Text messages from press row. . . .

Has Manny Ramirez checked the price of gas lately? . . .

Two months ago, when the Dodgers were eliminated from the playoffs and free agency loomed for the dreadlocked slugger, Ramirez told reporters, “I want to see who is the highest bidder. Gas is up and so am I.” . . .

Gas, of course, is down now. . . .

Et tu, Man-Ram? . . .

The Lakers might not be the best 21-3 team in NBA history and they’re probably not the worst, but surely they must be the most maligned. . . .

Lakers fans make Chicken Little look like a cockeyed optimist. . . .

Or like Vic the Brick. . . .

Noting that Phil Jackson cited travel demands as a reason the Lakers won’t win 70 games, reader Richard Turnage of Burbank e-mails to say, “Phil should know there is no such thing as traveling in the NBA.” . . .

Kobe Bryant & Co. won’t win too many games without Pau Gasol, who has been their most consistent player through the season’s first seven weeks. . . .

The Pittsburgh Steelers might be the NFL’s only 2007 division winners to repeat in 2008, as good a reason as any to call Ben Roethlisberger & Co. favorites to win the Super Bowl. . . .

Love him or hate him -- and seriously, does anyone outside of his family love him? -- Bill Belichick has done a masterful job guiding former USC benchwarmer Matt Cassel and the New England Patriots to a share of the AFC East lead. . . .

A video game reportedly being developed by Michael Phelps will involve swimming, a spokesman for the company working with the Olympian says, but it won’t be a game “where you just go back and forth in the pool.” . . .

We’ve seen enough of that. . . .

All-American teams might soon outnumber All-American players. . . .

USC linebacker Rey Maualuga, for instance, has been named to no fewer than 10 All-American teams, with at least two more still to be announced. . . .

Must everyone weigh in? . . .

It was instructive this month noting the divergent reactions to boneheaded attacks on projected No. 1 NBA draft pick Blake Griffin of Oklahoma. . . .

Utah’s Luka Drca, after intentionally tripping Griffin, drew a two-game suspension from Coach Jim Boylen, who called his actions unacceptable. . . .

USC’s Leonard Washington, ejected two weeks ago when he intentionally struck Griffin below the belt, started the next game for Coach Tim Floyd. . . .

Is America ready for an Indianapolis Colts-New York Giants Super Bowl, or would the Brothers Manning media overload be too much to bear? . . .

Commitment to irrelevance: The Oakland Raiders are 50 games below .500 since losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2003 Super Bowl. . . .

It might seem a mere pittance to Michael Jordan, but Alex Rodriguez’s new flame, Madonna, has reached a divorce settlement with Guy Ritchie that reportedly leaves the filmmaker with a settlement of $76 million to $92 million. . . .

Jordan’s ex, Juanita, won a $168-million judgment. . . .

Quarterback Cole Bergquist, a senior from San Clemente High, leads Montana against Richmond on Friday in the championship game of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivison playoffs at Chattanooga, Tenn. . . .

Imagine that, conducting a playoff to determine a champion. . . .

Jerry West, choked with emotion Monday in eulogizing Pete Newell, described winning an Olympic gold medal under the ex-California coach in 1960 as “the greatest thrill of my basketball career” and called the respected former Lakers general manager “kind of the father I never had.” . . .

To borrow a line from Joni Mitchell regarding the Dodgers and shortstop Rafael Furcal, you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s (almost) gone. . . .

As reported by Sam Alipour of ESPN.com, freshman basketball player Drew Gordon was among the UCLA students who participated last week in the Undie Run, a thrice-a-year finals-week tradition in which men and women strip to their skivvies and make a late-night dash through the streets of Westwood. . . .

Referring to Ben Howland, the 6-foot-8 Gordon told Alipour, “If Coach asks, I’ll tell him I was just doing some overtime conditioning.”

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jerome.crowe@latimes.com