"If Charles Barkley wants to get in a room..."

After Charles Barkley took some time on TNT Thursday night to tell Billy Packer to "shut the hell up," it didn't take the radio world very long to bring Packer on for a response.

The former lead color commentator for college basketball on CBS toured the sports talk show circuit the day after Barkley took exception to Packer's stance that the sport would be better served by having ESPN call the NCAA tournament rather than by broadcasters at Turner Sports who haven't been following the teams all year.

Predictably, Packer didn't back down, beginning in the morning on 790 AM in Atlanta:

"I really admire what he did as an athlete, as a professional athlete when he decided to get himself in shape and become the great player that he did. But if Charles Barkley wants to get in a room to debate intercollegiate athletics and college basketball I would have no problem being in a room with him. As a matter of fact, I don't think it would be much of a contest. I wouldn't have to call him any kind of name."

Packer then reiterated that sentiment throughout the day...

On 610 AM in Houston where he added the "forgotten more than he knows" cliche:

"I would have no problem debating Charles Barkley about intercollegiate athletics, basketball, and otherwise. I don't think he's really prepared to be in such a debate as that but I have no idea what brought that on but, believe me, I probably have forgotten more about college basketball and intercollegiate athletics than Charles Barkley ever knew existed."

On "Petros and Money" in Los Angeles:

"I don't have a relationship with Charles Barkley. I didn't know anything about his comments, I hadn't seen them. I think it was a station from Atlanta called me this morning and let me just say this. I have no issue with Charles Barkley. Evidently, he has one with me. But I have no problem debating him on any issue involving basketball and intercollegiate athletics and I don't think it would take me long to go ahead and establish the fact he knows little about it and so I don't have any other issue with him other than that."

You get the gist.

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"I don't let people say stuff to me and get away with it..."

It only took Charles Barkley about 3 weeks to respond to Billy Packer's critical comments about the new TV deal that will add Turner Broadcasting to NCAA basketball tournament coverage.

The former lead color commentator for CBS's tournament coverage told USA Today he doesn't believe NBA announcers are qualified to enter the college fray when they haven't been watching games all season.

At halftime of the Mavericks - Knicks game on TNT Thursday night, Barkley pulled no punches in his response to Packer:

"I don't let people say stuff to me and get away with it. Hey, Billy Packer, you might be right. We might not be very good and know all the players and all the teams on college basketball. I don't know any players on Wofford or UNC-Asheville. You are absolutely right.

But stop being a jackass. Listen, we're going to do a good job and I know you said, 'They should've went to ESPN.'

There was one problem. ESPN didn't have $11 billion. We did. That's why we got it.

So sit back, enjoy the March Madness with Greg Gumbel, Clark Kellogg, Jim Nantz, and all of us. And shut the hell up!"

Barkley and Packer are, historically, two of the most brutally honest analysts in broadcasting.

Packer may have worn out his welcome at CBS a few years ago, but it's time to bring him back to face Barkley in a cage with Gus Johnson and that ridiculous Canadian guy calling the action.

Okay, I'd settle for Barkley and Packer sharing a studio this March.

Sadly, that's not likely either.

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Ainge: "I would suspect that based on the consequences that are happening..."

The president of the Boston Celtics and former BYU basketball star weighs in on the controversy surrounding his alma mater.

Danny Ainge believes the punishment Brandon Davies faces is the result of more than premarital sex and that there's a pregnancy involved.

Telling WEEI radio:

"I would suspect that based on the consequences that are happening. I don't know that. I would just suspect that that's the case.

And in the Mormon faith, sins against life and irresponsibly creating life are sins and they are violations of the honor code.

Brandon Davies is a great kid and regardless of what sort of thing he's done to violate the honor code, I think he's a really nice kid.

I met him. I think he's a terrific kid and I'm certain the school will stand behind him and I believe he'll be back next year.

I think, in the long run, it's all about raising men. It's not about winning national championships and that's what their goals are."

Those who don't believe the details of his violation should be made public, should understand that's an essential function of outsiders getting a true understanding of the BYU Honor Code.

Without full disclosure, you'll continue to hear jokes about a Starbucks trip being grounds for dismissal at Brigham Young when that's simply not the case.

There are many who will cry about protecting the privacy of a "student-athlete." When it comes to actions that effect your team, you sign away your privacy when you accept a scholarship to play big-time college athletics.

When a team becomes one of the major stories of the college basketball season prior to a negative incident, the cameras aren't going to stop rolling when adversity hits.

There have been honor code violations in the recent past. This is the first one to become the top story on "Pardon the Interruption" and fodder for late night talk show hosts.

BYU, and those associated with the program, should take this rare moment as an opportunity to educate the public on one of the more misunderstood elements of the religious institution.

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"It's not going to happen..."

Talking just hours before the midnight expiration of the current NFL collective bargaining agreement, Chad Ochocinco predicted the extension (which soon after came to pass) but doubts it will lead to a new labor deal.

Telling Buck and Kincade on 680 AM in Atlanta:

"Before midnight we'll have an extension, guaranteed. I guarantee there's an extension but with that extension, I still don't think a deal gets done. It's not going to happen. I mean let's be realistic. Let's take an owner. Let's take a team. Let's take any team, an owner, a player, his agent, and a contract is up and it's time to redo a contract or discuss getting something done. How long does that take?

It takes 32 owners. It takes the NFLPA respresenting us as players trying to get one deal done.

You have 32 different owners. 32 different egos. You have five who might feel this way about something. You have five who might feel this way...

It's going to be a lot of tug and pull. That's the way it's going to be."

Some questions that I have yet to hear solid answers regarding:

What does either side believe is the realistic deadline in order to conduct a full season? (with a proper amount of practices/preparation leading up to kickoff)

How legitimate is the NFL Players Association ploy to de-certify the union and what negative ramifications could/will come after doing so?

If those questions have been asked at any point in time in the public forum, they haven't been dealt with thoroughly enough.

As for the legitimacy of Carson Palmer's repeated claims he will retire rather than play for the Bengals, Ochocinco thinks the usually reserved quarterback is not backing down:

"When someone like Carson, someone quiet that grows a random beard every now and then. When he speaks, you listen. Especially when it's out of character. It's one of those situations where you know he's not playing and he's frustrated. We call it where I'm from, he's pulling a power move... He doesn't see it getting any better and he just wants out."

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While Jimmy Kimmel's writers were hoping... that getting hot female celebrities to hump something for a sketch would be their memorable contribution to Oscar night, it was the much shorter and better executed "The King's Speech" satire that showed much greater imagination.

Watching Mike Tyson assist a George Bush lookalike isn't going to get the YouTube hits that Jessica Biel, Scarlett Johansson, and company will receive when they go horizontal on an inflatable ball.

But it's still more inventive.

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Billy King: "No, I'm not concerned..."

When a franchise desiring a reboot meets up with a billionaire seeking to save face, things can happen quickly.

The Jazz and Nets spoke the day after New Jersey lost out on the Carmelo Anthony sweepstakes and had a deal to announce 24 hours later.

New Jersey Nets general manager Billy King tells WFAN radio in New York that he believes he has the best point guard in the NBA and didn't feel uncomfortable about Deron Williams in his locker room after a conversation with Utah Jazz GM Kevin O'Connor:

"No, I'm not concerned. Kevin O'Connor, the Jazz GM there, he and I worked together in Philly when I was the GM. He was my assistant GM. So I talked to him actually the day that Jerry (Sloan) was stepping down and retiring. So I'm comfortable where everything is."

King did not elaborate and was not asked for further details on the topic.

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"It was $2000 per show and then they found a loophole to knock it down to..."

Dovetailing a recent column he wrote for Sports Illustrated about his feelings after watching the end of the television show, "Friday Night Lights," Buzz Bissinger spoke with 790 AM in Atlanta about why he felt ill will toward NBC.

I really only pass this along because it's interesting to note the contrast with the six and seven figure deals reported for major stars of television, like when Jerry Seinfeld supposedly turned down $5 million an episode to continue with his television show. "Friday Night Lights" never came anywhere close to the ratings success of "Seinfeld" and it turns out Bissinger had to fight for any morsel of credit for the concept along with a 4 figure thank you note.

Keep in mind that when Bissinger says "suits," he's referring to the slang term for corporate executives and not a legal action:

"When the movie rights were sold for Friday Night Lights, so were the television rights.

I basically was kind of marginalized by the suits in the legal department of NBC Universal. They fought me for months on the idea that I deserved no credit, which was completely absurd.

I mean, I was the originator of the material. Thematically, the TV series was very much based on the book.

They definitely fictionalized it and I know why they did it. They did it because they were afraid of getting sued by someone who had been in the book but once they did that, how are you going to feel? You're going to feel lousy.

This is what elitist executive suits do and there's no surprise that NBC Universal is in the tank.

Everyone thinks I became fabulously rich off this television show. The royalty I got per episode was minimal.

It was $2000 per show and then they found a loophole to knock it down to $1500 per show.

It's nice money to have, but it ain't a lot of money.

I was really hurt by their stance. It was humiliating. Here I am begging basically and having my lawyer fight with their lawyers to get credit for something that, you know, there would've been no television series without me. There would've been no movie without me. There would've been nothing without me.

They waste tens of millions of dollars on actors and bad movies but when it comes to the true creators, they treat them terribly and I didn't want to be any part of it.

Why should I let them pick my brain if they're not going to compensate me or even give me credit?

They finally did and they only did because of the intercession of Pete Berg, who was my cousin, and his producing partner, Sarah Aubrey."

Bissinger praises his cousin and everyone involved in the creative process for what he considered a great show and reserves all his venom for the "higher ups" who tried to marginalize his value to the endeavor.

Smart move by NBC. Why would they want to compensate and more closely associate themselves with a Pulitzer Prize winning author anyway?

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"This is no different than somebody going to Mount Rushmore and defacing one of the heads..."

Jail time may be the least of the worries of the person responsible for poisoning the soil around Toomer's Corner. Bo Jackson wants a piece of him first. The former Auburn running back on WJOX radio in Birmingham, Alabama:

"This is no different than somebody going to Mount Rushmore and defacing one of the heads of the Presidents that's at Mount Rushmore. It is no different than that. This is a 130 year old tree that has never played a football game, has never been in Jordan-Hare Stadium, has nothing to do with what goes on in Bryant [Denny] Stadium or Jordan-Hare Stadium. Has nothing to do with that. And then to sit and brag about it.

This person, it doesn't matter if he's an Auburn fan or Alabama fan, needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. If it was my own child, and I'm not just saying this but if it was my own child I would expect him to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. But first the authorities need to let me spend five minutes with him in a room."

The "fullest extent of the law" for being found guilty of criminal mischief, a class C felony in Alabama, would be 10 years in prison and a $5000 fine according to this website.

Good luck to the lawyers trying to find a good precedent for this case leading up to trial. I'd guess it never reaches that point and the person responsible agrees to a plea deal with plenty of probation and very little time behind bars. Perhaps his biggest concern will be once he leaves prison if he attempts to resume a normal life in the state of Alabama.

Former sportswriter and commentator is first guest of Jason Whitlock's podcast...

Whitlock adds to the "podcast-sphere" with his first offering that turns out to be an interesting interview with Jay Mariotti. Among other things, Mariotti says he regrets not going to court over the domestic dispute that led to his dismissal from two high profile media jobs.

"The only reason there was a plea bargain was because AOL said at the time that, 'You're coming back to work. You're going to come back to work. Keep this out of a courtroom. We don't want any trial. It's on a misdemeanor level. Go right ahead and plea and you'll have your job back and we'll be ready to go.'

Little did I know at the time that AOL behind the scenes was plotting with Arianna Huffington. Was plotting with The Sporting News. And the next thing you know, they're suggesting a settlement. And if I had known what I know now about their business relationships at the time. The fact that they were cutting deals and they were going to eliminate the positions of many sportswriters, I would've probably gone ahead to court because I would've wanted to protect my name in its entirety.

Instead, I accepted a plea based on what my boss at AOL was telling me and in the end it turns out that his bosses were plotting to get rid of the entire sports structure at AOL."

As for the way ESPN released him:

"I think ESPN because, the perception of it is that, AOL had to take this action against Mariotti. I think they had to take the same. What are they going to do? Turn around and go, 'Come on our air even though they did this.'"

Mariotti says he had a clause in his AOL contract that allowed AOL to fire him "without cause" which meant they never had to give a reason, publicly or privately, why they let him go.

I know what you're thinking. Why would someone bother signing a contract that allows the employer to fire you without cause? I've never signed an employment contract with such a provision and it's curious how a lawyer for Mariotti would've allowed him to do so.

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"What I took away from it, it was incredible to see and it was very empowering to see..."

The world traveling Ricky Williams managed to find himself in the middle of history on his recent off-season trip to Egypt, arriving in Cairo just as the revolution in that country was beginning.

Williams recounts the experience to Sid Rosenberg on WQAM in Miami:

"The first night as we drove to the hotel, we saw a bunch of people gathering and our cab driver said, 'We don't like our government. We don't think it's fair and so we're demonstrating.'

It was so obvious that people were gathered that he offered the information. He wasn't clear on whether it would be dangerous or not.

What I took away from it, it was incredible to see and it was very empowering to see."

Over the course of the trip, the Miami Dolphins running back says he heard gun shots, observed looting and rioting, and yet says he never felt in danger. He even considered an experience with tear gas to be 'enjoyable.'

"We walked out of the store and it was dusty because it's Egypt and it's kind of dusty. So we walked out and my eyes started to burn a little bit and my nostrils started to burn. And I was thinking, it's just the dust but I didn't want to be like a wimp so I didn't say anything.

And my friend, AJ, was like, 'Are your eyes burning?'

I was like, 'Yeah.'

He said, 'Are your nostrils burning?'

I was like, 'Yeah.'

And then we looked around and were like, 'I think it's tear gas.'

And so I take my shirt and I try to put it over my nose and my mouth and he looks at me and he's like, 'We're never going to be in tear gas.'

And I'm like, 'You're right.' So I put my shirt down and say, 'Let's enjoy this.'

And so we rode through the tear gas and we enjoyed it."

"The most tension or anger that I experienced weren't the Egyptians. It was all the Americans trying to get out of Egypt."

Hopefully he considers that less a fact about the situation and more a matter of luck.

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