WDAE-AM 620 talk-show host Dan Sileo was back on the air Friday, a week after being suspended for making comments about the financial state of Tampa Bay Bucs owners, the Glazers.

On Oct. 29, Sileo said the Glazers had lost $400-million in the Ponzie scheme of imprisoned Bernie Madoff and an impending debt payment likely would force the Glazers to sell the team. Bucs co-chairman Joel Glazer denounced the report and Clear Channel Communications, which owns WDAE, retracted the story, issued an apology and suspended Sileo.

However, Sileo, 45, returned to his usual 6-9 a.m. time slot Friday morning, making a few passing references about his suspension, but not talking about it directly and never mentioning the story that landed him in trouble. In his opening comments, Sileo joked, "I have learned I have the fattest pictures of me on the internet.'' Later, he referred to his time away as a "sabbatical'' and asked, "How does my tan look?''

Apart from that, it was business as usual for Sileo, who used his opening segment to praise Gators linebacker Brandon Spikes, who is suspended for one game after attempting to gouge the eyes of a Georgia player last Saturday. Several callers told Sileo they were happy he was back on the air. Sileo thanked them and then continued with the sports conversation.

Bucs director of public relations Jeff Kamis said, "We appreciate Clear Channel taking swift action on this matter by issuing their retraction and apology.''

WDAE is the local AM flagship station for the Bucs, and it's unclear if Sileo's comments will affect Clear Channel's relationship with the Bucs. Clear Channel signed a 10-year deal with the Bucs in April of 2004.

Looking back at a weekend of televised sports ...

Biggest local story
In a twisted sort of way, the Dan Sileo controversy might have been the best thing that could have happened to bay area sports-talk radio.

If you missed it, Sileo went on his WDAE-AM 620 morning show Thursday and said he had a friend who claimed the Bucs’ owners were in financial trouble because of dealings with imprisoned Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff and were desperate to sell the team. The Glazers responded by saying it wasn't true. WDAE suspended Sileo and ran a retraction of the story on its Web site, saying the story was "factually incorrect.''

Perhaps this will be a cautionary tale for sports-talk radio hosts, reminding them that their words are not spoken in a vacuum. People are listening, and if you make claims as facts, you better be right.
This isn't meant to wag a holier-than-thou finger at talk radio. All media outlets need to be held to the same journalistic standards. But if radio hosts are going to assume the role of news-breaker, as Sileo did, then the news must be accurate.

Here's the problem: Hosts often feel the need to be outrageous with their opinions and often speak without a filter. Their opinions often dictate the success of their show, and many hosts carry it too far, thinking the more uncensored their words, the better the show is. They push the envelope to make a name for themselves. They want the guy in the diner or barbershop to say, "Hey, did you hear what so-and-so said today on his show?''

It's not a case of speaking first and dealing with the consequences later. It's speaking first and not even considering the consequences. That's what happened last week. There's a difference between saying, "I think the Glazers are cheap, and I wonder about their finances'' and what Sileo claimed.

Perhaps now all talk-show hosts in town will think about Sileo the next time they're about to open their mouths and say something controversial or that they claim is fact. And if more people are thinking before speaking, that's good, isn't it?

Biggest decision
Dan Sileo remains suspended indefinitely while Clear Channel Communications, which owns WDAE, figures out its next step. Complicating this case is that WDAE is the flagship station of the Bucs. You wonder how much that will play into the decision about whether Sileo keeps his job. If WDAE is afraid of losing the Bucs contract, it might feel the need to fire Sileo. And it was interesting just how quickly WDAE distanced itself from Sileo, suspending him and retracting the story just hours after Sileo was on the air.

Best feature
ESPN's Outside the Lines had a chilling piece Sunday on Raiders coach Tom Cable. A former wife and a former girlfriend said Cable was physically abusive to them. Raiders assistant coach Randy Hanson had accused Cable of breaking his jaw during an altercation in August, but the Napa County (Calif.) district attorney said he would not pursue charges, saying the facts didn't merit them. Another one of Cable's former wives said she was never a victim of violence by Cable. After the report, Cable admitted once slapping his ex-wife but denied hitting his former girlfriend. Give OTL credit for tracking down these women and getting them on the air. The report again shows that OTL remains the gold standard of sports investigative journalism.

Most disappointing interview
All last week, Fox drummed up excitement for Terry Bradshaw's interview with Brett Favre on Fox NFL Sunday. The interview turned out to be a whole lot of sizzle and no steak. There were no revelations and no tough questions, and more frustrating than anything, viewers heard more from Bradshaw, who too often interrupted Favre, than they did from Favre. It could've been one of the most interesting interviews of the year — Fox advertised it as so — but Bradshaw dropped the ball.

Worst graphic
Do we really need a graphics box taking up space to tell World Series viewers where the Series stands? For example, Saturday night it read, "Series tied 1-1.'' On Sunday, it read, "NY leads 2-1''’ Put the graphic up along with the score coming in and out of commercial break, but we don't need something else crowding the screen during the game.

Most disappointing pregame
Fox's game coverage of the World Series is outstanding, but am I the only one disappointed by the yawn-inducing pregame show? This is the World Series, for crying out loud. But the pregame show doesn't have a special feel. Host Chris Rose seems more interested in cracking lame playful jokes at the expense of the analysts. Eric Karros gives some decent analysis, and Mark Grace and Ozzie Guillen have had a few moments, but it's mostly scratch-the-surface, obvious stuff. There's little depth, no must-see features, and at times it has the feel that they're just winging it.

Saturday night's Game 3 broadcast turned into a fiasco because of a long rain delay that it seemed Fox wasn't prepared for. The panel bumbled its way through shallow chatter, and there were a couple of interviews about the weather, but then Fox ran out of content and was reduced to showing a replay of the ninth inning of Game 2. When that didn't fill the time, Fox put on an episode of The Cleveland Show.

Are you kidding? Fox had two full days before the Series started knowing the Yankees were going to play the Phillies. It knew for nearly a week that the Phillies were going to be in the World Series. And it can't put together enough content to fill time during a rain delay?

Best idea
Not everyone is a fan of Don Cherry's "Coaches Corner'' during the first intermission of Hockey Night in Canada, but whether you like the acerbic analyst or not, you can't help but respect his occasional feature when he shows a photo of a Canadian solider killed in Afghanistan as he emotionally speaks about them. Watching it this past Saturday, I wondered why we don't see American sports broadcasts do more to honor the troops.

Then, Fox announced Sunday that next week, the Fox NFL Sunday pregame show will have a two-hour special live from an undisclosed military installation in Afghanistan.

"Our men and women in the military put themselves in harm's way to protect everything we hold dear, and none more so than those who are stationed in the Middle East,'' said FOX Sports Chairman David Hill. "It is our privilege and honor to take Fox NFL Sunday to them in November, right before Veteran's Day. Amidst the fun and football, it's our hope to showcase the dedication of these men and women who have to defend against a lot more than the Wild Cat.''

This is a tremendous gesture by Fox. Way to go.

Strongest comment
On ESPN's Sports Reporters on Sunday, Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan took a sledgehammer to the Cardinals and manager Tony LaRussa for hiring Mark McGwire as hitting coach. With McGwire's murky past regarding steroids and his infamous "I'm not here to talk about the past'' testimony to Congress, Ryan is shocked that he would be welcomed back by the Cardinals and commissioner Bud Selig, who said he was "delighted'' by McGwire's return to baseball.

"It's sad to see this great manager in denial,'' Ryan said, "but it's worse to have the commissioner say, 'Everything is okay with this guy.' It's not okay. Mark McGwire has no business being in a Major League Baseball uniform.''

Three things that popped into my head
1. No disrespect to the Gators, but Florida's easy victory over Georgia said more about Georgia than it did about the Gators.
2. How do you think Indians fans feel watching the World Series and seeing former Indians CC Sabathia pitching for the Yankees and Cliff Lee pitching for the Phillies while they’re licking their wounds from a 97-loss season?
3. Funniest quote of the weekend goes to ESPN's John Saunders, talking about Cavs center Shaquille O’Neal, right: "If fans or manage­ment are expecting 20 (points) and 10 (rebounds), they better count on getting change.''

Former Bucs and Gibbs High quarterback Shaun King has been let go from his broadcasting job at ESPN. In a statement, ESPN said, “We have decided to go in a different direction. We thank Shaun for his contributions and wish him the best.”

King played for the Bucs from 1999 to 2004 and, as a starter, led the Bucs to two postseason appearances, including NFC Championship Game in the 1999 season. After bouncing around the NFL, the arena league and the CFL, King took a job with ESPN in 2007 as a pro and college football analyst.

King was outspoken, opinionated and honest and that, you would think, would go a long way in making a good television analyst. However, ESPN apparently wasn't pleased with his performance.

Looking back at a weekend of televised sports ...

Most interesting comment
On Friday night's Charlie Rose show on PBS (see, you never know where you're going to hear talk about sports), Sports Illustrated's Peter King gave the best explanation yet for why the new Cowboys stadium is so swanky. It's not because of owner Jerry Jones' ego, he said.

"Jerry Jones built this stadium and built it the way he did -- garish, bigger than life, giant screens here, creature comforts there -- for one reason,'' King said. "He's afraid of football becoming a studio sport. He's afraid of men 25 to 49 saying, 'You know what? It's raining out there today. I'm going to stay in my man cave with my big TV and have three or four beers and watch the games on TV rather than going out to the stadium.' (Jones said,) ''That's the danger in our sports. TV is so wonderful right now.'''

Biggest conflict
ABC and ESPN are at it again, seeing no issue with their broadcasters doing television commercials with players. The latest ad promoting NBA coverage on the networks is as entertaining as the others, but it features analyst Jeff Van Gundy and Clippers rookie Blake Griffin. This is a conflict. Griffin, one would assume, was compensated for his appearance, and one would assume that Van Gundy and Griffin hung out while shooting. And now every time Van Gundy makes a comment about Griffin during the season, we can't help but think about them doing a commercial together.

Biggest nonconflict
ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit might be the best pound-for-pound analyst on television, and if anyone thought the former Ohio State quarterback couldn't be objective when it came to the Buckeyes, he annihilated that notion Saturday with a scathing review of the program, and in particular, quarterback Terrelle Pryor.

"You don't see him progressing to become a complete quarterback,'' Herbstreit said. "He is not advancing as a quarterback. … He looks confused, his body language is terrible. Other than that, he’s playing well.''

Herbstreit wasn't done with Ohio State:
"They can't run the ball because they have probably the biggest underachieving offensive line in the last 10 years or college football history, and they're uninspired consistently.''

Best son
I was watching the Clemson-Miami game Saturday for 20 minutes before I realized the color commentator was not Bob Griese, but his son Brian. The two sound identical. Fortunately, Brian didn't say anything dumb like his dad did Saturday during the Ohio State-Minnesota game. Talking about Colombian NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya, the elder Griese said, "He's out having a taco.'' Griese apologized later. And let's not overreact and call for Griese's firing. His comment was stupid and insensitive, but it's not the worst thing ever said on the air.

Strangest story line
ABC's Brent Musburger spent way too much time during Saturday night's Texas-Missouri game talking about how Texas wanted to impress poll voters with style points so the Longhorns could pass either Alabama or Florida, as if Texas was in danger of being shut out of the national championship picture. It wasn't a passing reference. He mentioned it several times, obviously forgetting that Texas is fine in the No. 3 spot. Either Alabama and Florida is guaranteed a loss, because if those two remain unbeaten, they'll eventually meet in the SEC Championship Game.

Best premonition
When University of Tennessee kicker Daniel Lincoln made a 24-yard field goal early in the second quarter of Saturday's game against Alabama, CBS's Gary Daniel­son pointed out the low trajectory of the kick and told viewers, "That's something to keep an eye on later in the game.''

Sure enough, Lincoln later had two kicks blocked, including a 44-yarder that would have won the game on the last play.

Unfunniest moments
When did the NFL pregame shows turn into frat parties? This isn't scientific, but if you turn on either Fox NFL Sunday or CBS NFL Today, there's a 67 percent chance that you'll see the analysts doubled over in laughter, all talking at the same time and acting as if they've just heard the funniest thing ever uttered by a human. It's often followed by tossing paper or pencils at one another and even more talking while the host is moving on to the next subject. It turns into a bad version of the old Dean Martin Celebrity Roast, which actually had its moments.

Sadly, what sends these analysts into laughing fits is some verbal insult directed at one of them that isn't even worth a smile, let alone table-pounding, eye-wiping, side-holding laughter. The shows don't have to be as serious as Law & Order: SVU, but if we want a comedy show, we'll watch The Office or Entourage.

Biggest rip
Fox NFL Sunday did get serious long enough for analyst Terry Bradshaw to carve Titans coach Jeff Fisher who wore a Peyton Manning jersey last week at a luncheon where Fisher introduced former Colts coach Tony Dungy. The move didn't go over too well among Tennessee fans because the Titans are winless and were coming off a 59-0 loss to New England.

"I have a big problem with it,'' Bradshaw said. "If you are a player in that locker room and the coach is separating himself from you, he's basically turned around and told the players, 'You're the losers.' I'm disappointed in Fisher.''

Three things that popped into my head
1. He might not be the best football coach in the land, but Notre Dame's Charlie Weis gives the most honest, cooperative and entertaining halftime interviews of any in the country.
2. Know which college "team'' I'd least like to be a member of this season? An SEC officiating crew.
3. Sight I'm tired of seeing: football coaches doing jumping chest or side bumps with players. Can you imagine Tom Landry or Vince Lombardi doing that? Heck, do you even see Bill Belichick doing that? Act like you're the boss, not a buddy.

Looking back at a weekend of televised sports ...

Worst question
What was CBS's Tracy Wolfson thinking while interviewing Gators coach Urban Meyer after Florida escaped with a 23-20 win Saturday against Arkansas? After gushing over QB Tim Tebow, who had a so-so day, Wolfson said to Meyer, "First time this team has really been tested in a while. Talk about their resiliency.''

Thankfully, Meyer pointed out how dumb the question was, saying, "Well, I'm not sure what season you've been watching. We've been tested a lot.''

For some reason, Wolfson thought that was funny because she laughed. Actually, the Gators were tested a week earlier in a 13-3 victory at then-No. 4 LSU. And the funny thing is, Wolfson covered that game!

Worst graphic
Fox is an innovator in sports graphics. It was the first to run the "Fox Box,'' a miniscoreboard in the upper part of the screen during play, something every other network eventually adopted and no fan can live without. But in the American League Championship Series, it has gone a little overboard with something called "Fox Trax Plus.'' It clocks the speed of a pitch when the ball leaves a pitcher's hand and then gives the speed when the ball crosses the plate. Analyst Tim McCarver seemed amazed that a ball comes out of a pitcher's hand at, say, 93 mph and crosses the plate at 87 mph. That's not amazing. That's physics.

Best idea
Every second of ESPN’s College GameDay is must-watch TV, but now the network has added another wrinkle to take the show up another couple of notches. It has added a guest "picker'' at the end of the show, a celebrity to help predict the outcome of the big games of the day. Bob Knight, Drew Brees and Lance Armstrong have been on. Mark Cuban was on Saturday. Waiting to see who GameDay gets as its guest is as climactic as Lee Corso putting on the mascot's head.

Best use of Telestrator
Few broadcasters -- including national and local ones in every sport at every level -- use the Telestrator better than Lightning analyst Bobby "Chief’'' Taylor. Any announcer can break down a play when given enough time to look at replays over and over. But Taylor needs only a few minutes during intermission to break down several replays and point out things that even avid hockey fans probably didn't notice.

Best line
After running for 246 yards against South Carolina in Alabama's 20-6 victory Saturday night, Crimson Tide running back Mark Ingram accidently tripped into ESPN reporter Erin Andrews as she was about to interview him and then quickly apologized to her.

"Isn't it interesting that Ingram apologized for tripping into Erin Andrews,'' ESPN announcer Brad Nessler said, "but he didn't apologize for running over South Carolina.''

Worst schedule
Can you believe college basketball is starting? Midnight Madness was Friday night, and games start in two weeks. Doesn't it seem like a bad idea to start in the middle of football season? Why not push the start back a few weeks to avoid the conflicts?

Anyway, for those who think college basketball can't start soon enough, ESPN analyst Doug Gottlieb has listed his top five teams going into the season:
1. Kansas. 2. Texas. 3. Kentucky. 4. Purdue. 5. Michigan State.

Biggest doubt
Fox analyst Jimmy Johnson is one of those who thinks Gators QB Tim Tebow will have trouble making it in the NFL. But he does think Tebow has a shot, under one interesting condition.

"If Urban Meyer is brought along with Tim Tebow, that would be the key,'' Johnson said. "If you're going to bring in Tebow, you've got to make sure the offense comes with him, because Tebow’s not going to fit in with a pro-style offense.''

Best radio team
I've never been a fan of ESPN's Sunday night baseball announcing team, Jon Miller and Joe Morgan. On TV, they strike me as arrogant know-it-alls who are constantly trying to outdo one another. But strangely, they are more interesting on radio than they are on TV. They are calling the American League Championship Series for ESPN Radio and do a really solid job. They seem to mesh better on radio, and both seem to make the game the focal point as opposed to their voices.

Best point
Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom was right when he said on Sunday's Sports Reporters: "When (Oklahoma quarterback) Sam Bradford went down again (against Texas on Saturday), it was a scary moment. It scared a whole lot of underclassmen into turning pro as quickly as they can.''

You have to wonder whether Bradford's pro stock has dropped mightily for fear that he now has a creaky shoulder. On top of that, underclassmen have watched Florida's Tim Tebow suffer a concussion as Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez and the Lions' Matt Stafford are having success and getting well-paid instead after leaving school early. Who can blame a kid for seeing all this and wanting to leave early?

Worst quote
Advice to the NFL Network's Michael Irvin: Don't say things like this when the team you're talking about has a tough opponent later in the day:
"This New York Giants football team is better than the New York Giants team that won the Super Bowl,'' Irvin said Sunday morning. "This is the next team that we use the word 'dynasty' around.''

Irvin's dynasty then went out and got blown up by the Saints 48-27.  By the way, CBS's Bill Cowher not only called New Orleans' victory but said the Saints have the best chance of going undefeated.

Three things that popped into my head
1. Doesn't it seem a little early in the season for Lightning general manager Brian Lawton to be reading people the riot act?
2. I don't care whether he's writing for Sports Illustrated or appearing on NBC's Sunday Night Football or at halftime of NBC’s Notre Dame coverage, if NFL writer-analyst Peter King has something to say, I'm interested in hearing it.
3. If a big baseball game is on TV, would you rather have anyone calling it than Fox's Joe Buck and Tim McCarver?

Looking back at a weekend of televised sports ...

Worst schedule
Baseball's postseason was moved back a bit this season because of the World Baseball Classic in March, but baseball still needs to figure out how to avoid playing postseason games in weather more suited for the NHL's Winter Classic than baseball. Can you imagine how cold it might be two weeks from now in New York, Philadelphia and Denver -- all cities that could still be hosting baseball games?

Saturday's game in Denver was postponed because of snow and Sunday's game was played with temperatures in the 20s. Remember last season how the weather in Philadelphia turned Game 5 of the World Series into a three-day event

Obviously, baseball isn't going to cut games out of the schedule or cut the number of teams in the postseason back to four and it can't start the season any earlier than it already does. The only solution might be to schedule more day-night doubleheaders during the season. Teams could still have full gates from 81 homes games, but if they could knock even a week out of the regular-season schedule, it might help avoid some of the chilly weather.

Finest moment
Desmond Howard appears to have more of a role on ESPN's College GameDay this season, perhaps because analyst Lee Corso still isn't quite 100 percent after suffering a stroke over the summer. In the past, Howard has been rather vanilla with his comments, but with more air time this season, he has developed a stronger voice. Saturday was his finest hour on GameDay as he weighed in with unique and thought-provoking comments, especially when it came to whether Tim Tebow should play later that night against LSU.

Howard suggested that Tebow should not play even if he was to be cleared medically (Tebow was cleared and he did play, apparently with no negative effects). But Howard brought up something worth considering: Imagine how Gators coach Urban Meyer could have solidified future recruiting if he sat Tebow. Imagine Meyer going into the living room of recruits and telling their parents how their son's health is paramount and being able to point to the time he sat Tebow in a big game even though Tebow was cleared to play. Whether you agree isn't the point. It was something that made you think, and isn't that what a good analyst does?

Strongest comment
Kirk Herbstreit of ESPN's College GameDay blasted Florida State officials who are trying to push out football coach Bobby Bowden. Herbstreit doesn't have an issue that there are those who want Bowden out, he has issue with how it's being done.

"The chairman of the board of trustees (Jim Smith) got emotional and let his feelings behind closed doors be known publicly,'' Herbstreit said. "The Florida State powers-that-be are entitled to have their own opinions and make whatever move they need to make. But their thoughts should be kept behind closed doors. … Don't let your feelings out like that publicly. That's embarrassing to your school and embarrassing to a guy who has done so much for that school.''

Most criticized
Thanks to the well done Sports Business Daily for pointing this out: TBS baseball announcer Chip Caray is getting clobbered by the national media for his postseason performance. New York Times sports media writer Richard Sandomir said Caray is "prone to bad play-calls, descriptive exaggerations and factual errors.'' New York Post writer Phil Mushnick, as only Mushnick can, was more to the point, saying Caray was "like an interpreter who can speak with a French accent but doesn't know French. … When did broadcasting executives lose the ability to distinguish good from bad?''

Funniest line
Did you hear that it was actually rapper MC Hammer who helped jump-start the negotiations between the 49ers and first-round pick Michael Crabtree, who eventually signed last week? ESPN's Adam Schefter said, "Barack Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize this week; maybe it should have gone to MC Hammer.''

Most average broadcast
The Florida-LSU game Saturday night wasn't exactly the most compelling college football game ever played, and it might have been overhyped to begin with. Still, CBS's broadcast was just so-so, and surprisingly so, because announcers Verne Lundquist and Gary Daniel­son are top-notch broadcasters. But even their performance was mediocre. They spent too much time trying to convince viewers that Florida quarterback Tim Tebow was playing better than he actually was and not enough time pointing out that LSU was vastly overrated.

Best show
If you're a baseball fanatic and can't get enough of the postseason, tune into the MLB Network's Path to the Pennant pregame and postgame shows, because it gives you more than enough. The advantage the MLB Network has over, say, ESPN and that network's Baseball Tonight is time. MLB Network has nothing else to cover but the playoffs. It can, and does, spend all night dissecting practically every inning of every game. It's easy to turn it on and leave on.

Best point
Los Angeles Times writer Diane Pucin pointed out how someone at TBS needs to pay attention to the order of the commercials during the postseason baseball games. During Game 1 of the Red Sox-Angels series, there was a Captain Morgan ad that told viewers how there are 40 shots in their big bottles of rum. That was followed by a Fox/TBS ad for postseason coverage that centered on how the Angels are honoring Nick Adenhart, the pitcher killed in April by a man charged with drunken driving.

Three things that popped into my head
1. Doesn't it seem like the Dodgers went just a tad overboard with an out-of-control champagne celebration when all they did was win a division playoff series?
2. Most interesting thing on TV over the weekend was a piece on ESPN's Outside the Lines looking at the earthquake in the 1989 World Series and, honestly, how different the world was back then without cell phones. Plus, anytime host Bob Ley is reporting the story, it's can't-miss stuff.
3. Prediction: The best college football game this season will be Florida and Alabama meeting in the SEC Championship Game.

We're number ... 15.

Tampa-St. Petersburg placed 15th on the Sporting News annual Best Sports Cities list. The magazine featured nearly 400 cities and towns in the United States and Canada and ranked them according to system that assigns points to a variety of categories, including number of teams, won-lost records, playoff berths, bowl appearances, tournament bids, championships and then such objective things as fan fervor and attendance.

"The Rays' World Series run in 2008 is part of Tampa-St. Pete's story in our 12-month city snapshot,'' said Sporting News chief of correspondents Bob Hille, who has coordinated the rankings since their expansion 13 years ago. "But remember that on any given day fans can see big-time sports -- the Rays, Bucs and Lightning -- and then throw in South Florida's strong football program and spring training baseball, and you've got some great ingredients for a fun sports atmosphere.''

So who is No. 1? Pittsburgh, thanks to championships by the Penguins and Steelers, was named the best sports city, unseating Boston, which held the title three of the past five years. Boston slipped to No. 3 on the latest list.

Rounding out the top 10 were Philadelphia at No. 2, Chicago (No. 4), Los Angeles (No. 5), New York (No. 6), Phoenix-Tempe (No. 7), Miami (No. 8), Dallas-Fort Worth (No. 9), Detroit-Ann Arbour (No. 10).

For the entire Sporting News list, click here.

Looking back at a weekend of televised sports ...

Most entertaining
Listening to Florida State football games on the radio, and in particular the color commentary of Lakewood grad and former FSU fullback William Floyd might be the most entertaining thing on radio since the days of Jack Benny and Milton Berle. Of course, it's not funny if you're a Florida State fan, but the worse the Seminoles play, the funnier Floyd becomes because he is so into his alma mater. He berates the players when things are going bad, criticizes the officials, questions the coaches and you can't help but start laughing when his frustrations boil over into uncontrolled rants.

Normally, one would criticize a broadcaster for being such a die-hard fan, but college football announcers probably fall into a different category. Cheerleading is to be expected, especially because almost every listener also is a die-hard fan. So, Seminoles fans probably don't mind Floyd’s rants and raves. And the rest of us can get a kick out of it.

Biggest pet peeve
ESPN's John Saunders is one of the good guys and does a splendid job on Sunday morning's must-watch Sports Reporters. But there's one thing he does every so often that undercuts the credibility of all sports reporters, and he did it again Sunday. When talking about the Tigers blowing their lead in the American League Central, he said to Detroit Free-Press columnist Mitch Albom, "If momentum counts for something, Mitch, I'd be worried.''

He said it as if Albom should be worried -- as if Albom actually cares if the Tigers win or lose. Sportswriters constantly fight the misconception that they care if any team wins or loses. When Saunders says something like that, he only adds to the viewers' misguided belief that sportswriters root for the teams they cover.

Most anticipated
Can you remember the last time there was this much buzz about a Monday Night Football game? When the schedule came out, Monday's Vikings-Packers game seemed just like another chapter in one of the better rivalries in the NFL. But it became one of the games of the year when former Packers quarterback Brett Favre came out of retirement (again), this time with the Vikings.

"This one fell into our lap when No. 4 decided to come back,'' MNF senior coordinating producer Jay Rothman said.

And don't think that this is just another game with the media creating all the hype.

"Talking to Favre a couple different times since he left Green Bay and being around the Packers a little bit, this is the game Brett Favre’s wanted to play,'' play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico said. "When the Packers essentially said, 'We don't want you to be our quarterback anymore,' Brett Favre had an unbelievable clock ticking inside him to want to play the Green Bay Packers. So you can say that he's waited 13, 14 months for it and you're not overstating it. It certainly equals the hype.''

Most honest quote
With all this talk about Brett Favre and his damaged relationship with the Packers, there has been a debate about loyalty. ESPN analyst Mike Ditka summed it up: "If you think there's any loyalty in professional sports, you're crazy. Maybe this wasn't totally about money, but nobody's loyal to anyone. When they think they've used you, you're finished. Out the door you go. I don't blame him for being mad in that area. He wants to crush them''

Best rumor
CBS NFL Today insider Charley Casserly said three groups are interested in buying the Rams, and one of the groups includes radio personality Rush Limbaugh. Runnerup for best rumor: Hockey Night in Canada's broadcast had an interesting little tidbit that there are rumblings the Atlanta Thrashers eventually could be sold and moved to Winnipeg.

Worst rule
Time for college football to seriously rethink this "excessive celebration'' penalty. It's now affecting the outcomes of games, and many of the flags are being thrown for what hardly seems like "excessive'' celebration. It's not a stretch to say LSU won by scoring a late touchdown with the help of a ticky-tack penalty against Georgia for celebrating.

"There's a difference between taunting and celebration,'' ESPN analyst Lou Holtz said. "It's an emotional game. Let them show some emotion.''

Worst good team
The coming college football showdown between Florida and LSU seems like a big deal with the Gators ranked No. 1 and LSU No. 4. But, come on, does LSU really strike anyone as being the fourth-best team in the nation? They barely beat a Georgia team that seemed overrated at No. 18. In fact, that game was so sloppy that CBS's Gary Danielson said: "These teams are playing to their reputation. I mean, does anybody know any more about these two teams?''

Biggest surprise
The biggest surprise in Saturday night's Lightning opener wasn't that the Lightning lost. It was TV analyst Bobby "Chief''’ Taylor without his familiar mustache! I ran into Taylor at a Rays' game a couple of months ago and he said he was trimming the 'stache he had for more than 30 years when he took too much off and ended up looking like Adolf Hitler. So he had no choice but to shave the whole thing, and he has decided to leave it off.

Strangest timing
ESPN's Outside the Lines ran a piece on University of Buffalo football coach Turner Gill not getting the Auburn job last year. Many, including Buffalo's athletic director, Warde Manuel, and former Auburn basketball star Charles Barkley, said Gill didn't get the job because he's African-American. Instead, Auburn hired Gene Chizak, a white coach who was highly successful as a defensive coordinator but was 5-19 in two seasons as head coach at Iowa State. Who knows if race played a role, although Gill said he didn't believe it did. Either way, the timing of the story seemed strange. First, the hire was last December. And Sunday's story came a day after Auburn moved to 5-0 on the season and the same day that it moved into the Associated Press poll at No. 17. Meantime, Buffalo lost its fourth straight on Saturday and fell to 1-4.

Worst coverage
There's no good reason why the Twins-Royals game was not on Sunday. With the Twins and Tigers tied for first place in the American League Central, the MLB Network picked up the Tigers-White Sox game, which was nice, but then again, it already was on nationally on WGN. Meantime, TBS has a game of the week, and it picked up the Dodgers-Rockies game, which was meaningless because the Dodgers clinched the National League West on Saturday night. Between TBS, ESPN and the MLB Network, someone needed to pick up the Twins-Royals game.

Worst mistake
Everyone jumped all over Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb last season when McNabb didn't know the NFL overtime rules. This is worse: former NFL quarterback and current CBS game analyst Rich Gannon made a similar blunder Sunday during overtime of the Bengals-Browns game. The Bengals called timeout with seven seconds left to set up for a game-winning field goal. Gannon questioned calling timeout. Now that might make sense if Gannon was suggesting that the Browns would have time to run a play if the Bengals missed the kick. But Gannon's point was the Browns would have time to return a kick if the Bengals made the field goal.

Partner Ian Eagle, according to Yahoo Sports, informed Gannon "quickly and politely'' that the game would be over if Bengals made the kick. Gannon laughed and apologized for his mistake.