Text messages from press row . . .

Between the baseball playoffs, football season heating up and the basketball and hockey seasons kicking off, October is usually the greatest month of the year for U.S. sports fans. . . .

This month has been especially entertaining in the Southland -- thanks to the Dodgers and Angels. . . .

If the Angels had landed CC Sabathia last winter and the Dodgers Cliff Lee this summer, fans might even be talking more optimistically about a Freeway World Series. . . .

While Manny Ramirez was taking a shower Monday night, the Dodgers’ World Series hopes were taking a bath. . . .

Is it possible that Alex Rodriguez is underappreciated? . . .

From Jonathan Papelbon to Jonathan Broxton -- with Brian Fuentes, Huston Street, etc., in between -- this has been a frightful October for major league closers. . . .

Former colleague Steve Harvey e-mails to ask, “Why don’t teams use cellphones when contacting the bullpens?” . . .

Third base umpire Tim McClelland had a worse game than Scott Kazmir on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium. . . .

Fergie and will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, featured in a ubiquitous DirecTV commercial, are getting as much playoff exposure as Derek Jeter and Ryan Howard. . . .

And far more than Kate Hudson. . . .

What baseball announcers call “great” at-bats can be interminable at-bats for television viewers. . . .

Documentary film producer Robert Langpaap has stockpiled several hundred T-shirts and other “Mannywood” items and says he would like to give them away to Dodgers fans. . . .

Information: mannybeingtheman@gmail.com. . . .

Craig Sager of TBS apparently owns goofy, brightly colored blazers for all occasions. . . .

His son, Craig Sager Jr., is a wide receiver at Georgia. . . .

Since Staples Center opened 10 years ago this week, Kobe Bryant and the Lakers have won more playoff games than the Dodgers, Angels, Ducks, Kings and Clippers combined. . . .

At this point, a Lakers-Clippers playoff series next spring seems more likely than a Dodgers-Angels series this fall. . . .

Do the BCS computers realize that USC, in its only loss, played without starting quarterback Matt Barkley? . . .

Jimmy Clausen, after losing and being outplayed by a freshman in the biggest game of his career, probably should now be considered a former Heisman Trophy contender. . . .

Golden Tate: Warrior. . . .

A Sporting News listing of the top 10 prospects for the 2010 NFL draft, topped by Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford, includes only one player from the Pacific 10 Conference: Rob Gronkowski, Arizona’s 6-foot-6, 265-pound tight end. . . .

Three of the six computers used in the BCS formula rank the Pac-10 the nation’s No. 1 conference. . . .

A bowl bid for Kevin Prince and UCLA, seemingly a sure bet a month ago, now looks like a longshot. . . .

Reader Ron Yukelson of San Luis Obispo e-mails to ask, “Did Mitch Mustain transfer to the wrong Los Angeles university with a major college football program?” . . .

Only if he hoped to play. . . .

A number of quarterbacks have taken teams to New Orleans for the Super Bowl, but Drew Brees could be in the midst of accomplishing something even more remarkable: Taking a team from New Orleans to the championship game. . . .

The Saints are among five current teams that have never played in the Super Bowl, a list that also includes the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans. . . .

At his current blistering pace, Peyton Manning could become the NFL’s first four-time most valuable player. . . .

Rookie Mark Sanchez finally looked the part Sunday. . . .

The San Diego Chargers could have done without the [Eddie] Royal treatment Monday night. . . .

Noting that former NHL goaltender Jamie Storr is writing a Kings blog at theplayerspoint.com, reader Siena Lacker of Torrance e-mails to suggest, “How ironic that he’s now taking shots on the ‘net after years of trying to stop them.” . . .

Former Lakers guard Doug Christie and Olympic volleyball gold medalist Bob Ctvrtlik are among the honorees who will be inducted Sunday into the Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame during a dinner at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills. . . .

It’s the wrong sport, of course, but at the end of Monday night’s Dodgers defeat at Philadelphia you could almost hear Chick Hearn’s voice exclaiming, “Heart-brrrreak!”

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jerome.crowe@latimes.com