Animal House.

You're just sitting at the poker table with your buddies, minding your own business, trying to keep the cards close to the vest, and then WHAM, a bull just takes you out at full speed. You expect a lot of gimmicks with your card playing buddies, but this went above and beyond a bizarre pair of sunglasses or a creepy staring obsession.

Granted, you probably shouldn't have been playing poker in the middle of a rodeo ring, but why split hairs? And yes, this just happened at the Ft. Worth Stock Show and Rodeo (running through Feb. 4, if you've got time to mosey on over).

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Poker, Pro Bull Riding, Rodeo

Sure, a dog is a man's best friend. But when you're a famous athlete, who wants to cuddle with an old cliche? These nine celebrity athletes would much rather get up close and personal with something a little more shocking.

Mike Tyson, Tigers

Who can forget the tiger scene from "The Hangover?" Well, rumor has it that tiger actually belonged to Mike Tyson. In addition to having one inked on his face, the former boxing champ has been known to deal in Siberian white tigers, and fancied himself a collector before his bankruptcy. It isn't hard to imagine how someone could go bankrupt caring for a few big cats, especially when each tiger once cost him $4,000 a month. In May of 2010, the Department of Agriculture confiscated four tigers from a tattoo parlor in Gary, Indiana -- one of which belonged to Tyson.

Chad Ochocinco, Tropical Fish

Water beds? Those are for amateurs -- and this Patriot is no amateur. Ochocinco and fiance Evelyn Lozada created the ultimate fantasy suite with their tropical fish tank bed. It's so mesmerizing, Ochocinco can get a bit jealous when Lozado finds herself gazing at the fish instead of him.

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Animals, Chad Ochocinco, Darnell Dockett, Ernie Sims, Gilbert Arenas, Mike Tyson, Mikki Moore, Patrick Deneen, Performance, Power, Ross Ohlendorf, Visanthe Schiancoe

China's most famous athlete is giving back to the wildlife world.

Yao Ming, retired from the NBA's Houston Rockets, helped release six giant pandas into the wilderness of China's Sichuan province this week in an important move that will hopefully help the future of the species.

New Tang Dynasty (NTD) Television reports the goal is to replenish the giant panda population in the world. These six pandas, between the ages of 2 and 4 years old, were carefully chosen from 108 of the animals at a base in Chengdu. Researchers spent a year observing the animals to see which would be best for the project.

Only 1,600 endangered giant pandas are believed to live in the wild, according to the AP. More than 300 pandas are in breeding programs in China.

Yao, known as a conservation advocate in the People's Republic of China, believes equilibrium is key. "I think it is most important to keep a balance between modern living and nature. We have been talking about it for many years but it is never an easy thing to do," Yao said.

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China, Men Of Action, NBA, NCAAB, Outdoors, Yao Ming

One of baseball's biggest free agent signings this off-season won't be able to live in his new team's town because his pet has been outlawed there for 23 years.

We aren't talking about chimpanzees or hedgehogs, either.

While Mark Buehrle is taking his pitching talents to the Marlins, his canine is illegal as a pet in Miami-Dade County where the National League club plays its home games. Slater Buehrle, an 18-month old, happens to be an American Staffordshire Terrior, the type of pit bull that's been banned there since 1989.

American Staffordshires, Staffordshire Bull Terriers and American Pit Bull Terriers were all determined to be extremely dangerous and were made illegal to own as pets, along with mixes that display certain of the breeds' characteristics, the Miami Herald reports.

Buehrle thinks the laws are silly.

"It's kind of ridiculous that because of the way a dog looks, people will ban it," he told the Herald. "Every kind of dog has good and bad, and that depends on the handlers. If you leave a dog outside all the time, it'll be crazy. Slater would never do anything harmful."

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Even dogs know it's Tebow Time.

First it was a drug-sniffing dog named Tebow who triggered a cocaine bust at Orlando International Airport last month.

Now there's this gem unearthed by the crack crew at Busted Coverage.

A greyhound named Flying Tim Tebow has been winning at the Derby Lane dog track in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The video quality of this race from Dec. 28 is worse than a surveillance camera at a convenience store, but this announcer leaves no doubt as to who won.

Given the insane amount of buzz that Tebow brings, we're actually expecting more canine-related stories involving him or at least his name. If there's a group that's more popular than Tebow, it might be dogs. According to the U.S. Census, there are now more households with a dog than those with a child.

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Dogs, Tim Tebow