It isn't enough to know what's hot at events like the Super Bowl or the NCAA Tournament. It isn't even enough to know what's hot heading into the regular season for baseball or the NBA. No, in this age of fast-forward information flow, keeping up with what's cool and what's passé is vital; everything can change in a matter of days.

That's why the "What's Hot, What's Not" list is going weekly. As always, your co-workers in the office cafeteria, your pick-up teammates at the Y, your friends sitting along the neighborhood bar, and your cavalcade of first dates are just waiting for you to tell 'em what's what:

What's Hot, What's Not this week
Category	Hot	Not
Hairstyle	"The Kobe"	Mullets
LeBron James draft status	Second-round steal, 2002	No. 1 overall, 2003
Growth sport	Cheerleading	Women's soccer
Jurisprudence	French judges	Jayson Williams
Yao's choice	The Bulls	The Warriors
NHL playoff mojo	Teams from Canada	Teams from Long Island
NBA bandwagon	Baron Davis	Lamar Odom
Spurrier's guy	Shane Matthews	Sage Rosenfels
Shoe contracts	Lifetime deal for T-Mac	Nada for underperforming rooks
Southern growth city	Nashville	Charlotte
Jazz retirement rumors	John Stockton	Karl Malone
Movie buzz	"Star Wars"	"Ya-Ya Sisterhood"
Bengals' guy	Who cares?	Gus Frerotte
Rotisserie injury to care about	Randy Johnson	Andy Pettitte
In hunt for Tamir Goodman transfer	Vanderbilt	Maryland
BoSox go-to guy	Derek Lowe	Pedro Martinez
Trade bait	Kevin Garnett	Jason Kidd
Manager	Bobby Valentine	Tony Muser
Jerry West strategy	Recruit Kobe	Tame J-Will
Sneakers	PRO-Keds	Pony
Players' excuse for losing	"It was the coaching."	"OK, it was our fault."
Wannabe effective sports commissioner	Condoleezza Rice	Bud Selig

Dan Shanoff is a columnist for Page 2. His "What's Hot, What's Not" trend-spotting list appears Thursdays.