Another Cubs manager is mad at Steve Stone

The pressure to end the Cubs hilarious World Series drought--headed toward 102 years come October--apparently is quite tough on their managers and they seem to take their frustration out on Steve Stone.

The long-time Chicago baseball announcer left the Cubs booth following the 2004 season when then-manager Dusty Baker and players on the team, most notably Moises Alou and Kent Mercker, grew angry when Stone and then-partner Chip Caray had to audacity to call them out on their hideous play and bad attitude. Alou tried to get them kicked off the team's charter and Mercker called the booth to complain about Stone's commentary. The Cubs were universally predicted to win the National League pennant in 2004 and instead turned into the biggest group of underachievers in the franchise's sorry history as well as the most unlikeable as they choked away a wild card lead in the season's final week. Caray left to broadcast Braves games following the campaign and Stone resigned, briefly joined ESPN and now broadcasts White Sox games.

But working for the White Sox hasn't stopped Stone from commenting on the Cubs. The popular local announcer said on Comcast Sportsnet this week that Lou Piniella "doesn't have a great grasp on what to do with young players," something the Cubs have a few of right now (Tyler Colvin and Starlin Castro being the stars of the youth movement). Piniella has turned into a raging lunatic in response:

"Steve Stone? He has enough problems doing what he does with the White Sox. What job has he had in baseball besides talking on television or radio? What has he done?

"Why isn't he a farm director and bring some kids around? Why isn't he a general manager (or) put the uniform on and be a pitching coach? Why hasn't he been a field manager? There are 30 teams out there that could use a guy's expertise like that. I'm tired of some of these guys, I really am."

Fired back Stone regarding Piniella's comments about his not having credibility because he hasn't worked in a front office or on the field: "That might be one of the dumber things he has said."

And with that, another Cubs season continues to unravel and go down the drain. They are 27-34 and Piniella seems headed out the door at season's end when his contract expires. Piniella came to the Cubs with the reputation of being one of the game's best managers but with the postseason flops of 2007 and 2008, the missed postseason last year and the horrific start to this season, even that reputation could be in jeopardy. Dusty Baker, in fact, came to the Cubs with the same stellar reputation after a string of strong seasons with the Giants that culminated in reaching the 2002 World Series. That reputation took an enormous hit in 2004 and, in fact, has spent the last few years being regarded as one of the game's poorer managers, what with the mismanagement of rosters and especially of pitching staffs. Only now, with the Reds leading the NL Central after a 15-year playoff drought, is his rep starting to be salvaged.

Clearly, the trouble with the Cubs all these years has been the candor of Stone. One thing I'm fairly sure of: Stone will still be around, offering his honest opinions in Chicago, long after Piniella is gone (I fully expect Piniella to be working for Fox or ESPN or Turner or the MLB Network at this point next season). And the next Cubs manager will be the next who can blame his team's eternal misfortune on a local broadcaster.

Make it stop!

Thoroughly enjoying the US-England soccer game (and really enjoyed the Buckner-moment of English goalie Robert Green). Imagine if the United States somehow manages to win this game.

But, please, enough with the zuzuvelas or whatever those buzzing noisemakers are called. Enough.

Stanley Cup Playoffs: Hockey Night Canada's 2010 Tribute

USC Trojans: 2-time AP National Champions!

With the sanctions leveled against the University of Southern California football program yesterday, they had to forfeit their win in the 2005 Orange Bowl, a 55-19 shellacking of Oklahoma in what was the BCS national championship game. The BCS is likely to strip USC of their championship.

Auburn, which finished undefeated that season (and should have been in the championship ahead of both USC and Oklahoma but that's another argument for another day) has begun stumping for that season's crown. Tommy Tuberville, their former head coached who was almost replaced by Bobby Petrino prior to the 2004 season and was fired after the 2008 season, is now saying there should be a re-vote and Auburn should be declared the champion. It must be noted that Auburn would owe Tuberville a $300,000 bonus for winning the crown, 300 grand that I'm sure would go a long way toward improving his quality of life in Lubbock, where he is beginning his first season as Texas Tech's head coach.

More likely, the title will left vacat and there will be no official 2004 BCS national champion. There will, however, be an Associated Press champion and that will remain USC. The AP confirmed today that USC will hold on to their championship, one that was rendered irrelevant in 1998 when the BCS was born.

With that, USC is now the 2003 and 2004 AP national champion but not the 2003 BCS national champion (LSU holds that crown) and most likely not the 2004 BCS national champion either.

No one cares about or wants Missouri

Sounds like the Big 10 has no interest in Missouri so that pretty much eliminates Mizzou as a major conference sports program. Their only hope is to beg the Big East to take them but I would think the Big East would be more interested in protecting their current schools (Pitt, Rutgers, Syracuse and Notre Dame in sports other than football) and then going after Kansas.

In 2007, Missouri and Kansas played each other in late November with the No. 1 ranking on the line. In football. Next week, both will essentially be small conference teams, in all likelihood. No one really cares all that much about Missouri but given the historic nature of the Kansas basketball program, that's quite a drop.

Say, with Tom Izzo supposedly set to join the Cleveland Cavaliers as their new head coach tomorrow, maybe Michigan State can go out and get Bill Self. Why would Self want to stay at Kansas if they are headed to the Mountain West or Conference USA?

Stanley Cup Final: Hockey Night In Canada Game 6 Intro

Toews is a leader for a new era

In previous eras, the NHL had leaders like Yvon Cournoyer, Bobby Clarke and Henri Richard. Then it was Denis Potvin and Bob Gainey. The pre-lockout era had Scott Stevens, Mark Messier and Steve Yzerman. The new era finally has its true leader: Jonathan Toews.

Watching Toews in these playoffs was like watching a younger, faster version of the 1998 Yzerman (right down to the No. 19). And the same came through during Canada's Gold Medal run at the Olympics. If any player truly gets it, it is Toews. Named the captain of the Blackhawks at age 19, at 22 he is a Stanley Cup champion and a leader who truly gets it.

Did you see the expression on his face when he was presented the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP? It didn't even phase him, like he didn't care at all. The look screamed, "let's get this out of the way so I can lift the trophy I care about." When he skated away with the Conn Smythe, he pointed at teammates as if to say they were just as valuable as he was, then went to the bench to find someone to hand it off to for safe-keeping. He had a more important trophy in mind--the Stanley Cup. And when he got to touch that, his smile was wider than Lindsay Lohan's vagina. (Sophomoric jokes like that are why I could never be the leader Toews is.)

In the pre-lockout era, hockey fans came to really, really admire Yzerman because he completely changed his game to become a champion. As the Red Wings gradually grew more talented in the second half of his career, he evolved from a center who once scored 155 points in a season into a gritty two-way player who won every key faceoff, blocked shots, killed penalties while maintaining a high standard of offensive play. Toews is already that. No, Toews probably won't ever have a 155-point season but then, Yzerman didn't win the Stanley Cup at age 22 either.

As the Stanley Cup Final progressed, Chicago's top line of Toews, Patrick Kane and Dustin Byfuglien was shutdown for the first three games and two periods by the sass, snarl and slashes of Chris Pronger. Kane and Byfuglien were useless. Toews made himself useful, contributing in other ways, like on the penalty kill and in the faceoff circle (Toews dominating counterpart Mike Richards on draws). Joel Quenneville finally made the move to shuffle his lines in the third period of Game 4, breaking up Toews, Kane and Byfuglien. The shuffle did plenty to improve the offensive situations for Kane and Byfuglien and both capitalized. Toews was forced to play less of an offensive role and in doing so, played his best of the series.

Kane may be the most physically gifted player on the Blackhawks and Byfuglien is the most physical. Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Brian Campbell spring their whole team with their puck-moving ability. But Toews is their best player, their do-everything guy who does it all at a high level. The reason the Penguins are what they are is because of the talent and selfless persona of Sidney Crosby and he, first and foremost, is why we should all expect Pittsburgh to contend for the next decade. Toews is the equivalent in Chicago. The Blackhawks are a young team and their young leader will make sure they maintain their focus and remain a contender for the next decade.

The dream matchup for the marketers and television executives is Pittsburgh-Washington so that they can see Crosby battle Alex Ovechkin. Honestly, I think the NHL's top matchup over the next decade may well be Crosby and Toews. Let's hope they get to face each other in a few Stanley Cup Final series along the way.

The dominoes are falling

And they're off! As expected, Nebraska has announced that they will seek membership in the Big 10. And so dies the Big 12, although I suppose now the Big 10, which previously had 11 teams, can takeover the Big 12 moniker (and for the time being, the Big 12 can call itself the Big 10 since Nebraska and Colorado have left, even though they have 10 and not 11 teams).

Orangebloods.com, which has been all over this and ahead of this story, is reporting that four Big 12 teams are essentially signed, sealed and delivered for the Pac-10 (presumably Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State) with Texas A&M still doing a dalliance with the SEC. Should A&M opt for the SEC, it would essentially kill off its rivalry with Texas and probably leave the Pac-10 looking for another team, since they would be at 15. Possible targets? Kansas would love to go and it would be a major score for the basketball landscape of the conference.

Speaking of Kansas, they may be on their way to a newly constructed Mountain West, unless they can go to a surviving Big East. The Mountain West today landed Boise State which, from a football standpoint, gives the conference three of the four so-called mid-majors that have received bids to BCS bowls (Utah and Boise State twice each, plus TCU), plus a fourth mid-major power (BYU). The WAC is thus left to die, at least in terms of national importance. Would Kansas be willing to go to the Mountain West? It may be fine for football but it would be a major step back for the basketball program, which is only one of the four or five most important basketball programs in America.

What Kansas should do is try to get the Big East interested. Aside from the fluke 2008 season, Kansas football has pretty much been lousy for a long time and the quality in the Big East would be more on par with their level. As for basketball, Kansas would greatly increase its level of competition, pending what schools the Big 10 tries to poach (Rutgers? Pittsburgh? Notre Dame--which is in the Big East in everything but football?).

Let's say the Big 10 somehow ends up adding Rutgers, Maryland and Notre Dame with a 16th school still to be determined (Missouri is dying to go there, so let's assume it's Missouri for the purposes of this discussion). The Big East, which already has schools as far west as Chicago and Milwaukee, could look to replace Rutgers and Notre Dame with Kansas and Kansas State. From a football standpoint, it would be a one-school expansion that would probably be about equal to what they would be losing in Rutgers. From a basketball standpoint, it would be a major upgrade, sacrificing a decent program and a lousy one in a league that includes major powers in Syracuse, Connecticut and Georgetown, aspiring powers in Pittsburgh and West Virginia, and former powers like St. John's. Kansas should jump at that.

Of course, does the Big 10 want Missouri? People at Mizzou want you to believe they do and even consider themselves well-positioned, even though to date the Big 10 has made no offer, the Pac-10 doesn't want them as part of this basic merger with the Big 12 and hasn't heard anything from the Big East. Now that they have Nebraska, the Big 10 is more concerned right now about possibly tapping into large eastern markets (hence the interest in Maryland, Rutgers and possibly even Syracuse) and in trying to force Notre Dame to join. Missouri is really just a leftover that they'll take if they have to which means Mizzou really needs to hope the Big East stays as is and is interested. Otherwise, it's Mountain West time for Missouri and, really, the programs at Boise State, Utah, BYU and TCU are more on par with what Missouri really is from a football standpoint (save for the surprising 2008 season). Then again, maybe the Mountain West won't want Missouri either in which case I'll remind them that the WAC now has an opening.

She's alive!

One day after being lost at sea and feared dead, 16-year-old Abby Sunderland has been found and she's still alive.

Sunderland decided to try and attempt to become the youngest sailor to ever circumvent the globe and began her journey earlier this year. Incredibly, her parents allowed this (when I was 16, my parents wouldn't even allow me to stay out past midnight). Having lost communication with her support crew yesterday, it was feared that the boat may have submerged in treacherous waters in the Indian Ocean. However, a Qantas Airbus plane found her in the Southern Indian Ocean. The boat at one point had been turned on its side but, incredibly, Sunderland was able to right it and she is unharmed (clearly, this girl knows how to sail a boat).

Unfortunately for her, the journey is over. The nearest boat to her is 24 hours away and once that boat arrives, she will be returning home. Incredibly, she managed to complete more than half her journey. (I say incredibly because to me its amazing; to her, not completing the mission is probably considered a tremendous failure.) I'm sure that at some point down the line this ambitious girl will attempt this again. I wish her luck but at this point am just happy for her and especially her family that she's safe and unharmed.

Submitted without comment

Drool on, Big Man...er, Big Baby!

Pete Carroll responds to the book being thrown at USC

Jeremiah Masoli picks a good day to get thrown off the team

Fight on for Old SC
They have no wins since 2003!

Quite a day in college football yesterday but the big news comes from Los Angeles where it appears that the salad days of Southern California will be rendered moot, declared to have never happened. Tomorrow, the NCAA will announce its findings and the penalties it will impose upon the USC football and basketball programs as a result of a four-year investigation into the two programs based on allegations made for the school's handling of former stars Reggie Bush and O.J. Mayo.

The school put sanctions on their own basketball program last year, perhaps in an event to have the NCAA go easy on the glamorous football program. Seems like the basketball penalties, which included a ban from the NCAA Tournament and forfeiture of all of their wins in the 2007-2008 season, had no affect on the football penalties as it is being reported by the Los Angeles Times that the football program will lose more than 20 scholarships and receive a two-year ban from bowl games. ESPN.com is reporting that they will also have to forfeit games from at least the 2004 season, the only year that USC won a BCS national championship.

Meanwhile, the vultures of out. Cal's only loss of the 2004 season was a memorable one in Los Angeles to USC. Aaron Rodgers, their quarterback that season, wrote on Twitter: "Looking forward to getting my PAC-10 championship ring from the '04 season."

Somewhere, Charlie Weis can be updating his resume: "As Notre Dame head coach, didn't lose to Notre Dame in 2005." And you know the Auburn crowd will soon be trying to get their 2004 national championship.

The official word from the NCAA will come down at 3 pm EST today but that right there is a good start. A championship vacated, scholarships thrown away, bowl games left on the table. This already is sounding like sanctions more severe than those handed down to Alabama in 2002, the ones that caused Dennis Franchione to get out of dodge. Pete Carroll apparently did the same. If the University of Southern California has any bit of integrity left, they will fire athletic director Mike Garrett after the penalties are announced. Keep in mind that these penalties being reported are only the ones against their football program. We haven't even heard about what the basketball penalties will be, if indeed there are any beyond the self-imposed ones.

Meanwhile, Orangebloods.com has been all over the conference realignment shakeup and they reported earlier in the day the end of the Big 12, with Nebraska informally agreeing to join the Big 10. The same report says Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds and president William Powers told their staff that they attempted to save the Big 12 but failed, meaning Texas is likely on its way to an expanded Pac-10. Reports this morning are flying about the departure of other schools to the Pac-10. The San Jose Mercury News reports this morning that Colorado will formally accept an invite to the conference today. They also report that Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are committed to joining the Pac-10 once Nebraska leaves the Big 12 (which could become official as early as today) and may join anyway. The Oklahohoman got the following quote from an unnamed but high-ranking Oklahoma official regarding the school's potential jump to the Pac-10: "Load up on your sunscreen."

So goodbye to the Big 12, goodbye to the USC dynasty, goodbye to Reggie Bush's Heisman Trophy (most likely) and goodbye to Jeremiah Masoli's college career.

What's that? Oh yes, upstaged by all of this news was word that Oregon has thrown the suspended star quarterback off the team after being cited of being in possession of marijuana. Fortunately for him and for an Oregon program that seems out of control right now, all the other stuff completely overshadowed this news.

Stanley Cup brings Jeremy Roenick to tears

Stanley Cup Final: Hockey Night In Canada Game 5 Intro

Did the Celtics just waste KG's last truly great game?

I've always been angered by Game 4 of the 2004 NBA Finals? Why? Because it was Shaquille O'Neal's last truly dominant game and yet the Lakers managed to blow it thanks to their collective ego and Kobe Bryant's selfishness. I've long said that this was probably the lowest point of Bryant's career, even lower than the disastrous 2004-2005 season. It was the game where he let his hero complex get in the way of victory.

Shaq scored 36 points and grabbed 22 rebounds in that game. Bryant was a horrific 8-for-25 from the floor, attempted only two free throws and was called for a technical foul.

Watching tonight's Game 3 of the 2010 NBA Finals, I can't help but draw parallels and wonder if the Celtics just blew Kevin Garnett's last truly great game. It's no secret that KG isn't the player he once was, nor is it any secret that he was mediocre and terrible in Game 1 and Game 2 of the series, scoring a combined 22 points. Well, last night he had 25 on 11-of-16 shooting. The Celtics defense was terrific, which always starts with KG. And the Celtics blew it. They lost, 91-84, because Ray Allen couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, Paul Pierce was a factor for being primarily a non-factor and Derek Fisher did a Robert Horry in Game 5 of the 2005 NBA Finals impersonation.

Given the struggles for KG since the beginning of the Orlando series, can the Celtics really expect him to deliver another performance like he gave them last night? And can they really expect Kobe Bryant to have another terrible performance as he did last night (29 points on a ghastly 29 shots)? Sure, Allen won't go nothing-for-13 again but it's becoming more and more apparent that Pierce can't get off against Ron Artest.

Given that two unlikely events--Kobe reverting to Game 4 of the 2004 Finals form and KG delivering a performance reminiscent of his 2004 MVP campaign--that Boston needed to happen happened, and they still didn't win, I'm having a hard time seeing how the Celtics win this series now.

My prediction? The Celtics take Game 4 and the Lakers win Games 5 and 6 to close it out. KG doesn't have another performance that good, Kobe doesn't have another performance that bad, Allen doesn't have another performance that atrocious and the Celtics spend the entire summer, and perhaps the rest of the KG-Pierce-Allen era mulling over Game 3, which goes down as the night they lost the 2010 NBA Finals.

Was Pete Rose a cheater?

If Pete Rose used a corked bat, would that change your view of him?

I personally think he is a low-life human being and believe he should never be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame due to his betting on baseball but now Deadspin brings evidence that Rose may have used an illegally corked bat during the 1985 season in which he surpassed Ty Cobb as the game's all-time hits leader.

I'll leave it at that.

Tonight it begins

Message to Donald Sterling: SELL THE CLIPPERS

The Clippers could dominate the Los Angeles sports scene for the next 10 years. The Lakers have an older team with Kobe Bryant on the verge of entering his declining years and Phil Jackson going year-to-year. The Dodgers have a young core but a divorce in owners ruining the franchise. USC football is awaiting sanctions that could potentially wipe out their 2004 national championship and place restrictions on the program. No one cares about the Kings even though they have a potentially legendary defenseman in young Drew Doughty.

The Clippers have some good young players like Blake Griffin and Eric Gordon. All they need to become a championship contender is one LeBron James. And David Geffen wants to make it happen.

The entertainment billionaire wants to buy a majority stake of the team from the hapless Donald Sterling and believes he can then get LeBron to sign with the team. And why not? What could LeBron possibly do that would be bigger than winning a championship with arguably the worst team in all of sports? Or to challenge and take down the Lakers in the hearts of Los Angeles? LeBron can make that happen.

Sterling cannot. So the only way LeBron could possibly go to the Clippers would be if he ceased day-to-day operations of the team and sold off a majority share. LeBron is far too smart to possibly sign with the Clippers if Sterling is the majority owner. But Geffen? Hmmmm.

Color me intrigued. But I'm willing to bet Sterling will never sell, no matter how much Geffen offers.

Terrible

I'd like to thank the fans at Dodger Stadium for once again allowing me to go to a Dodgers game and not enjoy myself.

I love the Dodgers uniforms, love their tradition (even if roughly half of it is from Brooklyn), love their connection to the past, love Vin Scully and love Dodger Stadium but I absolutely cannot stand the fans at Dodgers games.

I submit they are the most obnoxious fans in all of baseball and make attending games a chore more than an enjoyment.

(And yet I'm the idiot here--I'm the one who keeps going in spite of this.)

Stanley Cup Final: Hockey Night In Canada Game 4 Intro

Wait...what??

Did you know that the Stanley Cup Final and the NBA Finals are going head-to-head tonight? That's right, both start at 8 pm ET.

If you're the NHL, and you're Gary Bettman, how on earth do you allow this? Given the inroads the NHL has made in popularity this year, how on earth do you allow your Final series to go head-to-head with the NBA? David Stern can live with this because he knows more casual fans will gravitate toward the NBA Finals than the Stanley Cup Final, especially given the Lakers-Celtics matchup and the presence of Kobe Bryant. How can Bettman have allowed this?

Shouldn't Bettman have called Stern (his old boss at the NBA, by the way) and worked with him to schedule the NHL games around the NBA games? Not only would that have been in the best interests of the NHL but it also would have been in the best interests of the fans who would like to watch both (like me). Now most fans will have to either go to a sports bar, set two televisions next to each other, or record one on the DVR, hope the other doesn't tell us the score of the other and shut ourselves off from the outside world in order to avoid the result. Really smooth.

There is no reason why these games have to go head-to-head when both sports always offer an off-day between every game. I hope Bettman will be proud when this really, really exciting Stanley Cup Final featuring two major markets and currently tied at two games a piece draws a rating below 1.0 tonight. I'm sure the suits at NBC will be thrilled too. At least they're not paying for the NHL rights.

Nadal wins at Roland Garros again, now No. 1

I really don't get how the tennis rankings work. Nor do I understand how little the four majors are factored in. From what I can gather, the ranking is based on the last calendar year. And somehow, based on the last calendar year, Rafael Nadal is the No. 1 player in the world after burying Robin Soderling in straight sets this morning in the French Open final.

In the last year, Roger Federer has won Wimbledon, lost the U.S. Open final, won the Australian Open and lost in the quarters this past week at Roland Garros (this stretch coming on the heels of winning at Roland Garros, but I guess that wasn't in the last calendar year).

In the last year, Nadal missed Wimbledon, lost in the semis at the U.S. Open, lost in the quarters at the Aussie and just now won at Roland Garros (this stretch coming on the heels of losing in the fourth round at Roland Garros last year, but I guess that wasn't in the last calendar year).

Does this make sense to anyone?

I grant that in 2010, Nadal has now won four titles to Federer's one and in the last calendar year Nadal has a 4-3 edge but Federer has a 2-1 edge in majors. I really don't get how this system works.

If you ask me, it should be Federer 1 and Nadal 2 going into Wimbledon with that winner of that tournament coming out as the No. 1 player in the world (assuming one of them wins it, which I believe to be pretty likely). But what do I know?

Marv Albert leaves MNF radio; who should replace him?

Marv Albert has decided the time is right to give up football play-by-play. The voice of Monday Night Football and the Super Bowl on Westwood One radio, the Marvelous one has decided to give up the post.

Marv and Boomer Esiason were a nice listen but Albert has decided to cut back and concentrate on his basketball duties, where he is the unquestioned Voice of the NBA (even if he doesn't get to call the NBA Finals anymore). Esiason will continue on in the role.

So the big question is: who should take Marv's place? In the past couple of years, Westwood One has used the likes of Kevin Harlan, Dave Sims, Dick Enberg, Ian Eagle and Larry Kahn on NFL games. You can pretty much forget about Enberg. He wants to do baseball full-time and at his age, he would be a short-term guy and Westwood One needs to hire someone more long-term. Forget about Kahn too since his name recognition is low. Also, you may as well forget about Joe Buck and Jim Nantz, since they are the faces of their networks and probably wouldn't want to do it anyway. Besides, Buck would be unavailable for Mondays in October because of baseball's postseason and neither could call the Super Bowl for Westwood One when their network is covering the game; Buck will already be calling the next Super Bowl for Fox Sports.

That leaves Harlan, Sims and Eagle as logical in-house candidates and Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel is stumping for Harlan, who does the Packers preseason games and whose father Bob was once the CEO of the Packers.

Harlan does a nice job on lower-tier CBS telecasts with Solomon Wilcots and I enjoy him calling NBA games for TNT and March Madness games for CBS. Still, he would be my second choice. My top choice? Marv's son, Fox's Kenny Albert.

Kenny Albert has steadily rose up the charts in recent years and is now Fox's No. 2 NFL announcer, working with Daryl Johnston and Tony Siragusa. He also seems to have ascended to their No. 2 baseball role, usually working with Tim McCarver when Buck decides he cannot be bothered to call a game. He also is NBC's No. 2 hockey announcer during the Olympics and he and Joe Micheletti did an outstanding job on the games NBC deemed lesser profile. He also calls New York Rangers and New York Knicks games for MSG.

That sounds like quite a full plate. It also sounds like a guy who likes to work and who wouldn't want to be able to call the Super Bowl? Clearly, that isn't going to happen at Fox anytime soon, where Buck is the clear No. 1 voice. Kenny Albert isn't much of an entertainer in the booth but that also makes him ideal for radio, where the description of the action is paramount. He also works really well with analysts, something he clearly inherited from his father who is probably the best ever at bringing the most out of his analysts.

The only possible drawback is that Kenny Albert probably would be unavailable to call a divisional playoff game for Westwood One because of his Fox job but that seems like a minor inconvenience to me. Use Harlan, Eagle, Sims and Kahn on the divisional games. Have Harlan and Kenny Albert call the wild card and conference championship games and give Kenny Albert Monday Night Football and the Super Bowl. Sounds like a plan to me.

Crushing Drayton McLane

Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle has clearly had enough of the disaster the Houston Astros have become. It's quite clear who he holds most responsible: owner Drayton McLane.

Don't believe me? Then follow Justice's Twitter page. It's become high comedy as he mocks the incompetence of McLane with every other post or Tweet or whatever it is you call it. This is the same owner whose leadership resulted in the Astros being one of the top National League teams from 1995-2006. Now? He's the scorn of all of Houston as their baseball team wanders into the abyss with a high payroll, no quality young players and no farm system to speak of.

It can only be a matter of time before McLane revokes Justice's press pass.

Help us out, NBC

Can NBC please stop with the low-angle camera during live play of the French Open final? It's hard to see if shots into the far court are in or not.

Thanks.

By the way, Rafael Nadal is an animal on clay.

Fun Sunday in sports ahead

Big day in sports today:

French Open final (Rafael Nadal-Robin Soderling).

Final round of the Memorial (21-year-old Rickie Fowler leads, Phil and Tiger have virtually no shot).

Yankees-Blue Jays, Padres-Phillies, Rays-Rangers, plus Ubaldo Jimenez tries to go to 11-1 against the hapless Diamondbacks.

Stanley Cup Final, Game 5, Blackhawks-Flyers tied 2-2.

NBA Finals, Game 1, Lakers lead the Celtics 1-0.