Verizon buying/not buying Sprint

So Verizon isn't putting in a bid for Sprint. At least not officially. Vodafone, which is partners with Verizon in Verizon Wireless, is now denying those reports that they had given their blessing to Verizon trying to buy Sprint. No one seems to exactly know whether Verizon is seriously thinking about making the big buy (and whether regulators would even approve so mega of a merger), or is just trying to psyche everybody out and scuttle the Sprint/Nextel merger (which is totally fine, we're not exactly too hot on the idea of those two getting hitched, either).