Bulls GM Paxson Says "No Deal!"

"There's not a deal done," said Bulls GM John Paxson. "There's not going to be a deal done. All the things that were out there were really unfair to all of us who were trying to do our jobs. The misinformation ... I think gets in the way of the process. It's just such a complicated thing and we kind of put it to rest now."

There was a rumor most recently that would have seen Ben Gordon and a signed-and-traded P.J. Brown to Sacramento, Chicago's Ben Wallace and the Kings' Ron Artest heading to Los Angeles and the Bulls landing Kobe Bryant. I could see that deal working defintely infavor of both the Bulls and the Kings, but the Lakers getting an over-the-hill Ben Wallace and a time bomb like Ron Artest just wouldn't have been a logical trade.

The trade deadline isn't until February, so it's possible talks between the Lakers and Bulls could resume.

Kobe To Chicago?

According to ESPN's Ric Bucher, the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers are in serious trade talks involving the super-talented Kobe Bryant. The Lakers as of right now are asking for a package that includes Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah, which is more than Chicago is willing to give up.

Negotiations right now are however at a stand still. Even if the Bulls agreed to trade Deng, Gordon, Thomas, and Noah to the Lakers for Bryant, Kobe has said he would use his no trade clause to block it. He believes getting rid of that many players would leave the Bulls without enough pieces for a championsip run.

So the pre-madonna wants out of Los Angeles but wants to play on a contender? The Lakers are not going to settle for 30 cents on the dollar Kobe. You know you are the best player in the league, the fans know you're the best player in the league and the players know you're the best player in the league. Whatever team you go to will be gutted because you're so good. The Lakersare realists and will not trade you for spare parts.

The Rockies Are In, The Red Sox Look Done, And Kobe's On The Move?

Rockies In The World Series

With their 21st win in 22 games, the Colorado Rockies beat the demoralized Arizona Diamondbacks 6-4 in Game 4 Monday night to sweep the NL Championship Series at Coors Field.

The Rockies will be heading to their first World Series in franchise history and have 8 days off before the start of the World Series. NLC MVP Matt Holliday hit a three-run homer that lead to a six-run fourth inning. The only team to sweep a NLCS since it went to a seven game format in 1985 was the Atlanta Braves in 1995.



Red Sox On The Brink

Thanks to a seven run 5th inning the Cleveland Indians are now one game away from reaching the World Series. The Indians are trying to make it back to the World Series for the first time since 1997 and minus the Chiacgo Cubs current streak, have the longest drought of no World Series wins.

C.C. Sabathia will likely be starting for the Indians in Game 5. Sabathia's last start was a short one. He last only 4 1/3 innings giving up 8 earned runs on seven hits. The game is in Cleveland so it would the icing on the cake if the Indians can wrap the series up at home.


Kobe Moving On?

Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant has missed the last 3 practices and was rumored to have cleaned out his locker the other day. One team source insisted to ESPN.com that Bryant removed his personal belongings, but Bryant and agent Rob Pelinka told ESPN The Magazine's Ric Bucher that Kobe had "merely cleaned up his locker after Monday's practice, leaving plenty behind."

Everything seemed to be honkey dorey when Bryant showed up on time for Lakers training camp. That aura of tranquility seems to be over now though after coach Phil Jackson has been a "no comment" machine regarding anything asked to him about Kobe and owner Jerry Buss admitting that he is "willing to listen to offers" about Bryant. Could Kobe be gone before the season even begins? Let the soap opera continue....

Jermaine O'Neal Wants To Be A Laker

While attending Baron Davis and Paul Pierce's annual L.A. Stars charity basketball game at USC's Galen Center, O'Neal says he'd like for Indiana to trade him to L.A. O'Neal was quoted as saying, "It's time for me to move on. And the Lakers are the team I want Indiana to trade me to." He went on to say that after this year, if he indeed stays a Pacer, he will opt out and become a free agent.

In what has become the "Summer of Kobe", the Lakers have tried to trade for players to compliment Kobe Bryant. Earlier this summer, unless you live in a cave, already know that Kobe has made it clear to Lakers management that he wants out. Trade talks have stalled over Indiana's insistence that the Lakers' package include both Lamar Odom and 19-year-old center Andrew Bynum. The Lakers reportedly have countered with an offer that would send Kwame Brown, Brian Cook and Bynum to the Pacers but Larry Bird hasn't bitten yet.

I'm An Atheist, But Not When It Comes to Sports

People in the world of sports happen to be some of the most susceptible when it comes to believing in the supernatural. Particularly, sport fans, are engrossed in curses. Whether it was Red Sox fans and the "Curse of the Bambino" or Philadelphia sports fans blame (including me) their lack of a major sports championship since the Sixers swept the Lakers in 1983 on the fact that the downtown skyline grew taller than William Penn in 1987 when One Liberty Place skyscraper went up. Coincidentally that curse is called "The Curse of William Penn". It doesn't necessarily end there however. Fans may even go so far as to have a shrine, like the one that Eagles fan had to Terrell Owens in those ESPN commercials. And let's be honest too Eagles fans, we had something similar to that.

Sport curses range from the absurd to just plain silly. In 1945, William "Billy Goat" Sianis tried to bring his pet goat, Murphy, with him into Wrigley Field for Game 4 of the World Series. Wrigley ushers at the game said the goat was too smelly and told Sianis he had to leave the stadium. Sianis then promptly cast a "goat curse" on the Chicago Cubs by saying, "Cubs, they not gonna win anymore". The Cubs lost the 1945 World Series to the Detroit Tigers and haven't made it to a World Series since. Cubs fans now refer to curse as the "The Billy Goat Curse".

One of the most well known curses is the "Madden Curse". The "Madden Curse" has allegedly claimed 10 victims since the video game started putting athletes on the cover instead of John Madden. That list of athletes includes the likes of Barry Sanders (abruptly retired in 1999 a week before training camp), Eddie George (never averaged more than 3.4 yards per carry after 2000), and Mike Vick (fractured right fibula during preseason game, only played in 5 games).

What is it about sports that make people who may not necessarily be religious suddenly start believing in a high power that is affecting their sports team? For me there always has to be a reason for something. I mean, Billy King can't really suck that bad at being a GM. There's just no way, someone or something has to be causing the man to throw money at over the hill veterans and unproven rookies. That's just one example of many in which I have blamed something involving Philadelphia sports on a higher power.

Maybe in essence sports is my religion. I mean, I can't be the only one who has some inane rituals in order to increase my team's chances of winning. For example, when the Eagles went to the Super Bowl, all the playoff games leading up to the game I ordered the same thing every time at the bar, tipped the waitress the same every time, and wore the same jersey/shorts/underwear. It's those little things that we tell ourselves will make a difference when our team, in this case the Eagles, take the field. And as always, in this case especially, we find some excuse whenever these rituals fail, as though it were not the will of the sports gods.

Much like how different regions of the world have their own religions, people from different cities of course have their favorite team based on where they live. And in cases, regardless of where they live, they attribute their love to a sports franchise because their family follows them and they grew up watching them. I suppose that if we must have a religion, sports is not the worst choice. There have been no crusades, inquisitions, witch hunts, or terrorist attacks associated with sports. And while I don't condone it, it is still acceptable to marry someone who is the fan of another team and no one will burn in hell for supporting the New York Mets or the New York Giants even though they should.......just kidding. Go ahead and share your rituals and the like.

The Kobe Bryant Saga Continues

An amateur video surfaced today in which current Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant was taped saying some very disparaging things about current Laker Andrew Bynum and current GM Mitch Kupchak. According to Lakers spokesman John Black, the team knew about the tape before Bryant made public that he wanted to be traded. The Lakers were prepared to deal for the New Jersey Nets Jason Kidd before the February trade deadline but refused to part ways with 10th overall pick Andrew Bynum. In the video Kobe is quoted as saying the Lakers should "ship out" Bynum. During a face to face meeting in Barcelona between Bryant and Jerry Buss this past Friday, Kobe stated that he still wanted out of Los Angeles. So what do the Lakers do with their disgruntled All-Star? Let us know by emailing us.

East Coast Bias Episode 2

Today's Headlines

Utah Jazz / San Antonio Spurs Series Wraps Up

Cleveland Cavaliers / Detroit Pistons Series Keys to the Game

Kobe Bryant and the Trade Rumors

Weekly Segment

-Overrated and Underrated


Today on episode 2 of the podcast myself and Jason discuss the Spurs and Jazz series that wrapped up last night. We also have our keys to the game for the Cavaliers and Pistons series which is on tonight on TNT. We discuss the Kobe Bryant blow up and where he might be headed if he is indeed traded and we debut our overrated and underrated segment. We welcome your comments and e-mails. Hopefully we'll have some listener questions next week that we can touch on. Until next show!

Kobe Retracts

It comes as no surprise that the same day Kobe Bryant demands a trade from the Lakers he goes back on air and says that he hopes something can be worked out. He went on to say on the Dan Patrick Show that he would love to retire a Laker and that he loves his team. This is a far cry from what he said earlier to Stephen A Smith. The most interesting thing about this whole story however is what has been said by Kobe about what Dr. Jerry Buss told him regarding the re-signing of Shaquille O'Neal. Kobe vehemently denied ever asking Shaq to be traded and instead recounted a discussion him and Buss had in a hotel room where Buss expressed his worry about Shaq's body breaking down. I can't wait to see how this soap opera plays out.

Kobe Bryant Demands Trade

The Los Angeles Lakers have upset their superstar so much that he has demanded a trade. This afternoon Kobe Bryant was a guest on Stephen A Smith's ESPN radio show on 1050AM and was asked whether or not he would like to be traded. Kobe's answer was yes, "I would like to be traded." During the interview Stephen A Smith asked him where he would like to be traded and he responded that he was willing to play on Pluto. I'm sure David Stern right now is as giddy as a kid in candy store. Could he be going to New York? Chicago? (East Coast Bias) Who knows, but it's going to be a hell of a fun ride to his destination.