I really thought that the Sixers would have moved him on by now. Maybe there are no takers? And so I think it is important to watch for teams that aspire to win now and see how they are doing as the season progresses to the trading deadline. (In the NBA, I believe it is in early February.) A team with a window of opportunity to win now may see that window closing and be more willing to do a deal then than now. This is Iverson's fifth season coming up and he has not a lot more time before his nickname changes from "The Answer" to "The Baggage".

In another NBA move, the Wizards have cut Dennis Scott after two days in camp saying that they did this out of respect for Dennis so he can catch on somewhere else. Dennis came to the Wizards from the Grizzlies as part of the trade for Ike Austin and the Wizards have to pay his salary this year which is supposed to be $1.2M. Getting to the bottom line here, after two days of camp and three practices, the Wizards have determined that it is better to pay Dennis $1.2M to be "anywhere else".

The Timberwolves have taken out an insurance policy in case they lose the arbitration case and lose Joe Smith - who they were supposedly secretly planning to pay something in excess of $70M over the life of his contract. That insurance policy comes in the form of signing LaPhonso Ellis. Five years ago - and at least one major knee surgery ago - Ellis would have been more than an adequate replacement for Joe Smith. But if this is what you plug in today for Smith, the question has to be:

You were planning to pay Joe Smith how much?

In NFL news, Junior Seau has obviously not paid close attention in the classes taught to players on the subject of uttering platitudes. Seau is reported to have said, "Everyone says it can't get worse. Well, yes it can!" He then referred to the Chargers upcoming "unfavorable schedule" - Denver, at Buffalo, bye week, Oakland - and called attention to the current record of 0-5. Then in what was almost a passing reference, he mentioned that his leg still hurt from the muscle strain from last weekend's debacle against the Rams. If Seau is hurt, the Chargers defense moves down the food chain from "damaged goods" to "covered in mildew". And we know about the Chargers offense…

Jon Kitna managed to play himself directly to the bench with his performance on Monday nite against the Chiefs. Seattle will start Brock Huard on Sunday against Carolina. Meanwhile, the Panthers' offensive coordinator - Bill Musgrave - resigned on Tuesday. So you have a case here where two teams that are mediocre on offense both have major disruptions to deal with on Sunday. If you bet that game, you are a sick person!

Another game this weekend between teams heading in the "wrong direction" is the Falcons/Giants game. The Giants have stunk for the last two weeks and all the gushing about how Kerry Collins may lead the league in QB Ratings this year seems to have died down. All you had to do was watch the Falcons on Sunday night to see that they are a team with limitations. Both are heading into relatively soft spots in the schedule. The loser here will be in a position where they will really head into the toilet if the stumble against the softees. I suspect it will be Atlanta that will be in that position; but if the Giants show up with "lightening and thunder" appearing to be more like a flashlight and a whoopee cushion, they can lose to just about anybody.

I guess I just don't understand how things work in the LA Dodgers organization. There have been dozens of stories, rumors and reports of Davey Johnson's impending and imminent departure from LA in the last month; these stories have all been attributed to "team sources". Now it seems that there are meetings going on between Bob Daly (Chairman of the Dodgers - is he Chuck Daly's brother?) and Bob Graziano (President of the Dodgers - is he related to Rocky Graziano?) for the last several days and that they have decided to meet with Davey later this week. This story is attributed to sources "outside the organization". And in response to the story, Derrick Hall (Senior Vice President of the Dodgers - why isn't he with the Rangers so they would have both Hall and Oates?) said that no decisions have been made yet and that the meeting later this week will resolve things. Notice that all these people are involved and meeting and pondering cosmic questions regarding the future of the franchise, and the GM of the team is not involved. For those keeping score at home, the GM is Kevin Malone (no, he is not Karl's brother!). So at a minimum, there are four people involved here and at least three levels of management here. And this is for a baseball team. Can you imagine how these guys would organize themselves and what they would go through to make decisions if they ran something complicated like a hospital?

The Padres have refused to pick up Tony Gwynn's option for next year which would have cost them $6M. Instead, they will give him a $2M buyout. The GM there said that Gwynn may be back, but they are looking to negotiate something between those two numbers. Gwynn says he wants to play but if/when his playing days are over and I am a GM, I set a world land speed record to contact this guy and try to hire him to be my hitting coach.

North Carolina State gave Herb Sendek a two year extension on his contract as basketball coach. State has gone to the NIT for the last three years - or was it four? - under Sendek which is indeed an improvement over his predecessor Les Robinson whose teams struggled to win 10 games in a year. But it is a bit surprising that NIT appearances are sufficient in a league like the ACC.

Finally Heidi Pease has been named the assistant softball coach at Wittenberg College. You just have to hope that this is the first rung on the career ladder for Heidi because if this is the third or fourth "move up" for her, you have to feel sorry for someone who began at such a low point on the food chain. What you do have to hope for her is that she does not marry anyone named "High" or "Hoe". Think about it.

But don't get me wrong, I love sports...