Ok. So after this whole verizon yahoo to verizon.net email switch, I was left with 3 major problems:

1.  I could no longer receive  username@verizon.net emails on my blackberry.

2.  The verizon.net email address I was using was a "subaccount" so my allowed space went from 2Gb on Verizon Yahoo to 250Mb on verizon.net.   This caused all kids of havoc.

3.  True switch only copied the first 300 of my 550 contacts and did not copy my groups.

After three days of torture trying to talk to Verizon (and verizon wireless and Blackberry/RIM), I finally found the answer:

1.  I opened a new gmail account.

2.  I added my username@verizon.net  as a POP account, so that it goes and brings in those emails.  (and I can also send from gmail as username@verizon.net.  (requires some easy validations)

3.  I imported all 550 contacts from my verizon.yahoo account by exporting them to a csv file and then importing into my new gmail account.

4.  I added the new gmail account to my blackberry. (again requires some easy validations)

Now, when anyone sends an email to my username@verizon.net address, essentially gmail intercepts it, and puts it in my gmail inbox (marked that it's from verizon).   AND it seemlessly goes to my blackberry, as well.

Now that it's in my new gmail account, I can reply to it using a from address from gmail or using the from address from username@verizon.net.

Essentially, my solution was the FIRE VERIZON as my webmail, but without giving up my username@verizon.net!   In my opinion, they are history!