FanHouse

We all are fully aware that Charles Barkley is completely unafraid to throw his money away. Don't get me wrong -- I am of the opinion that it is his money that he earned, so he can spend it in whatever manner he wants, but it is certainly established that Chuck lacks substantial gambling prowess.

And all of the national discussion about Barkley's gambling makes it easy to forget that he puts a lot of that money towards worthy humanitarian causes as well. Like, for instance, busboy Christian Abate who has worked at Saloon, a restaurant frequented by Sir Charles, over the last eight years, including full time status since he quit attending Temple University.

During a visit to Saloon last summer, Charles Barkley asked Abate how he was enjoying teaching, and was disappointed to learn that Abate had still not returned to Temple because of problems securing financial aid. Abate, 28, of South Philly, started at Temple in 1997, months after graduating from St. John Neumann High.

Sir Charles told Abate he would like to help him with his tuition, and Abate wasn't sure how to respond. Barkley didn't give him much time, telling Abate that he had the length of Barkley's meal to decide. Abate wisely accepted.

Saturday night's Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito fight is widely expected to be one of the best boxing matches of the year. But in talking to a lot of fellow boxing fans about it, I've yet to hear anyone actually say they expect Margarito to win.

In fact, I was a little surprised to see that the odds are only -265 for Cotto. The way people are talking about Cotto, you'd think he was more along the lines of a -500 favorite.

Cotto does deserve to be the favorite. He's the undefeated WBA welterweight champion and, more importantly, the No. 1 ranked welterweight according to Ring magazine.

But Margarito is 32-5 and the No. 4 welterweight, and I absolutely give him a chance of beating Cotto. Margarito is coming off a dominant win over Kermit Cintron, and I'm not sure if Cotto has fought anyone as relentless as Margarito.

And yet ... I just can't bring myself to pick the upset. I think Cotto will win it with a late-round TKO.

We'll be live blogging the Cotto-Margarito fight here at FanHouse.

It's hardly surprising that the four highest-paid female athletes are tennis players; with endorsement dollars and tournament purses on the rise, it makes sense. But No. 5 on the list, the first of three golfers, was a little shocking: Michelle Wie.

Yep, the 19-year-old former phenom-turned-Q-School candidate makes more than anybody else on the LPGA Tour, and since she's yet to win a tournament, her earnings come solely from endorsements.

According to Forbes.com, Wie has earned $12 million. Annika Sorenstam, 72-time LPGA Tour winner and 10-time major winner, is at $11 million, and Sorenstam's de facto successor, Lorena Ochoa, comes in at $10 million. Weird.

...Sorenstam, Wie and Ochoa have broken into eight-figure earnings territory, a testament to the LPGA's efforts to globalize. The women's tour not only has top golfers from numerous countries (Sorenstam is from Sweden, Ochoa from Mexico, while Wie is Korean-American, born in Hawaii), but has made a point to broaden its international appeal by holding more events for players in their home markets. ...

As for Wie, there's this:

Here's a look at Shayna Baszler, who fights on EliteXC's CBS card on Saturday, beating Samantha Gavere last year:

On a call to promote the EliteXC show this week, Baszler was asked about UFC President Dana White's claim that there aren't enough good female fighters for UFC to bother with women's mixed martial arts.

Despite a weak economy and a good chance the Lions don't sell out Ford Field for the first time since it opened in 2002, there's still reason for optimism, Detroit-area football fans. No, really, team president and local pariah Matt Millen says so:

"I think that our fan base is a pretty knowledgeable fan base, so I think they'll believe their eyes," Millen said.

"And I think this is a great football town. I've said that a million times. So I think the more they can see and the more they get a feel for this group, I think they're going to like what they see. That's my opinion. So they'll make their own decisions."

And, as everybody knows, Millen's opinion carries a lot of weight around the league. Seriously, this is exactly what you'd expect the team president to say, whether he believes it or not. The difference: Millen's been giving this speech for almost a decade now and nothing has changed, on the field or in the front office.

And it's that, perhaps more than the crappy Michigan economy, that explains why ticket sales are down. Luckily, this brilliant marketing campaign should make up the difference. But, hey, maybe this is the year. And to his credit, Millen understands why fans might be skeptical: "...It's never how you start. It's how you finish. Ask New England."

That's right, a guy who has "led" the Lions organization to a whopping 31 wins since 2001 is pointing out the 2007 Patriots' shortcomings. Do you believe now? Even a little bit? No? Moving on...

Jeffri Chadiha of ESPN.com threw up his "Ten Most Indispensable Players" to their teams which has a few surprising names. A quick rundown:

• 1-Tom Brady, Patriots
• 2-Peyton Manning, Colts
• 3-Terrell Owens, Cowboys
• 4-Adrian Peterson, Vikings
• 5-Antonio Gates, Chargers
• 6-Albert Haynesworth, Titans
• 7-Brian Westbrook, Eagles
• 8-Joe Thomas, Browns
• 9-Matt Hasselbeck, Seahawks
• 10-Eli Manning, Giants

Let's start at the bottom: Eli Manning? I know we were all impressed by his playoff run, but you do remember the Giants looked very bad towards the end of last season, right? To me, the Texans' Andre Johnson, Panthers' Steve Smith or, Broncos' Champ Bailey are more list-worthy than Eli.

Not to dump on him, but he had a 32.2 QB rating in a win over the Bills and a 44.9 QB rating in a win over the Dolphins. His two highest QB ratings during the regular season? Both losses. That means he can suck and the Giants still can win football games. Doesn't seem very indispensable to me.

That brings me to Adrian Peterson ...

Brian Urlacher was still looking for a new deal last Friday, and yesterday, it finally happened. No holdout necessary, apparently, even though those empty threats were made (as they often are during contract disputes), and while the Bears Pro Bowl middle linebacker wasn't interested in a one-year extension, the organization made too attractive an offer to turn down.

Specifically, an extra $18 million to play tackle football in Chicago through 2012. But Urlacher also warns against signing long-term, very lucrative contracts because, well, you might just outplay them.

''I would definitely caution anyone signing a deal that long,'' Urlacher said of the nine-year, $56.65 million contract he signed in 2003. ''It's very enticing at the time because it's a lot of guaranteed money up front, and you want to get that security. But at the same time, you don't know how you are going to play, either. You may outplay it.

''I'm glad it's done now. It feels good because they didn't have to do anything. That was a nice deal they offered me, and we ended up getting it worked out.''

Yes, just because somebody offers you $6.3 million a year for nine years, doesn't mean you should just accept it. Of course, there's always a chance you get injured, or don't perform like you once did, but what's the chance that happens?

I'm fine with Urlacher getting as much as he can -- NFL careers are notoriously short and the salary cap favors the owners. That said, it's hard to sympathize for a guy in such a horrible financial situation. Whatever, disaster averted. Until the season starts and we get to see the Bears' offense, anyway.

Even though we've been hearing rumors about Jeremy Shockey relocating south, I really didn't expect it to actually happen because, well, players are forever bellyaching about their current situations, and often, the organizations pay them some lip service through the media, but inevitably, nothing changes.

Everything changed in Shockey's case. The Giants got a second- and fifth-round pick, and the Saints got one of the league's best pass-catching tight ends. They also got a player coming off a broken leg who's sporting a ginormous chip on his shoulder. So, um, WATCH OUT GIANTS FRONT OFFICE! JEREMY'S GUNNING FOR YOU!

Well, sorta. According to Newsday's Tom Rock, even before Shockey was traded -- but after he made it clear that's exactly what he wanted -- he guaranteed retribution. Or some such.

"If the team trades me, I promise you I'm going to make them pay," Shockey told the youngsters during a promotional appearance in Queens in early June. "If I ever get a chance to play against a team that trades me, it's not going to be a pretty sight."

Jeremy Shockey, motivational speaker to youths everywhere. Giants guard Rich Seubert hardly seemed affected by the threat of reprisal: "It's the business of football, it's what happens ... You have to move on. We'll be fine without him and best of luck to him wherever he goes." Whatever, Rich. You might be ready to move on, but Shockey's going to make the whole team PAY! You've been warned. Jerks.

Ah, Dusty Baker. Ah, on-base percentage. The unstoppable force vs. the immovable object. Batman vs. the Joker. Eamonn vs. mayonnaise. These are the great rivalries of our century.

While I may never surrender in my fight against mayo (if I tell you no mayo, do not look at me funny, just don't put that disgusting goop on my sandwich, OK?) we're making headway in the fight between Dusty and OBP. Seriously. In justifying why he's keeping Adam Dunn (very good at baseball) and Ken Griffey, Jr. (good at baseball) in the lineup, Dusty actually cited on-base percentage, his longtime foe. Whatever happened to "walks clog the bases"?

"Their averages are low, but their on-base percentages are still high," Baker said. "Their on-base percentages are higher than some of the guys who are hitting. I know they can hit, but it also helps to get on base and put a pitcher in the stretch. That's the thing. Most starters don't like being in the stretch."

As FJM points out, the notion that the reason why OBP is beneficial is because it puts pitchers in the stretch and not because it means people, you know, aren't making outs is incredibly, totally weird. But it's Dusty. And it's on-base percentage. Whatever the nonsensical means, we should be happy with the end: progress.

How long has it been since the city of Boston got to celebrate a championship? A couple weeks, maybe?

Boston is going through quite the purple patch right now. The Red Sox won the last World Series, the Celtics are the reigning NBA champs, and the New England Patriots, who have won three Super Bowls this decade, might have been one amazing catch away from a fourth. (I attribute that to karma, but that's just me.)

Well, don't look now, but the New England Revolution, who won the U.S. Open Cup last year, are ready to outdo every other team in Boston. This club is up for not one, not two, but four trophies this season.

The Revs are currently five points clear in first place for the MLS Supporters Shield, which goes to the top club in the regular season. In addition, they're in the semifinals of both the Open Cup and Superliga, and they look poised to make another run in the MLS Cup Playoffs. They've reached the Final the last two seasons, only to lose both times the Houston Dynamo -- which, by the way, is the other MLS club in the Superliga semifinals.

Of course, this doesn't include the trophy that passengers on Flight 725 probably want to give them.