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It has become quite clear that the NHL intends to keep the struggling Phoenix Coyotes where they are. Unless the bankruptcy court decides in favor of a bid from Blackberry founder Jim Balsillie, there is little chance the franchise will relocate.

This sentiment was made even stronger Friday, when league deputy commissioner Bill Daly spoke to The Canadian Press.

The Phoenix Coyotes are in limbo. With a hearing Thursday in front of a bankruptcy court judge looming, the NHL appears dead-set against allowing the agreed-to sale of the team to Jim Balsillie stand.

Commissioner Gary Bettman was in Arizona Tuesday, and the league will represent the team at the Thursday hearing. Word now is that the league is working with Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf to put together a bid for the team.

The NHL hasn't had a franchise relocation since the Hartford Whalers became the Carolina Hurricanes in 1997. Longtime commissioner Gary Bettman appears determined to keep that record intact.

Upon news that the Phoenix Coyotes had filed for bankruptcy and that owner wannabe Jim Balsillie had made a bid for the franchise, Bettman and the league reacted quickly. Based on what has been said in the last 18 hours, you can bet they're going to do what they can to keep the Coyotes in Glendale.

The Bulls have a big week ahead, being featured players in just about every rumored scenario regarding a cadre of players (their own and otherwise). A few independent reports (via TSB) have made the whole run-up to the Thursday deadline more interesting for Chicago: both Peter (groan) Vescey of the New York Post and the Chicago Sun-Times report John Paxson will resign as Bulls GM after the deadline.

However, Mike McGraw of the Arlington Heights Daily Herald has a source denying the rumor. And Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf put out a statement basically calling Vescey a liar. So here we are.

If Vinny Del Negro hasn't completely lost the Bulls locker room yet, well, he's misplacing bits and pieces every day. The latest example? He was the target of a profanity-laced explosion by one of the team's elder statesmen in full view of the media following yesterday's practice.

Ben Gordon was recently late for a team flight and was angry about being fined. Instead of airing his grievances to Del Negro in private, he did so in front of the prying eyes of the local beat reporters, virtually guaranteeing it would become public news. Was it a deliberate attempt to embarrass the rookie head coach? No one is accusing Gordon of being that conniving, but it's certainly a symptom that everything isn't right in Chicago.

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* Former Orioles skipper Leo Mazzone on his old employer: "Once I got there and saw how they operated compared to the Braves, I knew I made a mistake the first week of spring training," he said, before chuckling and adding, "I said to myself, 'You know what? I done messed up.' The lack of organization. The lack of discipline. The lack of overall professionalism. I was shocked, and I couldn't believe it."

NBA FanHouse walks through the Valley of the Most Likely; we shall fear no topic.

When Mike D'Antoni first decided to leave Phoenix, everyone automatically assumed he would end up in Chicago. Even before Chicago secured the number one pick, observers thought that the Bulls had a stable of players that would be perfect for D'Antoni's style. Images of Tyrus Thomas finally being set free bounced throughout the blogosphere.

Everything seemed perfect until Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf got involved and mucked up the negotiations. Being the savvy GM that he is, Donnie Walsh swooped in and made sure to make D'Antoni an offer he could not refuse before the Bulls would even have a chance to respond. D'Antoni made the choice to go to the Knicks because of his comfort level with Walsh, and the Knicks' better financial package. However, in the end, that extra money might not have been worth turning down the Chicago gig.

Training camp kicks off in just over a week and Ben Gordon remains unsigned. Unable to drum up a viable offer elsewhere around the league (or convince anyone that he's received a legitimate offer overseas), his hands are tied.

Right now, his only options are to sign Chicago's $6.4 million qualifying offer or stage an ill-advised hold out. Even though negotiations have dragged on for months, Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf thinks this whole mess will be settled soon enough. From the Chicago Sun-Times:

''It has to be resolved,'' Reinsdorf said Wednesday. ''You know, we have a business disagreement relating to the money, but he's still a Chicago Bull, and I expect him to play for the Bulls. I expect him to play hard, and I'd be surprised if it's anything other than that.''

[...] ''I expect Ben Gordon to be playing for the Bulls this year, one way or another,'' Reinsdorf said. ''I don't know if it will be resolved before training camp, but I do expect him to be playing for the Bulls."

Gordon has flatly denied that he'll ever settle for the qualifying offer and is on the record saying he's probably done with the Bulls, but when push comes to shove, I'm guessing he'll come to his senses that $6.4 million is better than nothing.

The Bulls have zero pressure to compete this year, and while I won't go so far as to say they're better without Gordon, they could do a lot worse than a four-guard rotation consisting of Derrick Rose, Kirk Hinrich, Larry Hughes and Thabo Sefolosha. Simply put, Gordon needs the Bulls more than the Bulls need Gordon -- a holdout would be absolutely pointless.

The Chicago White Sox are barely managing to hang on to their one-game lead over the Minnesota Twins thanks to a recent rash of injuries, but as is often the case with the White Sox, all anybody wants to do is talk about their manager. That's why The Sporting News recently sat down to do an interview with Ozzie Guillen, and as you'd expect, Ozzie spoke his mind.

Ozzie's answered questions on Lou Piniella, the Chicago Cubs, his team, and just about anything he was asked. He also made sure to fill the pages with plenty of expletives as he is wont to do, and here are some of the highlights courtesy of the Daily Herald.

- Ozzie on the best manager in Chicago: "Me. Because our division is hard. Maybe all the people in the National League will be all mad, but I will trade (for a) National League Central (schedule) in a heartbeat. I will take that with my eyes closed."
- On media treatment toward the Cubs: "If (Carlos) Quentin was playing for the Cubs, he'd already be MVP. If (Alexei) Ramirez was with the Cubs, he would be National League Rookie of the Year. They talk about (Cubs rookie Kosuke) Fukudome more than they talk about Ramirez."

While most of the blogging world has been celebrating the resignation/firing of Jay Mariotti at the Chicago Sun-Times on Wednesday, it's not just those of us who read him that are happy to see him go. The Chicago White Sox have long been one of Jay's favorite targets. Whether he's ripping on team owner Jerry Reinsdorf, manager Ozzie Guillen, or even play-by-play announcer Hawk Harrelson, Jay never had anything nice to say about the organization.

So when the news reached the White Sox in Baltimore on Tuesday night that Jay's reign of terror was coming to an end, the Sox were quite happy to hear the news.

''When people wish the worst on people, you have to be careful because the baseball gods are going to get you,'' [Ozzie] Guillen said. ''He was not asking just for my job, he was asking for thousands and thousands of people's jobs over the years. I'm not going to say I will get the last laugh because I will get fired from this job. But the day I get fired is the day I lose interest in this game.