The Lakers' 2007-08 season will be many things: fascinating, compelling, dramatic, sensational. But one thing is clear: None of that will have anything to do with basketball. At least not until the team trades Kobe Bryant.

And who knows if that'll even happen? ESPN reported a possible three-team trade fell through Wednesday with Chicago and Sacramento, primarily because Bryant won't allow the Bulls to give up forward Luol Deng, because Bryant wants to make sure any team he gets sent to still has enough talent to contend for the NBA title and isn't just a stripped-down, mediocre team — like the Lakers.

The Lakers play their second game of the season tonight, visiting Phoenix at 7:30 on KCAL (Channel 9) and ESPN. Their first home game on FSN West is at 6:30 p.m. Sunday against Utah.

Joining the "Lakers Live" pregame and postgame shows this season is former Laker Norm Nixon, who said this week a change will be good for everybody.

"I think all relationships at some point in time come to an end, particularly in sports," said Nixon. "It's nothing negative, nothing bad. It just might be time for both people to step away and go and start over again.

"Unfortunately for the city of Los Angeles, it happens to be one of the greatest players to ever play. Unfortunately for him, he might have to leave a place where he's really grown up playing basketball, where he's won his championships, and I'm sure where all his relationships are. He's going to have to go start anew.

"So it's kind of a bittersweet situation: sweet, I'm sure, because I think both people probably need to move on; and it's bitter because the relationship has been there for a long time and it's been a successful relationship and I don't think anyone wants to see it end."

Best doggone sports show: You've got to admire a man with principles. Kansas City Chiefs coach Herm Edwards has steadfastly refused to appear on FSN's "Best Damn Sports Show Period" because of the word "Damn" in the title.

The show has tried to woo him by giving him a special T-shirt, presenting him with Lakers, Royals and Orioles tickets, even having a star named after him. Finally, Edwards relented after the show changed its name for one day to "Best Darn Sports Show Period."

"Change is good," Edward said on the show. "It's called growth. It took you six years to do it, but it's good."

Asked if he has any "superstitions," Edwards' answer revealed much about his character.

"Before the game, I always pray," he said. "But I never pray to win. I pray that I can use my talent and our team can use our talents to the best of our ability and then let me handle the situation after the game."

Did you watch? The World Series averaged a 10.6 rating with an 18 percent share for the Boston Red Sox's sweep of the Colorado Rockies, translating to an average 17.1 million viewers. The rating is up 5 percent the viewers up 8 percent from the 10.1 rating and 15.8 million viewers for last season's five-game Series, won by St. Louis over Detroit. That Series was the lowest rated of all time and this year's was second lowest.

Other notes: Saturday's Arizona State-Oregon football game will be shown here on FSN West at 3:30 p.m. Elsewhere around the country, it'll be on ESPN, but that coverage will be blacked out here. ESPN had a 0.9 rating and 1.1 million viewers for the Breeders' Cup on Saturday, up 6 percent from its coverage last year when the event first moved to cable, but down 47.4 percent from what NBC drew in 2005. ESPN2 has added the Nov. 10 Hawaii-Fresno State game in order to show Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan's attempt to break the NCAA career passing touchdown record. With the addition, ESPN2 will now show Hawaii's last four games. The baseball playoffs allowed TBS to tie ESPN as the highest rated prime-time cable networks during October, according to Multichannel News. 

Halfway through the NFL season, CBS' viewership is up 4 percent, Fox's is down 4 percent, NBC's is up 3 percent and ESPN's is down 6 percent, according to Nielsen ratings figures released by CBS. Monday night's Green Bay-Denver overtime game had a 10.5 rating, ESPN's best of the year, and averaged more than 10.1 million households, the most of any cable program this year.

— Jim Carlisle