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Brown went on to pitch superbly for two whole seasons before tearing a muscle in his right elbow and injuring his neck in 2001. After that, he managed one more All-Star season for the Dodgers in 2003 before being traded to the New York Yankees and ending his career hobbled by injuries. A shoulder injury kept him sidelined for a whole season and when he was back in the game, he only managed a 4-17 record as a starter. Sure, pro athletes make millions and millions of dollars for playing a game, but the game pays back. Practice and become a pro at all kinds of tricks with a bouncy ball. Ironically, the former Pro Bowler's career was derailed by one of the smallest creatures on Earth, what is sport a single-celled bacterium called staphylococcus aureus. The first player writes a sports term horizontally across the sidewalk in one color of chalk. But remember, all of your words have to have something to do with well-known sports. And despite DiPietro's youth, after a few quick seasons in the NHL, his knees have all the responsiveness of an arthritic septuagenarian's. Despite continuing problems with his weight -- he ballooned to 290 pounds (131.5 kilograms) during one off-season -- he held his starting position until his lackluster on-field performance earned him the third-string spot.

He came back strong in 2005, even earning a starting spot for the U.S. During his four years at the University of Texas, the dreadlocked running back broke the all-time NCAA Division I rushing record (held by Tony Dorsett for 22 years), the all-time Division I rushing touchdown record -- and capped it off with the 1998 Heisman Trophy. The Oakland Raiders snapped up the quarterback from Louisiana State University in 2007, fresh on the heels of Russell's MVP performance in the Sugar Bowl. So somewhere, Steve Young is shining his three Super Bowl rings (he backed up quarterback Joe Montana for his other two) and collecting a fat annual check for the three forgettable (but not regrettable) years he spent in Los Angeles. At age 34, after brilliant careers with Manchester United and Real Madrid, during which he won all sorts of championships and cups and other prizes that make little to no sense to anyone this side of the Atlantic, he stunned the world by signing with the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer. Los Angeles would've been better off investing that $50 million in Posh's clothing line.

Seven years and a whopping, eye-popping, jaw-dropping $105 million, making Kevin "Old Man" Brown the first $100 million man in baseball. Kevin Malone was the Dodgers' manager at the time, and even he doubts the sanity of the decision (funded by News Corp. But the most egregiously absurd clause of the contract on the owners' side is that they guaranteed these payments even if the USFL went belly up (which it did) or Young decided to flee for the NFL after he wrapped up his four-year commitment to the Express. And in retrospect, what looks like a smart bet on a future superstar often turns out to be an egregiously bad business decision that sends the club spiraling into bankruptcy. 2006 Olympics. Unfortunately, goaltending -- like catching in baseball -- is notoriously tough on the knees. Bentley, a beefy offensive lineman, played four successful seasons with the New Orleans Saints before the Cleveland Browns picked him up as a free agent in 2006. Bentley's contract, beefy in its own right, was for $36 million over six years. The shock was less over his decision to play football, er, soccer in a country that routinely abandons the sport after junior high than the outrageous size of his contract: $250 million over 5 years.

The $250 million turned out to be more of a publicity stunt than a cash guarantee. For a sports franchise to make stadium-loads of dough, they often have to throw large sums of cash at professionally unproven prospects. Foursies: Throw the ball, twirl your hands around each other four times, then catch the ball before it bounces. But then again, return on investment is a tricky thing. Define the boundaries that players must keep their feet inside, then toss a balloon in the air. Keep it up: This is a cooperative game for two to four players. Keep the balloon up, striking it only with the rackets. For a different type of outdoor game, try the Sidewalk Sport Crossword on the next page. You'll love this sports crossword puzzle that you make up yourself -- and write right on the sidewalk. Wahl, Grant. "Anatomy of a Blockbuster." Sports Illustrated. Kirshenbaum, Jerry. Sports Illustrated. When we talk about professional sports with disgustingly high salaries, hockey is usually the exception. Liven up your kickball game by using a tiny bouncy ball. But you can play using a full court when you're just starting out.