Wake-up Call: Al Davis, Kobe Bryant, Cubs (yes, again)

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First things first: Despite Kobe’s picture here (he is the next item), first up is Lane Kiffin, Lane Kiffin, Lane Kiffin (shown at right). Enough already. Dan Patrick today on his radio show called it hysteria. Yep. Raiders owner Al Davis seems to be preparing to do what so many sports talks hosts have been begging him to do: If you’re going to fire Kiffin as head coach, do it now while the team has a week off. But come on, Al. You wanted this guy. And now you let him dangle like this, which is how you do things. Well, whatever Davis does, our own Sam Farmer is closely monitoring the situation and reported last night that the mercurial owner of this once-great team is already meeting with potential replacements.

NBA, NBA, NBA: Thanks to the Olympics, it seems as though the guys haven’t been away at all. I’ll predict the two most-watched parts of the season will be: Kobe Bryant and can he take the Lakers all the way this time, and will the talented Mike D’Antoni be able teach the Knicks how to be an NBA-caliber team. Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski reports that poor Mike already has a problem courtesy of star player Stephon Marbury.

Say what? This morning I found a ‘sports blog’ item posted on Yahoo featuring the new jerseys from an NBA team and paying homage to a TV station (plus stating its motto) for breaking this news. And then at the end of the item, she writes urging readers to go buy the jerseys, with a link of course. Hmmmm. Reads like an ad. Looks like an ad. Must be .... Sorry, but I’m not offering a link to this one.

On a brighter note: If you are a Chicago baseball fan in general, you gotta love what is going on right now. The White Sox on Monday beat Detroit behind Alexei Ramirez’s grand slam and today (4:30 p.m. Pacific time on TBS) host the Minnesota Twins for the final AL playoff spot. Meanwhile, the Cubs host the Dodgers tomorrow and Cubbies fans are buying up the tickets, despite these scary financial times. Of course, if you’re an L.A. baseball fan, you have the Dodgers but also the Los Angeles-Anaheim-California-Los Angeles (a little history there for you) Angels, the team with the best record in the majors and the best closer in history in K-Rod, also known as Frankie Rodriguez.

-- Debbie Goffa

Top photo: Kobe Bryant has a basketball tossed his way while being videotaped during Lakers Media Day. Credit: Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times