== Yup, he wears a hairpiece.
He tried for awhile to go without it while calling games for the WNBA Sparks. He grew a beard, went clean on the top, kept the hair on the sides. It was a nice look, but one he says came about only because he had neck surgery at the time.

"The older you get, the more difficult it is to get a job especially if you're new at it. I just remember that the bald guy wasn't getting a lot of work, not that the hair guy is getting a lot either.
"It's a very psychological thing. It's all in your head. Sometimes it's less hassle to just go natural, but I do look younger. And when you look better, you feel better, so I do (the hairpiece) for a business standpoint.
"It's a very subjective thing, wondering, 'Am I doing it for me? Or for the audience?'
"I guess this business is so cosmetic, sometimes you gotta play that game."

== While he grew up on the East Coast, soaking in the call of Bob Murphy, Ralph Kiner and Lindsay Nelson on Mets' games, and Curt Gowdy on the AFL games (and his team, the Jets), Burnett says he learned a lot by listening to Chick Hearn's Laker calls after moving to Agoura Hills some 20 years ago to start working at Prime Ticket "Press Box."

"I never tried to imitate him, but the way he influenced me was that whenever I was there at a game early (to do the Lakers' pre-game show on the radio), Chick was already there prepping, ready to go. I might have had a headache or didn't feel like working but when you were around him, it went away. He could make a meaning less game early in the season sound like a playoff game. He had so much fun with it.
"When I did more work with the Sparks, we had a few simulcasts (on TV and radio), and I wondered whether it was best do to a radio call and talk a lot, or just do a TV call and pull back. Chick always did it like radio. So I did that. That's what you've got to do. If you're going to err one direction on a broadcast, give 'em too much rather than too little."

== As seemingly all media jobs have tried up in town, Burnett found himself working at the Tommy Bahama store in Camarillo selling clothes to help make ends meet for about nine months last year.

"I'd never done sales before and turned out to be a top salesman. It's amazing what you can do when you have to do it. I didn't make a lot (of money) but I sure upgraded my wardrobe."

== On his company called TB4US (Think Before You Speak), accessable through his website www.larrybsports.com, Burnett has been a media consultant to teams that need to instruct their players how to deal with situations like damage control, better interviews, having the reporters hear their side of the story, etc. He has worked in the past with track and field athletes, as well as the San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns and UCLA's baseball team.

"It's just part of trying to reinvent yourself.
"Here, we're trying to give the players the lay of the land with the media, showing them clips, giving them different opions on handling an interview, getting out in front of things. Last November, I had a meeting with the Mavericks, and what I noticed was that the guys who were already good with the media really listened and asked questions. Guys like Dirk Nowitski. Then there were those who could have cared less."

Not that it's the best-kept media play-by-play secret in L.A. It's just that you gotta know when they're playing to want to hear what's going on.

At the official NBA Website (linked here), the future is now, and Burnett -- the former ESPN "SportsCenter" anchor who also does the WNBA's Sparks -- tells it like it is.

Usually, in an empty Staples Center. With only the players' family and friends watching. All with the incentive to stick around to see the Lakers play later that night.

Friday's conclusion to the 18th annual best-and-worst of the L.A. media focuses on the play-by-play men, and how Burnett has managed to creatively make D-Fenders game worth paying attention to.

== More on Burnett, his official website (linked here)

Four years ago, we threw a blog posting out there about the charges that occur when, for instance, a Dodger fan wanted to buy a $6 pavilion seat through the team's Website. By the time Ticketmaster rang up all its fees, that $6 ticket became $15.50 (linked here), a 158 percent increase over the face value.

It's come up again, now for USC or UCLA fans who are interested in buying a $5 general admission ticket to the Trojans-Bruins game to be played at Dodger Stadium on Feb. 28.

In this pretty cool scenario for those stircrazy for the 2010 MLB season to start, the Dodgers are hosting this USC-UCLA game as the back-end of a doubleheader at 2 p.m., following an 11 a.m. Oklahoma State-Vanderbilt game.

In a press release, the Dodgers have make it clear that all proceeds from the event will benefit the Dodgers Dream Foundation.

The $5 tickets can be purchased at www.dodgers.com/classic on line, as well as in person at the USC and UCLA campus box offices. If you buy them the day of the game, it's $10 at the stadium. There is no charge for parking.

Do it through the Dodgers' website, and Ticketmaster takes charge.

There is still a $2-per-ticket handling fee.
Then there's a $3 transaction fee.
Then there's an extra charge of $2.50 if you want to print them out yourself.

Now that single $5 ticket is $12.50.

You might as well pay $10 at the gate and have all of it go to the Dream Foundation.

(And for the record, concession stands will be selling beer at the college games, a luxury usually not afforded college students at their own facilities).

You can avoid the $2.50 print charge and have them mailed to you with no fee. Or, you can pay anywhere between $14.50 and $25 to have them delivered via UPS. Seriously? The other charge is $3, if you want to "avoid long lines and pick up your tickets at a participating Ticketmaster Retail Outlet."

At the very least, that $5 ticket will cost twice as much -- $10 -- if you want it through Ticketmaster.

We're guessing it can only get better bitter when Ticketmaster merges with Live Nation.

That's prime time, of course, if you're reclining on a sweaty Barcalounger on the wrong side of country.

Fox, in releasing its 2010 MLB Saturday afternoon baseball schedule, decided to go prime-time with games May 22 and June 26.

On the first date, the Detroit Tigers will face the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. On the second, the Yankees visit Dodger Stadium. Both will have a 4 p.m. first pitch. Which shouldn't be inconvenient for anyone except Andre Either trying to follow the flight of a fly ball to right field.

Why not save the "under-the-lights" concept for games that will actually be under the lights -- on the East Coast, with their 7 p.m. starts?

"We've been thinking about taking a few of our afternoon dates to prime time dates for quite some time now, and this season's schedule is so strong that the time seemed right," said Fox Sports President Ed Goren. "There is still no platform that has the reach of prime time broadcast television."

Fox has done prime-time games in the past -- usually a Yankees-Red Sox game, where it really was prime-time at the location -- but never scheduled two in the same season.

The other interesting read-between-the-lines aspect to the Fox schedule: MLB rules say a team can't appear more than nine Saturdays a season on the network. The Dodgers and Philadelphia are scheduled a maximum, along with Seattle, Atlanta and Minnesota. The Yankees, Boston, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets and St. Louis have eight appearances. The Angels, Texas and San Francisco have seven. Tampa Bay and the Chicago White Sox have five.

Fox's 26-week schedule of the usual 1 p.m. games begins April 10 -- except that one starts at noon. The L.A. audience will likely get New York Yankees at Tampa Bay instead of St. Louis-Milwaukee or Seattle-Texas. The last two Saturdays (Sept 25 and Oct. 2) are network's decision based on the pennant races.

In between, the dates most interesting to L.A. fans, and Vin Scully (who gets the day off):

Saturday, April 17: San Francisco at Dodgers
Saturday, April 24: New York Yankees at Angels
Saturday, May 29: Seattle at Angels
Saturday, June 5: Angels at Seattle
Saturday, June 19: Dodgers at Boston
Saturday, July 10: Chicago Cubs at Dodgers
Saturday, July 17: Dodgers at St. Louis
Saturday, July 24: N.Y. Mets at Dodgers
Saturday, July 31,: Dodgers at San Francisco
Saturday, August 21: Angels at Minnesota
Saturday, September 4: Angels at Oakland
Saturday, September 11: Seattle at Angels
Saturday, September 18: Colorado at Dodgers

Last week, ESPN announced the first half of its Sunday Night Baseball schedule, featuring play-by-play man Jon Miller, who was just voted into the Hall of Fame, with Joe Morgan. It starts April 4 with -- surprise -- New York Yankees at Boston (on ESPN2, 5 p.m.)

The other dates of interest locked in (with 5 p.m. starts):
Sunday, July 4: Kansas City at Angels
Sunday, July 11: Chicago Cubs at Dodgers
They have designated June 6-27 as games to be determined, which means it could take the June 20 Dodgers' game at Boston as well as the June 26 Dodgers' home game against the Yankees.

With 5 p.m. local starts, that also creates a sun/shade problem. Ask Kaz Ishii about that...

The Associated Press

CINCINNATI -- Chad Ochocinco and other prominent NFL players will be asking the questions and giving reports during Super Bowl week.

The media-savvy Bengals receiver plans to attend news conferences and parties leading up to the title game in Miami, gathering insights from coaches, players and celebrities for his array of social networks.

He'll have help in the unprecedented plan. Redskins tight end Chris Cooley, Ravens Pro Bowl running back Ray Rice and Cardinals Pro Bowl defensive lineman Darnell Dockett also will be toting microphones and tossing questions at the Colts and the Saints -- and maybe even commissioner Roger Goodell.

It's the first such venture since the receiver formed his "Ochocinco News Network" with Motorola.

"It'll be something new, something never done before," Ochocinco told The Associated Press in a phone interview from Miami, where he played in the Pro Bowl on Sunday night.

Ochocinco and his three helpers plan to function as reporters, updating a Web site and a Twitter feed during the week. The players have hundreds of thousands of regular followers on their personal Twitter accounts and other social network platforms.

They expect to attend media sessions where players and coaches are available, conduct interviews with guests at the media headquarters, and provide behind-the-scenes glimpses at the nightly Super Bowl parties in Miami.

The goal is to provide players' reactions to the whirlwind week.

"That's what everybody wants to hear," Ochocinco said. "They want to hear the players' perspective. They don't want to hear what the other [media] outlets say about what they feel is going on. People want to hear what the players feel about the events, the whole nine yards."

The Pro Bowl receiver launched his "News Network" last October, planning to enlist other NFL players in breaking news. He didn't do much with it during the season as the surprising Bengals won the AFC North title before losing to the Jets in the playoffs.

"At that time as the season neared the end, I had to slow down a little bit on most of the social media stuff," he said. "Coach [Marvin] Lewis never said anything directly to me, but you understood that it wasn't the right time to be doing as much as I used to. So this is the perfect time to do what I'm doing right now, and I'm the perfect fit for it."

Motorola, which is promoting its MOTOBLUR technology, assembled the four-player crew that will cover the Super Bowl.

"When OCNN first launched, the goal was to give fans unprecedented access into Chad's life and the game he loves," Motorola marketing officer Bill Ogle said. "Expanding OCNN with more correspondents for the Super Bowl just made sense."

All four players are adept at social networking, but have never been involved in such a project.

"To be honest, I don't really know Chad that well," Cooley said in a phone interview. "He's so outgoing, he's such a prevalent figure in social networking. When Motorola asked me to do this, I was excited because I get to hang out with Chad for a week."

Dockett got to experience the other side of the Super Bowl last year when the Cardinals lost the title game to the Steelers. The other three players will be experiencing it for the first time.

"I can't wait," Cooley said. "It should be a lot of fun. Just to be interviewing Peyton (Manning), to talk to Drew Brees -- that will be great."

They're taking it seriously. The four players had a production meeting on Monday. They plan to attend media day with the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints today, arriving in their own OCNN van. When evening comes, they'll split up to attend the parties and report on them.

Ochocinco should have the inside scoop on one event. He's hosting a party for 400 people at his South Beach home on Friday night that will raise money for Haiti.

The NFL commissioner traditionally holds a question-and-answer session with reporters during the week. Ochocinco plans to be in the media contingent and hopes to get called.

What would he ask Goodell?

"I'm not sure right now," he said. "When that time comes, I'll be prepared for him. Trust me, I have a lot of questions for him."

== Johnson announces his Super Bowl plans on ESPN.com (linked here) "Hey, everyone. I know you love following me on Twitter, so now you can get a chance to read me in more than 140 characters at a time. This is going to be awesome."

Or, not.

On her most recent blog entry (linked here), the Thousand Oaks teen said problems with her solar panels and wind generators are not allowing her enough power, so she will port in Cabo San Lucas to add "a new battery or two."

While that seems to end any non-stop voyage, Sunderland says she will restart as soon as she can on the 40-foot Wild Eyes.

"Don't start worrying, since I'm still north of the equator, I won't have to give up on the non-stop attempt," she wrote.

She said she is also have trouble with the wind speed gauge "so that needs to be fixed as well."

Sunderland left Marina del Rey on Saturday, Jan. 23, expecting to spent the next five to six months sailing around the world.

If she's not able to break the record as the youngest to sail non-stop, solo around the world, she can still break the record of 17-year-old Mike Perham of Britain, who stopped on land during his voyage. Perham broke the age record that Abby's brother, Zac, had set just a month or so before Perham landed.

To find Abby's location: http://abbysunderland.com/location-route.php

TODAY

NBA: Lakers at Memphis, 5 p.m., Channel 9:
Last night's Grammy extravaganza -- such a dog-and-Gaga show. The Lakers had reason to pay attention because it means, after this one, they can finally come home and face the music. Kobe Bryant may even be able to dial it back and wait until they get back to Staples Center before he breaks the franchise's all-time regular-season scoring record. The Grizzlies just had their 11-game home winning streak snapped. Some expect a letdown after Sunday's win in Boston. Relax. We'll predict a Memphis-type spankin' to take place before the Lakers leave the building.

TUESDAY

NBA: Clippers at Chicago, 5 p.m., Prime Ticket:
The Clips may have already passed last year's win total already, but losses to the two worst teams in the Eastern and Western Conference on back-to-back games last week is no step forward. Why do we even bother any more?

NHL: Kings vs. N.Y. Rangers, Staples Center, 7:30 p.m., FSW:
A current poll on NHL.com asks: Which Western Conference coach is the strongest candidate for coach of the year? Colorado's Joe Sacco was the top choice with 24 percent of the vote. Then there's Chicago's Joe Quenneville, Phoenix's Dave Tippett, Vancouver's Alain Vigneault . . . the Kings' Terry Murray was last among six available choices. Even after that 5-0 road trip? With back-to-back rallies against Boston and New Jersey? It's hard to underplay how impressive that trip was. Now, back home, they face the Rangers, who beat the Kings, 4-2, way back in mid-October back in New York. For a little primer, go back to 1981, when the Kings hosted the Rangers in the playoffs at the Forum, and listen to some names from the past trading punches.

WEDNESDAY

NBA: Clippers at Atlanta, 4 p.m., Prime Ticket:
Now the Clip's trip ends. As if it matters.

NBA: Lakers vs. Charlotte, Staples Center, 7:30 p.m., FSW:
Larry Brown hasn't quit on this team yet. Here's a chance for the Bobcats' Gerald Wallace and the Lakers' Shannon Brown to get an early start on the dunk contest.

THURSDAY

Golf: PGA Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club, first round, Golf Channel, 2 p.m. (final round Sunday, Channel 4, 11:30 a.m.):
Honestly, how is a round ball hit by a square groove go any better into a round hole ? If you didn't get your fill of Phil Mickelson and his groovy wedge controversy during the San Diego tournament, Lefty is ready do the right thing in L.A. this week. The Northern Trust Open's two-time defending champion, who still has to contend with Steve Stricker nosing through his bag, will probably come and go again in his private jet, and finish up in time to get everyone in front of the TV for the kickoff to Sunday's Super Bowl -- if, of course, there's no rain mucking things up.

College basketball: UCLA vs. Stanford, Pauley Pavilion, 7:30 p.m., Prime Ticket; USC vs. Cal, Galen Center, 7:30 p.m.: A month ago, USC dropped a pair in the Bay Area to the Bears and Cardinal; UCLA spilt the difference. They're all still bunched up in the Pac-10 standings like they all like each other. Except Cal's at the top.

NHL: Kings vs. Ducks, Staples Center, 7:30 p.m., FSW:
In this season's two previous meetings, the Kings have a 4-3 win at Anaheim in early December and a 4-0 win at Staples a few weeks back. That last one should have a residual effect. In the third period, there were two fights, five roughing minors, one 10-minute misconduct and one game-misconduct on Ducks forward Bobby Ryan for shoving Oscar Moeller head-first into the boards. Although the rivals tangle twice in four days (the next is Monday), the key will be a home-and-home series in early April, with just a couple of regular-season games left.

FRIDAY

NBA: Lakers vs. Denver, 7:30 p.m., FSW, ESPN:
If the Lakers and Cleveland are vying for the first- and second-best records in the NBA, who's right behind 'em? How 'bout them Nuggets, who've done most of their damage at home (21-3). Last meeting: A ridiculous 105-79 Denver win, where the Lakers scored only eight points in the third quarter and 23 total in the second half.

SATURDAY

NBA: Lakers at Portland, 7 p.m., Channel 9:
Someone sent us a link to that naked photo of the Blazers' Greg Oden. It went straight to junk mail.

NBA: Clippers vs. San Antonio, Staples Center, 7:30 p.m., Prime Ticket:
The Clippers can soften the Spurs up for their meeting with the Lakers a couple of days after this. Or, give them a false sense of ancient superiority.

NHL: Kings vs. Detroit, Staples Center, 1 p.m., FSW:
A couple of weeks ago back in Detroit, Brad Richardson stepped up and lit the lamp with the game-winner in the third period to lead the Kings back from a 2-0 deficit and snatch the victory. Could that have given them the confidence to push forward?

College basketball: UCLA vs. Cal, Pauley Pavilion, 1 p.m., Channel 2; USC vs. Stanford, Galen Center, 4:30 p.m., Prime Ticket:
The Bruins' 76-75 OT win at Berkeley came after Michael Roll picked up a loose ball and hit a 13-footer with 1.9 seconds left. He had 19 points and six assists in the contest.

SUNDAY

NFL: Super Bowl XLIV in Miami, New Orleans vs. Indianapolis, 3:18 p.m., Channel 2:

Which Pierre is feeling lucky today?
Saints running back Pierre Thomas, aka the PT Cruiser, does all the heavy lifting for Reggie Bush. And he rarely fumbles (has none since Week 8). And based on his playoff performance, he'll be the person that the Colts' defense has to contain.
Then there's Colts receiver Pierre Garcon, the Haitian who spend the days before a recent playoff contest trying to find relatives in the earthquake-ravaged country and raising funds for relief efforts. Then he caught an AFC-title game record 11 passes. Give it up for both of them.

Here some other things to ponder from Bodog.com (linked here):

== Odds to win Super Bowl MVP:
=Peyton Manning 2/3
=Pierre Thomas 10/1
=Pierre Garcon 14/1

== Longest run from scrimmage for Pierre Thomas:
=over 13 1/2 (-115)
=under 13 1/2 (+115)

== Will Pierre Thomas score a touchdown?
=yes (+105)
=no (-135)

== Total receiving yards for Pierre Garcon:
=over 62 1/2 (-140)
=under 62 1/2 (+110)

== Longest reception for Pierre Garcon:
=over 27 1/2 (-115)
=under 27 1/2 (-115)

That might be the best analogy, to bowling fans, in explaining how Kelly Kulick broke a glass ceiling with am Ebonite last Sunday in Las Vegas.

After starting the PBA's Tournament of Champions with a humbling 152 game, she took a deep breath and, by the end of the week, the TV cameras were capturing her mopping up the defending player of the year by 70 pins and becoming the first woman to win on the men's tour.

She really has no choice. There's no more women's pro tour, not since 2003. The PBA sponsors seven women's events, and because she won the PBA Women's World Series last September in Detroit, she had an exemption into last week's event, entering a field with 63 other former tour-stop champions.

So it's not just like Sorenstam going into a PGA event in Texas and somehow winning. Kulick won a major.

She's the focus of our Sunday Q-and-A. And just to let everyone know: This Jersey girl is 32, single, and unattached. But she's not looking for a man who likes to bowl. It's too competitive for a relationship.

But sports leagues are already bursting out with excitement about this thing.

MLB was bursting at its seems during the announcement by Apple's Steve Jobs in San Francisco, when it was shown how cool it would be to watch a game on MLB.com with its mobile app. More than just those those stick figures moving around the bases. MLB is going to offer up its MLB.TV subscription ($119.59 for top-level, $99.95 for basic) that will be iPhone and iPad ready.

So we can actually take the gadget to a real baseball game and follow along? Amazing.

This could be another of what they call a game-changer.

"We've seen what's happened with the iPhone and a 3-inch screen," said Tom Richardson, president of digital media consulting company Convergence Sports & Media, told the Sports Business Daily. "Can you imagine the possibilities with the larger real estate?"

Does it also mean the iPad can take giant-sized pictures?

More stuff we've been trying to get our peanut-heads around in the media world this week:

== TMZ Sports: Coming in March as "a separate site, but not as tabloid-y as expected" (linked here)

== A man threatened his wife with a knife when she canceled ESPN before the Super Bowl ... does this story really sound real? He knows the game's on CBS, right? And how to you just cancel ESPN? Isn't that part of every package now? And what is "The Hour"? This is getting more play, and less doubt, than any story like it should. (linked here).

== CBS' Super Bowl pregame plans (linked here) include Katie Couric, Dick Enberg and follows up with a new reality series about how your boss could be spying on you. No special "CSI" episode?

== Want to know how to beat a journalist's deadline? Type fast (linked here).

== What Sirius XM will have for the Super Bowl -- a channel in English, Spanish, Russian, French, Japanese, German, Italian, Hungarian, Dutch ... and the Colts and Saints' home team broadcast. We'll take the BBC. It sounds more interesting. (linked here)

== What ESPN and ABC plans to do with the FIFA World Cup (linked here)

== Without Tiger Woods will anyone watch the PGA this year? Sounds like a great story idea from an editor. (linked here).

== Bloomberg's Business News has its Power 100 for athletes (linked here) Top 5: Tiger, LeBron, Lefty, Pujols, Peyton ... Kobe is No. 12, Manny is No. 90 (not No. 99), and Candy Parker is No. 92. More to the media angle, there's also a sidebar predicting a Dallas-Philly NFL game as the one what will traditionally draw the most TV attention (linked here). If only the league can arrange that for a Super Bowl someday.

== There's a theory as to why sports does well on TV (linked here). The secret: Economic downturn. Wow. nuver thunk of that ...

== We're wondering why this screen grab isn't more prevelant on the Internet -- a college basketball student section showing their disapproval by means of hand signals (linked here).

== Media penis envy, Mr. Oden (linked here)

== It matters to someone that Charissa Thompson has opinions about the State of the Union Address ... none very politically astute, just comparing the First Lady to a "tellitubbie" (sic) (linked here).

AND FINALLY:

== LeBron James has enough problems attacking water bottles. According to the Onion sports, he's also steamed about this dunk contest app (linked here)

In doing some background on him, we found a clip from the Palm Beach Post on Oct. 12, 1986 (linked here), a game where Stevens was booed off the field during the second quarter of a UCLA game against Arizona and replaced by Brendan McCracken. The Bruins were losing 18-0.

By the time the contest ended, UCLA had won 32-25, with a 25-point fourth quarter, and Stevens threw for a career-best 22 of 37 for 284 yards.

"Playing QB in L.A. is great," Stevens said in the story. "That's the way it always is. You want to talk about someone getting booed? How about Rick Neuheisel? Was he getting booed when we were 0-3-1? ... And look what a great quarterback he turned out to be."

Stevens was referring to the guy he used to back up in the UCLA offense, but was now a volunteer assistant under head coach Terry Donahue.

Now, look at 'em: Stevens is calling games and second-guessing Neuheisel as he calls plays for the UCLA offense from the head-coaching position.

Keep your friends close.

Some other things we should try not to forget:

== ESPN2 has the Dick Weber Open Pro Bowling Association event from Fountain Valley (Sunday, 10 a.m.) For some reason, Bill Simmons, aka "The Sports Guy," will join the broadcast team of Rob Stone and Randy Pedersen. What a treat. "I have not done bowling before, but Rob and I have been friends for years and he's been wanting me to do a show, but our schedules never worked out before this," Simmons said. Thank goodness it has now. Simmons, who said he has watched highlights of Kelly Kulick's historic victory in the PBA Tournament of Champions last week, has never attended a PBA event in person. Might as well as be the first time you're going to be a PBA analyst.

== ABC will push Magic Johnson , former star of "The Magic Hour," do a sit-down with Lakers coach Phil Jackson that airs at halftime of Sunday's Lakers-Celtics game (12:30 p.m., Channel 7). Last time the two talked for the record on TV, Jackson said he planned to coach only until the end of his contract -- which ends this year.

== ESPN's coverage of Sunday's Pro Bowl from Miami has all the usual suspects: Chris Berman, Cris Carter, Mike Ditka, Tom Jackson, Keyshawn Johnson, Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter on the extended pregame starting at 2:30 p.m., with Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, Ron Jaworski, Suzy Kolber and Michele Tafoya handling the game at 4:20 p.m. Berman is supposed to have a Peyton Manning and Drew Brees halftime interview.

== What's all the fuss about where an 18-year-old will go college next year. You tell us. And this kid, who really blew it. ESPNU's college football signing day begins at 7 a.m. Wednesday and runs until 4 p.m., while CBS College Sports Network and MaxPreps.com go five hours live from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., then noon to 4 p.m. Two of the nation's top-ranked prep recruits, offensive tackle Seantrel Henderson (Cretin-Derham Hall/St. Paul, Minn.) and defensive end J.R. Ferguson (Hargrave Military Academy/Frederick, MD.) are supposed to announce their college selections live in the afternoon segment. Henderson, who is Tom Lemming's No. 1-ranked overall recruit and Parade Magazine's National Player of the Year, is deciding between USC, Ohio State, Florida, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Minnesota and Miami. Aaron Taylor reports from L.A. where he will visit with USC and UCLA during the day.

== The NFL Network has the Senior Bowl from Mobile, Ala., (Saturday, 1 p.m.) with USC's Stafon Johnson playing for the first time since his neck injury. He's with Tim Tebow on the South team, along with USC's Jeff Byers, Charles Brown, Anthony McCoy and Taylor Mays, trying to impress the Seattle Seahawks to draft them. Bob Papa, Mike Mayock and Charles Davis call it from the booth with Paul Burmeister and Corey Chavous on the sidelines.

== AND FINALLY:

== The Associated Press reports that British network Sky Sports says it will broadcast the world's first live sports event in 3-D when Arsenal hosts Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday.

Soccer fans will wear special glasses at nine pubs across Britain and Ireland, providing the public's first taste of live 3-D soccer ahead of Sky's dedicated channel launching in April.

Previous 3-D trials have been limited to closed-circuit broadcasts in Britain and the United States - including one on the giant screens at the Dallas Cowboys'
new stadium during a game - but the BSkyB channel will be transmitting Sunday's match via regular satellite decoder boxes to selected pubs in Britain and Ireland.

Sky is claiming the 3-D milestone a week before England's meeting with Wales in the Six Nations rugby tournament was due to be the first.

The United States won't witness live sports in 3-D until June, when ESPN broadcasts the World Cup.

BSkyB is controlled by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., which holds a 39 percent stake.

Calling this the "world's first live sports event in 3-D" does take some liberties, considering it's only being shown to nine pubs across the British Isles. How is that different than ESPN showing the USC-Ohio State football game last September to selected venues, or the NFL Network trying out 3D with the Chargers-Raiders game a couple of years ago.

And if this is 3D in England, don't you think the glasses should look more like something Harry Potter would wear?

Coming from the world of commercial real estate banker and investing his time as a UCLA radio analyst, Matt Stevens says he's found a very nice balance in his life today.

"I feel like I'm the luckiest guy in the world," the 45-year-old Stevens said from his offices in San Diego.

A nice career as a UCLA quarterback -- leading the team to the 1986 Rose Bowl over favored Iowa -- followed by some time in the NFL, Arena League and even overseas, Stevens triumphed as a cancer survivor before embarking on broadcasting nearly 15 years ago.

After finishing his 9th season as the Bruins' color man, and a good friend of current head coach Rick Neuheisel, Stevens gave us some insight into his career goals and why the last few years on the job have probably been his most enjoyable as our 18th annual best and worst of the L.A. media polls move forward to lay out our Top 10 and Bottom 5 of the TV and radio game analysts.