White pays off wager — with interest

Remember the Twitter war Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Roddy White found himself in during the NCAA Tournament?

White and a fan got into it over the pending Duke-Mercer game with White saying if the Blue Devils lost, he’d give the fan two Falcons season tickets on the 50-yard-line.

Mercer won the game, and White tried to weasel out of the deal with the fan, 20-year-old Dylan Hoyt, offering him two tickets to this year’s Falcons-Chicago game instead of the full season tickets he had wagered. But he caught so much heat on Twitter that he backed off.

On Wednesday, he paid off the bet — in full. Hoyt was White’s guest at Falcons training camp, where Hoyt was presented with not only the two season tickets, but two tickets to the Super Bowl and sideline passes to a Falcons home game.

“Honestly, I didn’t think Mercer was gonna win,” Hoyt told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I just thought, ‘Why be that fan who just wants to get free stuff?’ I didn’t want to be that guy. I was cool with nothing. Next thing you know everybody (on Twitter) just jumped on his case.”

White seemed to take it all in stride, telling reporters, “I just thank everybody out there in the media for everything they did, for holding me responsible for my actions. I think it’s great. And people on Twitter, I love you all.”

And we love you, Roddy. Next time, don’t bet.

■ MORE GOOFY BETS — Shelby Miller got off a lot cheaper than Roddy White when he bet $100 that former St. Louis Cardinals teammate and best friend Joe Kelly couldn’t get a hit off him when the Cards faced the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday.

Kelly, who was traded from St. Louis to Boston, is a lifetime .154 hitter. The bet also applied to Miller, a lifetime .132 hitter. If he had gotten a hit off Kelly, Kelly would have to pay Miller a hundred clams.

Miller actually got on base in the bottom of the second inning of Wednesday’s game when the two pitchers were facing each other. But it was via a walk, and the bet was who could get a hit, so Kelly’s wallet remained intact.

In the top of the third, Kelly hit a slow roller down the third-base line and appeared to beat it out for what would have been a single. But he was called out by the first-base umpire, prompting red Sox manager John Farrell to come out and challenge the call.

The review showed that Kelly was indeed safe, the call was reversed, and Miller was $100 poorer. Kelly should probably send half the money to the replay guys in New York for reversing the call and making him a winner.

■ NAME GAME — First, he was Ron Artest. Then, in 2009, he decided to become Metta World Peace. Now, it’s The Panda’s Friend, as Artest-Metta-Panda has signed a one-year deal to play basketball in China.

What is it with this guy and names? What, Ron-Ron wasn’t good enough for him? Yes, Pandas are adorable creatures. But does he think changing his name to Panda will endear him to the fans of the Sichuan Blue Whales, the team Artest will play for?

The reality is, he may have a different name, but the 34-year-old forward has the same old game. And the Chinese will have to accept that and deal with it.

COMPILED BY STEVE CARP LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL