It's Costas, now ... no, really, now ... well, almost now ... now enough

Those otherwise stuffy town-hall settings never get boring, especially if Buzz Bissinger is in town. So HBO will do it again, with Bob Costas as the moderator, for the season-ender of "Costas Now" which is live in some parts (tonight, 9 p.m.), with many replays through Jan. 8.

Buzz, however, won't be lurking around this time to create media buzz.

And, if you look at the definition of a true town-hall meeting, doesn't the audience get a chance to participate? Must be the HBO version of this genre that doesn't play well into that false advertising.

The biggest stories of the year will be discussed by a panel in a 90-minute sprint, including:

== Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora and Rodney Harrison, on the New York Giants' Super Bowl win over the unbeaten New England Patiots.

== Michael Phelps, Dara Torres and Nastia Liukin on the Summer Olympics.

== Rocco Mediate and Tiger Woods (via satellite from Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks), on the U.S Open at Torrey Pines.

==Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard and Scott Kazmir on the Philllies-Rays World Series.

==Charles Barkley, on whatever he wants to talk about. Isn't that always a treat?