The squeeze is on for space, so we did what we could with the sports media column in today's Daily News. Here's what's left to sift through:

==Consider this knock-your-socks-off exchange between FSN's Michael Eaves and UCLA football coach Karl Dorrell that'll open the "In My Own Words" half-hour special on FSN Prime Ticket on Saturday, after the Bruins' opener at Stanford:
EAVES: I heard a really corny joke not too long ago.
DORRELL: OK.
EAVES: And I want to know if you heard it too: Do you know why 8:47 is a Bruins fan’s favorite time of the day?
DORRELL: (puzzled) 8:47?
EAVES: It’s 13 to 9. (pauses) The score when UCLA upset USC (last year). Have you heard that corny joke?
DORRELL: No, I have not
EAVES: It’s corny right?
DORRELL: Yeah.
OK, so we've established its corny and Dorrell hasn't heard it, nor is he amused.
But that's comedy gold. It can only get better from there.

==UCLA’s opener at Stanford (FSN Prime Ticket, 12:30 p.m.) employs Matt Devlin, Warren Moon and Michael Eaves on its coverage.

==KLAC-AM (570)'s plans for Saturday's on UCLA football gamedays: Matt Stevens and Wayne Cook are on the pregame show two hours before kickoff (10:30 a.m. in this case), followed by a one-hour post-game show hosted by Tim Cates. Both pre- and post-game are also on AM570Radio.com.

==USC's football opener against Idaho (FSN West, 7:15 p.m.) uses the No. 1 Pac-10 package team of Barry Tompkins, Petros Papadakis and Jim Watson on the broadcast. Former USC quarterback and “Best Damn Sports Show Period” co-host Rodney Peete has been added to the “Trojan Live” post-game show with Lindsay Soto and Jeremy Hogue.
KSPN-AM (710)'s plans for Saturday's on USC football gamedays will be put into effect this weekend, starting at 11 a.m. with 14 hours of programming until 1 a.m. (including the game at 7 p.m.). The Trojan Talk (11 a.m. to noon) and Trojan Chat Room (noon to 2 p.m.) are replays of programming from earlier in the week leading into the live "USC Game Day" show from 2 to 5:45 p.m. with Steve Mason, Curt Sandoval and Dave Denholm, plus reporters such as Brandon Hancock, Darrell Rideaux, David Newberry and Curtis Conway. "Trojan Warmup," a 90-minute pregame with Mason and John Jackson, leads into the game, and "Trojan Download" is a one-hour postgame show. That's followed by a Sunday morning "Trojan Brunch" (9 to 11 a.m.) to rehash all that happened. Again.

== Fox’s regional game Saturday (12:55 p.m., KTTV Channel 11) takes the Angels’ contest at home against pitiful Texas, with Josh Lewin and Mark Grace (and only 16 percent of the country). The upside is that it leaves Saturday’s Dodgers-San Diego game on FSN Prime Ticket at 7 p.m. with Vin Scully. The Dodgers’ next two Saturday games — at San Francisco on Sept. 8 and home vs. Arizona
on Sept. 15 - are scheduled to be Fox afternoon regional telecasts.

== Not to be prudish, but is the new Carl’s Jr. “Flat Buns” ad (click above), which can be best compared to the old Van Halen “Hot For Teacher” video (click below), really something your kids should be seeing during a Dodgers’ FSN Prime Ticket broadcast? How about the teacher gyrating on the desk about 18 seconds in?

== The next generation of “American Gladiators” is in NBC’s hands, as it has put up a link on its Website alerting/warning us about two casting calls, one of which will be at Gold’s Gym in Venice on Sept. 8. The show’s re-creators are looking both for contestants and Gladiators, so bring your own 8-by-10 glossy, a mouthpiece and some abs of steel.

==Vootage.com has given its site a facelift two years into operation and launches its high school football coverage with tonight's St. Bonaventure at Santa Margarita (with Tom Kelly and Garry Paskwietz on the call), Venice at San Fernando, Birmingham at Crespi, Golden Valley at Littlerock, Dominguez at Centennial, Servite at St Paul and Calvary Chapel at Magnolia.
The website has deals now to carry every Loyola game, all Crespi home games (on delay), all Mater Dei games live (except for its game against Service), every Concord de la Salle games on a delay, a City Section game of the week, three Southern Section games per week, and all Golden Valley’s games on a delay. Most of the delay games will be on the site by Saturday, but some won't be ready until Monday morning. All will be archived. Games with schools in Northern California, Arizona and Oregon will also have a spot on the site this year.

==The LA 36 high school schedule starts with Venice at San Fernando, the first of seven games televised on the channel this season, leading into the playoffs and City final at the Coliseum on Dec. 7. KLCS Channel 58 will also pick up three regular-season games -- Long Beach Poly at Birmingham next week, and also Crenshaw at Dorsey and Garfield at Roosevelt. Randy Rosenbloom will do play-by-play with Dave Marcus on color.

=="Two A Days," the high school football reality show that MTV has aired the last two seasons, will move over to ESPN and be renamed "Varsity Inc.," set to debut in November, according to the New York Post. West Monroe (La.) High will be the featured team, because coach Don Shows says he has been assured ESPN will focus on football instead of the personal lives of the players, which is what the MTV show did with the Hoover (Ala.) High squad. And, what NBC's prime-time show, "Friday Night Lights," has tried to push as a drama series that somehow enters its second season this fall. In 2005, ESPN tried a high football reality show called "Bound For Glory," where former NFL star Dick Butkus went to Montour (Penn.) High near Pittsburgh as the pseudo head coach and then quit on the team with two games left with the team floundering at 1-6.

==The first roadie for the 21st season of ESPN's "College GameDay," on Saturday (7 a.m.) goes live from Blacksburg, Va., to set the scene for the East Carolina-Virginia Tech (which ESPN carries at 9 a.m.). Chris Fowler hosts it for his 18th season, with Lee Corso (there from the beginning), Kirk Herbstreit (11th year) and Desmond Howard (third year). The show moves from outside the stadium to inside for the second half of the show to air the pre-game ceremonies starting at 8:45 a.m. that will focus on the recent tragedy on the campus. Otherwise, one of the show's features will be Shelley Smith on USC quarterback John David Booty’s off-season conditioning after a back injury bothered him a year ago.

==PGATour.com plans to continue show all the shots at the par-3 16th hole, or about 30 hours of coverage live for free, during this weekend's Deutsche Bank Championship at the TPC Boston in Norton, Mass. Viewing goes from 5:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. today and Saturday, and from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sunday and Monday. The Golf Channel has the first two rounds starting at noon each day (repeating at 5:30 p.m.) and NBC goes on at noon Sunday and 11 a.m. Monday.

==Viewer voting begins with the final five projects that have made the last cut of the Golf Channel's "Fore Inventors Only" reality series, leading into the last episode on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Comedian George Lopez will co-host the final live finale with Rich Lerner from the network's Orlando, Fla., studios.
The five inventions that viewers can give the thumbs up or down via the Golf Channel's Website, in order of how we'd vote:
=Z-Factor Perfect Putting Machine: A portable putter training aid that guides the user through proper path, face, angle and pendulum swing of the putter. Inventor: Dean Thompson, Boise, Idaho.
=Hill Shot Golf Trainer: A sloped hitting tee used for practicing uphill, downhill and side hill lies. Inventor: Brandi and Larry Koch, Prospect, Ky. (Gotta admit, this couple kinda creeps me out ... note the height difference in husband and wife).
=Club Glider: A golf travel bag that integrates extendable legs with caster wheels, making the bag easy to push or pull. The wheels fold back into a locked position for easy travel. Inventor: Gary Sherrell, Maple Valley, Wash.
=Club Caddy: A clip that that resembles a clothes pin that attaches to a golf club around the green allowing it to become free-standing in an upright position. Inventor: David Jones, Martinez, Ga.
=Pro Play Golf Performance System: A small digital recording device that can be used on the golf course to record golf swings for instant feedback. Inventors: Marcus Bohn, Chandler, Ariz., and Tim Kipley, McKinney, Texas.
No, none of the finalists were from the contestants we interviewed back in July who had ideas such as a chair that attaches to the bumper, a putter with a hole in the shaft to better line up the break and, ahem, a song. There were the 103 who made the first cut after more than 1,000 submitted their bizarre ideas.
The winner of this competition gets shelf space at Golfsmith for one year; an infomercial and $50,000 worth of commercial and promo time on the Golf Channel. The losers get to fill out applications to the show's second season by clicking onto this Golf Channel link and, at the very least, maybe you'll get to shake Stina Sternberg's ungloved hand.
Here's a link to a video preview of the final episode.

==The Tennis Channel finally launched on DirecTV, finding a home on Channel 217, coinciding with Monday's start of the U.S. Open in New York. A high-def version of the channel is supposed to start at the end of this year.

==The NFL Network has decided that now is as good as any to replay Super Bowl XLI, so set the TiVo for 5 p.m. Tuesday to see that whole shebang that CBS aired on Feb. 4 earlier this year, including the Prince halftime show and that falic guitar solo.

==NBC Sports' Website has a contest. It involves John Madden. Not winning Madden NFL '08, but guessing how long it will take him to cruise in his bus between the season opener on Thursday in Indianapolis and Sunday night's game in Dallas. Be the right guesser on how much time it'll take, and win two tickets to a "Sunday Night Football" game, that includes round-trip airlines, lodging and a tour of the NBC truck and Madden's cruiser.

==CMT, the network devoted to country music, debuts the Paul Newman-narrated documentary it financed called "Dale," about the live of the late Dale Earnhardt, Tuesday at 8 p.m. It'll also air at the same time on Wednesday and Thursday before it goes to DVD. More info: www.dale.cmt.com

==Dick Enberg, John McEnroe and Mary Carillo are together for the seventh year in a row to do the CBS coverage of the U.S. Open tennis championships. starting Saturday at 8 a.m.. CBS has about 37 hours to cover this event.

==Hey, here's a note some media writers here in L.A. were sent this week via email. Let's do an experiment. I'll run it as-is, and you see if it's included in any other newspapers with as little rewriting as possible:
World Championship Sports Network (WCSN) will offer a free live webcast of the World Gymnastics Championships from Sept. 5-9 at WCSN.com. Olympic gold medalist Bart Conner is the featured on-air analyst, and UCLA senior gymnast Tasha Schwikert, a two-time World medalist, 2000 U.S. Olympian and 2005 NCAA all-around champion, will be aiding with color commentary. Schwikert has worked with WCSN on their gymnastics broadcasts since 2005 and did color commentary on two UCLA gymnastics meets on LA36 this year.

==Ripped from the headlines of the most recent edition of The Onion:

==Against all better judgement, Pete Arbogast has been given the green light to continue his blog on WeAreSC.com throughout the season, in addition to his "duties" of hosting a daily show on the USCTrojans.com site. The latest gems of information from the Arboblog is his stirring account of the World Body Surfing competition at Oceanside where, by his calculations, he finished in 26th place because 24 advanced to the second round, and "I scored second out of all of the guys who did not advance ... My placing and score are the best I have ever done."
Bravo.
Unfortunately, none of this has been added to his self-authored Wikipedia entry).
He reports that he missed by .5 of making the second round. "I hate leaving it in practice, but it appears I may have done my best swimming in the practice leading up to the event," he wrote, echoing what all the major failures in athletic events must say to the media covering such a thing.
To put this into some context, the Baltimore Orioles (58-73),currently on an eight-game losing streak, are 26th in Major League Baseball. And that's despite the recent 30-3 loss to Texas.
The newest Arblopost Thursday night typos the name of the gentleman who runs the Trojan marching band, secures the fact he'll never be invited back to do PA for the Dodgers after ripping them, gives Rory Markas a backhanded compliment (and another twist of the knife) and he "hears good friend Paul Olden" is applying for the Clippers radio gig -- which isn't something he could have read in the LA Times, since it wasn't reported there ....

==Finally, Jesse Palmer, once a quarterback at the University of Florida and in the NFL but last seen as the star attraction in the reality show “The Bachelor” back in ’04, has parlayed everything into a job as an ESPN college football analyst job. His focus will be on the ESPN2 Saturday studio shows as well as the “College Football Live” show. Palmer’s relationship with the contest winner lasted just a couple of months and at, last report, Palmer is doing fine with girlfriend Katja Hilgendorff, a supermodel from Germany who probably wouldn’t last a day in Bristol, Conn.

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 1:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

When faced with pressing issues from readers that need to be addressed, Mr. Wise Guy has the stationery and penmanship to find the right envelope, stamp it and personally deliver.
Mr. Wise Guy, actually a postal-worker-in-training who takes perpetual umbrage in the constant annoying state of
the sports media, put up his usual fight when summoned from the cramped quarters of his brother-in-law’s rumpus room to make a quasi-annual appearance as the ombudsman for fellow grouchy couch potatoes.
Just be aware going in, he’s not in a real swell mood. His investment went bad in Bad Newz Kernels, a hip-hop popcorn online company whose server crashed because of a computer virus delivered ironically by carrier pigeon
from PETA because the group leaders were convinced there was some connection to Michael Vick.
Before things get out of hand - and they will - we’ve asked nicely that he field these questions without getting too persnickety:

Question: What is your good ol’ take on this new Big Ten Network? Is it true the SEC is going to do this, too? Is all this laying the groundwork for every college conference to get its own channel?
= K.J., Sherman Oaks, Calif.
Answer: Whoa, Nielsen.
Here’s a quote trying to justify this exercise in greed from Jim Delany, the commissioner of the Big Ten (still living in denial that it actually has 11 members), who seems to be surprised he’s defending a channel that maybe Aunt Gertie and Uncle Ferd in Plainview, Minn., really don’t want to kick in the extra buck a month for on their cable bill.
“When the cable company decides to send 70 channels - the food channel, the dog channel and the bike channel and the jewelry channel - into your home, the Big Ten Network deserves to be in the grouping,” he said with a straight face.
Especially if Rachel Ray does a whole show dedicated on how best to sculpture Wisconsin cheese at a tailgate party.
Who’s gonna be left with farm fresh organic egg all over their face when the overnight programming consists of Co-ed Championship Hay Bailing, spilling over into the Chase for the Intramural Mulchers Association Handspreaders competition, which then pushes back the documentary: “Northwestern Men’s Water Polo: Hold On To Your Speedos!”
Maybe not Comcast or Time Warner cable, which so far have held out from taking this in.
As for the SEC starting up its own channel: How soon before that Little Miss Sunshine from South Carolina maps out a career as a sideline reporter at the conference hornet-swatting finals?
Put it this way: The major games will continue to be on the major networks. The minor sports, as well as the games no one really cares about, will grovel for outlets like these. The Internet looks like the best (and cheapest) route to
go with video streaming, and no public feuds with cable companies who say they simply have no room for such a thing. Especially when the jewelry channel has a spinoff in the works devoted to Lindsay Lohan brand label cubic zirconium ankle bracelet / tracking devices.

Question: How about this new “Monday Night Football” team . . . got any gauge as to how long it will take these guys to mesh without any real intelligent person left in the booth?
= J.T., Washington, D.C.
Answer: We’ve only been able to stomach a couple of these exhibitions in exhibition football, but the one thing we’ve immediately noticed is that Jaws doesn’t come off as some pietistic,
mealy-mouthed, obstreperous, pouty nannicock who invented not just the Xs, but the Oh’s, in professional football. That’s a good thing.
Kornheiser, subsequently, isn’t off in a corner readying “The Secret” and seems back in the flow. Even a little
opinionated.
Tirico . . . he’s the guy whose hairline looks like a Google map of the island hole at the TPC at Sawgrass, right?

Question: Who’s now?
=S.V.P., Bristol, Conn.
Answer: Definitely not you.

Question: What do you know about this 103-inch high def Panasonic plasma TV they’ve got for sale down at Ken Cranes - the beast is more than 7½-feet wide, weighs more than 600 pounds, costs $70,000 . . . How does looking live at a sporting event get any better?
= B.M., Williamsport, Pa.
Answer: I just saw a bunch of kids at the store gathered around to watch the Little League World Series on it and clamoring for more shots of Erin Andrews.

Question: You seen to have all the answers about sports TV programming. What shows would you want to see if you had your own network?
=D.E., New York, heading off to China.
Answer: Glad you asked.
First, NBC doesn’t have enough members on its “Football Night in America” studio show. Make Bob Costas, Keith Olbermann, Tiki Barber, Cris Collinsworth, Peter King and Jerome Bettis slide over for Johnny Miller, Meredith Vieira, Kevin Eubanks, Mariska Hargitay, Snoodle Doo from Veggie
Tales, Milo Ventimiglia and, as an essayist, the guy who plays Dwight Schrute from “The Office.” With Al Roker as the skinny weather chick.
Then figure out a way for Jimmy Roberts to get a spot on “Last Comic Standing.”
And arrange an hour-long variety show for Roger Cossack on ESPN, although surely the guys in legal couldn’t put enough into the contract to satisfy him. With Stuart Scott as his sidekick. Just kickin’ it.
Steve Lyons, hosting “Broadcast Bloopers and Predictable Mishaps.” Or “Around The Horn,” whichever is less funny.
And bring back the XFL. With Michael Vick hosting the Westminster Dog show at halftime.
Mearly a suggestion.

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Faith is in. Pink is out.
NBC, which by now must realize it can't add another member to its NFL pregame show, officially says that the wholesome, non-tatooed or pierced Faith Hill will do the opening theme for "Sunday Night Football" with that really cool song, "Waiting All Day for Sunday Night."
Last year, Pink did it. Pink? You mean the female version of Billy Idol?
Pink apparently now stinks. Faith rocks. (Actually, she doesn't compare to Carrie Underwood in the Country Music Awards voting dept., but she's a great runnerup).
A special version of the song called "Waiting All Year for Opening Night" will be used for the Thursday, Sept. 6 kickoff game between Indianapolis and New Orleans.
The song, if you remember, is a remake (i.e., ripoff) of Joan Jett's "I Hate Myself for Loving You." The NFL didn't really want the word "Hate" in its network partner theme song, so that's what happened. Kinda like ESPN having the Black Eyed Peas change "Let's Get Retarded" to "Let's Get It Started" for its NBA pregame music.
"It's exciting to have been asked to sing the open for this season's Sunday Night games," said Tim McGraw's honey in an NBC statement, forgetting to note she has a new album coming out on Oct. 2. "Maybe now I'll be able to get my jersey size and some better seats for the games?"
Maybe. Ask Pink about that.
"Faith Hill is a true recording star with mass appeal," said Fred Gaudelli, "NBC Sunday Night Football" producer, said in a release, which probably echos what he once said about Hank Williams Jr., during an ABC "Monday Night Football" press release issued a few years back when they paid his checks. "It's not often that you get the opportunity to have a mega-star like Faith Hill perform the signature open to your show. We were thrilled when she agreed to do it, and even more thrilled with the performance she delivered."
For those who care to sing along, here's the lyrics for "Waiting All Day For Sunday Night":

All right Sunday Night where are you?
Just kicking back from the things that you do
You want the Big Game, we want it too!

Hey Jack it's a fact, the show's back in town,

I've been waiting all day for Sunday Night
The tough get rough in a primetime fight
The last one standing gets to turn out the lights
Cause I been waiting all day for Sunday Night

Sunday Night Football on NBC
Al & John are the best on TV
Players are ready, kick that ball off the tee
Cause the NFL rocks on NBC

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 9:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Crespi, Notre Dame, Hart and Canyon -- but no Oaks Christian -- have made it on the schedule for FSN Prime Ticket/FSN West 10-game high school football game package, released Tuesday.
Crespi's home game against Centennial on Sept. 14 (7 p.m., FSN Prime), Notre Dame's home game against Servite on Oct. 5 (7 p.m. FSN Prime) and the Hart-Canyon game on Oct. 12 (7 p.m., FSN Prime) are the only Valley-related games on the schedule that begins on Sept. 7 with Redlands East Valley at John W. North.
The Oaks Christian game at St. Bonaventure set for Sept. 21 was on the original FSN "wish list," but limitations put on the network by the home school about when it could set up its equipment prevented FSN from following through on it. Instead, Carson at Long Beach Poly will be carried.
The schedule, with games all on Friday, as it stands now:
Date, Matchup, Time, Channel
9/7: Redlands East Valley at John W. North (7 p.m., Prime)
9/14: Centennial at Crespi (7 p.m., Prime)
9/21: Carson at Long Beach Poly (7 p.m., Prime)
9/28: Los Alamitos at Orange Lutheran (7 p.m., West)
10/5: Servite at Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks), (7 p.m., Prime)
10/12: Hart at Canyon (7 p.m., Prime)
10/19: To be determine (7 p.m., Prime)
10/26: Vista Murrieta at Chaparral (7 p.m., Prime)
11/2: South Hills at West Covina (7 p.m., Prime)
11/9: Mater Dei at Servite (7 p.m., Prime)
FSN Prime will have a CIF-SS Pac-5 Championship, the CIF (State) Selection Show on Sunday, December 9, and, on Saturday, December 15, for the second year in a row, the CIF State Toyota Championship Div III, II and I games.

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 8:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By LARRY McSHANE
Associated Press Writer
A lineup of team logo baseball caps denounced as tailor-made for gang members was ordered removed from store
shelves by its manufacturer Friday after complaints from baseball officials.
“It has been brought to our attention that some combinations of icons and colors on a select number of our caps could be too closely perceived to be in association with gangs,” said Christopher H. Koch, CEO of New Era Cap. “In response, we, along with Major League Baseball, have pulled those caps.”
The three styles in question used colors and symbols linked to three gangs: an all-white cap with a blue bandanna, the trademark of the notorious Crips; an all-white cap with a red bandanna worn by the rival Bloods; and a black cap with a gold team logo and an embroidered crown, a symbol favored by the Latin Kings.

Wait a sec ... They're banning those hats, but still selling this Yankees' pink rhinestone cap for $75 on the MLB.com store site?

“We encouraged and now fully support the decision of cap manufacturer New Era to pull these caps and any others that feature offensive or concerning symbols,” read an MLB statement.
The New York Yankees had joined an anti-gang group, Peace on the Street, in denouncing the hats.
Both MLB and the Yankees insisted they were unaware of the symbolism in the cap designs, with the New York team noting they were never given a chance to review the new hats until they were already for sale.
The team was “completely unaware that caps with gang-related logos and colors had been manufactured with the New York Yankees logo on them,” said a Yankees statement. “The New York Yankees oppose any garment that may be associated with gangs or gang-related activity.”
Thursday, protesters demonstrated about the new caps outside several Manhattan stores carrying the merchandise. The stores were selling a version of the hats bearing the familiar interlocking “NY” logo of the Yankees.
Richard Garcia, a karate instructor who works with Peace on the Street to provide youngsters with alternatives to gangs, said he immediately recognized the hats’ colors from his work with former gang members.
“My fear was that the wrong kid was going to wear the wrong hat in the wrong neighborhood and get hurt,” he said.
New Era said it would increase its efforts to ensure it had a better working knowledge of gang symbols, names and locations. The Buffalo-based company has produced hats for Major League Baseball since the 1930s.

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 6:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In addition to today's column on Michael Vick in the Daily News, two more things before we move on:
==Thanks to Marc Isenberg and his always interesting blog "Money Players" for providing a link to Comedy Central's Daily Show and Jon Stewart's recent take on how NBC's "Football Night in America" crew debated the facts and rumors of the Vick story on last Sunday's show.
"Are you &*#^@-ing me!" Stewart exclaims when Peter King and Cris Collinsworth discuss how the NFL is more concerned about the gambling aspect of the case instead of the killing of dogs ...
Isenberg, by the way, has a book coming out called "Money Players: A Pro Athletes' Guide to Success in Sports, Business and Life" that can be preordered on his site.
As for that photo above ... compliments of the Onion, with the headline: "NFL Reports Strong Sales Of Michael Vick's 2008 Jersey"

==And then there's this shot fired from Thomas McIntyre on his blog at Field & Stream, reacting to how New York Knicks guard Stephon Marbury has compared dog fighting to hunting. Good luck arguing with a guy who's got a load of buckshot pointed in your grill.

==More Daily News notes on the Dodgers' Spanish language radio deal, what smokes and chokes, and read on ...

==Maybe Keith Olbermann will have something fresh to say about Vick when, in a decision to introduce MSNBC “Countdown” viewers to the NFL, and possibly re-introduce sports viewers to the Olberman Experience, NBC airs a special edition of “Countdown" on Sunday at 4 p.m. leading into the network’s coverage of the Philadelphia-Pittsburgh NFL exhibition game at 5 p.m. Olbermann, who until recently was participating in hour-long segements on The Dan Patrick Show for ESPN Radio, says juggling sports and news has become more enjoyable, because of the percentages. “I like this set up very much, where it’s both. There’s enough sports where that part of me is always fed, yet the amount is just small enough that I can still really enjoy it. If you’re doing sports five days a week, or more realistically seven days a week, it’s like anything else. If you love ice cream and you go into the ice cream making business, at some point you really don’t want to have anything to do with ice cream. It may only last a day, it might last a month, but you’re sick to death of ice cream. This is just enough ice cream. I can still now recreationally go to a sporting event and enjoy it again, and not feel like I’m working and not feel like I’ve washed my avocation. So to many respects, this allows me a role slightly more sophisticated than a sophisticated fan, which is really nice. I can be involved in it and I can still enjoy it. And in the past, and anybody who does it on a nightly basis will tell you, sometimes it’s difficult to juggle both of those things.” If you must, read up more on the trails and tribulations of Being Olbermann in today's USA Today media column.

Gene Wojciechowski, Bettis said he came into camp with a knee that had been surgically repaired the previous summer. Fearing he would be cut if the team knew how much the knee was injured, he didn't say anything. During a short-yardage drill at an early camp practice, Bettis fell down, grabbed his knee and yelled in pain. "Man, did I do a nice job of acting,'' Bettis wrote. "The thing is, I wasn't faking that I had an injury. I was just faking that the injury happened on that short-yardage play. I had to fool the coaches and the team's medical department into thinking the injury had occurred on that play. Otherwise, the Steelers would have had their reason to cut me and my salary."
Because Bettis was hurt in training camp, the Steelers couldn't release him. He was worried that the Steelers, and especially offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride, wanted to give his job to Richard Huntley. Bettis cited a story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette which said that Huntley told his agent that Bettis would be cut.
He rushed for 1,341 yards in the 2000 season. Five years later, he was on Pittsburgh's Super Bowl winning team and then retired.

==Our other favorite story from the latest edition of The Onion:

==The Dodgers’ game Saturday at Shea Stadium against the New York Mets is the Fox (Channel 11) regional contest sent to 57 percent of the country at 12:55 p.m. with Kenny Albert, Tim McCarver and Ken Rosenthal. An added bonus: Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner is slated to rejoin long-time broadcast partner McCarver in the third inning to do play-by-play, the first time they've worked together since 1998. Kiner was part of the Mets' broadcast team since 1962 and spent 16 seasons ('83-'98) with McCarver. “We spent sixteen great years together,” said McCarver. “I’m looking very forward to seeing my good friend.”
And then there Sunday's Dodgers-Mets game on the ESPN “Sunday Night Baseball” slate starting at 5 p.m. with Jon Miller, Joe Morgan and Peter Gammons. ESPN Deportes, the Spanish-language channel, also does the game ("Domingo de Grandes Ligas" for those who remember Spanish 101) with Ernesto Jerez on play-by-play and former Dodgers outfielder Candy Maldonado as the analyst.
The Albert-McCarver pairing on many of Fox's recent MLB telecasts, a result of the fact that Joe Buck hasn't been around to do much baseball this summer, was the subject of a recent New York Times column by Richard Sandomir (which unfortunately has been archived in the pay-up-to-read-it-now files), but was discussed on the Baseball Think Factory blog ...

==Heather Mitts, a defender on the U.S. Women’s National Soccer team who is out with an injury, will work as an analyst on ESPN2’s coverage of the team’s match against Finland live Saturday on ESPN2 at 6:30 p.m. from the Home Depot Center, with play-by-play man JP Dellacamera. Lori Walker, Ohio State women’s soccer coach, will also be in the booth.

==What to pick, the Tiger-less PGA FedExCup playoff event on CBS, or the U.S. Amateur Championship on NBC?
Woods was part of the promotion for this four-event playoff that gives away some trophy sponsored by an overpriced delivery service, but he decided he had enough points in the standings to skip The Barclays event in Westchester Country Club in Harrison, N.Y. and play the final three. CBS has the coverage Saturday (noon to 3 p.m.) and Sunday (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.).
The network also got Yankees star Derek Jeter to tape a segment for the opening, talking about how he's played in 11 post-seasons and New York is the perfect stage for this PGA Tour playoff event.
Apparently Tiger didn't get the memo.
Jim Nantz and Nick Faldo are in the tower with Peter Oosterhuis, Gary McCord, Ian Baker-Finch, David Feherty and Peter Kostis around the course trying to explain a) why Tiger could afford not to show and b) how the winner of this playoff receives a ton of money in the form of an annunity that they won't be able to spend for years down the road.
NBC's coverage of the guys who don't get paid starts at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday from the Olympic Club in San Francisco, a course that by itself is worth watching without the match play. Dan Hicks is joined by Gary Koch, Roger Maltbie, Dottie Pepper and Jimmy Roberts, but no Johnny Miller. It's an event Woods won three years in a row ('94-96), so perhaps he'll be more apt to watch that coverage instead.
"I'm a huge fan of the U.S. Amateur," said Maltbie in an NBC statement. "It's probably my favorite event to broadcast for NBC. The depth of talent is amazing, to watch young players who have these great dreams about being star golfers and they're not yet jaded by all the entrapments of professional golf. They are just young kids with a dream, playing as hard as they can for the love of the game. You're watching future Tigers and Phils."

==EXPN.com reported its biggest traffic numbers for any X Games during the 13th event held at Home Depot Center and Staples Center earlier this month. According to comScore Media Metrix, the site was accessed by more than a half million unique users, and generated more than 3.2 million page views over the course of the X Games. Both EXPN.com and ESPN360.com streamed 40 hours of live X Games 13 coverage. Broadcasts of the events on ESPN were also up 35 percent compared to last year in the male 12 to 17 age demographic. On television, nearly 38 million fans tuned into X Games 13, up 7% from 2006. Overall, X Games 13 averaged a 1.0 Household coverage rating on ESPN, a 19% increase from 2006.

==Bill Walton will be the analyst for all ESPN family coverage of the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, which started Wednesday in Las Vegas. The ESPN channels have 10 games, including all U.S. games, and both semifinals through Sept. 1. Mark Jones and John Saunders share play-by-play assignments. NBA TV is carrying 40 games and simulcasting the 12 games that FSN is carrying, including the bronze game and final, with Rick Kamla and Alla Abdelnaby as the primary broadcasters.
And while NBA TV has that Vegas event, plus the WNBA playoffs going on to help fill up some of its 24-hour programming, but nothing beats going to Africa where Angola is battling Cape Verde and Egypt takes on Cameroon in the semifinals of the FIBA Africa Championship in Luanda, Angola. The network has Thursday's semifinals on tape Saturday at 11 a.m. Then on Sunday at 11 a.m., it has the championship game of Saturday's Olympic qualifier from Luanda. It's global, baby.

== The Brooklyn, N.Y. AVP tour stop on Coney Island beach is the last of five NBC live broadcasts this summer. The Men’s final (11:30 a.m. Saturday) and women’s final (11:30 a.m. Sunday) include Chris Marlowe, Karch Kiraly, Mike Dodd and Heather Cox.

==CBS decided to rebrand its sports site as CBSSports.com instead of CBSSportsLine.com. “SportsLine is a terrific property with a strong, dedicated fan base,” said Steve Snyder, Chief Operating Officer, CBS Interactive in a statement. “This change will allow the community to continue to thrive as it always has, but with the added, and more clear connection to the premier sports broadcasting franchise in the industry.”

==XM Satellite Radio has added SEC and Big 12 college football games to its lineup that already includes BCS participants of the Pac 10, Big Ten, ACC and Big East. XM, with 8.2 million subscribers (compared to about 6 million-plus with Sirius, which is still in talks about having a merger finalized), will set aside 15 channels for live play-by-play. Here’s the channel guide: www.xmradio.com/collegesports.

==Joe Beninati and Quint Kessenich will call the Major League Lacrosse live semifinals and final this weekend in Rochester, N.Y., which includes the Los Angeles Riptide’s game against Rochester at 2 p.m. Saturday, after the Philadelphia-Denver semifinal at 11 a.m. Both of them are on ESPN360.com. Sunday’s final is at 10 a.m. on ESPN2.

==ESPNU carries the U.S. men’s rugby national team’s live game against Munster Rugby of Ireland as part of the Setana Sports Challenge Cup in Bridgeview, Ill., on Sunday at noon. USA Rugby provides the announcers as well as handles production.

== The Associated Press reached a deal with NBC Universal that allows AP to include video links, interactive graphics, multimedia and other exclusive content from the 2008 Summer Olympics in a premium online service. A story on the announcement by AP says: “The move aims to satisfy increased demand by media outlets for online and interactive content, as more newspaper readers turn to Internet-based sources for their news, sports, business and entertainment information.” News outlets that subscribe to the service can feed it directly to their own Web site.

==The NFL Network has both Detroit at Indianapolis (4 p.m.) and San Diego at Arizona (7 p.m.) as live broadcasts of NFL exhibition games on Saturday.

==Retired Detroit Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell is trying to persuade the city to keep the old Tiger Stadium up and running as a venue for boxing, amateur football and amateur baseball with 10,000 to 14,000 seats rather than convert it into a parking lot.
"In America, we have a tendency to knock down anything that's over 30 years old and make a parking lot out of it," the 89-year-old Hall of Fame member said in an Associated Press story. "Whereas in Europe, they preserve all these beautiful buildings and structures that have a history. I sort of like the European approach."
Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has set an Oct. 1 deadline to hear the plan before proceeding with plans to demolish the stadium. It has stood at the site since 1912 but saw its last Tigers game in 1999. Team owner Mike Ilitch moved the ballclub to Comerica Park in 2000.

==And finally, Kevin Costner has agreed to make TV spots to support keeping the College World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium on Omaha, Neb.
Jason Smith, an organizer for the group called Save Rosenblatt, said in an AP story that an Omaha film crew will head next week to New Mexico, where Costner is shooting his new movie, a comedy called "Swing Vote."
Costner, the Cal State Fullerton baseball supporter, said earlier this month he is willing to help Omaha keep the CWS at Rosenblatt Stadium, if that's what the community wants.
Smith said the commercial probably will feature Costner talking about the tradition of Rosenblatt.
"This is big-time stuff, and it's great for the city of Omaha," Smith said. "He understands the tradition and the pride of Rosenblatt Stadium. He'll be talking about the spirit of baseball."
The city has submitted two plans to the NCAA to ensure the series stay in Omaha. One calls for a new downtown stadium. The other calls for a major renovation of Rosenblatt, which was built in 1948 and became home to the series two years later.
An NCAA response is expected this fall. Save Rosenblatt has collected about 9,000 signatures from people who want to keep the CWS there, Smith said.

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 12:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Monte, a 6-year-old Weimaraner, is shown chewing on a Michael Vick football card, the remains of which owner Rochelle Steffen is auctioning off on eBay.com from her Giardeau, Mo., home.

By BRIAN CHARLTON
Associated Press Writer
Take some trading cards picturing a disgraced NFL superstar. Add some dog slobber and teethmarks. What do
you get?
The most valuable Michael Vick cards — by far — on eBay, that’s what.
Collector Rochelle Steffen of Cape Girardeau, Mo., gave every Vick card she owned to her dogs and let them go to town on the images of the Atlanta Falcons quarterback who is scheduled to plead guilty to a federal dogfighting charge Monday.
Once Monte, her 6-year-old Weimaraner, and Roxie, her Great Dane puppy, were done worrying them, nearly two dozen cards worth between $1 and $10 were crumpled, crimped, chewed, torn and generally in a sorry state. Some even had corners missing.
As of Thursday evening, the highest bid on the lot of 22 cards had risen past $1,000 and more than 18,000 people had viewed the posting. There were 93 bids on the auction, which ends Sunday.
The next-most expensive Vick cards — well-preserved specimens from his rookie year — were going for less than half the price of the gnawed ones.
“If I would have had some of his super-duper ones, they would have been right in the mix too,” Steffen said
Thursday.
She plans to donate the winning bid money to the humane society of the bidder’s choice.
Since Vick was indicted on federal dogfighting charges last month, former fans have donated Vick jerseys to dog shelters, while others have tried to cash in by selling Vick T-shirts and chew toys for dogs.
“I’m not angry toward him; my anger is toward anyone who would do this to animals,” said Steffen, a college student and artist who wrote a note accompanying her auction to explain it was artistic expression.
“I mean no harm to anyone involved with this auction,” she wrote.
Steffen’s cards join a collection of newly released items on sale. T-shirts are being sold online with slogans
that say “Ignorance Breeds Ignorance. Neuter Mike Vick,” and “ConVICKt” and others that show dogs urinating on footballs and jerseys.
A few fans also have released “Free Vick” shirts.
The St. Paul Saints, a minor league baseball team known for campy promotions, gave out Vick chew toys Tuesday to the first 15,000 fans with some game proceeds going to the Humane Society. Fans got the St. Paul pig mascot with a No. 7 printed on the back and a tag around its neck with Vick’s picture.
The Atlanta Humane Society also has reported former Vick fans mailing in jerseys — often accompanied by financial contributions and letters of outrage over the charges. Those former fans have suggested the Falcons jerseys become animal bedding or rags to help scrub up the messes that dogs leave behind. Other branches of the Humane Society have said they’ll take donated Vick items to resell on eBay.
Steffen said she hopes to bring more attention to the abuse of animals involved in dogfighting activities.
“The money donated to local shelters makes this whole idea of selling the cards worthwhile,” she said.

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 9:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sam Querrey, the blustry 19-year-old from Thousand Oaks, goes into next week's U.S. Open unseeded and in line to play sixth-seeded James Blake in a third-round matchup. Which, to John McEnroe, only makes sense.
"It's fitting because they seem to play each other in every tournament," said the CBS tennis analyst who'll be in Flushing, N.Y., to call the action the next two weeks.
Two weeks ago in Cincinnati, Querrey was happy with his performance in a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 loss to Blake in the quarterfinals. Three weeks before that, Querrey had 34 aces in a 7-6 (6), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4) win in the quarterfinals at Indianapolis -- Querrey's first win against a top 10 player.
"He's got a lot of game and the hardcourt is definitely his best surface," McEnroe said of Querrey. "The first six months of the year he stumbled while he was attempting to learn how to play on clay and grass, but he's found his game and he's letting it all hang out.
"He's dangerous. The question is how fit is he now? I saw him fade after two or three sets in the past. I suspect he's in better shape, but he needs to be to get past the third round and have any real chance."
When told that Querrey pulled out of the New Haven event this week so he could rest up for the U.S. Open, McEnroe called it "a good play for him. Since everyone else is doing it, he might as well join the lest and take a week to get fresh."
Mary Carillo, McEnroe's TV tennis foil, said she saw the rolicking Querrey-Blake match in Cincinnati played before more than 10,000 and had to laugh when Querrey was asked afterward what the biggest crowd he'd ever played before that night.
"Without a blink, he said, '8,242,' making up some bogus number," said Carillo, laughing. "He's got a nice vibe around him. He's very low key, but very funny and casual. It's like having a surfer on tour all of the sudden."
TV coverage of the U.S. Open starts Monday at 8 a.m. on USA Network, which is doing more than 100 hours (almost all live) over 12 days. CBS, with Dick Enberg as the main broadcaster, has 37 hours, mostly on the weekend afternoon events, including the men's final (Sept. 9) and women's final after the two men's semis (Sept. 8). As it did a year ago, DirecTV will expand on USA Network coverage with an an interactive package of outer-court matches during the first week that will exceed 300 hours of action and give viewers up to five live matches at a time.

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 1:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Don't worry if you can't make it out to the Angels' game tonight.
You can watch it not once, but twice, on FSN.
Along the lines of the experiment that FSN did the last two seasons in giving viewers the experience of how a Lakers game looks and sounds like from the courtside seat at Staples Center, FSN West will suppliment tonight's Angels-Blue Jays game (7 p.m.) with a feed on FSN Prime Ticket to show you what it's like if you were in the field-level premiere seats.
The benefit: You hear more. You see things closer. There's very few commercial breaks. The downside: You'll misjudge every fly ball hit. And the rats might feel like they're under your feet.
FSN will have seven cameras positioned low in the first row of seats, from the first base foul pole to the third base foul pole, to let you see and hear what it's like. (Note the game plan graphic provided above by FSN). Also, reporter Bill Macdonald will be followed with a hand-held camera to talk to fans in those seats whose view you're blocking. He'll also talk to grounds crew members, visit the Diamond Club, talk to GM Bill Stoneman in his suite, talk to PA announcer David Courtney, the game's official scorer .. even the National Anthem singer.
The interview we want: the guy who operates the fountains in center field.
One other note: If you go back and forth between FSN West and FSN Prime Ticket, the feed on the later will be on a delay -- that's to help the sound editors take out any, ahem, player profanity that the mikes might pick up.

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 11:05 AM | Permalink

Eric Gagne may have left the Texas Rangers' bullpen, but the team has managed to squeeze one more marketing gimmick out of the Dodgers.
They've gone to the dark side of an all-you-can-eat admission ticket.
A story in today's Dallas Morning News business section says the Rangers will test out the $29 eat-everything-in-sight ticket for Thursday's game against Seattle.
The story says the test run follows a program by the Dodgers, but has also been tried out by the Orioles, Braves and Royals.
It notes: The recent wave of all-inclusive tickets for average fans was launched last year by the Dodgers, which tested them in its $8-a-seat bleacher section at three games.
After working out a few kinks– long lines for drinks, for example – the team transformed the section into the AM/PM convenience store chain's All You Can Eat pavilion and bumped the price to $35 this year.
The pavilion, which seats 3,000, has been running about 75 percent full – up from less than 50 percent before food and drinks were included.
"It's been an overwhelming success," said Marty Greenspun, the Dodgers' chief operating officer.
The story also says: Mr. Greenspun declined to give details on how much customers typically consume on a given night but said, "Our concessionaire is happy."

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 1:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

AP Photo/Chris Carlson
Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani waves to the crowd during the Yankees-Angels game at Angels Stadium on Tuesday.

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 6:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We're not quite sure how a 5-4 kickball game instantly becomes a classic, but since the original game was probably not seen by the average spectator and shown only on Fox Sports Soccer channel and other network we're not aware of, ESPN Classic has decided to add last Saturday's Galaxy-New York Red Bulls contest as an "Instant Classic" to repeat Thursday at 4 p.m. It's the first MLS game to ever receive such a classy designation.
David Beckham played classically in all 90 minutes and had three assists in the game witnessed by some 66,000 at Giants Stadium. It was the 11th time in league history (that's 11 years) that two teams combined for at least nine goals. You'd only hope that'd happen more often.
There were three lead changes and three ties, for those scoring along at home.
The presentation of this game will end 30 minutes before ESPN2 carries the Galaxy-Chivas USA game from Home Depot Center (at 6:30 p.m.), which Beckham is scheduled to play in if his flight back from England isn't delayed. (And the same goes for Landon Donovan and Jonathan Bornstein, who are playing for Team USA in Sweden on Wednesday).
ESPN says Bob Ley will add come credibility by hosting an expanded 30-minute edition of MLS Primetime Thursday live from Home Depot Center. Dave O'Brien and Eric Wynalda call the game, with Lisa Salters and Allen Hopkins on the sidelines. The game is also on ESPN360.com.
Now, does anyone have tape of that game at Home Depot Center from a while back when Beckham scored his first goal?

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Among the early responses to today's multi-story Sex & Sports spread in today's Daily News, which included my column taking the side that we should feel guilty for marginalizing good-looking athletes, while Jill Painter took the side that if you've got it, flaunt it, in addition to a sidebar on Jessica Mendoza's encounter posing for Stuff magazine, the danger of web browsers on high school athletes and how gay-themed sites play things straight:

Gentlemen:
I am writing in regards to your articles on THE SEX APPEAL OF SPORTS. They both missed at least one important point of view: women objectifying male athletes. I personally love tennis and soccer and can't get enough of the
attractive guys involved with both sports. Of course, I have a blog relating to my interests and have found that "gay-themed" sites (like Kennethinthe212) have similar agendas in objectifying male athletes. Call it what you like; reverse-misogyny, reverse-sexism. As a feminist sports fan, I enjoy pointing out the sex appeal of male athletes, while respectfully appreciating the athletic talent of their female counterparts. The world has had enough of the objectification of women, and in turn, I have no shame in treating men like the eye-candy that they
are...
Cheers,
==Lady Hooligan Kat, Editor-in-Chief, Lady Hooligan.com and
http://ladyhooligan.blogspot.com

xxxxx

Here's an unproven fact that I wish I could bet a million dollars on: Take a bunch of overweight, unattractive women dressed or undressed, and you couldn't pay people to come and watch them play beach volleyball.
== Jack Berkus, Playa del Rey, CA

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 8:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sorry we're getting around to this a few days late, but if anyone's got a YouTube.com video exchange between Adam Carolla, subbing in on Tuesday for Jim Rome on "Jim Rome Is Burning" on ESPN, and Ryan Braun, the rookie third baseman of the Milwaukee Brewers out of Granada Hills High, we'd pay top dollar for it.
Braun, sitting with a earpiece at an empty stadium and staring into a camera, tried to be polite as possible with Carolla, the wise acre best known around here for his early-morning radio show on KLSX-AM 93.1, the former co-host of "Love Line" on KROQ-AM 106.7 and one of the few we even recognize at the Dodgers' Hollywood Stars Night. But with Carolla, who was forced to wing it with the sports questions, the scrunched-up, Gilbert Godfried look he gave when listening to the stock answers provided by Braun, whose real claim to fame has been his home-run hitting prowess (which was never discussed), the priceless moments are the follow-up questions when it was obvious he was quickly bored with the whole process and wanted to take the discussion into a new direction.
Until you see the video, here are some of the highlights of the five-minute interivew, which came after Carolla had a rant about what the Seattle Sonics' name should be if the franchise moves to Oklahoma City, and before another rant about why some of today's major leaguers lather up their helmets in pine tar, or pull their pants up to look "like kids selling newspapers in the '30s":
AC: Congratulations on your really short stint in major league baseball, how long you been up, you got called up in May?
RB: Yeah, actually got called up May 25 and been up here ever since.
AC: And, uh ... what's your batting average? Two-fifty-some-odd?
RB: Yeah, something like that. As long as we're winning I'm not concerned with my individual success.
AC: Riiiiiight. 'Cause the coach may be watching. You worry about you. And here's the way I look at it. And I'd tell everyone in the dugout the same thing: If we all worry about hitting .400 then we're gonna win, so don't worry about the next guy. Forget this team sport crap. It's all about you, Ryan.
RB: (Nervous laugh) Yeah, I mean it definitely is an individual sport to a certain extent because obviously the better you do on an individual basis will help the team win, so if everybody focuses on themselves I think the team will be allright.
(So now Carolla has Braun buying into the "me-first" concept, and Braun seems to spin it right)
AC: Well now, uh, the Brewers haven't seen much success in about 24 years ... since '83 I guess was the last time they made the playoffs ... or '82, they say in my ear ... like it makes a difference... the point is, it's been a dry spell, right? So you were like, what, in Pampers the last time they went ... somewhere....?
RB: Actually I wasn't born yet at that time.
AC: You make me sick, you really do. Speaking of being born, we're both from the San Fernando Valley. I'm from North Hollywood, I hear you're from Granada Hills ...
RB: Yes, born and raised in Granada Hills, went to Granada Hills High School.
AC: Ummm-hummmmm. And, uh ... we didn't cross paths or anything did we? We didn't have the same girlfriends or stand next to each other in the same urnal in Van Nuys or anything like that?
RB: Not that I recall, but it's definitely a possibility.
(Ryan now looks like he's trying to roll with this, but without the face-to-face, it's becoming more littered with awkward pauses).

AC: Yeah ... now Elway went to Granada right?
(Carolla now seems as if he's run out of any interest)
RB: Yeah, he played football and baseball at Granada Hills High and our football stadium is actually named after him.
AC: Reeeeeeallllllly. That must be nice ... they named the landfill after me in my hometown of North Hollywood. ... a fitting tribute.
RC: (awkward laugh)
AC: When the season is over, do you stay in beautiful Milwaukee or do you head back to the San Fernando Valley?
RB: I think I'll be back in LA with the season ends.
AC: We could go out and party ...
(This now sounds like some meeting in a bar between two guys bored out of their minds).
RB: I'm in, I'm in, you let me know.
AC: You could bring that Rookie of the Year trophy everywhere, I'd mount it on the hood of my convertable LeBarron, we'd go out cruisin' for chicks.

RB: I'm in, I'm in, you let me know and I'll be there.
AC: What's it like being a rookie in 'The Show'?
RB: It's exciting, you know. It's kind of like everything I've looked forward to in my baseball career. It's a dream come true and for me, it's special to have an opportunity to be on a winning team and be competing for a post-season berth right now. It's definitely been a lot of fun.
AC: It's nice for you because you've been there a few months and all you do is win where you have a lot of veterans in the clubhouse who are used to ... possibly not being in the place where you guys are in at this time of the season ...
RB: Right, yeah, since I've been up here we've won quite a few games and we look forward to continuing to do that and play consistent baseball and ultimately get into the playoffs at the end of the season.
AC: How 'bout the Milwaukee fans?
RB: The fans have been very supportive ... excited about the position we're in and they're looking forward to supporting us the rest of the way and hopefully getting us to the postseason.
(Now, you'd think would come Carolla asking if he's seen the movie "Mr. 3000" and whether he gets along with Bernie Mac, but he takes it another direction)
AC: Now how cool is it you get to play for the one team that's named after making beer?
RB: It's pretty cool. I don't think anyone else has that opportunity. For us, it's pretty special.
(Braun, again, isn't sure how to answer these questions with the pat answers he's been tought to spit out, but he continues to try, God bless him.).
AC: Yeah, there's no way the league would let you get away with that any more. You know, if you had a new team, you couldn't call them the Distilled Spirits or anything like that. You'd have to call 'em the Throw Pillows or the Pin Cushions. You just wouldn't get a cool name like the Brewers. ... But, uh ...
RC: Yeah (looks up into the empty stadium over the camera, possibly for a signal that this will end soon)...
AC: Sorry, go ahead ...
RC: Naw, yeah, we might be the last ones. One of the dying breed of teams named after beer companies, so it's pretty cool.
AC: Ummm, hummmmm.... and ... you realize I'm serious about us hanging out in the San Fernando Valley when you're done winning the Rookie of the Year honors, right?
RB: I'm all for it. We can definitely get together.
AC: You, uh, think you guys are gonna make a good run here in the stretch and make the playoffs?
(Maybe that was a question fed by the guy talking in his ear, but Ryan really answered that with a stock reply minutes ago).
RB: Yeah, that's definitely our goal. I think we know what we need to do to get to where we need to be so for us it's just a matter of consistency and coming out and playing well and giving ourselves an opportunity to win every day.
(Did he steal that line from Nook LaLoosh from "Bull Durham"?)
AC: Any predictions, any promises ... (then RB's answer sinks in) ... Of course it's your goal to make the playoffs! It's my goal to make the playoffs and I'm not even in the league! I want a prediction. Give me a promise.
(I promise never to come on this show again .... how's that?)
RB: My promise is we'll go out there and work hard every day and give ourselves an opportunity to win as often as possible and ultimately I like our chances.
(TV screen pulls quickly back to a two-shot, with AC on the right)
AC: Thank you Ryan. Good luck to you guys.
(Commercial)
------
Have a read of the Ryan Braun story that appeared in last Sunday's Daily News ...

We look forward, by the way, to the movie based somewhat on Carolla's life called "The Hammer," which appeared at the '07 Tribeca Film Festival and has received some positive reviews. For more info, visit the official movie website, or the Hammer's My Space site.

Posted by Tom Hoffarth at 2:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If we had Jerry Yang's money -- and sorry if we forgot the spoiler alert, since ESPN hasn't started showing the Main Event of the 2007 World Series of Poker until next week -- we're start our own televised Go Fish Tour and sell it to the Learning Channel as the next hottest "sports" property.
Until then, as we explained in today's Daily News media column and notebook, we're content with holding out for something more competitive. Suduku anyone?
Here's some more media notes as we try to decide whether to hold 'em, fold 'em, walk away, or run:

== World Series of Poker commissioner Jeffrey Pollack, whose background of working in the NBA and NASCAR really didn't prepare him for this newest gig, had a good laugh when I asked him about why people on ESPN keep watching re-run after re-run of his WSOP events, not even caring what year it took place or know who won?
"Look at the success of any syndicated show, whether its a drama or comedy. People aren’t afraid to watch things over and over when they know the outcome. Traditionally, sports is best consumed live, like election results. Obviously, with an ESPN Classic, there's a market for reliving great moments. What’s interesting to the World Series of Poker is that we're taking an event that goes 10, 12 sometimes 14 hours long, condensing it and telling a story in a way that's evergreen. That's the best way to describe it as TV content. You can watch stories of the players that are always told in an entertaining way and restudy how players playeda certain event. For poker players, it's always instructive and a compelling product."
And for mainstream viewers, isn't there a chance of overkill?
"There's some truth to thatk. It's not something to be happy about, but when you watch the shows this year, there's a difference in how it's presented so you'll know it's not from past years. I have some concern with being over-exposed. Our interests with ESPN are aligned. Neither want it overexposed, but always to embrace an evergreen property.
"All that said, in online world, we've experimented with live broadband coverage of some final tables and hole card cameras, and it was successful. There’s a future for us in live coverage of the World Series. We did those pay-per-view shows of the last two finals, even on the Internet. And if ESPN turned to me tomorrow and said, 'We'll go live with the final on ESPN2 for however long it takes,' we'd be thrilled. But you've got to be a real fan to watch for 10-plus hours."
Whatever the ratings are for these shows, it shouldn't matter about the WSOP's success, right?
"One of the things I leanred from David Stern is we can't be in the ratings business," said Pollack, who splits time between Las Vegas at his office in Harrah's and his Los Angeles home. "That's for the TV partner to focus on. But I also learned that when you play on a certain stage, there's a couple of realities. Ratings come and go, as well as attendance. But having a committment to the long haul, you'll be fine. I expect ups and downs. We have a 38-year history that no other poker property does. Everyone else is a startup. We operate strategically. Would we prefer ratings to always be up? Sure, but they're not going to be for anyone. We're just pleased to be part of ESPN and hope to be for the next 50 years."

==For a history of the WSOP on ESPN and beyond -- it actually was on CBS back in the day, with Jimmy The Greek Snyder as the host, check out this link and scroll down to see who else has hosted it in the past.

==GSN, otherwise known as the Game Show Network, starts its fourth season of High Stakes Poker hosted by Gabe Kaplan, on Monday at 9 p.m. Players such as Doyle Brunson, Jennifer Harman, Phil "Unabomber" Laak, Daniel Negreanu and Jamie Gold put up $100,000 of their own cash -- no Monopoly money -- in a cutthroat game of Texas Hold'em.

==Norman Chad, secure in his career these days as a poker colorman/quipper for ESPN, has a few choice words for sportswriters who are trying to make a living on TV as talking heads with his latest syndicated column. "We've gone from minor nuisance to cultural menace," Chad writes. "If ESPN got out of the sports business tomorrow, half of America's top sports columnists would have to send their children back to public schools."

Read on ....

==It sure looks as if the Dodgers, who haven't committed yet past this season on a radio flagship station, are trying to gauge the fans' interest on what options there might be by slipping a question into a current internet survey that some may have been e-mailed through signing into the Dodgers.com Website.
In a 19-question survey that asks fans what they like to eat at the ballpark, where they buy their tickets and when they'd like games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to starttries to find out where fans buy their tickets, Question 5 reads: "Which radio station do you listen to most often?" The choices, in this order, are:
-KSPN 710AM
-KIIS 102.7 FM
-KROQ 106.7 FM
-JACK 93.1 FM
-POWER 106.1 FM
-KFWB 980 (without identifying it as an AM station, or the current team's rights holder)
-KLAC 570 (also, no inclusion of the AM band)
For each, you have the choice to say: Never, once a month, once a week, several times a week, every day.
Think these are the order of preference the team would like as far as an option? Is the FM stuff just included to throw off the scent or really a fact-finding mission to see how it would work? We'd honestly love hearing a baseball game on the FM frequency, with all the stereo sound. Stay tuned, as they say...

==Dodgers play-by-play man Charley Steiner helped make the sixth inning of Tuesday’s Dodgers-Houston game more enjoyable. While the Astros were putting together a six-run rally with six singles en route to their victory, Steiner reflected on the passing of Phil Rizzuto, the long-time New York Yankees broadcaster who died at 89 on Tuesday morning:
“Scotter was a piece of work," said Steiner, a Yankees radio broadcaster for two seasons before he joined the Dodgers in 2005, and a Brooklyn native. "He’d leave the game in the seventh inning to beat the traffic. I met him in 1983 while doing the New Jersey Generals of the USFL on local radio. He came into the press box and said, ‘You huckleberry,” and I felt like a made man. He was a warm, lovely human being and it’s a very sad day. He was one of the voices I grew up with. A little bit of our youth passed away. I’ll admit it was tough."
For a look at Phil Rizzuto's famous Baseball Hall of Fame acceptance speech, which has to be one of the more classics, go to this Hall of Fame website video.

==An ABC five-part series called “NASCAR in Primetime,” which debuted this week and has another eposide coming up Aug. 22, has already raised some red flags as to whether this is just an extended promotion of the sport that’s being carried now on the network as well as Disney partner ESPN, or if there’s something worth showing Tony Stewart and his pals in a prime-time summer slot. USA Today TV Critic Robert Bianco called the show “an extended commercial for ABC's NASCAR coverage. No doubt the network will see some short-term ratings gains. ... It's hard to find executives these days who worry about the long term.”

==Fox Sports took the liberty of televising its NFL talent meetings in New York on Tuesday and putting it as a live webcast, the remnants of which are still on the website under the title of a "Preseason Special" hosted by Chris Myers. One of the highlights was a roundtable discussion previewing each conference, and by the time it got around to Tony Siragusa, we were more than amused by his assessment of the AFC North, despite the fact the video kept freezing up and the audio kept cutting out.
First, Saragusa held up a hand-made sign promoting his website, Goosesribs.com, a mail-order meat store that we gotta check out before our next tailgate. Siragusa then started an assessment on his former team, the Baltimore Ravens: "The offense is nonexistent ... Kyler (sic) Boller .... not good. Good lookin' guy, but can't get it done... Offense sucks. As for Pittsburgh, you got Doogie Howser as the new coach. Cleveland ... Brady Quinn. Went to Notre Dame so he must be smart. Also gotta hot sister. She's in the media more than him. I think I'd give Cleveland a shot. Call me way out there, but it could happen. ... Cincinnati ... best thing that happened to them was Michael Vick getting arrested. I've been on the show, 'Scared Straight,' and they scare the shit out of me." Myers then apologized to the audience for Saragusa's language. We were OK with it.

==Fox's assortment of NFL broadcasting teams has a slight twist this season. With Joe Buck and Troy Aikman slotted as the top twosome, and scheduled to do the Super Bowl in February, Dick Stockton has been moved to a team with Brian Baldinger, and Kenny Albert will pair up with Moose Johnston on what is effectly the No. 2 team.

==And Fox's announcement Thursday that Ryan Seacrest will take part in the network's coverage of the Super Bowl in February isn't really news, is it? Apparently some are getting all sweaty about the "American Idol" host doing some cross promotion.
Seacrest's role will be to provide commentary on the entertainment portions of the program and interview
celebrities who attend the game.
“The Super Bowl has grown to become a landmark holiday on the American calendar, attracting not only the sports world, but the biggest stars in music and entertainment,” Fox Sports TV Group chairman David Hill said. “Naturally, we’d like our broadcast to reflect that growth, so we’ve
expanded our pregame lineup beyond the realm of sports.”

==There are 10 inventors left on the Golf Channel's "For Inventors Only" series, and starting with Tuesday's episode (7 p.m.), they'll be on the fast track toward elimination again as their products are field tested even more. The 10 survivors are:
Gyro Swing: A swing training aid that utilizes a gyroscope motor attached to the end of a club shaft that automatically places the club on plane. Inventor: Larry Kelly, Brighton, Mich.
Shaft Skinz: A form of shrink wrap that fits around the shaft of a golf club to add color and graphics. Inventor: Martin Greeves, Dromore, Northern Ireland.
Hill Shot Golf Trainer: A sloped hitting tee used for practicing uphill, downhill and side hill lies. Inventor: Brandi and Larry Koch, Prospect, Ky.
Club Glider: A golf travel bag that integrates extendable legs with caster wheels, making the bag easy to push or pull. The wheels fold back into a locked position for easy travel. Inventor: Gary Sherrell, Maple Valley, Wash.
Z-Factor Perfect Putting Machine: A portable putter training aid that guides the user through proper path, face, angle and pendulum swing of the putter. Inventor: Dean Thompson, Boise, Idaho.
Clean and Drop Club Cleaning Towel: A three-in-one golf towel that cleans and dries golf balls and clubs. Inventors: David Cotton and Vincent Brookins, Cleveland, Ohio.
Strike ‘N Swipe: Reusable impact tape for golf clubs. The impact tape resets when golfers run their fingers over it after hitting a golf shot. Inventor: Victor Camaj, Highland, Mich.
Club Caddie: A clip that that resembles a clothes pin that attaches to a golf club around the green allowing it to become free-standing in an upright position. Inventor: David Jones, Martinez, Ga.
Power Stance: A multi-faceted golf training aid consisting of a foot-retaining head and platform, formed from high density plastic into one unit. Inventor: Joe Pagano, Rochester, N.Y.
Pro Play Golf Performance System: A small digital recording device that can be used on the golf course to record golf swings for instant feedback. Inventors: Marcus Bohn, Chandler, Ariz., and Tim Kipley, McKinney, Texas
These 10 next meet with Bob Circosta of the Home Shopping Network, and with Chelsea Scott, a celebrity sales trainer, to see how each can pitch their products, on the next episode. After the Aug. 28 episode, the final five finalists will be picked, and voting starts online to pick the winner on Sept. 4.
By the way, the Golf Channel website is already taking applications for "Fore Inventors Only 2," the sequel, which doesn't have an air date yet.

==CBS and GolfDigest.com will co-host a live one-hour interactive TV quiz show called "Rules of the Game," which goes for a test run on Saturday at 1 p.m. from Orlando, Fla., following the network's third-round coverage of the PGA's Wyndham Championships. The purpose is to see how much the viewer knows about golf rules, such as the penalty for asking your opponent about his club selection, accidentally tapping a ball during a tee-box waggle or what the options are for landing on a bridge. Viewers log on to www.GolfDigest.com and play along while witching TV, then see how they ranked versus othe rplayers. The show, hosted by Bill Macatee and Bobby Clampett, is produced by Burbank-based Juma Entertainment in conjunction with the editors of Golf Digest.

==The Skins Game, that Thanksgiving weekend TV staple that used to draw the likes of Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Gary Player, Phil Mickelson, Nick Faldo, Raymond Floyd, Tom Kite, Paul Azinger, Vijay Singh, Colin Montgomerie, the late Payne Stewart, Greg Norman, Mark O’Meara, Tom Lehman, Fuzzy Zoeller, John Daly, Sergio Garcia and even Annika Sorenstam in its previous 24 incarnations. have secured the services of Fred Couples, Stephen Ames, Zach Johnson and Brett Wetterich form the field at Indian Wells this Nov. 24 and 25 on ABC. Tickets will start going on sale at www.indianwells.com on Sept. 4, if you can wait that long.

==Turner Sports says its operation of live PGA Championship coverage on PGA.com last weekend saw 2 million total video streams, a 116 percent increase over last year. With 165 million page views, it was the most traffic the site had seen for any major. During Thursday's opening round, PGA.com set a record for single-day traffic in page views with more than 41 million, up 194% from last year.

==CBS ended up with a 6.2 rating and 14 share for Sunday's final round of the PGA Championship, down 11.4 percent from 7.0/16 last year. Tiger Woods won both events.

==Tiki Barber makes his first NBC appearance on halftime of the network's N.Y. Giants-Baltimore NFL braodcast on Sunday (5 p.m.) with Al Michaels and John Madden. Barber hooks up with Bob Costas and Cris Collinsworth at halftime.

==The Breeders’ Cup Challenge and its “Win and You’re In” format, where a race winner automatically qualifies for the $23 million Breeders’ Cup World Championships, will include the $1 million Pacific Classic (where Lava Man tries to follow up on victories at the Santa Anita Handicap and Hollywood Gold Cup), the $200,000 Pat O'Brien Handicap and the $300,000 Del Mar Mile Handicap on Sunday at 4 p.m. on ESPN from Del Mar. Kenny Mayne will host it, with Jerry Bailey as the main analyst.

== Marc Fein, the senior VP of programming and production for Versus, said it in a press release informing us all that the network's schedule for the upcoming season was going to be East Coast-heavy and try to start as many telecasts at 4 p.m. PDT/7 p.m. EDT as possible: "In the network's third year as the exclusive cable television home of the NHL, we worked closely with the league to deliver a schedule that features the best match-ups and most exciting games to continue building off the momentum of last year’s 31-percent increase in viewership during the regular season. With our superior production quality, all games produced and available in hi def, along with first-rate announce teams and the addition of veteran sports broadcaster Bill Patrick as the host of ‘Hockey Central,’ Versus' coverage this season will be the best viewers have ever seen." As a reference point, going back to our previous blog item on it (and note the comments from readers) the Kings-Ducks game on Sunday, Sept. 30 will be carried on Versus at 9 a.m. But the Ducks have only three more appearances after that on the 57-game schedule -- despite winning the Stanley Cup -- and the Kings have none. The only West Coast game is a 7 p.m. start in Vancouver on the final night of the season. NBC is willing to secure the Ducks for only one game as well. If the NHL consisted of Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston and the New York Rangers, apparently all of TV would be happy, and Comcast, which owns Versus and the Flyers, would be even more estatic.

==For a look at the latest changes on ESPN.com, and an interview with new boss Rob King, a former newspaperman who wants fewer opinion pieces and more video, the Sports Business Journal has this story. King says his first big hiring move was convincing Howard Bryant to leave The Washington Post to become a senior writer for the site. He starts Aug. 20, writing columns and long-form narrative.
ESPN announced Bryant's arrival, as well as former L.A. Times columnist J.A. Adande, to ESPN.com with a press release that had the headline:
"Award-Winning Journalists J.A. Adande and Howard Bryant Join ESPN.com"
Bryant's bio reads: Formerly of The Washington Post, Bryant covered general sports and the Washington Redskins for the newspaper and its online site since November 2005. Prior to his tenure at the Post, was a general columnist for the Boston Herald, covered the Oakland A's for the San Jose Mercury News and the New York Yankees for the Bergen Record (NJ). He has won numerous awards including the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) award for best game story (Game 7, 2001 World Series). Bryant has also written or contributed to multiple books, including: Juicing the Game: Drugs, Power, and the Fight for the Soul of Major League Baseball; Shut Out: A Story of Race and Baseball in Boston (for which he won the Casey Award for best baseball book of 2002 and was a SABR Seymour Medal finalist); The Dodgers (Contributor); Red Sox Century (Contributor); The Good City (Contributor); Thinking Black (Contributor) and Yankees Century (Contributor).
And Adande's bio reads: "A nationally-known columnist and writer, most recently for the Los Angeles Times, Adande is already well-known to many ESPN viewers for his role as a panelist on ESPN’s Around The Horn. In addition to his writing for ESPN.com, he will continue in the Around The Horn role, and expand his responsibilities as an commentator for ESPN. Adande received his Bachelor of Science degree from the Madill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and his journalism career has spanned 17 years. He has covered every major pro championship, every major college bowl game, the Final Four, the Masters, Wimbledon and the Olympics, and his work has appeared in the "Best American Sports Writing" series. He first started work at the Los Angeles Times as an intern with the Westside edition in 1990 and continued his internships at The San Bernardino Sun and The Washington Post in 1991 and The Miami Herald in 1992. He became a full-time staff writer for The Chicago Sun-Times, where he covered Illinois football and basketball and the Chicago Bulls. In 1994, he returned to The Washington Post as a staff writer where he covered college football, college basketball (including Allen Iverson’s Georgetown University teams) and the Washington Bullets. In 1997, he returned to the Los Angeles Times to become a sports columnist for the paper's Orange County edition. In 1998, his column began running in all editions. Adande's assignments at the Los Angeles Times included the Olympic Games, Wimbledon, the Super Bowl, the NCAA Final Four, the NBA, Major League Baseball and 2006 FIFA World Cup."
Go back to that headline again from ESPN. Did you see anything in Adande's bio about being "award winning?"

==Over at FoxSports.com, which recently added comedian Jay Mohr to its columnist stable, Kansas City Star columnist Jason Whitlock has been hired as a general columnist. Whitlock, one of the sub hosts on Jim Rome's syndicated radio show this week, left ESPN about a year ago in a huff and had been writing for AOL.com since then.

==Sirius Satellite Radio will give New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush some airtime once a week on its NFL Channel 124 starting in early September. His reports are to air every Wednesday at 2:15 p.m. PDT during “The Afternoon Blitz” show.

==The Society of Professional Journalists is asking its photographer members who cover the NFL to "hide corporate logos emblazoned on red vests" that the league requires media to wear. The SPJ says it has been told by NFL spokesman Greg Aiello that it will not require photographers to display the logos for Canon and Reebok, and no action will be taken against them if they cover up the logos. However, Aiello said "the NFL would prefer that journalists not hide the logos, which are small and not intended to give Canon and Reebok more media exposure." Christine Tatum, the SPJ national president, said in a statement: "Self-respecting journalists will cover those logos before they allow themselves to become walking billboards for the NFL. The NFL is giving everyone a wink-wink solution when it instead should demonstrate respect for the importance of a free and inde