THE WRITING ON (AND OFF) THE WALL TRADES THAT DIDN'T OCCUR.

Byline: TOM HOFFARTH

If the Red Sox couldn't find Manny Ramirez to tell him he'd been dealt away because he was lost somewhere inside the Green Monster, then that's the kind of day it was Sunday as baseball's trade deadline came and went.

Some of the other deals that didn't get done:

--In a three-team swap, Brad Penny was going from the Dodgers to Oakland, Barry Zito from Oakland to the New York Yankees and Carl Pavano from the Yankees to the Dodgers.

Alyssa Milano nixed it ``for obvious personal reasons. ... I have enough trouble keeping track of my next potential boyfriend.''

--Kenny Rogers, the Texas pitcher, was all but gone to San Diego in exchange for Kenny Rogers, the singer currently playing at the Barona Valley Casino. A news conference was set up, but Rogers, the pitcher, couldn't make it to the podium through the sea of punching bags.

--Yadier Molina, the St. Louis catcher, was headed to the Angels for catcher Josh Paul. Under the collective-bargaining agreement, the deal was nullified because of a ``three-Molina limit'' for any one major-league roster. It was included at the request of the Molinas' mom, Gladys, because ``it's just too stressful for me.''

--Atlanta wanted to ship Julio Franco to Florida for prospects. Franco exercised his right-of-refusal option based on a contract with a grandfather clause he signed with the St. Louis Browns just after World War II.

--The Yankees could not get permission to re-sign Steve Nebraska. General manager Brian Cashman was informed by Robert Wuhl that Nebraska was just the name of a character that Brendan Fraser played in ``The Scout'' more than 10 years ago. ...

--Through the first three weeks of its release, the ThinkFilm documentary ``Murderball'' barely cracked $250,000 in gross box-office revenue despite overwhelming critical support.

The very reason the film is so unique - quadriplegic rugby players in wheelchairs - is also why there remains a phobia about people wanting to see it.

``I think people assume - incorrectly - that it will be emotionally draining as opposed to emotionally uplifting,'' Mark Urman, the head of ThinkFilm's domestic theatrical division, told the Washington Post. ``I've heard people say, 'Oh, I've heard good things about it, I just don't know if I'm ready for it.' ''

Maybe they finally are. This past weekend, the take for the R-rated movie (playing locally at Laemmle's Sunset in West Hollywood and One Colorado in Old Pasadena and at the AMC Burbank) almost doubled to $211,000 in 75 theaters, boosting the four-week total to $529,000. ...

--Two more under-the-radar sports-related flicks open Friday: ``The Year of the Yao'' (PG, Loews Cineplex Beverly Center), which documents Yao Ming's first NBA season, and ``Saint Ralph'' (PG-13, Laemmle's in Encino), a dramedy about a ninth-grade kid who wants to run in the 1954 Boston Marathon, written and directed by 1985 Detroit Marathon winner Michael McGowan. ...