Contractual Obstinations

terrell owens' life is a mess. he's breaking down at press conferences, wearing ridiculous hats around town, and rumor has it he's been roaming the streets of san diego lamenting that "milk was a bad choice". things went from bad to worse for the romosexual this week when an arbiter ruled that he owes the eagles $7700K in recouped wages for his suspension from the team in 2005. get your popcorn ready.

the new head coach at michigan faces a similar situation with his old school, west virginia. rich rodriguez offered to pay $1.5 million as a buyout, but the school is standing firm in demanding the full $4 million he is stipulated to owe. rodriguez publicly denied owing any money to wvu, but has since backed off that stance. so not only did rich ditch his responsibilities, he's also a liar. he's got it all!

in other business related news, jason kidd recently voiced his desire for a trade out of new jersey. it appears that vince carter's malcontentuous ways have started to rub off of the point guard. lebron james has expressed an interest in importing his team usa captain to the cavs, but cleveland has little to offer. the more publicized rumor has kidd going to dallas in a three-team swap involving portland. is gm rod thorn going to let this whiny kidd emancipate himself from his par-nets? the results might end up worse than "north".

i never understood how players and coaches got away with backing out of signed deals. doesn't a contract force you to fulfill your obligation for a period of time? if we all started ignoring contracts, i wouldn't make my car payments, i'd dine and dash regularly, i'd go to work without pants on, and i'd be allowed within 100 feet of certain celebrities. i'm glad philly and west virginia are holding people accountable for not honoring their word. maybe the nets will follow suit and force the third highest-paid nba player to earn his $19.7 million. poor guy.

meanwhile, eric bedard and johan santana may be on the verge of signing lucrative contracts. bedard was thought to be heading to seattle in exchange for a package centered around top prospect adam jones, but the orioles have begun discussions on a five-year contract that could approch (cue dr. evil theme music) 100 million dollars. and as the final roadblock in their fleecing of the twins, the mets must negotiate a contract extension with santana by 5 pm on friday. while the two sides still differ on the terms, sources say the extension will be six years (including options) and should be worth upwards of $120 million. the mets hope to keep the extension to five guaranteed years to avoid insurance complications. i know a deal will get done eventually, but the more i'm reminded that sports are a business, the more i long for the days when athletes played for the right reasons: a floozy in every city.