Nobody can blame him really. Notre Dame’s junior quarterback will skip his final year of eligibility and head to the NFL.

According to Tom Friend of ESPN the Magazine, Clausen is taking the advice of the coach that recruited him, Charlie Weis. Weis, who was relieved of his head coaching duties last week, advised that Clausen take his football career to the next level right now. This should not a surprising, given Notre Dame’s current state of unbalance in the program.

In fact many juniors in the college game may decide to declare themselves eligible for the NFL draft this year, perhaps in record numbers. Why? Labor negotiations.

N.F.L. owners are prepared to end a small sliver of revenue sharing that helps shore up the league’s lowest-revenue teams.

The owners informed the players union that starting with the next league year in March — which would be the start of an uncapped season if no new collective bargaining agreement is reached — owners will not share a $100 million fund. Nine teams at the bottom of the revenue pecking order drew from that pool this season.

The $100 million represents a tiny fraction of the $6.5 billion — much of it money generated from television contracts — that all 32 teams share. The decision was first reported by ESPN on Sunday.

Amid a wave of high-profile concussions in the NFL, teams have been given new, stricter instructions for when players should be allowed to return to games or practices after head injuries. The guidelines go into effect this week.

Commissioner Roger Goodell sent a memo to the 32 clubs Wednesday saying a player who gets a concussion should not return to action on the same day if he shows certain signs or symptoms that include an inability to remember assignments or plays, a gap in memory, persistent dizziness and persistent headaches.

There you have it, the battle for Lamar Odom has ended.

Laker’s fans breathe a huge sigh of relief with this signing, as the future of the NBA champions was certainly in jeopardy. As for the Heat, who nearly succeeded in landing Odom, things in Miami still urgently need attention. Dwyane Wade in Miami after this season is far from a certainty.

Does this success on the Lakers’ part lock up another NBA ring for the team in 09-10? I do think they’ll win – however, I think they would win again with or without Lamar on their squad.