With the NHL entering the 68th day of the lockout, teams are probably more desperate than ever to earn a little coin on the side, and it might seem like the Toronto Maple leafs reached that tipping point back in October. At a recent auction, 112 random items from the Maple Leaf Gardens were sold to the highest bidders, and sure, you can say that all sports franchises auction off stuff like chairs and banners and whatnot, but it’s fun to pretend like an NHL team is desperate and broke.

But in fairness, this auction actually occurred because a private collector named Sherman Cunningham decided it was time to get rid of all of his Leafs clutter that included an original, one-of-a-kind 1967 Stanley Cup banner. Oh, and he also had a toilet from the locker room, because you wouldn’t want a locker room toilet?

Cunningham paid $3,600 for the toilet 12 years ago, so how much did this porcelain poop container mature over the years? It sold for $5,300 to 55-year old lawyer Jim Vigmond. What the hell do you do with a $5,300 toilet anyway?

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It appears that the hopes of Dallas Mavericks fans may be dashed if they were hoping that Dwight Howard could be lured their way as a free agent after the 2012-13 season. The guy who just dragged the Orlando Magic through hell and back is now apparently done with Florida altogether, as he is moving to California. Howard, who has spent his days tooling around Beverly Hills and chatting with TMZ since back surgery, just wrote a $20 million check for the above home in swank Newport Beach.

And I know this because a real estate website told me so.

It is rumored that Howard will live in Newport Beach, where his teammate Kobe Bryant also lives. Bryant famously told GQ that he takes a helicopter to work (meaning practice and games) on a daily basis, will Howard follow suit?

Howard’s home in Orlando, as we reported last week, will probably go on the market soon. (Via iRealty Times)

I’m surprised that Howard would sell his home in Orlando, because athletes love to stay in the Sunshine State for the tax breaks that it affords, but I guess as he’s on the verge of signing his superstar contract and receiving an Adidas deal equal to or greater than what Derrick Rose recently signed, he might as well put a cash printing press in his home.

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Last we heard from Tamara Ecclestone, the elder daughter of Formula One CEO Bernie Ecclestone, she was bouncing back and forth between England and the U.S., undoubtedly helping her sister move her futon and George Foreman grill into her new $82 million dollar home in Los Angeles. But now she wants us to know that there is so much more to her traveling and spending and partying and spending and sleeping and spending.

She’s been preparing for her new reality show, “Billion $$$ Girl,” which will air on some network across the pond, and will allow her to show all of us that there’s more to her than being the attractive socialite daughter of a billionaire. That started with a photo shoot with famed photog Tyler Shields, who asked Tamara if she could get her hands on some loose cash.

Get ready to punch something.

Sheilds’ [sic, guvna] agent told The Sun: ‘Tyler asked if she could get hold of £1million and she said she already had it lying around. So he got her to lie in it naked.’

(Via the Daily Mail)

Now before we go casting stones, I should point out that her parents care very deeply about her financial well-being. In fact, Tamara’s mom always keeps her daughters grounded. You know, when she’s not loaning them $82 million for houses.

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At some point today, the Atlanta Sprit Group will announce that they have sold the majority ownership stake of the Atlanta Hawks to Alex Meruelo, a Los Angeles business executive and founder of the Meruelo Group. Of course, any time a NBA team is sold, it goes through the Board of Governors first, and this deal could take four or five months, which would obviously interfere with the NBA season and distract the Hawks players.

*rim shot, fart noise, yawn*

But the big news about this deal isn’t that Meruelo is buying a team that probably won’t play for another 14 or 15 months, as much as it’s about the man himself. Meruelo is Cuban, making him the first Hispanic majority owner in league history. And he’s ready to win now. Or as soon as it’s convenient for David Stern and Derek Fisher to meet.

Meruelo (pronounced mur-rell-o) said some members of the Spirit group will maintain minority ownership positions but that he will own more than 50 percent and control ownership decisions. He would not be more specific about the size of his stake and would not divulge the price he has agreed to pay for it.

But he said, “I will be in complete control of the team.” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

So he’s like Mark Cuban if Mark Cuban were an actual Cuban. Meanwhile, the Meruelo Group, in case you’re interested and I assume you are, owns and operates a Los Angeles TV station, a casino in Las Vegas and some restaurants, including La Pizza Loco, which means Crazy Pizza. Thanks, 8 years of Florida public school Spanish education!