Text messages from press row...

Citing the travel demands of a team based on the West Coast, Phil Jackson says the Lakers won’t win 70 games this season. . . .

Wilt Chamberlain and the Lakers were based on the West Coast when they won a franchise-record 69 games in the 1971-72 season -- and that was before they had the luxury of playing two “road” games against the Clippers. . . .

The Lakers that season played 22 games in the Eastern time zone. . . .

This season, they’ll play 13. . . .

West Coast-based NFL teams, by the way, were 0-11 in the East before Mike Singletary and the San Francisco 49ers won Sunday at Buffalo. . . .

Of course, the 49ers, Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers and Seattle Seahawks have rarely won anywhere this season. . . .

Two of the Chargers’ five victories are over the Raiders. . . .

USC and UCLA should extend their colored-jerseys-only football tradition to basketball, where no timeout-burning restrictions forbid it. . . .

While NCAA rules stipulate that in football “the visiting team shall wear white uniforms,” the restrictions are not clearly defined in basketball, where the home team is required to wear “light” game jerseys and the visiting team “dark.” . . .

When UCLA ended USC’s Bowl Championship Series title hopes in a Rose Bowl stunner two years ago, they did so as 13 1/2 -point underdogs. . . .

This week, Pete Carroll’s team is a 33-point favorite. . . .

USC and Penn State have met only once in the Rose Bowl -- in 1923. . . .

Joe Paterno was born in 1926. . . .

The Lakers are 15-1 longshots to land LeBron James when James becomes a free agent after next season, according to odds posted on BetOnline.com. . . .

The Cleveland Cavaliers are the King James sweepstakes favorites. . . .

High-scoring Devin Harris of the New Jersey Nets, taking his place alongside Chris Paul and Deron Williams among the NBA’s top young playmakers, was the fifth player taken in the 2004 draft. . . .

The Clippers, with the fourth pick, took Shaun Livingston. . . .

Oscar De La Hoya should pick on someone his own size. . . .

Reader Robert Sonoga of Mission Viejo e-mails to note that Lakers television commentator Stu Lantz is a graduate of Uniontown High in Pennsylvania, the same school that produced former Cal and NFL running back Chuck Muncie. . . .

Lantz was the star of Uniontown’s 1964 state champion basketball team. . . .

As part of the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series, UCLA played at Texas and USC at Oklahoma on Thursday after the same teams squared off last year in L.A. . . .

Here’s an idea: In the future, stagger the schedule so that one of the Southland teams plays at home every season. . . .

Next season, UCLA will be matched against Kansas. . . .

USC plays Texas. . . .

Perhaps baseball’s winter meetings, starting Monday in Las Vegas, will put some heat into the Hot Stove League and produce some news about Manny Ramirez, Mark Teixeira, Francisco Rodriguez, Derek Lowe, etc. . . .

So far, it’s a bust. . . .

Kerri Walsh apparently has completed her to-do list for 2008, the two-time Olympic women’s beach volleyball gold medalist telling “Access Hollywood” in an interview this week she is pregnant. . . .

No word from Walsh’s on-court partner, Misty May-Treanor, who also spoke throughout the Olympics of her desire to start a family. . . .

Walsh, due in May, is married to fellow volleyball player Casey Jennings, May-Treanor to Florida Marlins catcher Matt Treanor. . . .

Michael Phelps, who won eight gold medals in Beijing, is the first swimmer to be named Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated. . . .

In 1972, when Mark Spitz won seven gold medals in Munich, the magazine’s co-sportspersons of the year were John Wooden and Billie Jean King. . . .

In a gesture long overdue, longtime promoter and UCLA graduate Al Franken will be presented with the U.S. track meet directors hall of fame award Saturday at the USA Track and Field convention in Reno. . . .

Franken, 83, organized indoor meets in Los Angeles for 43 years. . . .

It’s amazing that Sean Avery is able to skate with his foot in his mouth.

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