SNYDER: Out of a job, but Steve Williams can cry all the way to the bank

There’s never been anything like the fast-paced wheeling and dealing that’s expected once the lockout ends. Teams will tamper and work around the 72-hour window reserved for negotiations with their own free agents, a mere bump in the road that won’t slow the frenzied search for unrestricted players and undrafted rookies afterward.

Mistakes and regrets will abound, but what would you expect? It’s speed-dating.

• Why a USC running back thinks he’s Chris Rock.

Marc Tyler, a redshirt senior, made several knucklehead comments when approached by a TMZ reporter outside a nightclub last week. The sexually suggestive stuff was bad enough, but he also joked (“joked?”) that USC players are paid more than NFL players. Already facing possible discipline for other off-field incidents, Tyler has been suspended for the season opener.

That’ll give him time to work on his next joke: studying. Ha ha.

• How going overseas would work for many NBA players.

The Turkish team that signed New Jersey’s Deron Williams is looking to the L.A. Lakers’ Kobe Bryant. Orlando’s Dwight Howard and New York’s Amare Stoudemire say they’re open to go overseas during the lockout, and a handful of international NBA players might return home, too. Let’s say a total of 15 jumps, the size of an NBA roster.

That bargaining chip is an air ball; work out a deal.

• Why pro-am hoops leagues aren’t on TV.

You can find almost anything on TV and much of it is drivel, not nearly as entertaining as D.C.’s Goodman League, L.A.’s Drew League or N.Y.’s Rucker League. Yes, players rarely see a pass they make and there’s more defense in NBA All-Star Games, but still … there’s a reason everyone oohs and ahhs during playground basketball.

Besides, we might not see NBA players otherwise for a long, long time.

• How Maryland can continue to offer 27 varsity sports.

Reserve funds for the Terps’ athletic budget have dried up, leaving a gaping hole with no easy fix. President Wallace D. Loh has formed a commission to “consider all manners of revenue enhancement and expense reduction.” Cal-Berkeley announced plans last fall to reduce its varsity sports from 29 to 24, for a projected savings of $4 million per year.

It’s going to hurt, but cuts are inevitable.

• Why Jayson Werth is taking so long to get going.

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