It isn't unusual for rookies to find short-term lodging with older teammates, especially during the uncertain days of training camp. But it's a little odd for the new kid to shack up with the team's owner -- especially when your agent is attempting to negotiate a contract with your new roommate. That was the incestuous situation facing Marc Andre-Fleury, as the Pittsburgh goaltending prospect lived with teammate and team owner Mario Lemieux while he tried to earn a spot on the Penguins' roster.

	Patience and cluelessness work.

Fleury recently returned home to Montreal when contract negotiations stalled, although ... who knows? Maybe Mario's curfew had something to do with it, too.

MTV's "Newlyweds" has forced us to confront the inescapable truth that any two people -- no matter how inanely vapid and clueless the one named Jessica is -- can live together if the house is big enough. But Fleury's experience has us thinking about some other potential sporting cohabitants.

What if ...

Paul Allen and Qyntel Woods
Fresh off Woods' citation for driving without insurance and with a suspended license, and worried about Rasheed Wallace and Damon Stoudamire asking him to join their carpool, Allen opens the doors of his palatial Mercer Island, WA, estate to the second-year guard. Allen and team officials hope the regulation-sized NBA court on the grounds will prove useful in rectifying a suspect outside shot, but Woods appears more interested in making use of the massive greenhouse to pursue his horticultural interests.

Still, the middle-aged billionaire and 22-year-old player form such a close bond, Allen can often be heard reading Woods to sleep at night with passages from the Blazers new code of conduct.

Donald Sterling and Elton Brand
After doling out unprecedented amounts of money in the offseason, Sterling welcomes the team's newly-minted franchise player into his home - that is, once Brand coughs up the first month's rent, the last month's rent and a hefty security deposit. Brand initially views the offer as one more sign that the penny-pinching owner is interested in reshaping his image in hopes of attracting future free agents, but quickly sours on the arrangement when it becomes clear that Sterling expects him to pay for heat, hot water, trash removal, landscaping, pool cleaning and valet parking.

The final straw comes when the drain in Brand's kitchen unit clogs and Sterling delays a week before sending over Elgin Baylor with a plunger, mop and bucket.

George Steinbrenner and David Wells

	Hey Boomer, who invited Jeff Weaver?

Boomer and the Boss is a more interesting coupling than anything NBC has to offer; and besides, Visa already has dibs on the rights to Steinbrenner and Derek Jeter. Like some sort of cross-generational Odd Couple, Steinbrenner and Wells provide endless entertainment -- Steinbrenner accusing Wells of polishing off all the brandy and taping conversations for his next book, and Wells revealing in a drunken stupor that Steinbrenner is actually his father.

In the end, Steinbrenner kicks the pitcher out on the street and has his belongings sent to Columbus, Ohio. Three days later, he fires Joe Torre and names Wells the next manager of the Yankees.

Mark Cuban and Steve Nash
There's an episode of "The Simpsons" where class nerd Martin gains instant popularity by installing the town's biggest pool in his backyard. It's the same phenomenon experienced every Sunday in the fall by thousands of guys with plasma televisions. And it's Mark Cuban in a nutshell. Hey, this is a man who already let Dennis Rodman live in his guesthouse. In his latest attempt to increase his cool quotient, the man who could write "Dollars and Bowls: How to Win Friends and Influence People with Lots of Money and a Really Bad Haircut," invites the king of Canadian cool to move in.

Imagine the house party scene from "Old School" -- with Cuban as Vince Vaughn -- and you'd have a taste of life at the Cuban-Nash estate. After all, what's an $80 noise citation when you've signed over a $500,000 check to David Stern. The good news for head coach Don Nelson is he'd know exactly where his players are every night. The bad news is if Dirk Nowitzki can't guard the keg, what chance does he have against Kevin Garnett?

Georgia Frontiere and Kurt Warner
And Brenda makes three. In an attempt at reconciliation, the grand dame of the Rams invites the Warners to share her home while Marc Bulger quarterbacks her team. And just as Ozzy quickly became the incoherent background noise on "The Osbournes," mild-mannered Kurt soon becomes an afterthought to the battle of wills between Frontiere (who took control of the Rams following her husband's drowning death and promptly fired his son) and Brenda Warner (for whom "diplomacy" is just one of many words to which she doesn't know the meaning.)

With a quicker release on Bible verses than her husband has shown on the football in recent seasons, Brenda turns even the most casual of dinner conversations between the new roommates into a referendum on her husband's role with the Rams. Georgia perseveres until phone bills arrive with more than $12,000 in charges for calls to talk-radio stations in Paris, Nairobi and Brisbane.

And if this ever makes it as a reality show, Vidal Sassoon will sign on as a presenting sponsor.

Bud Selig and Vladimir Guerrero
Why not? The entire Expos team is looking for short-term housing solutions, and Selig can use free lodging as an enticement to keep the free-agent outfielder from leaving MLB's team. The exact location of their residence is still to be determined -- the commish is exploring a weekend home in Puerto Rico -- but it only makes sense for Selig to have his prize commodity close at hand when prospective buyers come knocking.

Al Davis and Sebastian Janikowski

	Maybe Al Davis will be able to scare the bad outta Seabass.

The NFL's ultimate rebel plays host to the only player capable of being both a kicker and a bad boy, in what would surely rank among Paul Tagliabue's greatest nightmares. Then again, while the aging owner's stash of pills might look like a narcotic Candyland to Janikowski, there's always a chance that living with Davis would serve as a "Scared Straight" episode for him. After all, if a lifetime of fighting the establishment leaves you looking like an extra from the pool party in "Boogie Nights," Janikowski might just discover an urge to put down the highball glass and pick up a jump rope.

Joe and Gavin Maloof
and Doug Christie
From Euro-chic chain-smoking veterans Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic to Chris Webber and Tyra Banks, the Kings don't lack for interesting candidates. But how can you not be intrigued by the possibility of the Kings of Vegas Swing settling in with Christie -- and his wife. The shooting guard gives more signs during a game than Ozzie Guillen coaching third for the Marlins, all in an attempt to show his beloved Jackie that his thoughts are with her and not the floozy in the second row. In this case, the old ball and chain may not be a metaphorical phrase.

Known for their lavish A-list parties and social networking -- another brother has been linked to Britney Spears -- the Maloofs offer up temptations at every turn, and office pools everywhere flourish with bets on which one of the Christies would be the first to start acting out scenes from "Very Bad Things."

The only thing better would be getting A.C. Green to come out of retirement.

Denise DeBartolo York and Terrell Owens
Having proven he can't play well with others and knows nothing about keeping his mouth shut if he can't say anything nice, Owens could use some tough love -- and Dennis Erickson just isn't cutting it. Who better to provide it than a mother of four who leaves business competitors begging for mercy in her spare time?

Have T.O. move in with woman who took down her own brother's financial empire, and we'll see some behavior modification in action.

Alex Rodriguez and Tom Hicks
Fast-forward a few years. Picture Hicks arriving to personally deliver the final check of Alex Rodriguez's $250 million dollar contract -- holding a suitcase in the other hand and casting a longing gaze at Rodriguez's couch. Perpetually denied in his quest to find the pitching to go with Rodriguez's bat -- we're pretty sure Hicks found Chan Ho Park while watching QVC at two in the morning -- the owner finds himself out on the street, left with only a few shirts, shot glasses from the good old days with George W. and the Dallas Stars to his name.

Taking pity on his employer -- after he cashes the check, of course -- Rodriguez offers to takes Hicks in until he can figure out a way to get an oil deal in Iraq.

Graham Hays writes "Out of the Box," the inside scoop on yesterday's box scores for ESPN Fantasy Games.