrated by kickoff rallies at City Hall, parades through downtown and huge rallies at Staples Center.

Last year's parade was heavily criticized for its costs to the financially strapped city. It skipped the downtown core and instead began at Staples Center and ended at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where 95,000 people jammed the stands for a rally.

———

Associated Press Writers Raquel Maria Dillon, Bob Jablon, Denise Petski and Nardine Saad contributed to this report.

Ron Artest -- The Ultimate Vodka Shower

Ron Artest -- The Ultimate Vodka Shower

Fan bursts into England dressing room, confronts Beckham!!!

Buying flights to South Africa, finding a hotel and picking up match tickets represents a considerable investment in both time and money, so fans at Green Point Stadium were understandably frustrated by the woeful display England put on against Algeria last night. While most chose to convey their disappointment via the medium of the "boo", one supporter took things a little further. Shortly after the game, reports on BBC Radio 5 Live suggested an angry fan had breached security and made his way to the England dressing room, and said reports have been confirmed by the press this morning. From The Telegraph:

The supporter managed to get past security at the Green Point stadium in Cape Town following England's lacklustre goalless draw against Algeria in order to berate the players.

It is understood he gained access to the team dressing room after the players had left the pitch.

The disgruntled fan is understood to have confronted former England captain David Beckham over the team's poor performance.

The man, who was dressed in an England shirt, was able to breach several levels of security in order to reach the team.

Of all the people that angry fan could have confronted, he went for Beckham. The guy whose sole purpose at this tournament is to stand on the touchline and look fabulously handsome in the official England suit. He could have shouted at Fabio Capello for the rigid and inflexible tactics that resulted in Wayne Rooney playing on the left of midfield, or captain Steven Gerrard, whose lack of ideas after the game almost matched his lack of ideas during it. But no, he went for the guy with the least culpability in the room.

[Photos: See more of soccer legend David Beckham]

After exposing a worrying hole in stadium security, Reuters this morning say that the fan is still at large, as the England security forces who ejected him allowed him to "slip away into the crowd" like a villain in 24, rather than handing him over to the police.

UPDATE: Beckham has now played down the event, claiming the fan was not aggressive and there was no scuffle. Becks says the invader simply said "hello" and walked out. Looks like it may have all been blown out of proportion. Also, like true leaders, Princes William and Harry have stepped up and taken the blame for the breach: "Harry and I left the door open, that's why it happened, it was our fault."

Obama watches Strasburg set record, White Sox win, Wave go by!!!

Washington Nationals rookie phenom Stephen Strasburg set a record during another masterful performance. And the Chicago White Sox scraped their way to an 11-inning victory, winning for the eighth time in nine games.

But the biggest winner at sold-out Nationals Park on Friday night?

[Photos: President Obama takes in a ballgame]

President Barack Obama (right, in White Sox cap).

Not only did he get to witness Strasburg with his own eyes, and he saw his White Sox win, but he also sat stoically — and righteously — as the rest of the stadium foolishly did the Wave. Including at least one of his own daughters. Hah! Silly humans!

Here's indisputable photographic proof of the president's good sense.

Of course, the slightly bigger news was, again, Strasburg. He struck out 10, giving him 32 for the season, to eclipse a record set by Houston's J.R. Richard for most K's in his first three career starts.

In September of 1971, Richard struck out 29 out of the chute for the Astros. Reality could never quite keep up with Richard's legend. Strasburg does not lack for hype, either.

Ozzie Guillen's impression: "I think he's the best pitcher in the National League."

Mixed reaction greets Manny Ramirez's return to Fenway!!!

In the end, Manny Ramirez's(notes) return to Fenway Park on Friday night went as I thought it would: Some people cheered, some booed and a few looked completely unmoved.

As for the man himself, Ramirez did not offer a tip of the cap or a wave as he approached the plate in the bottom of the second inning, perhaps because it seemed like the moment did not require a response. The whole scene then ended as quickly as it began with Ramirez lining the first pitch for an out to center field. No real drama, though the Red Sox did make an effort to set the stage — at least somewhat — for their former slugger.

From the Associated Press:

"In the middle of the second inning, the Red Sox played a video on the scoreboard of Ramirez highlights. Set to the R.E.M. song 'Superman,' it showed him making diving catches, receiving his Series MVP trophy, posing at the plate after hitting a home run and, of course, opening the door to the Green Monster.

Ramirez will likely DH all three games during this interleague series, so a mid-inning potty break in the Monster seems unlikely. The good news is that the famed left field wall was not left wanting for a visit from a formerly beloved player now living in exile.

Yes, that was Roger Clemens sitting in the seats atop the Monster. When it rains, it pours, I suppose.

Marvin Harrison still loves the shoot em up bang bang!!

According to ESPN's Shaun Assael, former Indianapolis Colts star receiver Marvin Harrison had a nine millimeter handgun confiscated by police during a recent traffic stop.

Harrison was stopped by police three blocks away from a garage that he owns. The same garage that was the site of a murder 2008.

Harrison, as you'll probably recall, was linked to that murder in north Philadelphia back in 2008. He never faced criminal charges for the incident, but Philadelphia police did determine that multiple shell casings at the crime scene came from a gun belonging to Harrison -- a .50 caliber elephant-killer. A lot of media outlets then painted an unflattering picture of Harrison's off-the-field habits.

Here are the details, again, via Shaun Assael:

The 37-year-old former Pro Bowl receiver was driving the wrong way down the one-way street in a Cadillac Escalade when the patrolman stopped him along with the driver of a second car that was trailing him, the sources said.

According to the two law enforcement sources, the patrolman saw Harrison place something that appeared to be a weapon in the seat console of his car. When the officer asked him to step out of the vehicle, Harrison produced a car registration and a permit to carry a weapon, both of which were in order. When he was asked whether he had a weapon, however, he answered no, the sources said.

At that point, the sources added, the officer said that he had probable cause to search the vehicle and found a weapon.

The gun will undergo some ballistics testing to see if it might match up with some other 9mm shell casings that were found at the original 2008 crime scene. According to a witness, a second gun at the scene was responsible for the 9mm casings, but police never found that weapon.

What's there to say? The surprise that Marvin Harrison(notes) isn't the quiet little choir boy we all thought he was has long since worn off. It's not illegal for Harrison to have a gun, of course, but why is he lying to police about it? Particularly when he has all the permits and paperwork in order? Legally, he's guilty of nothing, but my goodness ... everything around him seems so shady. If nothing else, I'd classify Harrison as a scary guy.

Redskins to Haynesworth: We'd like our money back, please!!!

Edit post

The Washington Redskins have just about it had it with Albert Haynesworth's(notes) unhappy dance, and now they're firing back. According to the AP, their plan of attack is to recover some or all of the $21 million they gave him in bonus money last year.

The Redskins are going to see if they can recoup all or part of a $21 million bonus from the disgruntled two-time All Pro defensive tackle, an official within the league with knowledge of the deliberations told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The team decided to take the action after Haynesworth failed to report for a mandatory two-day minicamp.

Haynesworth, as you know, is upset because the Redskins want him to play in a 3-4 defense, as opposed to the 4-3 Albert prefers.

Haynesworth's contention is that the Redskins promised him he'd be playing in a 4-3, and he never would've signed there if he knew his role would be as a 3-4 player. Unless he specifically got that written into his contract, though, I don't think it matters. The Redskins signed him to play football.

So play football, Big Al.

Whenever possible, I try to side with the player in NFL athlete vs. management controversies. I feel like the current collective bargaining agreement is slanted very much in favor of the owners, and players generally get the short end of the stick.

Haynesworth is making that stance difficult, though. He's not a young guy who's outperformed his contract, and he's not someone who isn't going to get the payday he deserves. He just signed with the Redskins a year ago for $100 million.

I don't care if they ask you to return punts on the scout team or clip Rex Grossman's(notes) toenails. You took the money. Now you do what they ask you to do, which, by the way, is not unreasonable.

Unless you're willing to give the money back, in which case I'm sure the Redskins would be happy to release you, and you can go see if someone else will give you $100 million. Heads-up, though: Only one Dan Snyder exists.

Yahoo

Bosh May Call New York Home Next Season!!!

Chris Bosh(notes) will soon no longer be in the employ of the Toronto Raptors and the New York Post reports that the New York Knicks will be one of the teams that he'll be seriously considering moving to.

"There are a lot of teams out there I'm considering, including my home team, the Raptors," Bosh told TV station SNY, according to the Post. "It's gonna be crazy and confusing and I'm looking forward to it."

Bosh also told the station that as cool as it would be to move to another team with LeBron James(notes), he's not going to wait for him to choose a new team.

"Anytime you have the opportunity to play with certain guys, you have to take that into consideration. When it all goes down, he's gonna be one of the all-time greats," Bosh said. "At the same time, I can't just sit around and wait. I have to be proactive with my choices and what's gonna make me happy. I have to make sure I take my time and make the right decision."

source: Yahoo

Wallace May call it a QUITS???

Rasheed Wallace(notes) was pressed into the starting five for the Boston Celtics on Thursday night when the injured Kendrick Perkins(notes) couldn't play. Wallace delivered 11 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots in a game the Celtics led nearly the whole way before finally succumbing to the Los Angeles Lakers, 83-79, to lose the championship.

Wallace has two years and $13 million left on his contract, but Celtics coach Doc Rivers suggested after the game that the 35-year-old would retire this summer, the Boston Herald reports.

"You know, I don't know if Rasheed will ever play again. I think he took that out on the floor with him," Rivers said. "I think he is thinking about retiring, and I thought you could see that in his play. He was dying out there. When he got the cramps and the strains, he was just trying to figure out a way of staying on the floor."

Wallace didn't say anything about it after the game. Instead, he hung out around the door of the referees' dressing room, reportedly wanting to talk to an official. "I'm trying to give him a compliment, and he thinks I'm trying to say something (bad)," Wallace said, according to the Herald.

Source: Yahoo

Texas Teams may be headed west to the Pac-10, Baylor's all for it!!!

Pac-10 bigwigs met today in San Francisco, as expected, yet failed to revolutionize college sports as we know it by extending membership to half the Big 12, as widely speculated over the preceding 48 hours.

Sure enough, though, a sprawling, 16-team super conference forged by an alliance with Big 12 refugees was one of four options commissioner Larry Scott laid out for the league's future, according to multiple sources (including an unnamed Pac-10 athletic director) who leaked the day's agenda to both ESPN Los Angeles and Orangebloods.com, the Texas-based Rivals affiliate that initially broke the impending super conference scenario on Thursday. Those four options, according to both outlets:

• Retaining the current 10-team structure, unchanged since Arizona and Arizona State joined the Pac-8 in 1978;
• Adding Colorado and Utah to form a 12-team conference with two six-team divisions and a championship game, a la the SEC, Big 12 and ACC;
• Brokering a full merger with the entire Big 12, creating an unwieldy, 22-team behemoth that would completely redefine the concept of a "conference" in college sports;
• Brokering a merger with six Big 12 schools, as reported by Orangebloods, as long as one of those schools is Texas.

As Scott stressed on Friday, all options remain on the table. The one non-negotiable aspect of all four: The formation of a Pac-10 network based on the lucrative Big Ten model, likely run in conjunction with Fox Cable News, a partner in the Big Ten Network and in the Pac-10's current television structure. (Orangebloods notes that Scott's No. 2, associate commissioner Kevin Weiberg, resigned as Big 12 commish when members rejected his effort to start a conference network in 2007, defecting to the Big Ten to help launch the BTN instead. He may now play a significant role in putting the Big 12 on the chopping block ... with the lure of a conference network. If the question is "Who's laughing now?," the answer is Kevin Weiberg.)

Scott is reported to favor the final option above, the 16-team goliath featuring the crown jewel of the expansion push, Texas, and five of the Longhorns' less lucrative Big 12 comrades. As of Thursday, that lineup allegedly consisted of Colorado, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Texas Tech. But where Texas goes, of course, so goes Texas politics. And if Texas is the real prize, reasoned a legislator who spoke to Orangebloods' Chip Brown, Texas politicians see no reason to let the Longhorns go without attaching as many Lone Star riders as they can afford – specifically, in this case, that could mean Baylor's in, and Colorado's out:

"If you're going to have an exported commodity involved in this, do you think we're going to allow a school from outside the state of Texas to replace one of our schools in the Big 12 South? I don't think so. We're already at work on this," said a high-ranking member of the Texas Legislature who asked not to be identified.

The source said there is a block of 15 legislators who will work to make sure Baylor - not Colorado - is invited to the Pac-10.

"If the Pac-10 wants Texas, and we know they do, they may have to take all of our Texas schools," the source said, adding that Texas Tech has also benefited from political inclusion on the invite list.

In other words, affiliation with Texas is a bleeping valuable thing. You don't just give it away for nothing. If that anonymous man doesn't wear a 10-gallon cowboy hat to work every day, he should, and occasionally use it as a potato chip bowl on his desk, right next to the autographed photos of J.R. Ewing and Ann Richards. (It was then-governor Richards, a Baylor grad, who was considered instrumental in securing the Bears' surprising seat at the Big 12 table in 1995. She may be dead, but hardballin' Texas politics is alive as ever.)

It's men like him and the 14 others prepared to milk the Longhorns' irresistibility for all it's worth who should put Texas Tech's mind at ease: Other conferences may think they have "a Tech problem," and now "a Baylor problem." Even Texas may think it has a Tech/Baylor problem. If Texas is as golden as everyone seems to think, though, it's exactly this sort of canny regional politicking that could wind up saving the Bears and Red Raiders from the scrap heap when the dust settles.

If pushed too far, it could also throw the brakes on the entire production by raising the price beyond what the interested conferences are willing to pay. But then, Texas could still have the opportunity to make up the difference in what it might have made in the Pac-10 or Big Ten television networks by exploring the all-Texas network, and vulnerable Texas Tech and Baylor would (presumably) remain secure in the Big 12 South. If UT is going to land on its feet no matter what, its unofficial protectorate programs are likely to benefit from the resulting landscape, as well – as long as it doesn't include the Longhorns ditching them for the unlikely refuge of independence.

Either way, if only Nebraska and Missouri had those kinds of bargaining chips to throw on the table, maybe they could be the ones laying down ultimatums instead of receiving them. But more on that in the morning.

Source: Yahoo.com