The days of winning NBA scoring championships might be over for Kobe Bryant -- not because he's no longer capable, but because the deeper, stronger Lakers probably won't need him to produce monster numbers on a regular basis. . . .
Trevor Ariza energizes like Ronny Turiaf but is a better player. . . .
Poor Elton Brand changed clubs, changed coasts and changed conferences, but he's still near the bottom with the Philadelphia 76ers. . . .
Note to Baron Davis: Now that Mike Dunleavy is the Clippers' general manager, Donald Sterling probably will be less hesitant to fire him as coach. . . .
Scott Boras didn't wait long to throw out the first diss. . . .
Frank McCourt, who benefited from the Boston Red Sox's largesse during a memorable 2008 stretch run, might never pay a penny to Manny Ramirez. . . .
Wouldn't you love to see a bidding war between McCourt and Arte Moreno? . . .
Moreno seems to have made retaining Mark Teixeira a priority over re-signing Francisco Rodriguez, which some would call a no-brainer. . . .
Several readers e-mailed to suggest that the chest-painted USC fans who spelled out P-L-A-Y-O-F-F-S at the Coliseum on Saturday, punctuating their message with a question mark rather than an exclamation point, may have been paying homage to Jim Mora's famous rant of a few years back. . . .
The then-Indianapolis Colts coach, asked about his team's chances of reaching the playoffs after a 2001 loss, replied incredulously, "What's that? Uh, playoffs? Don't talk about -- playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs?" . . .
Mora, by the way, played tight end at Occidental College, where he roomed with 1988 presidential candidate Jack Kemp. . . .
Stanford has gone from a 41-point underdog against USC to upset winner over the Trojans last year to a 23-point underdog for Saturday's rematch at Stanford. . . .
Darren Collison and UCLA are listed by BetOnline.com as 12-1 shots to win the NCAA championship, while Taj Gibson and USC are listed at 30-1. . . .
North Carolina is the favorite. . . .
Topple a (Matt) Cassell tonight at New England and Brett Favre and the New York Jets might wind up wearing an AFC East crown. . . .
What comes first, Kerry Collins and the unbeaten Tennessee Titans losing or Daunte Culpepper and the hapless Detroit Lions winning? . . .
The teams will meet Thanksgiving Day at Detroit. . . .
Talk about a turkey. . . .
