It’s not often that I get to write about my local D-League NBA Austin Toros, so I’m taking every opportunity I can get. Here’s Chris Roberts of the Toros making 7-foot-5 Sioux Falls Skyforce player Will Foster look like the 4-foot-11 nobody who plays for nobody with a monster dunk. Just brutal. Go Toros! Keep doing things so I can write about them! (via Reddit)

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The Dallas Mavericks have assigned Lamar Odom to their D-League affiliate, the Texas Legends, on what’s being called a “rehab stint” to “get his legs back under him”. Some view the demotion as a way to remove Khloe Kardashian from the sports landscape like one might remove a clump of cat urine from a rancid litter box, while others see it as a pretty direct “go away forever for that thing you did with the sex swing“.

From Tracking:

Odom is expected to practice with the Texas Legends on Friday afternoon and play Saturday, at home against the Austin Toros. Meanwhile, the Mavs’ big club plays at New Orleans on Friday night. The team has already announced that Odom won’t make the trip.

Odom is in the twilight of his career and has been around the league for 12 years, so he’d be a great fit in Boston. He could end up being sent to Phoenix in exchange for Steve Nash (because Jason Kidd can’t be the wise old point guard forever), or maybe he’ll just get bought out by the Mavs and see how long the Kardashians keep him on their shows when his job is “ex-basketball star”.

Or, you know, best case scenario, he could use his time with the Legends to refocus his life, work on his game, get those legs under him and come back to the league a better, happier player. Yeah, that’s probably not going to happen.

A source told Jeff Caplan of ESPN Dallas that there’s “a growing feeling in the locker room that Odom might not return at all.”

That’s pretty conservative of them. I would’ve fired dude the second I found out he thought he could get into a sex swing with his underwear on.

Yesterday I wrote about the underwhelming situational awareness of "Da Bull," the Austin Toros' mascot who got a technical foul for hanging on the rim during play and gave the Colorado 14ers a chance to win the game in the closing seconds.

Today, thanks to the majesty of YouTube, we can watch Da Bull's retardation in action.

(Thanks to Kissing Suzy Kolber's Unsilent Majority for the tip. Be sure to vote for KSK for Best Sports Blog at the 2007 Bloggies.)

If you thought NBA officials were out of hand with technical fouls at the beginning of this season, you should see the shenanigans going on in the D-League. In the final moments of last night's game between the Colorado 14ers and the Austin Toros, Da Bull — Austin's mascot — received a technical foul for hanging on the rim, giving Colorado, which trailed by four, a last-ditch chance to win the game.

Loren Woods had just dunked a ball with less than five seconds to go to give Austin a 101-97 lead. When Colorado reached the other end of the court, Da Bull was waiting for them, on the rim. Time expired, but the referees gathered and decided to assess the mascot a technical… Things grew more embarrassing for Da Bull when he lost his mascot head as he dropped to the court in a scramble to avoid the oncoming Colorado players.

Did somebody kick the mascot's ass? It's always funny when mascots get beat up.

Toros officials announced a few hours after the game that Da Bull — whom team officials declined to identify — was suspended for two games and assigned to perform 50 hours of community service.

Really? That's the best they could do? They couldn't auction him off for piñata duty or have him fight Tito Ortiz for charity? Just once I wish front office people would think of the fans.

(Thanks to strapping WL reader Glenn for the heads-up.)