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It may not rival his obsessive quest for revenge against the Packers as the leading factor driving his likely return to the NFL, but don't overlook the motivating role money is playing on both sides of the Brett Favre-Vikings courtship. That's right, after the chance to stick it to the green and gold, the pursuit of the long green might just be Favre's second-best reason to un-retire once again and join rival Minnesota. As one prominent Wisconsin-based Favre observer recently told me: "Brett likes his money now. Don't underestimate how hard it would be for him to ever leave $8 million to $10 million -- or whatever the Vikings wind up offering him -- on the table. He talks about staying home and riding his lawn mower around, but he likes to get paid.'' nother league source told me that while Favre has long enjoyed his reputation as a guy who plays for "the love of the game,'' money has always been one sure way to get Favre's attention. "His coming back and playing every year is not all about his love of competition,'' the source said.

SI.com

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Teams can start signing international free agents Friday, but more so than in most baseball transactions, it's a business where the buyer must beware. Last year, the Indians spent $575,000 on a 17-year-old shortstop from the Dominican Republic named Jose Ozoria. Less than a week ago, they were informed by Major League Baseball that Ozoria wasn't who he said he was. Mirabelli said the Indians are prepared to make offers onfour to seven players. Three players the Indians have shown interest in are Dominican Republic shortstop Miguel Angel Santo and Cuban defectors left-hander Noel Arguellez and shortstop Jose Iglesias. Arguellez and Iglesias, both 19, defected last year in Canada during the World Junior Championships.

Cleveland Plain Dealer

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Among Danny Ainge's first calls was to Bill Strickland, agent for center-forward Rasheed Wallace. The Celtics' interest in Wallace is not for the long term, though. Wallace, 34, might be the most intriguing of free agent candidates, his relationship with Celtics forward Kevin Garnett a possible advantage. Charlotte, Cleveland, Orlando, and San Antonio have also shown interest in Wallace. According to Andy Miller, agent for Tyronne Lue - a reserve guard for Orlando who is close to Garnett - and forward Antonio McDyess, Ainge has expressed interest in both players.

Boston Globe

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Rangers general manager Glen Sather said he had been given an opportunity to bid on Dany Heatley, but passed. He spent the same on Marian Gaborik as he would have on Heatley, whose reputation is toxic, and without yielding an asset, though there's no law it had to be a one-or-the-other. Indeed, Sather said it wasn't.

New York Post

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It turns out Alabama State, which had its five-year probation for, among other things, academic fraud reduced to three on appeal, is serving as one of several lynchpins in Florida State's rebuttal to the NCAA Committee on Infractions' decision to uphold their vacating-of-wins penalty. According to the Tallahassee Democrat, FSU today officially issued their response to the Infraction Appeals Committee, arguing in part that the precedent set by the Alabama State decision, when coupled with their own self-reporting and self-corrective actions in the case, should lead to the victories that have been taken away being returned.

NBC Sports

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After his five-month loan to Italian superclub AC Milan, David Beckham is expected back with the Los Angeles Galaxy and scheduled to play on July 16 against the New York Red Bulls at Giants Stadium. But when he takes the field the mood will be far less giddy than the one that heralded his arrival in the U.S. in 2007. nd then the check came. After his first training session with the Galaxy, in Washington two days before a nationally televised game against D.C. United, he helped organize a dinner with 10 other players at Morton's steak house in Arlington, Va. Beckham had enjoyed the players-only meals at Real Madrid, and if he was going to be just one of the lads in the Galaxy locker room, things needed to get off on the right foot. Beckham was earning a $6.5 million salary, and his income, with endorsements, would balloon to $48.2 million. Martino was making a salary of $55,297 -- before taxes -- and living in one of the U.S.'s most expensive cities. Nearly everyone at the table was thinking, Is Beckham going to pick up the check? But nobody said anything. Beckham, meanwhile, had never been in this situation before. The players on his other teams had all been millionaires, and Real Madrid paid for all team meals anyway. The Galaxy provided only a $45 per diem on the road. What would Beckham do? What should he do? Donovan eyed the bill from his seat. He had paid for teammates' dinners in the past, and he'd made his position clear even before Beckham's arrival. "He'd better be picking up meals too," Donovan had told teammates, "or else I'll call him out on it."

SI.com

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Former UFC light heavyweight champ Quinton "Rampage" Jackson has never been shy about expressing love for his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, and it appears that it might be their turn to reciprocate. According to Rampage, he will be facing his opposing The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 coach, Rashad Evans, right in his own backyard. Jackson recently announced on a YouTube clip featuring his friend, Computer, from MTV's Three Six Mafia Hollyhood, that he would be entertaining his neighbors this Holiday season. "We fightin' in Memphis baby, in December," Rampage stated. "We fightin' in December!"

fightline

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TNT play-by-play announcer Bill Weber, suspended from last Sunday's race broadcast at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, will not return for the network's final two races of its season. According to witnesses, Weber got into a loud, public confrontation last weekend at his hotel in Manchester, N.H. TNT would not say why Weber was replaced. "As this is a private issue, it's the policy of the company not to discuss personal matters involving our employees," said Sal Petruzzi, senior vice president of public relations for Turner Broadcasting.

Charlotte Observer

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Is a visit by Tiger Woods to Turning Stone Resort in the near future? We should find out Monday. PGA Tour player Notah Begay III is gearing up to bring his charity skins game back to Turning Stone's acclaimed Atunyote course for a second straight year on Aug. 24. A Twitter entry on his Web site states that "huge news" about the event will be announced early next week. In addition, Turning Stone placed a full-page ad in The Post-Standard on Thursday promoting a contest to guess which star is coming next to the resort. The catch phrase of the contest -- which also can be found on the resort's Web site -- is "make your selection before we let the cat ... out of the bag!"

Syracuse.com

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Germany's Tommy Haas grew up watching Wimbledon masterclasses from compatriots Boris Becker and Steffi Graf, now after 11 years of trying the 31-year-old is finally enjoying some of the limelight himself. "You want to try to maybe accomplish some of the stuff they have, but it's not an easy task," Haas said on Wednesday after reaching his first Wimbledon semi-final by beating Serbia's fourth seed Novak Djokovic. "Obviously Steffi had such great success here. I was watching Boris when I was young. Every year I was looking forward to watching it on TV, him playing Wimbledon." Haas, winner at Halle in June and unbeaten on grass this season, continues to enjoy something of a purple patch at the All England Club after a career riddled by injuries and setbacks. "The year I would have been maybe third seed here (at Wimbledon in 2002), when I was three in the world, my parents had a really bad motorcycle accident so I skipped that year," the 24th seed added. "Then when I had a pretty good decent draw where I felt I could get far in the draw, I stepped on a ball in a warm-up." Saving two match points on his way to a mammoth five-set victory over Croatia's Marin Cilic would suggest this time around fortune has not deserted him.

Reuters

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