Text messages from press row ...

No Lamar Odom for at least the first few games plus a demanding early-season schedule could result in a difficult start for the Lakers, which could lead to more complaints from Kobe Bryant, which could lead to a nightmarish season. . . .

Sports Illustrated predicts that neither the Lakers nor the Clippers will reach the playoffs, slotting them ninth and 10th in the Western Conference. . . .

In the annual survey of NBA general managers, a league-high 23% tabbed Al Thornton of the Clippers as the most athletic rookie, 4% more than picked Kevin Durant, who was their runaway choice as rookie of the year. . . .

The youngest player in NBA history -- he was 18 years 6 days old when he made his NBA debut Nov. 2, 2005 -- will be a teenager only one more day. . . .

Lakers center Andrew Bynum turns 20 on Saturday. . . .

Valet parking for Lakers games at Staples Center, available only on a season basis and restricted to 100 cars, goes for $110 a game. . . .

A loss Saturday at Oregon could put USC in a position it has not found itself in since 2001, Pete Carroll’s first season on campus: out of the Pacific 10 Conference title race and out of the BCS bowl chase before Halloween. . . .

Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden, whose teams were ranked among the top five in the final Associated Press poll for 14 consecutive seasons ending in 2000, found a “For Sale” sign planted in his front lawn this week. . . .

He didn’t put it there. . . .

The Colorado Rockies waited eight days for that?. . .

Mark Chiarello’s striking watercolor portraits of Jackie Robinson, Satchel Paige, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and dozens of others are highlighted in “Heroes of the Negro Leagues,” with text by Jack Morelli. . . .

Were you lucky or cursed if you were in Houston on Sunday to see Rob Bironas of the Tennessee Titans kick eight field goals? . . .

That’s an NFL record nobody wants to see broken. . . .

ESPN’s Chris Berman says of the high-scoring New England Patriots, “They’re winning . . . like UNLV or Loyola Marymount in basketball.” . . .

Hey Boomer, the UNLV-LMU heyday was almost 20 years ago. . . .

Olympic beach volleyball gold medalist Misty May-Treanor, who wraps up her 2007 season with partner Kerri Walsh next week in Thailand, lists her favorite things about spending time off with husband Matt Treanor of the Florida Marlins: sharing the same space (“We get tired of waving to each other on TV”); stroking his ego (“He gets to beat me up on the golf course”); and cooking his favorite dish (“He likes my Malibu chicken, which is fried chicken with ham and Swiss cheese melted on it”). . . .

May-Treanor, a three-time AVP player of the year, says the couple love Caribbean cruises, noting, “They’re relaxing, the food is delicious and our cellphones don’t work, so even if we’re gone for only a week, it feels like two.”. . .

He may not have done much for the Galaxy this season, but David Beckham is the “manliest man” of 2007, according to an AskMen.com online poll. . . .

Other athletes among the top 49, a list that also includes actor and 2006 winner George Clooney: Roger Federer, Peyton Manning, Tiger Woods, Alex Rodriguez, Sidney Crosby, LaDainian Tomlinson and Tony Parker. . . .

Sparks fans should show up en masse at Pauley Pavilion when defending national champion Tennessee plays UCLA on Dec. 19 to show Lady Vols star Candace Parker that she should make herself available for the WNBA draft next spring. . . .

The most inspiring thing about the late Shav Glick, whose writing and reporting entertained and informed Southland sports fans for 70 years, was that even though he was 87 when he died last weekend, he never really grew old. . . .

Apropos of a reporter best known for covering auto racing, Glick ran circles around younger colleagues right up until the day he retired last year. . . .

Eight-time world surfing champion Kelly Slater, arrested and released after an altercation with photographers last weekend in Israel while touring Jerusalem with Israeli swimsuit goddess Bar Rafaeli, always seems to be in the water or in the company of an actress or supermodel. . . .

An occasional run-in with paparazzi seems a small price to pay.

jerome.crowe@latimes.com