An interesting situation developed this week in Florida, where Heir Jordan (Michael's son Marcus) cost the University of Central Florida (UCF) its $3 million sponsorship with Adidas. Marcus felt it necessary to wear Nike (NYSE: NKE) basketball shoes, since they were his father's Nike Air Jordans.

Jordan took to the court in an all-white pair of Nike Air Jordans, which differed from the school's normal black-and-white Adidas basketball shoes. Jordan wore ankle braces with the Adidas logo displayed, but this was a cursory move made to placate Adidas. In fact, the move may have been made so he could say that he was wearing Adidas, just not the shoes. Quite honestly, there is a little soap opera surrounding the situation, so let's take a deeper look.

Forbes reports that Tiger Woods is now the first athlete in history to earn $1 billion over the course of a career.

Not bad for a 33-year old who's still in the prime of his career. According to Forbes, he passed the $1billion mark when he earned $10 million for winning the FedEx Cup last week. It might be a mistake to put too much emphasis on the Forbes calculation since a huge chunk of Woods' earnings come from endorsement deals where financial terms are not disclosed. His career earnings on the PGA Tour are now up to $92,862,539, to be exact.

To Mike Vick or not to Mike Vick, that is the question, and the controversy that is surrounding athletic apparel giant Nike (NYSE: NKE).

Actually it isn't too much of a question, mainly because the company that once used Vick as a celebrity endorser dumped him and his products once he was arrested and charged with running a dog-fighting ring. Vick has spent his time in prison and has since been signed as a back-up quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Well, earlier this week Mike Principe (one of Vick's agents) announced that Vick had recently inked a deal with Nike. This announcement caused quite a bit of Internet backlash toward the Swoosh, but there were many that thought the deal was "bogus." (That quote is from a tweet by CNBC's Darren Rovell.)

I didn't want to do it, I didn't want to cover the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium. Mainly because anyone that watches any of the sports channels or any of the NBC network has seen plenty of Jerry Jones and the Palace in Dallas (as some call it).

This $1.15 billion (yes, with a B) stadium is the definition of opulence, as it boasts a high-end steakhouse, tex-mex food, and something called a Cowboyrito. If you are thirsty, you can drop 12 bucks on a Patron margarita in the club lounge, or you could try a frozen Cowboyrita for 14 bucks (Cowboyrita? Seriously?).

I found it very interesting reading the Bloomberg article covering the stadium, especially when they estimated that it will cost $200 per person to go to a game. Yes, that is an average and it takes the high-end tickets into account, but I would be interested to see how much it costs for other teams. We the fans can't afford to go to these palaces and enjoy a game thanks to the ticket prices. I would love to see a game in Dallas Stadium, the new Yankee Stadium, or Citi Field in New York -- but I have a mortgage to pay.

So, anyone catch the premier of The Ultimate Fighter 10: Heavyweights (TUF) on Wednesday? It appears that many people did, as it is one of the topics creating some buzz in the internet world thereafter. I saw some of the highlights, as I wasn't home when the show was on, and one word describes what I saw: brutal. Let me address that in a minute, I want to first address the big news of the night -- Kimbo is back.

Yes, Dana White (UFC president and promoter extraordinaire) finally convinced internet fighting sensation (and former EliteXC fighter) Kimbo Slice that he would have to work his way into the UFC by competing in TUF. After Wednesday's episode, it sure seems that Slice is going to have to work for his spot in UFC. White has not assembled the group of tomato cans that Kimbo was going to face in EliteXC before his loss and the company's demise. Kimbo is going to have to fight against experienced fighters who actually have ground games (gasp!).

The Washington Redskins football team is hearing it from all sides lately.

Last week they were criticized -- unfairly in my opinion -- for suing season ticket holders who had lost their jobs and could no longer afford their seats.

Now a coalition of tribes -- Cheyenne and Arapaho, Oneida of Wisconsin, Cochiti Pueblo, Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, Navajo, Oglala Sioux and Standing Rock Sioux -- is asking the United States Supreme Court to revive a challenge to the team's trademark.

So, a week ago, I decided to tackle the NFL's blackout policy, basically arguing that the current economic situation warrants the lifting of this archaic rule. That said, the topic has been in the collective conscience this week, what with the NFL kicking off on Thursday.

What is interesting is that several teams (including the Arizona Cardinals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and my Cincinnati Bengals) have been granted a 24-hour extension to get these games sold out. Typically, a team needs to be a couple of thousand tickets away from a sell out in order to get such an extension. I wonder first if this extension may have been made to placate the teams more than to allow the fans another day to get the games sold out.

It appears that the options market is now making its way into sports, thanks to a company called OptionIt. As we head into the National Hockey League (NHL) season, San Jose Sharks fans can reserve an option to buy postseason tickets.

The Sharks will serve as one of the company's key test markets, along with the Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens, and St. Louis Rams (at least it appears this way according to the company's website) and it hopes to have 10 teams in the fold by the end of the year. With San Jose (a perennial preseason playoff favorite) as a test market, I envision success for OptionIt.

Living in Cincinnati, I have become well acquainted with the National Football League's (NFL) "blackout rule." This rule states that if a game is not sold out by the Thursday before a home game (actually, 72 hours before a game for Monday and Saturday games), the game will not be shown on local television. I don't think the policy is necessarily fair, but I understand the thinking behind the rule --- why show a game on local television if the home team can not sell out the stadium? However, I think there are some extenuating circumstances this year that Commissioner Roger Goodell needs to consider.

First things first. At a meeting on Thursday with NFL writers, Goodell said as much as 20% of the NFL's games could be blacked out this season. Goodell noted that as few as 80% of this season's games will be carried in the home team's market --- a far cry from the 95% of the games that have been carried in the local markets in the past four years. In fact, last year just nine of the 256 regular season NFL games were blacked out for the home team.

We've got the U.S. Open in New York right around the corner -- that's tennis folks -- and one of America's most recognizable stars, James Blake, has announced a collaboration with Fila to develop co-branded apparel. The agreement is being called a "co-branded collaboration" that is "inspired by the ATP world Tour tennis star's life and interests."

The collaboration between the two started back in January, when Blake and privately owned Fila began developing co-branded footwear, apparel, and accessories. The trademark was developed by Blake, and he settled on Thomas Reynolds as the line's name. Thomas Reynolds is the first and middle name of James' father, who Blake notes he was blessed to grow up with because his father taught him values that have been "the key to his success both on and off court." Blake's father passed away in 2004, succumbing to cancer.

Former Toronto Blue Jays ace Todd Stottlemyre is looking to start his own hedge fund.

The New York Post reports that the 44-year old who last pitched for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2002 "just started Desert Shores Capital, which, according to one published report, could be a hedge fund built around fast-paced momentum trading in stocks."

So, how would I fix ESPN? There is a reason I am talking about this topic today. My idea was sparked by an interview conducted by Darren Rovell with ESPN The Magazine's general manager Gary Hoenig. The interview focused on a new promotion that offers the magazine and ESPN.com's pay site (Insider) for a year for $1. The offer is for current subscribers only, requires you to sign up for auto pay on credit card, and is one heck of a deal. This is actually a good move, because the customers should realize how nice both of these subscriptions are (I have had the magazine, and it is decent) and pony up the money for subscriptions when the time comes. I have never used the Insider, but it boasts extra knowledge for subscribers, and the subscription wall has cost me some valuable fantasy football knowledge in the past.

Way back when there was this idea called the United States Football League. It had a few good years and a few big names (Jim Kelly, Herschel Walker, and Reggie White) before it failed. Then there was the World League of American Football, featuring teams across the U.S., but no true big-name players. Eventually the World League became just that, with expansion into Europe and the moniker NFL Europe;then that league failed.

Then there was the once-popular Arena League, which boasted Kurt Warner and owners like Jon Bon Jovi. The Arena League lasted nearly 20 years before it took last season off and appears ready to fade into oblivion. Oh, and let's not forget the Extreme Football League (XFL), run by Vince McMahon (of WWE fame). I mean who can forget "He Hate Me?" This terrible business decision lasted one season (and I was suckered into an XFL fantasy league).

Just over a month ago, former Major League Baseball player-turned-car-wash-mogul-turned-options-pundit Lenny Dykstra filed for bankruptcy, and he appeared in court earlier this week for a hearing on his bankruptcy.

CNBC correspondent Jane Wells reports that "The judge in the Lenny Dykstra bankruptcy case put off until Sept. 1st a decision on whether to take control of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy away from Dykstra, or perhaps convert it to a Chapter 7 liquidation."

When it first appeared, fans flocked to the television to watch the world's best poker players and the world's biggest chumps vie for huge pots on the World Poker Tour (NASDAQ: WPTE). Unfortunately, one of the biggest losers walking away from the table now is the World Poker Tour itself, having turned a table stake at one time estimated at $500 million into chump change. Last week, the company announced that it had reached agreement to sell all its rights and operations for slightly over $9 million, plus a share of future profits, to Gamynia Enterprises, a privately held company.

According to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), WPT was a victim of its own success. Given the eagerness of the gaming industry to popularize its products, there was no shortage of funds to sponsor poker broadcasts. And the low cost of producing such entertainment meant that any idiot could set up a camera and create a show (and many did). At one time, poker was on television more often than Billy Mays.