The bad luck continues at North Carolina. Already dealing with life without Tyler Hansbrough, they have lost another player – Tyler Zeller. He has a broken wrist that will likely keep him out for the season. Zeller is a freshman and a forward, so they won’t necessarily struggle to replace him. He was off to a good start, though – he was the leading scorer in his debut game against Penn. I’m not particularly superstitious, but it does seem like the Tar Heels are snake bit. Hopefully for them their luck turns soon enough.

Stephen Curry is an absolute freak. 44 points last night against Oklahoma. There is no question in my  mind – he is the best player in North Carolina. And yes, I am well aware of who else plays in the state.

Nice mutually beneficial trade in baseball today. The Royals picked up Coco Crisp from the Red Sox. That adds some power and moreso some speed to the top of their lineup – something they badly needed. He’s also a very good defender. It also frees up space for Jacoby Ellsbury to be an everyday player for the Red Sox. In exchange, Boston gets reliever Ramon Ramirez. Kansas City had picked up the fireballer from Colorado last year, and they used him very effectively to set up closer Joakim Soria. Both teams are better as a result of this deal.

Things could get ugly in the desert. Edgerrin James reportedly asked for his release this week. To the surprise of no one, the team said no. Why should they let him go to the waiver wire and join another team that Arizona might have to play when they don’t have to? They will almost certainly release him in theoffseason, but in the meantime the team had better hope that he keeps his disgruntlement to himself . This team is playing very well, and is improving every week, but they are fragile and inexperienced with leading a division or going to the playoffs. That means that a distraction like James could cause could really disrupt things.