Views on the news

Those who pay close attention not only to trends in how sports news is covered but also the relative problems of certain leagues might have found Sunday to be a very instructive day. At noon on ESPN.com -- a good barometer of up-to-date national sports news -- more than half of the links on the "headlines" section of the home page spoke directly of problem issues (at least according to this set of eyes) in the NFL or NBA: DIVIDING UP BILLIONS IS NEVER VERY SIMPLE

Two stories were about labor situations in those leagues, with NBA Commissioner David Stern giving an address about the need to step up negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement -- a process that will be hotly contested on both sides and could result in a lockout. Meanwhile, the NFL and union met again with a federal mediator. That CBA expires March 3, and negotiations have proceeded in large part with all the urgency of a Tarvaris Jackson-led two-minute drill.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE PLAYERS ...

Two stories were about NBA players presently under contract who are perhaps orchestrating moves to new teams -- Deron Williams and Carmelo Anthony. Both, it seems, could wind up with the Knicks -- Anthony via a potential trade following one of the most convoluted and clumsy processes you will ever see and Williams more conventionally as a free agent in 2012 to form a new Big Three. The NBA is on its way to becoming a bizarre six-team All-Star league.

UNLESS IT'S ABOUT THE BUILDINGS

One story was about an NBA team reportedly mulling a move to a new city -- Sacramento to Anaheim. If you consider Anaheim part of the Los Angeles market, it would give that area three teams. Much of this discussion of a move is being driven by a new arena quest unfulfilled in Sacramento. You might be shocked that the L.A. area could be used as leverage for a new stadium in another market, but here we are.

A DEATH RAISES AGAIN

And finally -- and most seriously and sadly -- one story about ex-NFL player Dave Duerson, his suicide Thursday and a report that he requested to his family that his brain be examined for chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Duerson's family, according to the New York Times, has agreed to donate his brain to Boston University's medical school, which is studying depression and dementia in former NFL players. The other aforementioned stories deal primarily with dollars and sense. This one does, too, in a way -- violence is part of what sells in the NFL. But it's mostly a matter of life and death. The more we know about how football impacts the brain, the tougher it will be to reconcile.