Teams

After the Denver Broncos lost their seventh game Sunday, a 23-13 decision to the Los Angeles Raiders, coach Wade Phillips counted his team out of the NFL playoff chase."

The bubble is getting bigger, and so is the debate over the major conferences and ones with smaller profiles.Bob Frederick, the chairman of the nine-man committee that oversees the 64-team men's basketball tournament, talked yesterday about what a headache the process of selecting at-large teams and seeding the field has become. Amid the talk of RPIs, the nitty-gritty and the importance of finishing strong, looms the issue of set-asides for the major conferences.Last year, the committee selected six teams from the Big Ten, and all but one were bounced out in the first round.

Let's hear it for the Carolina Panthers! Let's welcome the latest addition to the colorless mass of mediocrity in the National Football League.Hold your applause for Baltimore, St. Louis, Memphis, Tenn., and Jacksonville, Fla. The lords of football have decided those cities must wait another month to learn which will be the league's co-fodder franchise. St. Louis is the favorite.Soon we will have two more undistinguished, indistinguishable teams to throw at you. Two more 7-9 teams coming into your living room every sleepy Sunday.

See the ball. See the ball move. Move, ball, move. See the players. See the players pass. Pass, players, pass. See the fans. See the fans cheer. Cheer, fans, cheer. Surely, it can't be that simple, can it? Could the buzz that seems to be floating about the NBA be attributed to something as simple as moving the ball around? Well, if you listen to the right people, that's exactly what's going on. Through the first month of the season, the ball is moving about during NBA games, and fans are interested.

Reading Time: Two Minutes:If it's true, as reported in the Montreal press, the NHL is considering realigning its divisions once expansion teams in Miami and Anaheim take it to 26 teams, the idea has merit if it's carried off right.For example, instead of having the new kids on the block and recent expansion teams like Ottawa and San Jose languishing along with 4-44-3 and 6-41-2 records, respectively, place the have-nots in the same division. This way, they would be given a bona fide shot at winning at least half the time.

Even the critics of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament probably will watch it intently this weekend.The ACC, whose 6-year-old tournament starts Friday in Charlottesville, Va., is the only conference that does not crown its lacrosse champion in the regular season, and some consider the tournament a waste of scheduling space.But this year, the ACC tournament features four of the top nine teams in the nation and should determine whether this is the first year four conference teams make the NCAA tournament.

Baseball owners got together in Chicago this past week to discuss the economic state of the game and explore ways -- short of collusion -- to bridge the widening gap between the big-revenue and small-revenue teams.They did not reach any hard-and-fast conclusions, and they certainly did not publicly propose another all-out war with the Major League Baseball Players Association over cost control, but they did make it clear that the competitive crisis that they predicted in the early 1990s has come to pass.

Sports of All Sorts:Mock drafts staged prior to this weekend's real thing by the 30 NFL teams have Penn State's Ki-Jana Carter topping just about all lists with Heisman Trophy winner Rashaan Salaam of Colorado consistently tabbed for the late teens. What makes this a history-making draft is, for once, expansion teams are given every chance to score big in the collegiate grab bag.Time was when a new franchise had to buy a ticket to the draft, much less be treated to the first two and last two picks of every round as is the case with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Charlotte Panthers.

With about 30 games left for each team in the 1990-91 National Basketball Association season, a four-team dogfight is developing for the final two positions in the Eastern Conference playoffs.With the New York Knicks, Washington Bullets and Indiana Pacers unable to put together a winning streak, the Cleveland Cavaliers, after a terrible start, have gotten back into the picture.Of the four teams, the Bullets have the most favorable schedule, with only 12 road games remaining. The Cavaliers, Knicks and PTC Pacers each have 16 road games left.

The "juiced ball" controversy is losing steam, but the hits just keep on coming. Could it be that the offensive explosion of 1994 is more the product of lifeless arms than lively baseballs?Let's get even more specific. Is it possible that a recent decline in the depth and quality of middle relief pitching is at the root of baseball's run-production frenzy?Some insiders think so. Toronto Blue Jays general manager Pat Gillick recently compared the state of middle relief to the World Wrestling Federation, where -- he said -- you can just take someone into the corner and beat the heck out of him. He was half-joking, but there is nothing funny about the way dozens of pitchers have been mugged in the early weeks of the new season.