Andrew Bogut is putting his money where his mouth is to try and save basketball in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA is reporting that the Bucks center and former No. 1 overall draft pick is sponsoring one of the remaining six home games for the Sydney Spirit as they struggle to make it to the end of the season.

The cost? About $31,000, which might be chump change to a player who just signed a big bucks, multiyear deal in the offseason, but is going to apparently go a long way to help the players get their paychecks - which they’ve already agreed to cut by more than 50 percent in order to make it to the end of the season.

Read more…

Yup, Greg Oden hurt his foot less than three minutes into his first regular season game against the Lakers. That’s not a punchline to a joke, but the sad truth. He played through the first half before throwing in the towel. ESPN.COM reports that Oden suffered a mid-foot sprain, which sounds like a made up injury you would use to get out of work, but apparently you can get if you are made out of peanut brittle.

Not that Oden was tearing the joint up. His stat line for the game: 0-4 from the field and five rebounds in 13 minutes.  Which puts him about on par with the rest of the Blazers, as they were thumped by Los Angeles 96-76. As for Oden…he has a trip to the MRI machine scheduled for later today, or as he calls it, “The Mother Ship.”

Having a much better NBA debut was Derrick Rose, who scored 11 points and had nine assists as the Bulls stuck it to their ex-coach Scott Skiles by beating the Bucks 108-95. Meanwhile, that clanging you heard in Boston was LeBron James rattling free throws all over the place against the Celtics. He missed four of eight free throws, all in the fourth quarter, and Cleveland fell 90-85.

Here’s some more of last night’s news, but be forewarned: Bud Selig says that he has the power to suspend this after six links.

• CBS analyst Gary Danielson thinks that Texas runs a “junk offense” and that Georgia’s Matthew Stafford would be putting up Colt McCoy-type numbers in that offense, says the AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN. No SEC homerism there at all.
• The man who saved the NBA during the lockout in 1999, according to the DETROIT NEWS? Not David Stern. Not Billy Hunter? Nope, it was Michael Curry.
• Relax, says the DENTON RECORD-CHRONICLE: it turns out that those 15 North Texas football players tested positive for recreational drugs, not steroids. Which is great, because we wouldn’t want their run at an 0-12 season to be tainted.
• The AP has a tip for Eli Manning - don’t let the defense read your lips when you call a play on fourth down. It kind of helps them know what to do.
• The SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS estimates that only 20,000 people will be on hand to see Stanford take on Washington State this Saturday, even though the Cardinal are 3-0 at home this year and fighting for a bowl berth.
• Even after having beaten the Chargers in a thriller on Sunday, the NEW ORLEANS TIMES-PICAYUNE says that Saints coach Sean Payton was less than thrilled with the experience of playing in London.
• The BOSTON GLOBE reports that Patriots’ nose tackle Vince Wilfork is going to be getting called to the Principal’s office - in this case NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell - for his blow to the head of Broncos’ QB Jay Cutler. Wait, I thought the Patriots were perfect schoolboys who never, ever committed any penalties?
• Will the expansion Seattle Sounders get more from signing Swedish star Freddie Ljungberg than the LA Galaxy did from David Beckham? Arash Markashi of SI.COM thinks so.
• Why would Isiah Thomas apparently continue to lie about his alleged sleeping pill overdose? The local police chief speculates to NEWSDAY it might be because of his contract. “If he takes drugs or whatever they may not owe him the $18 million. I have no idea.”
• Remember when Joe Tiller said that Rich Rodriguez was a “snake oil salesman” after Purdue lost a big recruit to Michigan? The DETROIT FREE-PRESS says that there’s really no bad blood there. Really.

It’s a play on the old “tree falling in a woods” hypothetical scenario: If the NBA holds a preseason and nobody’s around to see it, does it even happen? Last week Brooks posted about the horrid numbers that NBA preseason action in Vegas was getting, but that looks like a ratings bonanza compared to the amount of interest it received in China.

(Three’s a crowd?)

In case you didn’t know, the NBA held two preseason games in China last week between the Golden State Warriors and Milwaukee Bucks. But since these two teams don’t have much in the way of “star power”, pretty much everyone in China went about their daily lives, never even pausing to acknowledge the fact that the NBA even exists.

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• YAHOO’s BALL DON’T LIE showcases the winners of their fun photoshop contest featuring Eddy Curry as an Olympic gymnast.

• ESPN reports that the Milwaukee Bucks will face the Golden State Warriors in two exhibition games in China this October. This would make a lot more sense had Yi Jianlian not been traded to the Nets.

• L.A. BALLS bounces along news that despite their popularity with fans, the USC football team will not be sporting black jerseys anytime soon.

• THE SPORTS DOLLAR cashes in with their helpful guide to the Six Types of Sports Bloggers.

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• Dan Hinote isn’t the only hockey player to enjoy the company of hot blondes, as YAHOO’s PUCK DADDY slides over the sights & sounds of Igor Larionov’s Hall of Fame party in Hollywood.

• Darren Rovell of CNBC runs up a remembrance of Reebok’s classic “Dan & Dave” Olympic ad campaign.

• The WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL finds Barry Alvarez unapologetic for the Badgers’ soft non-conference slate, claiming that Joe Paterno & Bear Bryant have done the same thing.

• Speaking of America’s Dairyland, say hello to your finalists for the Milwaukee Bucks’ Energee! Dance Team.

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Ian Thomsen of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED reports that the New Jersey Nets have traded Richard Jefferson to the Milwaukee Bucks.

In return, the Brooklyn-bound ball club gets Yi Jianlian. As a result of the deal, the Nets won’t have to pay Jefferson $15 million in 2010 - and the freed-up salary space could help lure LeBron James to the team when the Cavs star becomes a free agent that season.

The deal is also a win-win in other ways: Read more…

Ex-NBA’er Jason Caffey had a bit of trouble handling the ball during his playing days - in more ways than one. The former Bull/Warrior/Celtic/Buck managed to conceive ten children with eight different mothers.

(Jason Caffey trying to protect his very virile loins)

Now it turns out that Caffey had managed his finances as well as he managed birth control - and one of his baby mamas wants him to pay.

Read more…

• Erin Andrews was supposed to sexify the National Spelling Bee, but THE GRAND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS says that didn’t happen.

(If I didn’t share a picture of her, you wouldn’t have paid attention to this post.)

• Player access? What problem with player access? The NEW YORK TIMES’ Tyler Kepner gets an impromptu crash course on sweet spot hitting from Orioles slugger Luke Scott.

• Don Walker of the MILWAUKEE JOURNAL-SENTINEL’s BUCKS BLOG wonders if there’s a discrepancy between the Bucks reported revenue and the actual revenue. Read more…

Looks like Kelvin Sampson can stop calling up employment agencies. The former Indiana head coach has apparently agreed to become an assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks.

The AP reports that a person “with knowledge of the hiring” says that Sampson will soon be serving on Scott Skiles’ staff. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because Kelvin hasn’t signed a contract yet.

But once Sampson puts his John Hancock on a new deal, he’s scheduled to be joined by other former court generals who’ll be in backup roles on the Bucks’ staff. Read more…

Disgraced former Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson has found his services much in demand in the professional circuit since resigning from the Hoosiers in February after being charged for five major recruiting violations.

First, the Spurs brought him on in a consulting role for two months. Now new Milwaukee Bucks coach Scott Skiles is looking at Sampson to join his staff as an assistant, according to ESPN. Read more…