Once folks in Cleveland were scared of this idea. Then they scoffed at it as the Knicks became the butt of jokes on late-night TV and in the arena. But now New York is starting to concern them again because Mr. LeBron James has said that he will consider any and all comers and that he has not ruled out moving to New York, according to the New York Post.

James has apparently said that when the free-agency window gets thrown open on July 1 next summer, he will be thinking like a businessman and considering what will be best for him and his family.

Sounds like he's thinking like a businessman already, starting to play chess with Cavs management through the media, making sure they know that this isn't a done deal. They've got to show him the dinero. Or someone else will.

That is, if you think the disgruntled Jackson is a prize. The Golden State Warriors have been trying to get rid of him since just before the season's start when it became very clear there was bad mojo brewing in this chemistry and it wasn't going to take long to explode.

The Cavs and Nuggets apparently are having trouble finding ways to absorb Jackson's long-term contract and also aren't finding the right combination of tradable assets. The Bobcats, however, seem to pressing forward and believing that it can get this deal done.

According to the ESPN, he'd like to try another one: playing in the NFL. The 6'9", 290-poiunder is saying it'll happen at some point: "I will try it," he said. "When I become an All-Star in the NBA, when I become a great player in the NBA, then I'll try football. One of my dreams has always been to play football."

He was reportedly an excellent two-way football player when he played in high school in Baton Rouge, La. His positions were defensive end, defensive tackle, and tailback. "I definitely could have made it to the NFL," Davis said and doesn't care which position he plays if a team wants to give him a chance. "It don't matter," he said. "I just want to play."

There are really only three highly valuable free agents this off-season -- Jason Bay(notes), Matt Holliday(notes), and John Lackey(notes) - and the Yankees aren't expected to go after any of them, according to the New York Post.

It looks like the Yankees are closing up the wallet a little and letting a whole lot of money flow in right now instead of out.

The team may be at the point of no return on expenditures, anyway. The Yanks will spend $100 million next season Alex Rodriguez(notes), Sabathia, Teixeira and Derek Jeter(notes) alone and have another $70 million already committed to 13 other players from Kei Igawa(notes) to Juan Miranda(notes).

Holliday's agent, Scott Boras, apparently wants him to be paid around the same as Teixeira (eight years, $181 million), Lackey is expected to get around $100 million for five years, and Bay could get around $90 million for five years.

At the time, it wasn't clear just how bad the tear was, but as he continues to miss game after game, it appears that it wasn't tiny. Now it's looking like Morris will be out for two more weeks and won't be back in action till Week 11 against the New York Jets, according to the Boston Herald.

The longer he takes to get back, the slower coach Bill Belichick will be about working him into the lineup.

Coach Jim Schwartz isn't showing his cards on that front, though. He is saying that both of these players are game-time decisions on Sunday. However, Smith had a full practice yesterday, taking plenty of reps with the first team, after skipping the pervious day's because of the shoulder injury he earned last Sunday against the St. Louis Rams.

And Johnson apparently looked good in practice after missing a few weeks due to a right knee injury. "We are just going to keep on taking it like we are," Johnson said. "We are going to be careful, do what I can do, and as long as I don't have any setbacks, things look brighter for Sunday."

Red Sox fans have got to hope the 25-year-old outfielder can do better than hitting .259. He reportedly won't be expected to be an incredible defensive presence.

Contractually, Hermida has two years to show that Epstein's prediction was true.

It's looking like the team is going to buy him out for $1 million, which is still a nice payday for a guy who didn't play after mid-July due to knee surgery. The rumor is that the team will try to re-sign the 11-year vet after that.

Cincinnati GM Walt Jocketty has met with Hernandez's agent. "We've made some progress. I don't know if we're close. But we'll try to work something out," he said.

But that deal isn't apparently finished just yet, according to the Kansas City Star. And it might never be. As of midnight last night, none of the players had supposedly been informed of the trade.

"We're in discussions with a lot of clubs about a lot of things," Royals general manager Dayton Moore told the Star. "There is nothing to announce yet, and we won't comment (about trade rumors) until there is something to announce." Drat!

The New York Post is reporting that the team won't be picking up his $9.1 million option for next season. Why should it after he pitched only 29 1/3 innings and gave up 18 runs in the process. Not exactly what you want from a reliever, particularly one who was the centerpiece to a three-team deal that involved the Seattle Mariners and Cleveland Indians. We went through all that trouble for this?

Putz has a $1 million buyout clause. Mets GM Omar Minaya is sure to take it. And watch Putz take some kind of incentive-laden deal somewhere else.

He apparently was told yesterday that he had one night to think about whether he wanted to have surgery on it and put a screw in to stabilize it, simply put it in a cast now and let it heal, or try to just play through the pain.

The cast option would mean being out for six to eight weeks and surely means he'll likely be out for eight weeks minimum.

So he supposedly turned off his phone early last night and went to bed and plans to have a decision today.

Now Roy Williams is doing the same thing: taking note that more balls are headed in the direction of the supposed No. 2 receiver than to him, the supposed No. 1 receiver. "It's just not even close," said Williams to ESPNDallas.com. "It's not even funny. Not even close. . . . I'm the No. 1 receiver. But things are just going No. 2's way."

No. 2, otherwise known as Miles Austin(notes), has 563 receiving yards this season and six touchdowns. He's averaging 80.4 yards per game. Williams, meanwhile, has 249 yards receiving this season, good for an average of 41.5 a game and two touchdowns.

Williams lays the blame on Romo. "(Austin) gets the ball thrown correctly his way," Williams said. "I'm stretching and falling and doing everything. Everybody [else] who's been here's balls are there. Our footballs [from Romo to Williams] are everywhere right now."

Others are thinking it could be Williams' fault. It's safe to say there is a new No. 1 receiver in Dallas, though.

"We'll do what it is the best interest of the team," head coach Ken Whisenhunt said, which likely means that Boldin will be sitting this weekend, which is too bad because the former Rookie of the Year is averaging 11.5 yards per reception right now.

Guess he can use his extra time now to hang out with his son, Anquan Jr. and plan for a new way to try and get himself traded this off-season.

The word is that he's asking Dr. James Andrews, who is likely to confirm that he's got more than sprained PCL. The thought is that it is likely torn.

If Gonzalez wanted to keep playing, he should have looked in the Yellow Pages for a doctor. Instead he goes to one of the best in the business.

The consensus seemed to be that he would be packaged with forward Jason Maxiell(notes). But Dumars is saying ix-nay. The move was supposedly all about injuries. Dumars is saying that he's sick of new faces in his clubhouse and would like some stability.

But you'd think he'd be very happy to see a big-name free-agent "new face" next summer if he can free up some of that cash.

General manager Brian Cashman has apparently been saying that he'd like the team to get younger and more athletic and more versatile (and you'd hope cheaper), so paying Matsui a load of dough to DH doesn't seem to fit that mold. Damon is at least out in the field.

Catcher Jorge Posada(notes) will turn 39 next season so he may want to DH some. Alex Rodriguez(notes) may be getting some hip surgery this off-season so this team isn't getting any younger. Though they sure looked like a bunch of 6-year-olds bouncing up and down after the last out last night.

So Yankees fans may want to spend a little extra time cheering for the Series MVP Matsui when he floats by during the parade. Word has it he could be moving to the Great Northwest to play for the Seattle Mariners.

And the Phils have him for the relatively cheap price of $9 million next year. But there have apparently been discussions within the organization of trying to get a long-term extension done this off-season, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

"Clearly, it's on our minds, but we haven't made a decision if we will yet," general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said before Game 6.

While Lee was incredible in the postseason and pretty dang good in the regular season since joining the Phils, going 7-4 with a 3.39 ERA, one never knows what will happen so there are some in the organization who apparently want to wait and be sure Lee doesn't turn into the next Cole Hamels(notes), who was the MVP of last year's NLCS and World Series and then a disappointment during the regular season this year and even bigger one in the postseason.

Lee will likely want some kind of similar deal to the one his best friend and former teammate with the Cleveland Indians, CC Sabathia(notes), got last off-season from the New York Yankees: seven years for $161 million.

And now after all that the lefthander may be returning to play for Seattle, according to the Detroit Free Press. The 35-year-old free-agent lefty has apparently told the M's that Seattle is on the top of his list of teams to play for in 2010.

Washburn was a whole lot better for Seattle than he was for Detroit. He went 8-6 with a 2.64 ERA in 20 starts for the M's and was the American League pitcher of the month in July with Seattle.

The word now apparently is that Swedish hockey legend Forsberg could be headed off to play for Russia's Kontinental League. Forsberg is supposedly planning on signing with Ak Bars Kazan for multiple years and megabucks.

The thought in some parts of the NHL is that Forsberg can't keep his right foot and ankle healthy anymore. He told the Colorado Avalanche two years ago that he was healthy. Then he played in 13 games for the team. That cost him a lot in GM offices around the league.

For now, he'll have to stick with the Swedish National Team. Worst case scenario, he'll play again for MoDo, his hometown team.

The negotiations are supposedly "in the final phase" and it will mean that Patrick takes a NASCAR wheel for the first time when next February's Daytona 500 rolls around.

So she'll race full-time for Andretti Green Racing in IndyCar and part-time for JR in NASCAR. Both Earnhardt and Patrick have some sponsorship dollars from GoDaddy.com.

Sports Illustrated was reporting that Patrick was looking to snag $300,000 per race in NASCAR, no mater if it's Nationwide or Camping World Truck Series races. But it's not likely that she's getting that kind of dough.

For a short while, it was believed that James would move to New York so he could dominate that city and expand his empire. But the New York Knicks have continued to implode, so there's no real attraction to leaving the comforts of home to attempt to right a quickly sinking ship. What everybody seems to think now is that James will eventually re-sign with the Cavs for a tidal wave of cash. But now comes another option: Move to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Lakers don't have a lot of salary room but they'd love, love, love to team up Kobe Bryant(notes) and LeBron James, according to Bulls.com. The 31-year-old Bryant is going to need someone to pass along the keys to the Laker Mythologymobile. And why not the 24-year-old James? James doesn't seem afraid to take a strong supporting role, which would likely suit Bryant just fine.

But somehow L.A. has to convince Cleveland to do a sign-and-trade deal because there is no other way to fit James under its current salary structure right now. Still, that could mean a talented player for Cleveland instead of the big nothing it will get if James walks next summer.

Head coach Eric Mangini is supposedly very into the idea of working with Accorsi as well. But if Accorsi doesn't want to give up the chances for (though unlikely reality of) Sunday-afternoon dozes in the Barcalounger to help fix the ailing Browns, the team would at least like to have help make the decision on who the next GM should be.

He was apparently consulted before the team hired the toothless George Kokinis and had nice things to say about the fella who was once the pro personnel director of the Baltimore Ravens.

Still, that wouldn't have been Accorsi's choice for the job. That honor goes to New York Giants director of pro personnel David Gettleman.

And there won't be a pot of gold at the end unless you count the fact that Fisher has a contract till the end of 2011. Even with that, there's no reason to think Adams will keep him onboard for another year more than the 16 he's served with the team.

The main sticking point, of course, is the quarterback situation. Fisher really seemed to think Kerry Collins(notes) was the right man for the job and it took massive applications of pressure by Adams to get Fisher to start Young, who won his first game back as starter. "We'll just have to see what happens the rest of the way," Adams said. "I'll have to make my decision after the season is up."

Right now, his decision is looking pretty easy.

It's looking like it's not going to hold the big guy up for much longer. He apparently had a "pretty good workout" yesterday. He'll miss his fifth game in a row tonight but he reportedly might be back in action on Friday against his former team, the Memphis Grizzlies.

Coach Phil Jackson isn't saying jack about it, though: "We'll see," he said. "We hope he can get a practice in this week."

Edwards is apparently recovered from the concussion he suffered during the early October game against the Arizona Cardinals. Backup Ryan Fitzpatrick(notes) would have a greater argument for holding onto the spot if he hadn't been so horrendous in a Week 8 loss to the Houston Texans. After all, he had led the team to two wins before that.

Hope that concussion didn't hurt the brain of Edwards too much. Here's a guy who graduated from Stanford and nearly took a job in the electronic design automation industry instead of the NFL.

Hernandez started off the season with the New York Mets and then got released with a 5.47 ERA and 135 innings under his belt. His ERA came down a whopping .11 when he pitched for Washington later in the year.

He does like to pitch and will stay in games, but he needs a lot of run support: In the last two years, he's pitched 363 2/3s innings and has a 5.74 ERA.

He'll make $12.1 million next year but is free to roam the streets of any city he wants after next season if a new deal can't be worked out.

It looks like Red Sox GM Theo Epstein is plenty aware of the big bucks it will take to retain Beckett: "He's put himself in a position to be valued very highly by us," he said to WEEI, but he wasn't predicting a definite deal: "Those things have a way of taking care of themselves. ... We'll see what happens."

Now it's looking like Hurdle may join the Texas Rangers as the hitting coach, according to MLB.com. Hurdle had the same job with the Rockies from 1997 to 2001. The Rockies were at the front of the National League pack in runs scored for three of those seasons and only two runs off the lead during the other two. Hurdle also helped guide Larry Walker to the 1997 Most Valuable Player Award. Walker, Vinny Castilla(notes), and Todd Helton(notes) also won Silver Sluggers under his watchful eye.

So the Rangers appear to want a little bit of that magic. First thing they might want to do is find a way to thin out the air at their stadium.

Will be interesting to see if Hurdle has any interest in bringing Milton Bradley(notes) back to the Rangers, which some team execs supposedly would like to do since the Chicago Cubs want to unload him and the Rangers lacked a certain punch without Bradley in the lineup this past season.

There is apparently some belief that this indicates that Mattingly and his current employer, the Los Angeles Dodgers, are formalizing some kind of plan for hitting coach Mattingly to take over for Joe Torre when Torre finally decides to call it quits.

Meanwhile, the Nats apparently want to name a new manager within the week. Interim manager Jim Riggleman is a possibility as well as former Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin.

Whatever happens, the coaches have all been promised jobs within the organization for next year.

Roush Fenway Racing is losing a car's worth of workers and Yates Racing does as well. Yates is actually rumored to be merging with Richard Petty Motorsports. So any way you slice it, two teams will not exist next season.

Also, the #96 Hall of Fame Racing team has been working with the use of services of Yates, which it apparently won't need next season, meaning more jobs could be lost.

It's not going to be pretty. But, then again, it's not pretty economically anywhere right now.

The team has apparently canned past employees for nasty behavior. Seems like his could fit the bill.

The team said in a statement, "Over the last few days, we learned of the allegations made against coach Cable, and we are, of course, aware of his response thereto. In conjunction with the league office, we will undertake a serious evaluation of this matter. We wish to be clear that we do not in any way condone or accept actions such as those alleged."

In the statement, the team says that some of those past firings, which were done for obviously confidential reasons, the team has "endured public opprobrium for the dismissals, all the while knowing our basis for them was appropriate."

OK, time to go through past Oakland Raider firings that didn't make a whole lot of sense at the time.

Well, it appears that all may be thrown out the window, according to the Washington Post. Holmgren is apparently upset with the treatment Snyder is giving Zorn, who previously was an assistant for Holmgren in Seattle.

He reportedly told a Chicago radio station that "it was very unfair" to strip Zorn of his play-calling abilities.

"The position they put Jim in, it shouldn't happen," he said. "You can be upset with me as a play-caller or how the team's going, [then] fire me. But don't do that. Don't pull the rug out from under me, tie my hands, make me look foolish ... take away what I came there for to do in the first place. Don't do that."

Go ahead and scratch his name off your list, Mr. Snyder.

Bradley was with the team in 2008 when he had a .321 average and led the American League in OPS (on base plus slugging). The loss of Bradley to the Chicago Cubs is part of the reason the Rangers scored 115 fewer runs in 2009 than in 2008.

He's got two more years and about $20 million left on his deal with the Cubs but they want to unload Bradley. Who wouldn't want a guy who injured himself while trying to go after a first baseman after he had gotten on base, confronted a television announcer in the press box for comparing him to Josh Hamilton(notes), and complained of the "negativity" in Chicago.

Sports Illustrated has it that the two sides are planning to meet up soon enough but GM Frank Wren tells MLB.com that no such plans exist.

Other teams supposedly willing to throw a boatload of cash at the 21-year-old lefty Chapman to get him are the Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners. New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, San Francisco Giants, and St. Louis Cardinals. In short, everybody wants him.

In the negotiations, the team apparently addressed the issues and asked him to step it up on the personality front. "They just want to see it grow congruently with what the team's objectives are," said his agent. "They just said we'd like you to be more engaged, take more responsibility as a leader on and off the court. The message was heard and I don't think it's that big of an issue. He's understanding that.''

Iverson has returned to action with the Memphis Grizzlies after recovering from a partial left hamstring tear and did pretty well:11 points in 18 minutes against the Sacramento Kings.

Iverson was disappointed with the number of minutes played, according to FanHouse. "I had no problems (with the hamstring)," Iverson said afterward. "I had a problem with my butt from sitting on that bench so long. That's the only thing I got a problem with."

Some reporters before the game even suggested to Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins that Iverson should be starting, which he seemed to find ridiculous: "He hasn't even been with the team until just a couple of days ago," Hollins said. "He's going to come off the bench. He hasn't played all preseason, hasn't played the three regular-season games (leading up to Sacramento). He only practiced three days in training camp before he got hurt so there's no way I would trot him out there in a starting role."

It looks like it's going to be a long season fro Iverson and the Grizzlies.

Last night, Victorino let it be known that his team isn't cheating and that Bowa has no idea what he's talking about, according to the New York Post. "I guess he knows something that I don't know about, obviously," Victorino said. "You know, everybody makes excuses. Everybody is going to find a reason. For Bowa to come out and say something like that if he doesn't know what he's talking about, if he doesn't have cold, hard facts, he shouldn't say something like that.

The New York Mets actually had the sneaking suspicion that the team was stealing signs back in 2007 and even using a video camera in center field to do so. The Mets went so far as to ask the league to investigate, which ended up going nowhere.

Plus, if the team was cheating and stealing signs, they sure aren't doing a good job of using the info. As Victorino points out, it didn't exactly help them win Games 3 or 4.

Chevy apparently can't offer EGR any kind of new deal, considering the financial predicament of the company. One theory on what's holding up the deal are that Teresa Earnhardt is leery of not going with an American company.

Richard Childress Racing currently supplies the engines for EGR and RCR apparently was expecting a call on Friday from EGR about what the plan is for next season. That call was never made.

Folks from EGR are expected to meet with Toyota reps today to further the conversation. But it remains to be seen if Toyota could even handle supplying engines for EGR along with Michael Waltrip Racing and Red Bull Racing. EGR has supposedly also had conversations with Joe Gibbs Racing about getting engines from them.

According to the paper, a sonogram over the weekend showed a possible tear in his right hamstring. So he got some MRI tests done yesterday, which team docs will look at today. The news of a tear would not be a good thing for the Barcelona-born 7-foot forward/center.

Forsberg actually has two former stints in the Philadelphia organization. During one, he was the overseas throw-in in the trade with the Quebec Nordiques for Eric Lindros(notes).

Now the Flyers are apparently thinking they'd like to have Forsberg back again, especially since the team just lost Simon Gagne(notes) for six to eight weeks. According to The Fourth Period, the team is sending scout (and former Flyer great) Ilkka Sinisalo to Europe to check Forsberg out in the Karjala Cup, which starts on Thursday.

Folks from the Washington Capitals, Montreal Canadiens, and another Forsberg former team, the Colorado Avalanche, are all expected to be there as well.

An ex-wife and an ex-girlfriend are saying he assaulted them numerous times when they were with him. The Napa district attorney decided to not charge Cable with assault in the punching incident with the assistant, Randy Hanson.

Cable's former wife says he hit her in the jaw back in 1988 and she promptly got a restraining order and a divorce. His former girlfriend, Marie Lutz, says he assaulted her only last January.
Cable says that he did hit his former wife, but it was an open-handed slap.

So that must make it OK.

You'd think with a two game losing streak and a 2-6 record, Cable would be hitting himself instead of other people.

"I think some people on the management side have done a pretty good job of getting out to the public that it's not going to be a strong market," said Weiner. "I think that remains to be seen."

Hmmm. Maybe it's America's recent economic woes that might help keep prices low and the fact that such big-name free agents such as last winter's C.C. Sabathia(notes) and Mark Teixeira(notes) aren't available this off-season.

Other things that will be on his mind include having a shortened schedule and changing things to have day games played when teams are about to travel.

Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels(notes) apparently doesn't seem to think so. He's reportedly already saying that he can't wait for the whole thing to be over. Hamels has had a tough year being an average pitcher after a stellar 2008 that left him as the MVP of both the National League Championship Series and the World Series. And his postseason has been absolutely lousy, unless you count the birth of his first child, which happened just after his Game 2 NLDS start.

Folks in Philly are apparently unhappy with the comments of Hamels, especially since he could be the guy who starts a seventh game if the Phils make it that far, according to the Kansas City Star. Phillies manager Charlie Manuel simply sees this as a case of a young guy who hasn't dealt with real adversity before.

Oh, and take heart, Phillies fans, those Yankees and Tigers won those Series with the last two games on the road.

Today is the deadline to sign such deals. Rondo's agent, Bill Duffy, apparently called Celtics president Danny Ainge to let him know that Rondo was happy to just become a restricted free agent next summer and not sign an extension since he and Rondo weren't thrilled with the offers that had come in from Boston. Ainge apparently told him right that they would give Rondo the cash he wanted, which is a different song than the team was singing this summer when Rondo's name was supposedly in trade talks and the team publicly worried about his "maturity."

"As much as we were willing to wait his contract out, the Celtics stepped up to the plate to meet the original request," Duffy said. "This is a really fair contract. We wanted him to be paid like one of the top five point guards around."

The veteran point guard is apparently getting a lot of interest around the NBA and one of the teams is supposedly the Cleveland Cavaliers, according to HoopsWorld.

The Cavs were considered the frontrunners to land the guy who has averaged 7.6 points and 3.4 assists over a 12-year career. But a bunch of new teams have apparently crowded into the scene and Daniels is discussing how many playing minutes he would likely get with each team as well as what his specific role would be.

"I think I should be in that range,'' he told the site. Of course, the Grizzlies haven't offered such a contract up till this point so Gay may lose this game of chicken. Gay's agent apparently told him there was a 50-50 chance that such a deal could be worked out. The agent, Jeff Austin, apparently was supposed to talk to the team last night.

Rodgers was apparently "limping severely" after the game, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Rodgers rushed for 52 years on five carries yesterday. He's had a foot issue that could have been aggravated.

Rodgers is saying he'll be fine in a couple of days.

"My highest priority is to have a stable figure that represents the voice that explains the decisions," Lerner said, vaguely.

Lerner apparently isn't happy with the quarterback situation between Derek Anderson(notes) and Brady Quinn(notes) and might bring in a team president to look over the shoulder of Mangini and GM George Kokonis. "We need as many credible, serious eyes and ears assessing this situation as is possible," he said.

Lucky for the Browns, they've got a bye this week.

Since Cohen and friends bought the team, it's been losing steam - and money. The team has supposedly lost $100 million in that time. Last year, it averaged 15,621 disgruntled fans, 24th in the league. The team also has the infamy of being involved in some lopsided trades in the past few years, including the one that sent goaltender Roberto Luongo(notes) to the Vancouver Canucks.

Charlotte-based attorney Bill Diehl, who charges $1,000 an hour, handled Mayfield's case against NASCAR to protest the suspension for methamphetamine use and he's saying Mayfield hasn't paid him anything. Mayfield has apparently dumped Diehl as his lawyer and now has Mark Geragos at the helm. Geragos has repped a slew of celebs and big cases, including ones for Michael Jackson, Winona Ryder, and everybody's favorite husband, Scott Peterson.

Mayfield has spent part of the last few months crying poor but Diehl says he's not so bad off and he is determined to get the dough owed him.

Even though his team is 0-6, Fisher apparently still feels more confidence in Kerry Collins(notes). Team owner Bud Adams feels differently and has made the world aware of it. So Fisher is doing what the 86-year-old billionaire boss wants but he took until Thursday to name Collins the starter. The rumor is that he took those days so he could try and convince Adams that Collins is still the man for the job (or perhaps to convince Adams that Young isn't the man for the job).

Any way you slice it, Fisher isn't taking ownership of the decision to start Young. He's saying the choice was made "collectively": "We don't make decisions as individuals," he said. Of course you don't.

We'll all see how that collective decision works out soon enough.

The city is about to sign a deal to have a feasibility study done for a downtown 20,000-seat, $145 million arena to be built and Goodman believes that once that arena is built, the city will get a team, based on conversations Goodman has had with NBA execs. "I believe as soon as we have an arena - this is my belief, I have nothing that is signed in blood, there's no contract - but I believe we'll have a team," he said.

Goodman also said it's possible the city could get a professional hockey team. "I don't know anything about hockey," he said, laughing. "Whatever the market is gonna be, it's gonna be."

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman visited Vegas a few months back and Goodman says he's "high on Las Vegas." Sounds dangerous.

It is unclear who has actually been interviewed about it and it also isn't clear if Crabtree and his agent, Eugene Parker, will even talk. They apparently have the right to refuse interview requests.

The 49ers filed the tampering charges back in late September when they were still negotiating with Crabtree. The belief is apparently that the Jets contacted Parker to fill him on their hope to trade for Crabtree or draft him next season if a deal couldn't be agreed upon.

Of course, now Crabtree is a 49er and he started his career off last Sunday with five catches for 56 yards.

The Rams are expected to be very actively looking for a quarterback via free agency and in the 2010 draft, which it will likely be near the top of the picking list unless some miracle happens and the Rams starting winning some games.

The 31-year-old Bulger was a Pro Bowler in 2006 but he's now at the helm of a team with a 17-game losing streak.

It's looking like the Rams are hoping to go the young-gun route and find success as the Baltimore Ravens did with Joe Flacco(notes) and the Atlanta Falcons did with Matt Ryan(notes) last year.

Rumor has it that Major League Baseball execs would like the McCourts to get out of the ownership business (or at least stop leaking salacious details about each other until after a stellar World Series finishes up). Of course a sale of this team isn't coming anytime soon.

There is suspicion that the league didn't like the way the owners handled the Manny Ramirez(notes) performance-enhancing suspension, either, as the McCourts never required Ramirez to acknowledge his mistake and continued to provide Ramirez with personal bating practice and drivers, etc. It looked like Ramirez was on vacation instead of serving a 50-game suspension.

At least one of the pair will meet with folks in Phoenix next week. They apparently broke off from the Ice Edge group that put a bid in on the team earlier in the process.

They supposedly have around a dozen other financial backers who want to jump into ownership with them.

Meanwhile, the NHL is likely to get approval next week to buy the Coyotes and re-pay its $140 million in debts. Then the league will re-sell the team and the Argonauts owners would apparently like to be the ones who snag it.

Johnson raised some eyebrows when he used a slue against homosexuals while talking to reporters and made extreme fun of his head coach, Todd Haley. So the team suspended him for two weeks, which means that he'll miss the next Chiefs game on Nov. 8. The word is, though, that Johnson's agent is working with the team to appeal the suspension as well as a settlement on whether Johnson stays with the team or not.

"Full bore on both," said the agent, Peter Schaffer, who later told the paper, "Larry Johnson is a member of the Chiefs right now."

It's not like his misbehavior is anything new. Johnson has been arrested four times since 2003 for one assault charge or another against women and is currently serving two years of probation.

Doesn't sound like he will be for much longer, although Schaffer also said that the settlement would "not necessarily" lead to Johnson's dismissal.

After all, the guy had a career year and hit 36 homers and drove in 116 runs this year. Plus, the 31-year-old Canadian became an American this year over the July 4th weekend.

The San Francisco Giants and New York Mets are expected to get into the bidding for Bay and either could take it higher than $15 million but one thing the Red Sox have going for it is that Bay was raised by a major fan of the team. Bay apparently wore a Red Sox onesie as a baby and had posters of Jim Rice and Carl Yastrzemski hanging up as a kid.

The word is that Mauer is a patient man and isn't taking offense at the Twins' lack of energy toward signing him to an extension. The man so known for his sideburns that the team had a "Joe Mauer Sideburns Night" this summer apparently very interested in staying with the Twins, which isn't a shocker when MLB points out that his agent also represented such fellas as Cal Ripken Jr. and Kirby Puckett who are both famous for staying with an organization for the entire length of their playing careers.

The site also reports that former Mauer housemate Justin Morneau(notes) will be recovered from wrist surgery in four weeks and should be totally ready to go in spring training.

The deadline for contract extensions for everybody who was drafted in 2006 was supposed to be midnight tomorrow night but the league is apparently giving everybody till Monday, according to ESPN.

Apparently that's a standard thing: If the deadline falls on a weekend or federal holiday, it gets moved to the next business day.