June 2010 Archives

The cover of this week's June 28 Sports Illustrated will have Kobe Bryant -- he of the five-time NBA championships and two-time NBA Finals MVP awards -- having to answer the question: What's next?

Bryant, making his 15th appearance on the SI cover (tied for 10th most of all time, for what that's worth), needs Phil Jackson if he wants a sixth ring and a three-peat, senior writer Lee Jenkins writes.

"As the clock ticked down on (Game 7), every Laker stood except Jackson. Finally, he rose and ambled to midcourt, exchanging a few embraces. Usually when a coach wins a title he can't get an inch of personal space. But the 64-year-old Jackson stood alone for a solid 10 seconds, staring into the upper bowl, savoring what he had wrought. He recognizes, even after 11 of these things, that each one could be his last. Jackson has said that he'll decide this week whether to return to the Lakers. 'I think this is it,' (daughter) Chelsea says. 'I think he's done now.' "

Jackson also tells Jenkins:

"I'm reticent to use this analysis, but you talk to guys who come back from the war and they miss being in the war. They go back and re-enlist because they miss that total immersion of life."

Also: The issue includes a story by Selena Roberts on Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, which asks him about his knowledge of what brought down USC's football program before he left it:

"Listen, what we know now is different from what we knew then. Reggie Bush wasn't Reggie Bush when he was a sophomore (in 2004). Now you look back -- the second pick in the draft, a Super Bowl champion -- but he was competing for a job as a sophomore. People ask, 'Why wouldn't you have known this or that; why didn't you anticipate this or foresee that?' He wasn't that Reggie Bush then."

OK with that answer?

Although the biggest headliner for the 52nd annual Hollywood Stars game at Dodger Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 7 could turn out to be Stephen Strashburg -- he may draw the start for the Washington Nationals against the Dodgers in the "real" game later that night -- the team seems to be intent on getting some of its A-list celebs back on the field.

While Dodger fans have been used to seeing more the likes of James Van Der Beek, Carlos Mencia and Tony Danza as the headliners in recent years, so far committed to this year's contest are Billy Crystal, Joe Mantegna, Jon Hamm, Rob Reiner, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kevin James, Jack Black, Garry Marshall, Thomas Jane and Sean Astin.

Even better: They've ditched the softball format and are going back to the hardball game from years ago.

Maybe that'll get Jon Lovitz to actually pay for a ticket and watch from his baseline box seats.

Interesting, the team lists Jane for his role in the HBO series "Hung," rather than playing the part of Mickey Mantle in Crystal's movie "61*."

In Hollywood, you've got to ID these people as they're known to the crowd, and not the baseball establishment. James, obviously, is a well "Hung" star.

More on the Cooperstown collection of photos, memories and mysteries in the coming days. Landed back in L.A. a few hours ago and in the process of reassembling things.

Two things about the Tuesday night TV land adventures:

== "The Two Escobars," part of ESPN's "30 For 30" documentary series, directed and producted by Jeff and Michael Zimbalist, debuting today at 6 p.m. on ESPN (right after the "World Cup Primetime" show).

We caught this at a special ESPN Zone screening a few weeks back and still get chills thinking about it. On June 22, 1994 U.S.-Columbia World Cup game at the Rose Bowl -- exactly 16 years ago -- Columbian captain Andres Escobar had the own-goal that led to the U.S. victory. And led to his demise when he returned home.

It also effectively cut the countries' ties with the sport of football. Columbia hasn't been back to a World Cup since that time when drug lords were the chief financiers of keeping not just the local players from defecting to stronger countries, but also buying other players to play for Columbia's team. The sport was known as "narco-soccer" in the underworld, with drug baron Pablo Escobar (no relation to Andres) starting the business model for how this would operate, and thrive, through fear and death and execution.

"A triumph ... few movies have better documented both the good and bad of sports," said a reviewer for The Associated Press, after the doc was presented at the recent Tribeca Film Festival, Cannes and the Los Angeles Film Festival.

You not only get to hear what happened leading to Andres Escobar's death -- he went out to a night club and got into an argument with some drunks who shot him in his car -- but how the country reacted to it, starting with his sister, Maria, teammates, friends and coaches. The conclusion seems to be: If Pablo Escobar were alive, Andres Escobar would be as well. They were killed by the same people.

It's a new way to think of how a soccer game ends with a shootout.

The doc (linked here) repeats Saturday at 7 p.m. on ESPN Classic and July 1 at 10:30 p.m. on ESPN2. There are three more showing later in July.

Also if you missed it, the "30 For 30" documentary called "June 17, 1994," about what happened in sports the day the O.J. Simpson freeway chase occured, reairs on June 30 at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.

== Episode No. 159 of "Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel" airs at 10 p.m. on HBO, looking back on the perfect game from the Oakland A's Dallas Braden (with Frank Deford), a feature on Welsh rugby national team member Gareth Thomas and his life now as an openly gay man, a report on racism that still exists in professional soccer (from Gumbel) and a feature on how Brownsville, Tex., has become the place for young chess champions to thrive (from Mary Carillo).

Gumbel closes the show with this commentary:

"Finally tonight, a few words about this year's World Cup. I confess that I love everything about it, particularly, those aspects that many Americans are whining about.

"Lastly, I love that at the World Cup, there are sporting people representing cultures from all over the world and befitting grownups, not a one of them seems obsessed with what conference Texas plays in, whether Brett Favre ever comes back, or where LeBron James ultimately goes. At least we've one pocket of sanity, if only for two more weeks."

About as sane as how soccer used to be in Columbia.

You saw them enough of them during the NBA Finals -- Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, David Spade, Rob Schneider and Kevin James, going improv about basketball-related stuff, wearing the home-team jerseys -- trying to pitch their new movie, "Grown Ups," to anyone who finds comedy material in basketball.

Because funny sells.

There is a basketball foundation to the movie that finally hits theatres Friday, albeit a stretch. These are five grown-ups who played on a church-league hoop team long ago and won a championship. They're reconnecting after attending their coach's funeral. And, before you know it, they're being challenged to play together again to defend their honor.

That's about as much as they'll stretch it.

Sandler said originally it was going to be a high school team that they played on together, but it was easier to sell it to the audience as a group of smaller kids as players.

"Sixth grade was a big time in my childhood," said Sandler.

They seem to have convinced their female co-stars that they've got game. During a recent press junket in Agoura Hills, actress Maria Bello, who plays Sally Lemonsoff, the wife of James' Eric Lemonsoff (and has a breast-feeding scene, according to the trailer above), said she thought Sandler was by far the best baller of the group.

"I think he could be a professional," she said. "He almost beat my 9-year-old."

Sandler's wife in the movie, played by Salma Hayak, probably does not concur.

There's enough of a sports slant that Mark Ellis was hired as the "sports coordinator" for this, based on his work in "Just Wright," "Tooth Fairy," "We Are Marshall," "The Benchwarmers," "Semi-Pro," "The Longest Yard," "Coach Carter," "Miracle," "Mr. 3000," "Varsity Blues," "Summer Catch," "The Rookie," "The Water Boy," "Jerry Maguire" and "Any Given Sunday." To name a few.

Ellis' assistant on this one was former UCLA and Clippers guard Pooh Richardson, who, according to Spade, taught the stand-ins the plays that would be run on the court, then had the actors replicate it for their scenes.

"And then I'd do it wrong, and they'd say, 'Dude, were you watching?'" said Spade.

Dan Patrick has a role in the film: Norby the Ride Guy. Can't explain more than that, except that he is at a water park.

One more sports angle to this: Director Dennis Dugan admits that when they were filming "Grown Ups" last year, his son, Kelly Dugan, the former Notre Dame High of Sherman Oaks switch-hitting outfielder, was drafted in the second round of the 2009 selection. The first pick of the Philadelphia Phillies, 75th overall, got a $485,000 signing bonus, bypassing a chance to play at Pepperdine.

Kelly held a press conference and signed his contract on the set that day back in Boston while the cast wore Phillies' hats. He played in the Phillies' Gulf Coast rookie-league team last season.

"He's in (high Single-A) Clearwater now and going up to Pennsylvania (at Double-A Reading) or New Jersey (Double-A Reading) soon, the next level up, doing great, batting about .310 now and figuring out the pro game," said Dennis Dugan. "(Being a baseball dad) is the best. It's kind of the same as like casting in Hollywood. You can prove your worth there with actual statistics.

"Their philosophy is to train their No. 1 pick to be a major leaguer no matter how long it takes. If he's hit by a pitch, they'll sit him down for a week. He's had a groin strain, they want him to be the real deal and will be very careful with him."

Maybe when Kelly Dugan moves up in the chain, the MLB Network scoutniks will figure out what Dennis Dugan is all about (linked here).

Highlights of the week ahead in sports, both here and afar:

MONDAY

Tennis: Wimbledon, first round, 3:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., ESPN:

Starts today, ends July 4. Great, if you're an American thinking of making a splash on the Fourth of July (i.e., Andy Roddick). Or if you're a streaker. Best news about the event so far: Vuvuzelas have been banned. Ian Ritchie, the tennis club's top exec, issued a statement Thursday saying spectators would not be allowed to bring in any noise-making devices that have annoyed so many watching the World Cup. "Out of courtesy to the players and their fellow spectators, we make a point of asking spectators not to bring items which could either cause a distraction or interfere with the enjoyment of the occastion," the statement said. "Rattles, klaxons and vuvuzelas all fall into that category ... Our messsage is do not bring them in the first place." The official website (linked here) can tell you much more. And it's all in English.

TUESDAY

MLB: Dodgers at Angels, Angel Stadium, 7 p.m., Channel 9, FSW:

The Angels' new homestand actually runs parallel to Wimbledon -- it's 12 games in a row at Anaheim ending on the Fourth of July. In the first phase of Freeway Series last weekend, the Angels took all three at Dodger Stadium. Don't expect the table to turn here. The Angels haven't been swept in a series at home since June 2007.

WEDNESDAY

FIFA World Cup: U.S. vs. Algeria, 7 a.m., ESPN:

Algerian culture is rich in proverbs. Such as: "If you want the object to be solid, mold it out of your own clay." And: "None but a mule denies his origin." And: "The iron is struck while it is hot." That last one may pertain to having a hot striker ironing out any problem a team could have.

MLB: Dodgers at Angels, Angel Stadium, 7 p.m., Prime, FSW:

John Ely, bounced around in his last outing against the Angels, and at Cincinnati, has his spot in the rotation come up again for the Dodgers.

THURSDAY

NBA draft, 4 p.m., ESPN:

At a site called NBADraft.net (linked here), not to be confused with any official league internet desination, the Clippers' No. 8 overall pick will be wasted on someone named Luke Babbitt, a 6-foot-9 foward from Nevada, the Lakers will take two non-descript players with their two second-round choices (or trade them away, as they've done in the past), and outside of Washington's Quincy Pondexter, who could go to the Washington Wizards in the second round, there won't be a Pac-10 player picked. So there you go.

WNBA: Sparks at Washington, 4 p.m.:

The Sparks could have as many picks in the NBA draft as the Lakers. Their road trip continues in Atlanta on Sunday.

MLB: Dodgers at Angels, Angel Stadium, 7 p.m., Prime, FSW:

It's the last meeting between the I-5 rivals, but what if this L.A. vs. that L.A. played 18 times a year, in the same division, nastiness building on a monthly basis instead of just six interleague tiffs crammed into the schedule so early as to not make much of a difference by the end of September. "It's been floated around," Dodgers manager Joe Torre admitted recently. Torre and Angels manager Mike Scioscia are both involved in commissioner Bud Selig's Special Committee of On-Field Matters. "The passion is here," Torre agreed. "(The rivalries) are different, but not one better than the other. Even if it's more laid back here, (the matchup) is still No. 1 on their lists." It could be part of an All-California Division, right? "It sure would be much easier for travel and seem to make a lot more sense," Torre agreed. "The only way you can make sure it's gonna fly is if the fans accept it. This isn't really a game that's changed its rules a lot. That would be a huge step." Just putting it out there.

FRIDAY

MLB: Dodgers vs. New York Yankees, Dodger Stadium, 7 p.m., Prime:

If Manny Ramirez was the focus of attention last weekend in Fenway, Joe Torre will be in the spotlight for this one, managing against the team he took to four world championships and six AL pennants from 1996 to 2007. In those 12 years, he won 1,173 games, more than half of the 2,280-plus career wins he's had in 29 total years as a manager. We could keep throwing more stats up there, but what would it matter? There are supposedly no tickets left for this series because the Dodgers tied them into season-ticket packages and have been marketing this for months. Someday, the Dodgers could play a three-game series at the new Yankee Stadium. That would be much more noteworthy.

MLB: Angels vs. Colorado, Angel Stadium, 7 p.m., FSW:

The Angels, by luck and not by choice, should miss hot Rockies pitcher Ubaldo Jiminez, scheduled to pitch at home against Boston on Wednesday. He could have been the first player named Ubaldo to ever perform in Anaheim. The teams also face off Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 12:35 p.m.

NHL Draft, Staples Center, first round, 4 p.m., Versus:

The Kings host the annual draft for the first time in franchise history, and why not? Many of the big picks in the last few years have become Kings' property. They have nine picks in this one, including 19th overall. If you want to attend, check out the info at lakings.com/nhldraft. Again, going off the board, at MyNHLDraft.com (linked here), which has nothing to do with anything, they say the Kings will take Quinton Howden, a 6-foot-2 left winger from Moose Jaw of the WHL. The NHL Network has rounds 2-7 on Saturday starting at 10 a.m. Or you can go see the movie "Grown Ups" that is released today: Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider, Kevin James, David Spade and Chris Rock play five grown-ups who won a youth basketball title and now come together for their coach's funeral. Then they play together again.

SATURDAY

MLB: Dodgers vs. New York Yankees, Dodger Stadium, 4 p.m., Channel 11:

Don't let the shadows at Dodger Stadium confuse you. It's not a playoff game. Just a late start to it's in prime time for the East Coast.

MLS: Galaxy at Toronto FC, 4:30 p.m., Fox Soccer Channel; Chivas USA vs. FC Dallas, Home Depot Center, 7:30 p.m., Prime:

Not to be confused with any games going on in South Africa at this time.

SUNDAY

MLB: Dodgers vs. New York Yankees, Dodger Stadium, 5 p.m., ESPN:

You already know the storyline here. What a shock it would be to see Adrian Grenier in the stands tonight for the nationally televised game. That's because the HBO show "Entourage" starts its seventh season tonight. To catch you up: After an accident during the filming of his latest action flick, Vince (Grenier) has developed a new lease on life that makes him even more difficult to manage. The rest of the guys -- Drama, Turtle, Eric -- try to map out their futures, while Ari (Jeremy Piven) looks to add to his resume as "the biggest agent in the world" by forging an alliance with the NFL. Mike Tyson is supposed to make a guest appearance this season, to punch up the plot. Derek Jeter would seem ripe for an appearance.

No media column today. Nothing over the weekend.
Instead, posting right now from JFK in NY, watching Serbia upset Germany, having just survived a redeye, waiting for a JetBlue connector to Syracuse, and from there, a rental car to ...
Cooperstown.
For Father's Day weekend.
Will take a behind-the-scenes tour on Saturday, after participating in the Father-Son catch at Doubleday Field.
Also have tickets to the Classic (Old-Timers Game) on Sunday, which will include Jay Johnstone (got a call into him to see if we can hook up somewhere).
All's very good -- watched Game 7 of the NBA Finals from a sports bar at LAX on Thursday night. Just about every TSA person had left their post to watch the big screen for the final few minutes. Which explains how we got through security so quickly upon arrival.
There was an Obama-esque feeling to the celebration in the airport -- so much unity in the community, as Vic the Brick would say. Or it was like when Tiger Woods won his first Masters in 1997, and all the workers from the area came out to see him make history on the 18th green. We were surrounded by all the LAX workers it seemed, from all the restaurants, bars, security, concessions, custodians -- all in one loud voice.
Pretty neat, actually. And no planes were tipped over and lit on fire.
Will report back periodically this weekend and do more indepth with photos, etc.

Aside from what you've seen reviewed during the month of April from our baseball book review list (linked here), consider these for potential Father's Day gifts:

== "Are We Winning? Fathers and Sons in the New Golden Age of Baseball," by Will Leitch ($24.99, Hyperion, 293 pages, linked here):

It's got Dad's Day written all over it.
Yet I see I've bookmarked this at page 149 but haven't continued it over the last couple of weeks.
I admire what Leitch has done with this -- put into context his baseball experience, with a game between his (and his dad's) Cardinals and his friend's Cubs at Wrigley Field as the conveyor belt. I'm identifying more to his friend Mark in this case, so maybe that's the unexpected U-turn I ended up taking by accident in the process and I'm not sure if that's a good thing in Leitch's approach to all this.
He's selling today's game as something that's worth buying, despite all its faults, especially when it continues that father-son connection. I'm buying it.
But I've also skipped ahead, to a chapter that covers the top of the fifth, and Leitch's examination of today's media, where the Internet has changed the rules, and he's really embraced it.
"Some reporters have bristled at the industry's change, making themselves into martyrs of a new age, blasting sports reporting's transformation as the death knell to all that they hold dear. I understand. I worked at an old small town movie theatre in high school ... now there are multiplexes, with digital prints downloaded and programmed. The job I loved no longer exists. That mades me sad. But it does not make me blame the digital prints. Movies look better now, too."
But Journalism (with a capital J, or even lower case) is hardly better for the technological advancement. Maybe it will be. But I'm having a tough time with that as I see the product in one way spread to the masses and open new windows of thought, but also deteriorate into a product that like giving a set of car keys to everyone who can type. Eventually, there's more accidents, traffic problems, Sig Alerts, cleanups, repair bills ... for society, is it better to let everyone on the Information Super Highway (are the kids still calling it that?) while the Amber Alerts are telling us that another story has been hijacked and we all have to suffer for it.
I like hearing more voices, but I've got enough voices in my head creating traffic-tower reverberration. I think I've adapted as well as I'd like so far (thanks for reading this blog this deep into the converation).
I'm trying to be onboad with Leitch as he escorts me into this new age of reporting. He's going to have to pull the rope harder. Maybe we need to sit down at a game together and talk this out.
I'll give this one another try sooner rather than later. I'm still sad.
When I get over it, I'll resume.

== "Sports From Hell: My Search for the World's Dumbest Competition," by Rick Reilly ($26, Doubleday, 204 pages, linked here).

This did not pique our interest when we first heard about it (from him, actually, while he was between jobs), or a month ago (linked here) when we kept stumbling onto to his pimping his ride. In fact, we've kind of repelled from this, despite the great concept (which we also think has been done before, and possibly better, linked here).
What kind of irks us again, with another read, is Reilly picking Homeless Soccer as one of his "dumbest." It's the last chapter in this book, after World Sauna Championships, Ferrett Legging, Bull Poker, The Three-Mile Golf Hole, Rock Paper Scissors, Women's Pro Football, Chess Boxing, Drinking Games, Zorbing, Baseball (yes, baseball, because it provides some funny lines for him to use), Nude Bicycling and Jarts.
Homeless Soccer was too good to make fun of.
"You combine a very dumb sport by itself -- soccer -- with an even dumber premise, and you're there! ... If a homeless team did happen to win the Homeless World Cup, where would they put it? In their grocery cart?"
Stop, my heart is splitting.
Even after he figures out the benefits of this event -- helping people who happen to be without a home bring some hope in their lives -- Reilly continues to make fun of it.
Until the very end, when in his concluding chapter he admits: "You couldn't see the face of one of those homeless soccer players as he soaked in a standing ovation ... Really, considering my preconceived notions of what these sports would be like vs. what most of them actually were like, maybe I was the dumbest of all."
Again, it's Reilly making it about Reilly, making the journey into Reilly and coming out even more Reilly than before.
How dumb.
I'm surprised he hasn't launched a seperate book on this sport now, praising it. Put in the files. Right after you're done explaining how you've been transformed by Special Olyjmpics -- which you originally thought was really dumb.

== Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride through Baseball and America in the Swinging '70s," by Dan Epstein ($25.99, St. Martin's Press, 340 pages, linked here):

Great concept. Bland execution. With all that great material?
The cover, featuring Oscar Gamble's Afro, Bill Buckner's mustache and Mark Fidrych standing there, is a great sell job. But year by year, Epstein writes about what happened as if it was a Wikipedia entry. In between, he manages to get into what's the juice of the decade -- ashtray stadiums, Astroturf, polyester uniforms, hair, and promotions. But again, it feels like we're watching from afar. Maybe we experienced it, but it's hardly jogging our memory. This seems only to want to document it rather than revel in it. Where's the quotes from those who lived it, and now may regret it? I lost interest in the middle of the chapter telling us about '74, which is strange, since it was leading to the Dodgers finally getting to the World Series. Someone can try this again, with a little more "Starsky and Hutch" flair it deserves.

== "Traded: Inside the Most Lopsided Trades in Baseball History," by Doug Decatur ($19.95, Acta Sports, 187 pages, linked here):

Go first to the appendix and see the "notice to player of release or transfer" document that Decatur managed to save that involved his great uncle, Art Decatur, when he was traded from the Dodgers to the Phillies in 1925. To see the words "you are unconditionally released" crossed out, and the trade explained to him on a card signed by Dodgers manager Wilbert Robinson, is too good for words.
Was that the worst trade in Dodgers' history?
Of course not. It was when Fred Claire gave the Montreal Expos the rights to future Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez in exchange for second baseman Delino Deshields in 1994.
Not so fast, says Decatur.
By a system he's developed that considers the future value of players acquired in a given trade, weighted value of players at the time of the deal, etc., etc., he first manages to explain why the Cincinnati Reds dealing Frank Robinson to the Baltimore Orioles for Milt Papas and two others in 1966 was only the 17th worst trade in Reds' history (with apologizies to a line from "Bull Durham").
Then he breaks down why Martinez-for-DeShields isn't even in the top 10 worst in Dodgers' history.
And in the grand list of the top 306 lopsided trades in baseball history, Martinez-DeShields is at No. 255.
We can't explain it. We can only report it.
According to Decatur's data, the Dodgers' best trade in franchise history was in 1939, obtaining eventual Hall of Fame shortstop Pee Wee Reese from the Boston Red Sox for Red Evans, Art Parks and cash. It's No. 24 on the all-time list.
The most lopsided trade ever, ever? Not the Boston Red Sox selling Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for $125,000 in 1920.
Try -- seriously -- the Houston Astros obtaining Curt Schilling, Pete Harnisch and Steve Finley from the Baltimore Orioles in 1991 for Glenn Davis? By the formula, this deal is 609 on New Future Wins Shares; Ruth-to-N.Y. was 576.
We could read this for hours. And we have. Befuddled. But enlightened. And amused. And that's half the battle with engaging a reader. This book has done it.

We'd like Alexi Lalas' reaction ASAP:

Soccer Officially Announces It Is Gay

For some reason, we're intrigued (linked here).

A robotic device that fires Ping-Pong balls at you. Without going to a strip club.

Twenty-five years ago today, I wasn't even sure where Pierce College was. Woodland Hills? OK.

I knew the San Fernando Valley was somewhere north of Westwood. I saw signs pointing toward the place when I'd head up the 101 toward the central coast.

Steve Young, on his way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, made his one and only stop at Pierce on this day when he was about half his current age.

As the quarterback in his second year with the United States Football League's Los Angeles Express, Young had already resigned himself to the fact he'd be heading to the NFL the next season -- the Tampa Bay Bucs drafted him out of BYU, but he and agent Leigh Steinberg decided to take a $40 million deal from the spring pro league offered by Express owner Bill Oldenberg.

They'd progressed to the playoffs the year before. Then Oldenberg's financial world crumbled, the league offices took over the Express, and by the time they'd played out their 1985 schedule, they'd drawn less than 10,000 a game at the Coliseum. They decided, for their final home contest, they'd move it to Pierce College to see if they could drum up a new ownership group who might want to keep the team afloat, as the rest of the league was about to challenge the NFL in the fall of 1986 and eventually take them to court -- only to lose by embarassing measures.

Before that, this was the league's most embarassing moment.

One way or another, this was the last time the Express would be in L.A. And Pierce College did the best it could to accomodate on short notice. The 90,000-seat Coliseum had filled to just about 12,000 for the last three Express games. This couldn't have been worse.

Yeah, right.

Because covering the Express at that time was more about what was happening off the field rather than on it -- who'd bought their way out of a contract, what coaches disappeared, what part of Poliwog Park in Manhattan Beach was off limits as the Express headquarters, what gate was locked and how would Young fare scaling the chain-linked fence to get his paycheck without ripping his jeans -- this game against the Arizona Outlaws and quarterback Doug Williams wasn't much on the radar until it actually happened.

I carpooled with Express communications chief Herb Vincent from his Redondo Beach apartment, because I feared I'd get lost. We were told the college was by this new place called The Warner Center, but that meant nothing.

Piece's athletic director at the time, Bob O'Connor, saw this as a way to get his school some attention, and possible revenue for the future. If the league could rent Pierce's football field, it could boost Valley business as well. Pierce football coach Jim Fenwick was in charge of arranging for locker rooms and operating the stadium that day.

Don Klosterman, the Express general manager who'd built this team, and acting USFL Commissioner Harry Usher, who was Peter Ueberroth's right-hand man during operation of the Los Angeles 1984 Summer Olympics, had convinced Valley businessmen to take a look at this opportunity.

The Express did their homework -- it cited a UCLA study that showed 1.5 million lived within a 20-mile radius of Pierce, and nearly 2.1 million lived in the San Fernando Valley.

Pierce found a way with temporary seating to expand from 5,500 to 15,000 seats, but as many of us noticed when we walked it, it seemed as if it was a stadium under construction for a movie shoot. The fact they said that it could expand to 35,000 if the Express were to move there seemed nearly impossible to imagine.

Sportswriters covering this were asked to "compete" in a pre-game field-goal kicking contest. I was there representing the Daily Breeze, with Chris Dufresne of the L.A. Times, Dave Shelburne of the Daily News, Steven Herbert (now with City News Service), Gene Zaleski of the Santa Monica Outlook, plus a couple others whose name (probably better for them) escape me now. Who won? Does it matter? The winner was probably offered a one-game contract with the Express. Who wanted that?

In the press box, space was tight, and I was seated in the front row next to this very nice, recognizable gentleman who told me he was an NFL scout. I had no idea, until someone else filled me in: That was Marv Levy, who'd become the head coach that fall of the Buffalo Bills and go on to make four trips to the Super Bowl.

The game -- can't remember much, except a lot of dust was kicked up at Shepard Stadium. There were pot holes, some filled with sand, and spots painted green on a field that wasn't really up to speed for a June football game. They'd probably had a rodeo at the place more recently than any kind of athletic event.

The official attendance was listed as 8,200, but there were no turnstyles to make that accurate. There was no TV coverage. Randy Rosenbloom and Ron Glazer did the play-by-play and color for the broadcast on KWNK-AM. Raiders owner Al Davis was also lurking around.

The Express players -- 37 strong, due to many injuries at this point and no money to find replacements -- showed up on a bus, but we didn't know until later how that almost didn't happen. The bus driver taking them from Manhattan Beach had been stiffed by the team in the past, so he wasn't leaving until he was paid. Head coach John Hadl wrote him a check. The driver turned it down. Young started rallying everyone to cough up some cash, but most of the players were wallet-challenged. The trainer, who had just been paid, ran down to the bank, cashed his check, and got the several hundred dollars necessary.

After the Outlaws, a team called the Wranglers for their first two seasons under coach George Allen, rustled up a 21-10 victory for coach Frank Kush. Express running back Tony Boddie scored a touchdown, and Tony Zendjas kicked a field goal. It sent the Express one loss shy from their final 3-15 record (they'd lose their final game in Orlando, televised on ESPN, with Young filling in at fullback on a few series).

We chased players down in the parking lot for some quotes. Most of the team had gathered to change in some shed nearby. Someone put a sign above it that read "The Hilton."

Williams, who'd been in the NFL with Tampa Bay and played in an NFC title game against the Rams, and would some day guide the Washington Redskins to the Super Bowl, said afterward: "I thought I left all this when I left high school."

He added: "To tell you the truth, this was a letdown. But you have to play where they play."

Young met with some reporters on a hill of dirt somewhere north of the end zone, while the fumes of the bus a few feet away made everyone a little light headed.

"I thought maybe the cheerleaders would decorate the team bus," he said. "I feel like I've come full circle."

Young was sacked twice and staggered off the field in the final minute of the game, leaving just 13 healthy players on offense by game's end. Young had completed 233 of 441 passes for 3,076 yards and 17 touchdowns to that point in the season.

"Whose mom has the carpool next week?" Young, who, like Williams, would be a future Super Bowl MVP, yelled out later.

"I'd say this was a successful experiment," said Klosterman, the former American Football League exec with the Los Angeles Chargers who tried this kind of thing before. He'd die 15 years later, in 2000. "You have to have vision to see downstream. If they can work it out in the Valley, I think it could be the salvation of the league."

Tell that to Cal State Northridge, as it tried for years to get a new football stadium and had to fold its program.

Vincent was disappointed on the drive home, realizing the team didn't have enough ticket-takers or ticket sellers to help with those who wanted to come and see this -- turns out, the only time a pro football team played in the Valley.

Fenwick would say later that they netted about $5,000 in concession sales.

Afterward, Usher was asked what he thought of how the experiment worked.

"I wasn't there," he said. "But quoting an authority no less than my wife, who was there with my son, I heard it was a lively crowed that was enjoying itself," he said. "We had a crowd of 8,200 and I'm told there may have been more. We collected real dollars. That's refreshing."

That was a nice way of putting it. Would have made a nice tombstone. For the team, and the league.

Highlights of the week ahead in sports, both here and afar:

MONDAY

MLB: Angels vs. Milwaukee, Angel Stadium, 7 p.m., FSW:

Brewers pitcher Randy Wolf (4-6, 5.31 ERA), who throws today against the Angels in the opener of a three-game interleague series, seems to have done pretty well for himself after the Dodgers didn't want to commit to a three-year contract. The Dodgers definitely could not have promised the former El Camino Real High star anything close to the run support he's received so far from the Brewers. Wolf, mind you, was the winning pitcher when Milwaukee edged Pittsburgh, 20-0, back on April 22, and on May 8, he beat Arizona, 17-3. Yet he hasn't won a game since then, giving up three homers in an inning to the Cubs when last we watched him on the mound.

TUESDAY

NBA Finals, Game 6: Lakers vs. Boston, Staples Center, 6 p.m., Channel 7:

Celtic pride has swelled up larger than Andrew Bynum's knee. Just look at how jazzed Maria Menounos is to see Donnie Wahlberg before Game 3 at Staples Center. The script handed down by the NBA office before the series started continues back in L.A., since the Lakers wanted at least one more home game, and a sell-out of the courtside seats filled with publicity-seekers. Andy Garcia, shave that crazy mustache and show up with your game face.

MLB: Dodgers at Cincinnati, 4 p.m., Channel 9:

The NL Central-leading Reds have a big-leading 12 wins in their final at-bat. "I don't know if you expect it, but I know everybody believes, from the players to the administrative assistants to the grounds crew," manager Dusty Baker says. "Don't turn off the TV if we've still got bats in our hands." Remind us to remind Jonathan Broxton. Hiroki Kuroda, who hasn't registered a win since May 18, faces Aaron Harang in the first of three.

MLB: Angels vs. Milwaukee, Angel Stadium, 7 p.m., FSW:

Kendry Morales still leads the Angels with 11 homers. You might remember the last one he hit. Seeing as how he just had surgery is won't play again this year, see how long that holds up.

WEDNESDAY

MLB: Angels vs. Milwaukee, Angel Stadium, 4 p.m., FSW:

Get out the eyeblack before someone gets a black eye. The Angels' Joel Pineiro, who draws this strange twilight starting time again, said last time out against Toronto, in right about the sixth inning, he made a pitch to the plate without knowing where it was going. "The sun blinded me for a second," he said. "During my delivery, I was losing sight (of catcher Mike Napoli)." Just warning Prince Fielder now before he gets mad.

MLB: Dodgers at Cincinnati, 4 p.m., Prime:

Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw struck out 10 Cardinals in his last win. Over his last seven starts, he has a 1.95 ERA, striking out 54 in 46 innings.

THURSDAY

NBA Finals, Game 7: Lakers vs. Boston, Staples Center, 6 p.m., Channel 7:

We've come this far. Might as well make it historic.

MLB: Dodgers at Cincinnati, 9:30 a.m., Prime:

The Dodgers' James Loney (.471, 8 for 17 with a HR and 5 RBIs) and Matt Kemp (.455, 5 for 11, 1 HR) have the best career marks against Reds starter Bronson Arroyo, scheduled to pitch against them today.

Golf: U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, first round, ESPN, noon-to-2 p.m. and 2-5 p.m.; Channel 4, noon-to-2 p.m.:

When Tiger Woods won the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, finishing at 12 under and with everyone else over par and no one with 15 shots, Miguel Angel Jimenez, who shared second place with Ernie Els, reportedly said to a USGA official: "Excuse me, sir. Can you tell me where the playoff starts for the other tournament between me and Ernie?" That was the most dominant victory in the 150 years of championship golf. The previous margin of victory in a major: 13 strokes, by Old Tom Morris at the 1862 British Open. Woods also finished 41 shots ahead of last-place Robert Damron. "I didn't do anything special that week," Woods said. "Everything was just on." Woods may be No. 1 in the world again 10 years later, but it's hardly the same. He looks rusty since coming back from a five-month layoff at the Masters and tying for fourth. The real measure of Woods could start here. He tees off at 7:36 p.m. with Lee Westwood and Ernie Els. Phil Mickelson starts 11:06 a.m. with Padraig Harrington and Y.E. Yang.

FRIDAY

FIFA World Cup: U.S. vs. Slovenia, 7 a.m., ESPN:

According to Chowhound.com, the best Slovenian sausages made of pork, garlic, and white wine (then cold smoked for four days) are over at Stolichnaya Bakery next to Whole Foods on Santa Monica and Fairfax. Try one while the U.S. is smoking Slovenia in World Cup Game No. 2.

MLB: Dodgers at Boston, 4 p.m., Prime:

Check the scoreboard: What's Manny Ramirez's excused absence count up to so far? Could he conveniently come up with an injury / excuse / pardon to get out of playing for the Dodgers against the team that gave him away two summers ago? "The people of Boston have been very, very fond of Manny for a long time. I would like to believe the majority of them will remember him that way," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. Or, he could just disappear into the Green Monster door, if they allow him to play left field and not DH. Meanwhile, the Dodgers also talked Vin Scully into making the trip to Fenway -- just to do this game. Then he's got the weekend off for himself. Too bad the Lakers aren't in town any more.

MLB: Angels at Chicago Cubs, 11:20 a.m., FSW:

Three games at Wrigley Field - all in the day - could test the Angels' Torii Hunter's ability not to get lost in the ivy.

MLB: Washington at Chicago White Sox, 4 p.m., MLB Network:It's Stephen Strasburg's third career start. We have a feeling every one of them will make it onto some sort of national telecast before they're on a National telecast. And lookie here: Topps baseball card company already has cranked out a new one for him, right after his MLB debut on June 8. Trade you a couple hundred Kerry Woods for it. And Letterman has already had him on to read a Top 10 list.

WNBA: Sparks vs. Connecticut, Staples Center, 7:30 p.m.:

They'll bring it indoors again, now that the Lakers don't need the facility the rest of the summer.

Golf: U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, second round, ESPN, noon-to-2 p.m. and 2-5 p.m.; Channel 4, noon-to-2 p.m.:

One more thought about Tiger, from Associated Press columnist Tim Dahlberg: "He's still the No. 1 player in the world, has been for the last 261 weeks. But, as the mutual fund salesmen warn, past performance doesn't guarantee future results. Worst-case scenario? How about a Tiger Woods who becomes so mediocre we simply stop caring?"

SATURDAY

MLB: Dodgers at Boston, 1 p.m., Channel 11:

They're not chanting "Manny, Manny . . ." They're just looking to see if Nomar Garciaparra is still on the Dodgers' bench.

MLB: Angels at Chicago Cubs, 10 a.m., FSW:

Ted Lilly, who took a no-hitter into the ninth inning before pinch-hitter Juan Pierre led off with a single, comes back from that one to pitch for the Cubs again, this time against Jered Weaver, who doesn't want anything to do with his brother again for another week and could miss the Dodgers' series next week all together.

Golf: U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, third round, 1:30-to-8 p.m., Channel 4:

From sea to shining sea, we'll see enough of the Monterrey coast even as the sun sets in the Pacific. Back east, it'll be time for the late local news. Here, we play in the ocean another half hour.

SUNDAY

MLB: Dodgers at Boston, 5 p.m., ESPN:

Before he leaves town, and the sun sets on what could be his last season as the Dodgers owner, Frank McCourt proposes one more deal with anyone listening in Boston: Take my wife, please.

MLB: Angels at Chicago Cubs, 11:20 a.m., FSW:

We'd be remiss if we didn't remember that the Angels' first season (1961) was at Wrigley Field -- the old one in L.A. Go here (linked here) and tell us what you discovered.

Golf: U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, final round, noon-to-6 p.m., Channel 4:

Throw a little more history into the wind: This is the 50-year anniversary of what some consider one of the best U.S. Opens ever, a convergence of three great golfers when Arnold Palmer held off aging Ben Hogan and 20-year-old amateur Jack Nicklaus at Cherry Hills in 1960.

You told us so. C'mon, you're dying to say it.

When the waves of criticism subside, you live and learn. Thank God, Abby Sunderland is able to do both today.

(Writer's note: We've already been called out by readers because of previous references to what we call the sport that will be on display during the FIFA World Cup -- ignoring the official title of "football," skipping over the acceptable reference of "soccer," and landing directly on the compound modifier "kickball," which seems to accurately describe what's going on in these facilities otherwise reserved for swap meets, smorgasbords or Smart Car fleet sales.

We apologize ahead of time if we're going to offend any more of you, and actually appreciate the fact you've made it this far in seeking some information that doesn't pertain to Univision or any other language-specific dish channel that will undoubtedly provide far more analysis and high-pitched screaming than offered on a usual Food Network presentation of "Top Chef."

Where everything else is heading in the sports media world, outside of the confines of the pitch of the newspaper version (linked here):

== Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash has been hired by CBSSports.com to file video segments for its website and You Tube channel (www.youtube.com/CBSSports) from the 2010 World Cup. Nash, a Canadian citizen, was born in Johannesburg, South Africa.

== ABC says the first three games of the NBA Finals has drawn 15.2 million viewers and a 9.1 rating, both up 11 percent against last year's Lakers-Orlando series, and the best three-game average since the 2004 Lakers-Detroit series. ABC has also had the highest-rated shows in primetime each night.

== HBO2 will reair its 2007 hour-long documentary "The UCLA Dynasty," tonight at 7:30 p.m., a look at the John Wooden years coaching Bruins basketball. Says Bill Walton in the piece: "When you're part of something like that, it changes your life forever. It was the fans. It was the players that we had. It was the times. What it really was, was John Wooden." The DVD is also available on warnerarchive.com or wbshop.com for $14.95 (linked here).

== Game 6 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals had a 5.8/10 overnight rating, the best for any Stanley Cup final game in 36 years (a 7.6/27 when Boston played Philadelphia in Game 6 of 1974, also on NBC). The top 10 markets outside the obvious -- Chicago (32.8/50) and Philadelphia (26.8/38) -- included Buffalo (13.5/20), Pittsburgh (9.7/14) and Detroit and Indianapolis (6.3/10).

== Marv Albert says it was his call to option out of doing Monday night NFL games for Westwood One this upcoming season on radio. He's been doing the package the last nine years, but guesses he spends more than 175 days a year on TNT's NBA games and New Jersey Nets games for the YES network. He also expects to be doing NCAA basketball games when Turner Sports starts its partnership with CBS in expanding its coverage next spring.

== Since we didn't miss her much last season when she was on maternity leave, weathergirl Jillian Reynolds' absence from the Fox NFL studio show this coming fall probably won't upset too many viewers as well. A Fox spokesman confirmed she won't be back this season.

== While the ESPN Zone restaurants near Staples Center and in Anaheim near Disneyland will stay open, they will be sold off by the Disney corporation as part of a purge of the facilities that have tried to connect food with sports TV across the country. The chain of restaurants were the first to put TV screen above the urnals in men's rooms -- bravo -- but they'll be shutting them down in New York, Chicago, Washington DC, Baltimore and Las Vegas (at the New York, New York Hotel) by June 16. USA Today reports that with the recession having hurt restaurant sales generally, ESPN Zone general manager Dominic Minniti says: "The overall economics of continuing this operation were very challenging." Tell that to the Fox Sports Restaurant spot that has sat vacant attached to Staples Center for the last three years. Maybe better prices and better food would have helped.

AND FINALLY:

== Brooke Hundley, the 23-year-old fired as an ESPN production assistant after her affair with baseball analyst Steve Phillips became public, is suing the network saying it defamed her and wants more than $15,000 in salary.

The suit, filed Tuesday in Stamford Superior Court, says ESPN defamed her by firing her based on false statements by Phillips and by claiming she had not fully cooperated with its investigation.

Hundley says she fully cooperated with ESPN's investigation and accused ESPN of acting maliciously to insulate itself from liability for Phillips' conduct.

"Hundley's claims are without merit and we will vigorously defend against them," ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said. "Her current charges do not accurately portray ESPN's handling of the matter."

Who cares about this?

ESPN.com, which listed the story on its site (linked here) with the headline: "Former Phillips paramour sues ESPN." It doesn't even give her the dignity of listing her name in the headline, while then calling her a word that she may think is even flattering.

"We spoke with Abby early this morning and learned that she had had a very rough day with winds up to 60 knots and seas 20-25 feet. She had been knocked down several times but was handling things well. The wind had subsided to around 35 knots which she and Wild Eyes are quite comfortable with.

== Laurence, Marianne and Team Abby

When the dark clouds move in and it start to sprinkle just the smallest of raindrops at a USC football tailgate party, an Easy-Up tent usually solves the problem.

Who wins the 2004 national title? Oklahoma, on the wrong end of that Orange Bowl? That makes sense.

With USC now in the NCAA's dog house, where's Snoop Dogg to help explain all this? Make him part of the USC team that will now appeal this decision.

Tell that to Snoop while he's on the sidelines. And bring the Easy-Up pooper scooper.

Read the NCAA ruling: Linked here

UPDATE: == More from today's Daily News (linked here)

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

The wind is beginning to pick up. It is back up to 20 knots and I am expecting that by midnight tonight I could have 35-50 knots with gusts to 60 so I am off to sleep before it really picks up.

== The last paragraph of the most recent blog post from Abby Sunderland, Wednesday night (linked here).

A rescue effort has been launched in hope of finding Abby Sunderland, the 16-year-old Thousand Oaks resident attempting to sail around the world alone but set off her emergency beacon locating devices from the southern Indian Ocean early this morning.

Sunderland reportedly faced multiple knockdowns in 60-knot winds Wednesday (today local time) before conditions briefly abated.

Her parents lost satellite phone contact early this morning and an hour later were notified by the Coast Guard at French-controlled Reunion Islands that both of Sunderland's EPIRB satellite devices had been activated. One apparently is attached to a survival suit and meant to be used when a person is in the water or a life raft.

"Everything seemed to be under control," Laurence Sunderland said on Pete Thomas Outdoors.com (linked here). "But then our call dropped and a hour later the Coast Guard called."

Abby was for several months one of two 16-year-olds attempting to sail around the world alone. Australia's Jessica Watson completed her journey last month, just days before turning 17.

Abby's brother Zac did a solo-circumnavigation last summer at age 17.

Photo: GizaraArts.com (linked here):

== The complete post of Abby's most recent blog on Wednesday night (linked here):

The last few days have pretty busy out here. I've been in some rough weather for awhile with winds steady at 40-45 knots with higher gusts. With that front passing, the conditions were lighter today. It was a nice day today with some lighter winds which gave me a chance to patch everything up. Wild Eyes was great through everything but after a day with over 50 knots at times, I had quite a bit of work to do.

The wind is beginning to pick up. It is back up to 20 knots and I am expecting that by midnight tonight I could have 35-50 knots with gusts to 60 so I am off to sleep before it really picks up.

== Abby's website: http://www.abbysunderland.com/

The Dodgers announced today that Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne will appear during the fifth-inning break of their game Friday against the Angels at Dodger Stadium and ...

Thankfully, not sing the fifth-inning stretch "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

But scream.

The Guinnes World Record for holding the longest and loudest scream will attempt to be shattered by the two -- leading the fans in the stands to help.

Of course, there's a reason for this. One, it's something to attract attention to the Dodgers' "third annual ThinkCure! Weekend," and Sharon Osbourne is a cancer survivor. Also, Ozzy has an album called "Scream" that's coming out in a couple of weeks.

Bring ear plugs.

For the last three weeks in a row, someone from ESPN - the latest, being "insider" Joe Schad - insisted their sources told them that USC would be not only receiving the findings of an NCAA infractions report but going so far as to having a press conference set to address the findings.

It follows up on this ESPN.com sourced report (linked here) that didn't happen. That's after a Yahoo! report back in early May (linked here) said the report was coming out. So all everyone else does -- even fair and balanced Fox News (linked here) -- is keep chasing everyone else's sourced sliced baloney.

The ESPN report today about a Thursday press conference dominated some segments of "SportsCenter" -- to the extent that USC finally issued a press release within the hour disputing "erroneous reports" about a press conference tomorrow.

In this continued rush to judgment and using "sources" that don't seem to be accurate, why does ESPN and everyone else "in the know" keep tripping over itself to provide all the commentary possible on something that hasn't happened?

Why not read the latest ESPN.com ombudsman piece on unnamed sources (linked here).

So far, Schad's "my bad" hasn't beed updated his Twitter account (linked here). The story remains up on the ESPNLosAngeles.com site (linked here).

By Ronald Blum
The Associated Press

PRETORIA, South Africa -- Standing on the sideline -- er, touchline -- at U.S. soccer practice, Martin Tyler looked on. After more than three decades of broadcasting in England, he was getting ready for his American debut on ESPN.

Enough of the vague soccer commentary by much-maligned Dave O'Brien. For this World Cup, ESPN and ABC brought in the best English-language soccer announcer in the business.

"We have the NFL, we have the NBA, we have the Stanley Cup, all your major sports events are broadcast in this country," Tyler said by telephone from his home in England before heading to the World Cup. "Nobody has ever sent an Englishman over to do it."

So just as U.S. sports have American broadcasters much of the time in Britain, the game invented by England will have an all-British flavor for its play-by-play men on U.S. broadcasts this time around.

Authenticity is the buzz word.

ABC and ESPN got bashed for their coverage of the 2006 World Cup and responded by hiring the 64-year-old Tyler, an acclaimed broadcaster for Britain's Sky Sports, as its lead announced for the tournament in South Africa that opens Friday. He will be joined by Adrian Healey, Derek Rae and Ian Darke to create an all-British play-by-play crew for the 64 World Cup matches.

"The decision is a strange one in some ways to me," said former ABC and ESPN analyst Seamus Malin. "I don't think you have to be a cheerleader for Americans, but I think you have to a lot of reference places."

Baseball Hall of Fame writer Peter Vecsey's "Hoop de Jour" in today's New York Post (linked here) explains his latest reason to thinking LeBron James and the Clippers isn't so far fetched:

An impeccable source reveals David Geffen is hot to buy 51 percent of the Clippers. Friday night, the billionaire co-founder of the zaftig film-making company, had dinner in Los Angeles with Donald Sterling to discuss just that.

Anybody who knows Sterling can't imagine him selling controlling interest of anything he owns, much less turn over the decision-making of his showcase property.

"He'll take the Clippers to the grave with him," is the considered opinion of one and all. "They're his entree to Hollywood's galaxy of stars. You have no idea how Donald gets off swaying on the sidelines with demi-celebrities 41 nights a year."

For the sake of argument, surely Sterling must understand, by giving way to Geffen, his constellation, which often IS dying in the corner of the sky, would greatly illuminate and increase in value -- should the record-company big shot be able to recruit LeBron like he signed Bob Dylan and the Eagles.

In fact, Geffen has been deep in the hunt for quite some time. My source claims he told Sterling he can deliver LeBron as long as he's calling the shots.

Maverick Carter, who sits at the right hand of James in all business ventures, was next to the Lakers' bench alongside Geffen.

Meanwhile, Saturday night, (Commissioner David) Stern and Sterling had dinner. The first topic of conversation had to concern the owner's payment stoppage to Mike Dunleavy after he was fired as GM long after being let go as coach.

Geffen, who in 2004 told Barack Obama to run for president (linked here), can make things happen. If only a rumor, then chew on it for awhile before making your own conclusions about the Clippers' bizarre ownership.

Your faithful companion wouldn't let you down. Nuture him. Feed him. Trust him.

Now let him help you help him.

To watch tonight's Lakers-Celtics Game 3 on the ABC telecast (Channel 7, 6 p.m.) without the accompaniment of the NBA.com's "TV Companion" (linked here at nba.com/tvcand also here, but go to this direct link when the game's on tonight) would like flying a 747 without a control panel in front of you.

Actually, this has been out since the start of the season, but we've been wearing of all the bells and whistles actually locking out computer up, so we've avoided clicking onto the device (which isn't all that easy to find on NBA.com) until we gave it a real test drive during Sunday's Game 2.

It passed with flying purple, gold and green colors.

Here's the deal: When sportswriters go out to cover NBA games, they're sitting next to a monitor that has updated, to-the-second stats. Every time there's a foul, a rebound, a change of possession, the graphic is updated. It can be presented as a full-screen, side-by-side box score - not the easiest to read, but all the essential info's there.

With NBA TV Companion, it's there, and more, for the viewer not just at home with Wifi access, even in an arena, to check out and stay engaged with everything that's going on.

Bryan Perez, the senior vice president of NBA Digital, explains the thinking behind it:

"Watching a game on TV is often like, 'Sit back and let us do the driving,' but these days, with so much information that never hits the screen and the viewer's ability to multitask, they can say, 'We want to drive ourselves. So we had to figure out how to marry it all.

"We don't want people to have this intense flipping between webpages with small statistics. We wanted to distill it to the essence of what you'd want - who's leading, who's hot, where are the points coming from, play by play - even though you can still see all that. Here's your companion."

During the regular season, when you'd go to the Lakers' website, this would be the actual home page - the NBA Companion and its statistical presentation. Same with the playoffs.

There are four basic presentations to decide on what to toggle back and forth on during a game:

1) Box score: The regular, full stat page, with players bold faced when they're in the game. Not the easiest to read when focusing back and forth from computer screen to TV, but the most all-encompassing delivery.

2) Play by play: In larger typeface, 10 plays at a time, reflecting a turnover, missed shot, made shot, rebound, etc.

3) Stats: A mug of each player in the game, their number, their minutes played, points, rebounds, etc. You can also vary what stats you want to see of each person - in order of leading scorer, etc. Always the five on the floor, but with a link to who's on the bench.

4) Shot chart: Not just a blackboard with Xs and Os on who's taking shots, but a 3D court graphic filtered by team, player or what kind of shot (layup, dunk jump shot, tip-in, alley oops, or everything).

There's also the social media interaction - direct links to Twitter, Facebook and MySpace that allow people to talk to each other as they're watching - a distracting thing for us, but something that again keeps the viewer engaged.

On top of this, Perez notes that the new iPad app has many of the same elements but is more interactive and probably easier to use because of its light weight and ability to do things quicker and with more finger pushing.

"We took the TV Companion and really beefed it up for iPad," Perez said. "And then there are the mobile aps where you can still pull your gadget out of your pocket, turn on Gametime and listen to the radio broadcast, home or away."

Enough to make your eyes gloss over, or widen with delight.

"The phrase we use is 'go wherever the fan takes us,'" says Perez. "Instead of a wild-garden approach, it's simpler: Take us to your kids' soccer game, to the man cave, and we'll have all the tools.

"What we've also discovered with this: It's easier to raise your TV ratings by keeping the audience longer than by getting a larger audience. If a viewer watches another 20 or 30 minutes because he's become fully engaged, that's easier, and better, than trying to add viewers as the game goes along."

As for the feedback so far: "They love it," says Perez. "We've seen photos posted on Flickr of someone holding their iPad next to the TV screen to show us how excited they are to use it. That's fun for us, too."

You mean, like this:

This week's issue of Sports Illustrated features John Wooden on the cover -- only the second time the magazine has had him on the front.

His only other appearance: Dec. 25, 1972, when he was Sportsman of the Year -- sharing it with Billie Jean King.

Curry Kirkpatrick did that story entitled "The Ball in Two Different Courts" (linked here), and wrote about Wooden:

UCLA Basketball Coach John Wooden, now 62, won his sixth straight college championship, an accomplishment dwarfing anything his sport has ever known. ...

"We have a good game,. but there are things like the redshirt and the freshman-eligible rules that leave us open to the pros, who then feel justified in taking away our players. Because of the money Bill Walton can command after his junior year this spring, I would never talk him out of signing with the pros. But I think it would be a mistake; I'd be very disappointed. Had Johnny Neumann or Julius Erving or Spencer Haywood or Ralph Simpson and the rest stayed in school they would be far better off today--better for their maturity, the learning of business sense, the educational values and their entire future. I've told Walton this. It all depends on which week I talk to him whether he thinks he will leave after this year."

Alexander Wolff does this week's piece on Wooden, culling interviews he'd done with Wooden in two previous stories.

In "The Coach and His Champion" (April 3, 1989, linked here), Wolff wrote about how Wooden should return to the game following the death of his wife, Nell, four years earlier. And in "Birth of a Dynasty" (March 19, 2007, linked here), it was a look back at Wooden's first title-winning team at UCLA.

In this story, Wolff writes:

"Right from its beginnings on a farm in rural Indiana with a three-hole outhouse out back, the path of Wooden's life alighted on touchstone after touchstone of Americana. He learned to shoot at a hoop his father had forged of iron. He gained confidence in a speech class at Martinsville High that his sweetheart (Nellie­, of course) urged him to take....

"When he took a job at South Bend Central High in 1934, he regarded coaching duties as secondary to teaching English. Wooden regarded the classroom and the gym as serving essentially the same purpose. Explanation, demonstration, correction and repetition--his notion of pedagogy lent itself equally well to English grammar and fundamental basketball."

On Sept. 9, 1994, Wolff also did a piece on Wooden (linked here) as part of the "40 For the Ages" on SI's 40th anniversary. Wooden was at No. 16.

Part of what Wolff wrote:

"Wooden was a wizard not a saint. Uneasy with the world beyond his gym, he let a renegade booster sink fingers into the UCLA program and compromise its integrity. But those corrupting influences never broke the seal of the capsule that encased Bruin basketball for those hours each week that Wooden spent alone with his players. Although he made possible the cult of the coach, which only a decade later began turning many of the dandified men who work the sidelines into millionaires, Wooden was making only $32,500 a year when he retired in 1975. Any reservations about his decision to quit evaporated when an alumnus came up to him after his final game, in which UCLA defeated Kentucky for--what else?--an NCAA title. "Great victory, John," the booster said. "It makes up for your letting us down last year."

"It seems that his unmatched record is worthy of unstinting acclaim but for one thing. In spite of all the players he turned into champions, and the example he set for his profession, Wooden helped institutionalize that bane of all players and coaches, the thing that turns fans and administrators into ingrates and monsters: great, debilitating expectations."

A follow up from yesterday's post (linked), "The Greatest Coach Ever: Timeless Wisdom and Insights of John Wooden," from Regal publishing (a division of Christian book seller Gospel Light), will come out next month rather than its release slated for the fall, the company said.

The book, from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, has 52 tributes to Wooden from people such as David Robinson, Tony Dungy, Tom Osborne, Bobby Bowden, Joe Girardi, Napoleon Kaufman, Keith Erickson, Ruth Riley, Pat Williams, Mike Singletary and Denny Crum.

Regal has published three titles authored by Wooden and Jay Carty, including "Coach Wooden One-on-One" "Coach Wooden's Pyramid of Success" and "Coach Wooden's Pyramid of Success Playbook."

To preorder "The Greatest Coach Ever" (linked here).

What will probably end up as John Wooden's final co-authored book, "The Wisdom of Wooden: A Century of Family, Faith, and Friends," a commemorative of his life written with his longtime collaborator Steven Jamison, has been given an early July release rather than its original mid-September date, which was closer to his upcoming 100th birthday in October, McGraw-Hill said.

The book is "filled with fond personal memories, warm fatherly advice, and beautiful color photographs--some never before seen, it is an unforgettable tribute to a life well lived," the publishers said.

It can be preordered here on the company's website (linked here) and at Amazon.com (linked here).

Philip Ruppel, president of McGraw-Hill Professional books, said that the seven titles Wooden had publish by his company between 1997 and 2009 "provide a unique look at the principles, insights, and lessons that guided his life and continue to serve as powerful and inspiring examples to people in all arenas--including business people, teachers, and parents."

Some of them were written for those in business looking for structure and ethics. Others were inspirational. A couple were pure memoir. Until very recently, Wooden made regular appearances at bookstores where his events drew hundreds of fans who stood in line for hours to meet him.

Because his career as a broadcaster is so well connected to John Wooden and his UCLA basketball championships -- he did the play-by-play of the games for KTLA-Channel 5, which were later re-aired that night -- Dick Enberg, who saw eight national titles in his nine years of calling Bruins games, has shared his memories in various places over the last couple of days on the Wizard of Westwood.

Some of thoughts on Wooden's passing by Enberg, the San Fernando Valley native and former San Fernando Valley State (now Cal State Northridge) teacher and baseball coach, as he was with the San Diego Padres doing their games in Philadelphia this last weekend:

== From Saturday's San Diego Union Tribune (linked here):

"I knew it was coming, but it is painful. I stayed up last night, crying as I watched all the tributes to him. He was, other than my father, the greatest man I've ever known. And his greatness was exceeded only by his goodness. I'm just proud to have been able to rub shoulders with such a man.

"As you can imagine, when you walked into that apartment, it was like a museum. I remember him handing me a book of (Abraham) Lincoln quotes, then we walked around the corner, past a little place where you could hang stuff on hooks. Hanging right there was the Presidential Medal of (Freedom), just kind of hanging there with some other stuff."

== From MLB.com (linked here):

"We were on a bus trip to Spokane to play Washington State, and I was sitting in the back of the bus when I got the word: Wooden wants to see you. And I thought, great. Two hours with John Wooden -- I'll have terrific stuff for the game on Monday night.

"Those two hours were a little lesson in what was really important in life -- and it wasn't the game on Monday night."

== On the FSWest website (linked here):

"I saw Coach in March at his apartment and knew it wouldn't be long. So typical of Coach, when we first entered his apartment, his first query was and 'how are the children?'

We all had a good laugh."

== From CBSSports.com, he narrates a piece on Wooden (linked here).

(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Hilary Swank and her boyfriend and agent, John Campisi, discuss issues of the day with John's son, Sam, as they watch Game 2 of the NBA Finals at Staples Center on Sunday. Note how Sam is reacting to Hilary just as Kobe Bryant did to Chris Rock in Game 1.

More camera work on the celebs from Game 2, because we care enough ...

Highlights of the week ahead in sports, both here and afar:

MONDAY

MLB: Free-agent draft, 4 p.m., MLB Network:

Not much of an argument here: Bryce Harper, the 17-year-old catcher from Las Vegas who has already been on the cover of Sports Illustrated and was recently suspended for two games from his college team for a beef he had with an umpire, is the player most expected to be the Washington Nationals' No. 1 overall pick in today's annual non-pro pickings. But then there's Austin Wilson, the star outfielder at Harvard-Westlake who has a scholarship to Stanford (and has already homered in a game at Wrigley Field in Chicago, according to the video above), could also go in the first round, and Westlake High first baseman/outfielder Christian Yelich is also been rated highly. The Angels have three first-round picks (Nos. 18, 29 and 30) plus two more in the additional round (37 and 40), while the Dodgers pick 28th. This whole thing actually runs a couple of days, so tell the local kids to hang tight.

MLB: Dodgers vs. St. Louis, Dodger Stadium, 7 p.m., Prime:

Former Dodger Brad Penny has been on the DL with a bad back, so his turn in the rotation has been given to 25-year-old P.J. Walters. Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainright follow for games 2 and 3, which gives us a flashback to last year's NLDS

MLB: Angels at Oakland, 7 p.m., FSW:

The stat sheet shows that Ben Sheets, who missed the entire 2009 season with a bad arm, has struggled at 2-4 with a 5.00 ERA in his comeback with the A's. It actually started worse. Some on the team figured out he was tipping his pitches. While he seemed to fix that, he hasn't won a game in about a month -- mostly due to a lack of run support. He starts in the first of four against the already road-weary Angels.

TUESDAY

NBA Finals: Game 3: Lakers at Boston, 6 p.m., Channel 7:

They only get one day off - to travel -- between Sunday's Game 2 in L.A. and this one in Beantown? Doesn't that defeat the 2-3-2 format purpose? Then have to sit around in sweaty Boston for the whole week and avoid taking the Duck Boat Tour to curb their boredom? So, if do it, ask the pilot if you can steer when the thing plunges into the Charles River.

MLB: Dodgers vs. St. Louis, Dodger Stadium, 7 p.m., Channel 9:

Need a Broxton bobblehead? You've got some relief here. Just buy a ticket and show up. And he may actually pitch. If there's some trouble. Or you can call on A.J. Ellis.

MLB: Angels at Oakland, 7 p.m., FSW:

Jered Weaver outpitched Zach Greinke in K.C. last week. And he hasn't lost a game since May 12.

MLB: Pittsburgh at Washington, 4 p.m., MLB Network:

David Clyde. We remember him well. A lefty out of Houston, the top pick of the Texas Rangers in 1973 -- and brought straight up to the big leagues. He won his first game in front of 37,000 at Arlington Stadium, the first sellout in the park's history. He won again. He never went to the minors. The 18-year-old would end up with that many wins -- 18 -- against 33 losses when his pro career ended in 1979, with Cleveland, and with arm problems. Whitey Herzog, Clyde's manager in 1973, said in his 1986 autobiography he regretted going along with owner Bob Short's push to get Clyde into the big leagues, leaving him in the game longer than he felt was normal. Clyde ended up in the lumber business.

And now we have Stephen Strasburg, the San Diego State star who was the No. 1 pick almost exactly a year ago, making his anticipated big-league debut. Did he waste a few months in the minor leagues, going a combined 7-2 with a 1.43 ERA and 65 Ks in 55 1/3 innings for the Harrisburg Senators (Double-A) and Syracuse Chiefs (Triple-A)? Probaby not. We'll see how the fanfare plays out with Bob Costas, Jim Kaat and John Smoltz on the call.

WEDNESDAY

NHL Finals: Game 6: Chicago at Philadelphia, 5 p.m., Channel 4:

OK, so Michael Jordan is spotted in a luxury box at Game 5 with a Jonathan Toews captain jersey. But how money is it to see Vince Vaughn with the Bobby Hull sweater, sitting on the glass going crazy as Bolland scores in the first period to help send the Blackhawks to a 3-2 series lead, one win away from winning their first Stanley Cup in a bajillion years.

MLB: Dodgers vs. St. Louis, Dodger Stadium, 7 p.m., Prime:

Tell Matt Holiday to freeze on the line drives hit directly at him in left field.

MLB: Angels at Oakland, 7 p.m., FSW:

Since his perfect game against Tampa Bay on Mother's Day, Oakland's Dallas Braden has lost three decisions in a row, and the A's have lost all four games that he's pitched in, dropping his record to 4-5 with a 3.60 ERA, which isn't all that much higher than it was back in early May, when he was 4-2. The Angels beat him, 4-0, on May 14, and he's back matching up against Joe Saunders.

THURSDAY

NBA Finals: Game 4: Lakers at Boston, 6 p.m., Channel 7:

Boston mayor Thomas Menino gives the kind of public speeches that make Springfield mayor Quimby on "The Simpson's" look Kennedy-esque. If the Celtics somehow turn this thing around and win three on their home court, "Mumbles Menino" (check his website, linked here) will likely have something "ionic" to say about it.

MLB: Angels at Oakland, 12:30 p.m., FSW:

Ervin Santana beat the A's back on May 15, giving up two earned runs in six innings.

FRIDAY

FIFA World Cup: South Africa vs. Mexico, 7 a.m., ESPN:

Let the great kickball tournament begin. See you in a month.

MLB: Dodgers vs. Angels, Dodger Stadium, 7 p.m., Prime, FSW:

Head to head, the Angels have won 41 of the 73 meetings in the regular season, outscoring them 341-309 -- even though the Dodgers are 20-17 against them at Dodger Stadium. And for what it's not worth, the Angels beat the Dodgers, 6-4, in the Freeway Series finale on April 3 where 35,310 were in attendance at Dodger Stadium. So it must have been important.

NHL Finals: Game 7: Philadelphia at Chicago, 5 p.m., Channel 4:

Bobby Hull flips his wig if this thing goes this far.

SATURDAY

FIFA World Cup: United States vs. England, 11:30 a.m., Channel 7:

Roger Bennett, the Brit who co-authored the book "ESPN's World Cup Companion: Everything You Need to Know about the Planet's Biggest Sports Event," says: "American will win the World Cup in my lifetime I have no doubt of that ... The country that won the Battle of Saratoga, put the first man on the moon and persuaded the world to part with five dollars for a cup of coffee will find a way to win. It just has to turn its mind to the task." Sounds like Bennett should be working for British Petroleum. And someday, in our lifetime, the Gulf of Mexico will be swimmable. The Americans, led by our guy Landon Donovan (wearing the No. 10), could lose this game and still make Bennett's prediction come true, since many expect them to come out of Group C no matter what this outcome. We'll see about that. Right, Becks?

MLB: Dodgers vs. Angels, Dodger Stadium, 7 p.m., Prime, Channel 13:

Let's put Garrett Anderson in the lineup every night and see what happens.

SUNDAY

NBA Finals: Game 5: Lakers at Boston, 5 p.m., Channel 7:

Haven't heard the result of the latest wager by L.A. mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Before Game 1, he offered up our own Jack Nicholson, wearing green and white, to film a commercial "touting Old North Church, the Common, and all there is to see in Boston" if the Lakers lost the series. (Perhaps, even the witches of Eastwick). But if the Lakers win, he wants Bostonians Matt Damon and Ben Affleck to be "spkespersons for a public service announcement extolling the virtues of the City of Los Angeles, where the climate, the beaches, and the food are far superior." We think Damon and Affleck already know that, since they tend to spend most of their working days here anyway.

MLB: Dodgers vs. Angels, Dodger Stadium, 1 p.m., Prime, Channel 13:

The Angels are scheduled to send Jered Weaver out against whomever the Dodgers want to fill that strange No. 5 spot. Jeff Weaver, anyone?

Jalen Rose, above, speaks about his role in the new movie "Just Wright," on his YouTube channel.

"Think of how some athletes who came before us could have used social media," says Jalen Rose. "Imagine Muhammad Ali. Maybe Wilt Chamberlain."

He pauses to ponder how someone who estimated he had 20,000 sexual encounters could have either built his brand or tore his legacy apart with that kind of information to spread around.

Rose, the 13-year NBA player, former Michigan "Fab Five" star and current ESPN NBA analyst, has become such the social networking butterfly, we tried to pick his mind about etiquette and protocol with these electronic devices left to our imagination (today's story linked here).

We've always liked what Rose has had to say about the NBA. Many others have as well.

The Detroit News' Lynn Henning wrote this about him recently (linked here): "Every time Jalen Rose appears on ESPN with his NBA analysis, a thought occurs: The one-time Michigan guard is the best former athlete-turned-TV guy in my memory. Fluent, smart, charismatic -- he is a premier mix of talents. And as likeable as anyone in front of a TV camera, anywhere. Some of the Michigan State camp will get apoplectic over any Rose compliments because of his attachment to the Fab Five-Ed Martin scandal. That was then. This is now. He is my favorite analyst on television."

Back in 2004, when Rose was still playing for the Toronto Raptors, we tracked him down after seeing him given a microphone and cameraman and asked to cover the Lakers-Pistons NBA Finals for FSN's "Best Damn Sports Show Period."

An excerpt of that story:

A show contributor during the regular season, Rose was so quick-witted and humorous that they gave him a media credential, a producer and a camera to collect sound bites from the Lakers and Detroit Pistons.
The funniest moment so far might have been when he stopped Lakers coach Phil Jackson trying to drive out of practice during Monday's off day between Games 1 and 2, and Jackson called him "Jamal."
"I'm going to remember that next time we play (the Lakers)," Rose said by phone before Thursday's Game 3 in Detroit, his hometown. "I think I just surprised him when I stopped his car. He got the 'J' part right and knew I was from Michigan and once played for the Bulls. I think he was going to call me 'Juwan' and it just came out 'Jamal.' "
Rose, who majored in radio, TV and film at Michigan, thinks he's a natural and says this gig has "given me an appreciation of what the media has to do, and the real media members haven't given me a hard time about being a rookie. I appreciate that."
Rose's recent offbeat segment for "BDSSP" was interviewing Staples Center celebrities after Game 2, where he was at ease questioning the likes of Steven Speilberg, Jack Nicholson and Denzel Washington. But he froze up when NBA legend Bill Russell came by.
John Entz, the "BDSSP" senior producer, says Rose "speaks his mind and he's a basketball fan who knows the game. When he goes to the players, you can see them light up."

If you'd like to respond to Rose directly:

== Via Twitter:twitter.com/jalenrose. He lists his location: ÜT: 34.124125,-118.507559.
He tweeted Wednesday morning: #nbafinals I'm picking the Lakers to win in 7 games over the C's only if Bynum is effective (not the 6pts/3rebs he avg last year)

== Via YouTube (where he's been since Feb., 2007) www.jalentv.com

== Via Facebook.com: www.facebook.com/JalenRose

== Via Ustream (where his bio says "All American, ESPN Analyst, Multimedia extraordinaire. I'm here to connect with fans and give you my thoughts on a variety of topics, from music to entertainment to fashion to basketball and more): http://www.ustream.tv/channel/therosereport

== His personal website: jalenrose.com

And at a plaque ceremony at the Coliseum, Vin Scully retells the story about how he first met John Wooden -- one of the first people he ever met when the Dodgers moved from Brooklyn to L.A.:

Following up on today's media column, focused on Game 1 of the Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals and how ABC covered it (linked here), we have more, if Phil Jackson is done yelling at Doris Burke:

== John Brenkus' "Sport Science" property, incorporated now into ESPN "SportsCenter" newsworthy segments rather than as the half-hour series that it used to be on Fox Sports Net, helped explain before Game 1 of the NBA Finals how Celtics guard Rajon Rondo may have a physical advantage over those trying to defend him that goes back to Leonardo Da Vinci's study of human proportions.

Brenkus' point: Rondo's wingpan of 6-foot-9 is 11 percent longer than what a normal 6-foot-1 person should have, and his hands (9 1/2 inches long and 10 inches wide), are 2 inches longer and 3 inches wider than the average man's hand, and are proportionate to someone taller than 7-foot-6 Yao Ming.

As a result, when Rondo goes on a fast break and is able to whip a 180-degree behind-the-back pass with his right arm, he does it in a five-foot arch to the tune of 0.283 seconds -- comparable to what an NFL quarterback can do with an overhand pass.

More on the Burbank-based Brenkus' Twitter account linked here, and a link to his company, BASE Productions, linked here.

== Best headline of the week, from Deadspin.com (linked here), which went with this picture:

Dario Franchitti Shows Off His Trophy, Wife

Adding with text: Indy 500 champion Dario Franchitti would like to take this opportunity to remind you that his life is slightly better than yours. Heck, his dogs' lives are probably better than yours.

By the way, you think Ashley Judd shops at Target?

If viewers had known Judd would be at the finish line -- this time, not in a wet shirt from the rain -- more may have watched. As it's turning out, this was the lowest rated Indy 500 since it started going live in 1986, down 10 percent from last year's previous all-time low. SportsMediaWatch.com (linked here) says that it is the first time that the race has drawn fewer than 4 percent of U.S. television households. It was also, again, outdrawn by the NASCAR Sprint Cup race, the Coca-Cola 600, shown on Fox later that Sunday.

== Following tonight's Game 4 on Versus, NBC adds Dan Patrick as the host of its Stanley Cup final coverage when it resumes Sunday (5 p.m., Channel 4) in Philadelphia. He'll also host Games 6 and 7 if necessary.

== To find the series on "I Scored A Goal" that ESPN has pulled together on tracking down the 34 living men who scored a goal in a FIFA World Cup final, go to this link.

== Jeff Pearlman isn't the first and won't be the last (linked here) to question why Fox's Jay Glazer has been allowed to be a personal trainer for some NFL players while he also reports on them (linked here). Pearlman: "This, journalistically, is a joke. An embarrassing, pathetic, worst-of-its-kind joke."
We're on board with that.

== Coming off Versus' coverage of Stephen Strausburg's last minor-league start -- Thursday morning, when pitched five shutout innings for Syracuse against Buffalo in a Triple-A game -- the MLB Network will have the major league debut for the Washington National's 2009 first-round draft pick when he throws Tuesday against Pittsburgh. Bob Costas, Jim Kaat and John Smoltz will be on the call (4 p.m.).

MLB Net will also replay Roy Halladay's perfect game from last Sunday at 9 a.m. today.

== Ted Robinson and John McEnroe have NBC's call of the French Open tennis men's final (Channel 4, 6 a.m.), which comes after it has the semifinal today (11 a.m., delayed), without Roger Federer, who lost in the quarterfinals and had his streak of 23 consecutive Grand Slam semifinal appearances snapped.

"Watching Roger Federer fall to Robin Soderling made me wonder if spectators on July 17, 1941 understood the significance of Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hit streak ending," said Robinson. "Federer's streak is the DiMaggio of tennis. Twenty-three straight Slam semis -- we will never see anyone approach, let alone surpass, that record."

Live coverage of the women's final (Francesca Shiavone-Samantha Stousur) is at 6 a.m. Saturday.

Today's Soderling-Tomas Berdych semifinal match will be on at 4 a.m. on Tennis Channel, with the Rafael Nadal-Jürgen Melzer match live at 11 a.m. on the East, but delayed here.

== ESPN gets another practice match before the World Cup, having Martin Tyler call the U.S. friendly against Australia from Roodeport, South Africa (Saturday, 5:30 a.m., ESPN2). Tyler, joined by John Harkes and Rob Stone, will do the U.S.-England game on Saturday, June 12 for ABC.

== ABC takes over the final Triple Crown race, Saturday's Belmont Stakes (Channel 7, 2 p.m. pre-race, 3:12 p.m. post time) with Joe Tessitore, Jerry Bailey, Randy Moss, Jeannine Edwards, Jay Privman, Steve Cyphers, Tom Rinaldi and Caton Bredar, plus handicappers Kenny Mayne and Hank Goldberg.

== TNT returns to NASCAR Sprint Cup coverage from Pocono (Sunday, 10 a.m.), with new race caller Adam Alexander joined by Wally Dallenbach and Kyle Petty.

== FoxSports.com has added the media critiques of Variety's Brian Lowry, making the site (according to its information, "the first affiliated with a TV network to engage in active criticism and analysis of the industry." That's kind of a fancy way of saying it's different from what ESPN.com ombudsman Don Ohlmeyer and his predecessors have done for that website with a staff critic. Lowery's "From the Couch" column is exted to bring "analysis and criticism of all the major players in the industry, including our own," said Ed Bunnell, Senior Vice President of Programming for Fox Sports Interactive. Lowry, at Variety the last nine years, is a UCLA graduate who spent seven years at the Los Angeles Times as a reporter and columnist covering the TV industry.

In his most recent column (linked here), Lowery discusses why ABC's NBA team of Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson "epitomizes much of what's wrong with modern announcing," especially when compared to the hey-day of Chick Hearn.

AND FINALLY:

What does the sale of TheBigLead.com mean to anyone?

The site explains as much as it knows (linked here), so any other speculation seems redundant. As for the big picture, The Sporting News has some ideas (linked here).

As for everyone else trying to make a go of it, we'll see about the buzz in Chicago this weekend.

An event that has those who type all a twitter is the Blogs With Balls third annual convention set for Saturday at Wrigley Field in Chicago, put on by HHR Media Group and Modern Hombre. Sports bloggers, journalists, media industry leaders and technology innovators will be speaking on a bunch of topics related to the activity.

"We are proud that over the course of the year, BwB has evolved into an industry leader in bringing together all facets of the online sports media community," said event co-founder Don Povia. "The continued involvement of not only independent bloggers, but also representatives from companies like ESPN, Bleacher Report, SB Nation, Yahoo! Sports and Yardbarker, shows that collectively online sports media is working and growing together.

"But it's the fact that more and more members of the newspaper, academic and marketing fields; and tech leaders like Gowalla are participating, that evidences BwB's growth in size, scope and voice."

According to the BleacherReport.com (linked here), participants include Big League Stew, The Basketball Jones, Michelle Steele (Bloomberg), T.K. Gore (CSN), Andy Ellwood (Gowalla), Amy K. Nelson (ESPN), Michael Calderon (Big Ten Network), Michael Rand (RandBall), Scott Reifert (Chicago White Sox) and Mike Germano (Carrot Creative).

Topics to be discussed: The evolution of the local sports media market in the digital age, the pursuit of advertising dollars, a review of legal and ethical issues for 2010, the use of podcasting and video, and what today's technology and innovations mean for tomorrow's fan.

Wish we could be there. No way to follow this somewhere on the Internet machine?

(AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Actress Hilary Swank appears unsure which way to aim the cameraphone as her boyfriend, John Campis, creepily looks on before the Lakers-Celtics Game 1 of the NBA Finals Thursday.

And there's more ...

After all these takes and retakes, you'd think L.A. would have Hollywood's red carpet on its side entering a 12th encounter with the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals.

Apparently, Mr. Nicholson, you don't know Jack.

And what's a Jesus Shuttlesworth on the DVD resale market?

If the Lakers of the past had a much broader resume in the movie business, the result of this year's the most revealing matchup of this series - silver-screen pedigree - points toward a edge for these Celtics that Roger Ebert and the Internet Movie Database would dutifully acknowledge.

Before you go digging out Judd Apatow's "Celtic Pride" from 14 years ago to see if its held up all these years later, consider how the Hollywood Walk of Fame would judge these candidates for future enshrinement based on their bodies of work in the film industry:

CELTICS

Ray Allen

Back in 1998, Spike Lee recruited him to play opposite Denzel Washington (the frequent Lakers courtside seat filler) in "He Got Game." Allen, as Jesus Shuttlesworth, the No. 1 college recruit and estranged son of the imprisoned Jake Shuttlesworth, supposedly wasn't Lee's first choice. Allen Iverson turned it down. Rick Fox, Travis Best and Walter McCarter were also auditioned.

Wrote Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times about Allen in his review (linked here): "(The film) never creates artificial drama with game sequences, even though Ray Allen, who plays for the Milwaukee Bucks, is that rarity, an athlete who can act."

In 2001, Allen came back in the role of Marcus Blake in "Harvard Man," with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Adrian Grenier (pre "Entourage") and Joey Lauren Adams. Christopher Null, of FilmCritic.com, praised the cast's performance but added "Only Ray Allen (as Grenier's teammate) disappoints - as usual, his line readings come off as exactly that and little more."

Yeah, but he's still got game.

Rajon Rondo

The recently released "Just Wright," with Common as a member of the New Jersey Nets, also includes Dwight Howard, Bobby Simmons, Rashard Lewis and Dwayne Wade. But Rondo blows past all of them.

Kevin Garnett

Asked to play Wilt Chamberlain in the 1996 made-for-TV flick "Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault," Garnett stood tall, opposite Don Cheadle as Manigault.

Rasheed Wallace

Remember him as "Whitley" in the 2002 "Juwanna Mann," a teammate of Vlade Divac? Dikembe Mutombo and Mugsy Bogues, who were also in it, probably do. Wallace was also as himself (with current Celtics teammate Michael Finley) in the 2002 "Like Mike," which also included Chris Weber, Gary Payton, Tracy McGrady, Jason Kidd, Iverson, David Robinson, Steve Nash . . . and no one else saw it?

Doc Rivers

The Celtics coach played himself, as a member of the Atlanta Hawks, in the 1996 "Eddie," with Whoopi Goldberg as coach of the New York Knicks. So now you know where Doc got all his strategy.

Celtics of the past

Larry Bird played himself in "Space Jam," "Celtic Pride" and "Blue Chips" . . . Bob Cousy played a coach, Vic, in "Blue Chips" and played himself, as did Bill Walton, in "Celtic Pride" . . . On TV, Bill Russell hosted "Saturday Night Live" in 1979 and was in an episode of "The White Shadow," "Love American Style" and "Miami Vice" . . . Kevin McHale made it into a couple episodes of "Cheers."

LAKERS

Kobe Bryant

Do documentaries count? With the Lakers playing catchup at this point. they need every help they can get.

And Spike Lee is there, again.

He came looking for Kobe when he decided to follow an NBA player around, and the result was "Kobe Doin' Work" in 2009.

A review from SlamOnline.com's Lang Whitaker (linked here): "There's the matter of Kobe's voiceover ... Kobe narrates much of the action, explaining what plays are happening and at one point giving a long, interesting explanation of what the Triangle Offense actually is. But Kobe also spends a lot of the voiceover telling us things we already know (i.e.: he hates turnovers) and, worse, he almost seems to be trying to convince us of how much he loves basketball and that he has a high basketball IQ. At one point he even claims that he calls a lot of the inbounds plays before Phil does because they've been together for so long that they now see the court in the same way. (Although I'm pretty sure Phil's been around the game a little longer than Kobe has.)"

Before that, the best acting Kobe did was playing someone named "Terry Hightower" in a 1996 episode of the TV show "Moesha," when he was 18 at the time. Many remember he taking actress Brandy to her prom that year.

Lamar Odom

Somehow, a bunch of Clippers got into the 2002 film "Van Wilder" with Ryan Reynolds and Tara Reid. But while Michael Olowokandi, Darius Miles and Quentin Richardson played themselves (as did Erik Estrada), Odom was given the name Coolidge Chickadee Player.

Prior to that, Odom had only an episode of "Arliss" to prepare for this role of a lifetime. Unless you count "Keeping Up With The Kardashians."

Phil Jackson

The Lakers coach is listed in the credits for the 2005 film "Be Cool," with Uma Thurman, Vince Vaughn and John Travolta. But how cool can you be if the scene, where he played himself, was apparently cut. Jackson is also uncredited for an appearance as himself in the 2004 film "After the Sunset" with Salma Hayek, Pierce Brosnan and Woody Harrelson.

Ron Artest

IMDb.com (linked here) isn't clear on this, but Ron-Ron seems to be credited with an appearance in a straight-to-video 2004 thing called "Murda Muzik." And he's listed in called "They Call Me Crazy," which is still, appropriately, in development.

Sasha Vujacic

Listed as "himself" in a still-in-production comedy called "Garbage," about two Hollywood trashmen who find a Best Supporting Oscar in the garbage. Sasha, again, involved in garbage time.

Lakers of the past

If Shaquille O'Neal could post up his work up against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, what a giant film festival that would be.

Shaq, of course, during his time with the Lakers cranked out "Kazaam" (1996) and "Steel" ('97) following his role in "Blue Chips," and before he embarked in "Freddie Got Fingered" and "Scary Movie 4."

Kareem's career goes back to the 1978 Bruce Lee classic "Game of Death," but he's most remembered as Roger Murdock (actually, himself) in the 1980 "Airplane!" Otherwise, roles in "Fletch," "The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh," "BASEketball," "D2: The Mighty Ducks" and as a presenter at the Academy Awards possibly made most forget that he did appear in "Slam Dunk Earnest."

Lakers radio analyst Mychal Thompson hadn't made it to the team yet when he did "The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh" (1979), but Kurt Rambis was back with the Lakers when he did the Billy Crystal movie "Forget Paris" (1995), and Vlade Divac and Cedric Ceballos were members of the Lakers in "Space Jam" (A.C. Green was also in it, but with the Phoenix Suns by then).

Over in TV Land

Derek Fisher, in the series "Eve" back in 2003, is credited with the role of "Trevor." Eight years earlier, he made it into the LL Cool J TV series "In the House," as himself. In two episodes . . . Luke Walton has an appearance in "Young and the Restless" on his resume . . . Pau Gasol played Victor Emparo in an episode of "CSI: Miami" last year, and as himself in an episode of "Numb3rs" the year before . . . Jordan Farmar was in two episodes of "Numb3rs" . . . And Lakers owner Jerry Buss was on the televised 2004 Miss USA pageant as a celebrity judge, as well as numerous televised poker tournaments.
And if you're going retro TV: Magic Johnson's short run of host of "The Magic Hour" in 1998, and as "Ringer Hockey Player No. 32" in an episode of "Malcolm in the Middle" paled in comparison to his role of executive producer on many other film and TV projects. And remember James Worthy as a guest klingon in an episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," as himself in an episode of "Webster" (1987, "The Importance of Being Worthy") and in "Everybody Loves Raymond" back in '97?

The wild card

Chick Hearn - again, going back to old-school Lakers - shake 'n' baked perhaps the most Shakespearean list of screen credits of anyone involved with either team. The highlights: "White Men Can't Jump" and "Love & Basketball" (with Stu Lantz), "Volunteers," "The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island," "Heaven Can Wait," "The Love Bug," "Fletch," "The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh." And then there's "Bowling for Dollars."

An album review of "Dan Bern - Live in Los Angeles" by Matt Melis on ConsequenceOfSound.net (linked here) landed today includes these paragraphs:

Bern is later joined by Los Angeles-based folk-pop group Common Rotation and an assortment of other friends on several numbers, including two of the record's most memorable performances.

It's one of the more innovative live performances I've ever heard and fittingly concludes with the music ending abruptly and Bern remarking, "The mound tonight at Dodger Stadium must be the loneliest place in the world."

The song can be found on Dan Bern's website and uploaded from there (linked here) ... and hear a snippet of it here (linked here)

The TV gamecall: Mike Breen, Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy. With reporter Doris Burke. Spanish-language SAP commentary by Alvaro Martin and Carlos Morales.

The TV pregame: Stuart Scott, Magic Johnson, Jon Barry and Michael Wilbon. Comes on 30 minutes before each broadcast.

The radio call: Spero Dedes and Mychal Thompson on KSPN-AM (710); ESPN Radio has Jim Durham, Dr. Jack Ramsay and Hubie Brown on a national call.

The replays: ESPN3.com has a replay of each finals game, available at 11:30 p.m. each night through 9 a.m.. the following afternoon.

Sideshows: A 30-minute edition of "The Jimmy Kimmel Show," which comes on before the game in the East but after the game in Southern California.

The ABC broadcast: Includes that "Hall of Fame" montage open; in-game interviews with coaches, along with each coach being "wired" for sound; pregame and halftime locker room access; 32 high definition video sources; "SkyCam" providing aerial views of the action; six Super Slo Mo cameras; "ESPN Axis" creating virtual replays, with video from live action processed via computers to create virtual freeze frames from multiple angles; graphics allowing for 3D lines and arrows, hi-res snap zoom capabilities, player and pass tracking and an enhanced graphic interface.

ESPN coverage: Hannah Storm hosts the 3 p.m. "SportsCenter" segments on gamenight with Bruce Bowen, Avery Johnson, Tim Legler, Jamal Mashburn, Jalen Rose and Byron Scott.

Above and beyond: The series will be televised to 215 countries in 41 languages and streamed on NBA.com through "NBA League Pass" broadband international to 200 countries and territories. Also, for the first time, the Finals are going live to movie theaters throughout Mexico through Cinepolis, the leading cinema chain with 236 complexes and more than 2,200 screens. There is expanded coverage in Africa -- 15 free-to-air stations for the first time through a new partnership with CAfrica, and ESPN.The NBA opened its first office in Africa in Johannesburg in May.

Media headcount: More than 280 international media members from 36 countries will cover the event in L.A. and Boston -- with 44 of them from Spain, focused on the Lakers' Pau Gasol. There are 43 broadcast partners airing the Finals for the first time.

ESPN Classic: A Finals marathon Wednesday from 4 a.m. until 9 p.m. includes:
= 4 a.m. - SportsCentury: Bill Walton
= 5 a.m. - SportsCentury: Bill Russell
= 7:30 a.m.: Up Close Classics: Magic Johnson
= 8 a.m.: Up Close Classics: Wilt Chamberlain
= 9 a.m.: SportsCentury: Magic Johnson
= 10 a.m.: SportsCentury: Larry Bird
= 11 a.m.: 1987 NBA Finals, Game 4: Lakers vs. Celtics
= 1 p.m.: 1985 NBA Finals, Game 5: Celtics vs. Lakers
= 3 p.m.: 1985 NBA Finals, Game 6: Lakers vs. Celtics
= 5 p.m.: 1984 NBA Finals, Game 4: Celtics vs. Lakers
= 7 p.m.: 2008 NBA Finals, Game 4: Celtics vs. Lakers

Lorenzo Bevilaqua/CNN

UPDATED at 2:15 p.m. TUESDAY:

Akron ... do you have a question for LeBron James?

Yes, Larry King, how did you cut in front of the line to talk to Bron-Bron first?

CNN announced today that King (as in Larry) has done a sit-down with King (as in James) that won't air until Friday at 6 p.m. on "Larry King Live."

James hasn't talked to the media since the Cleveland Cavaliers were kicked out of the playoffs -- second round, by the Boston Celtics, who've since also eliminated the Orlando Magic to make it to the NBA Finals against the Lakers.

Why does anyone care about what James says now? His free agent status begins in a month. The Cavs have already offered him an extension that will give him many more millions than anyone else can offer.

A brief highlight of the discussion that CNN release this afternoon and surely ESPN wlll run the rest of the day as breaking news:

King: Do you lean at all toward the place you know the best? I mean do they have an edge going in...

James: Oh, absolutely.

King: ... your home team?

James: Absolutely. Because, you know, this city, these fans, I mean, have given me a lot in these seven years. And, you know, for me, it's comfortable. So I've got a lot of memories here. And - and so it does have an edge.

Best month of the year. So far. Consider the options:

Thursday:

Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals

Starts June 3, ends, perhaps, June 17. With lots off off days to analyze who's been done wrong.

Thursday through Sunday:

Beach volleyball in Huntington Beach:

The AVP will be in Hermosa, Manhattan and Malibu later this summer, but the first event in a month, and the only one in California this month, is at the south side of the Huntington Pier. It can get pretty crazy. In a good way. The prelims lead up to the women's final Sunday at 11 a.m., followed by the men's final at 1 p.m. Gates open at 7:45 a.m. No sleepovers the night before, unless you know someone who knows someone who can get you some space at the local hostel and ...

Saturday:

A pro basketball game heads outside:

The WNBA's Sparks go to the Home Depot Center's tennis facility to play the Seattle Storm at 8 p.m. C'mon, it's crazy enough to work. The June gloom that hangs over the stadium could affect the trajectory of the shots ... making the percentages perhaps go up. Who'll be the first to dunk outside?

Sunday:

Run to rock 'n' roll:

The San Diego Marathon, and half marathon, starts at 6:15 a.m. in Balboa Park.

June 8:

A Broxton bobblehead:

The Dodgers' home game against the Cardinals includes a freebie of closer Jonathan Broxton looking mean. What we mean by that, it's really not to scale. As we see it, Big Bad Jon is about 280 pounds heavier than this clay statue. Here, he looks more like Jeff Weaver.

June 11-12-13; June 22-23-24:

Dodgers v. Angels:

The first three, a weekend set at Dodger Stadium. The second three, all mid-week in Anaheim.

June 12:

Kickball in South Africa: U.S. vs. England:

Secure a stool at your favorite British pub this Saturday morn -- 11 a.m. kickoff from somewhere called Rustenburg. The American games later against Slovenia (Friday, June 18, 6:30 a.m.) and Algeria (Wednesday, June 23, 6:30 a.m.) probably won't have the same kind of buzz.

June 14:

Golf like (and with) a King:

The Dave Taylor/Jim Fox 22nd Annual Cystic Fibrosis Golf Classic at Moorpark Country Club has spots open for you to swing the stick with some of the past and current Kings players. Aside from Taylor and Fox, there'll be Luc Robitaille, Gary Edwards, Nelson Emerson, Mark Hardy, Glen Murray, Brad Norton and Ian Turnbull.

Sign up here (at this link)

June 19-20:

Cooperstown. Father's Day.

Last year, they held the first Hall of Fame Classic game at Doubleday Field, where some players from the past come back to do what's been called the Oldtimers Games of yesteryear. This year's commitments include Jeff Kent, Tim Leary, Paul Blair, Bert Campaneris, Jay Johnstone, Bill Madlock, Mike Pagliarulo, Dennis Rasmussen, Lee Smith and Mike Timlin. The day before, they open Doubleday Field for a dad's catch with their kids.
On a personal note, we'll be there. Just giving you a heads up.
And that weekend, the Dodgers are at Fenway Park, if you're able to arrange a side trip.
It might not be too late to scramble to get this done for dad on a short notice. We believe it'll be well worth the effort.

June 25:

The new Adam Sandler movie, "Grown Ups," debuts this weekend. Sandler and co-star Kevin James will serve as the grand marshals for the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on June 13 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, of course to promote it. There's a sports hook to this movie plot: After their high school basketball coach passes away, five good friends and former teammates reunite for a Fourth of July holiday weekend. And all heck breaks loose. Does that not inspire you to hit a water park?

June 25-27:

Jeter, A-Rod and the Yankees at Dodger Stadium:

Finish strong: A three-game interleague series that puts Joe Torre up against the team he took to hundreds of thousands of World Series victories. They'll all be on TV -- Saturday and Sunday are national broadcasts -- but why not get out there for some early postseason feel. Tickets are pretty much only available now on Stubhub and other brokers.