RIP Scott Kalitta

By Rick Morris

Two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion Scott Kalitta passed away Saturday after suffering horrific injuries at an NHRA Funny Car event in New Jersey on Saturday.

We've only recently been covering NHRA in the FDH media family and I can't say that I know a tremendous amount offhand about Mr. Kalitta's career, but he was a supremely accomplished driver, the 1994 and 1995 Top Fuel Division Champion and someone beloved by friends and family from the accounts I'm seeing now. Any event of this nature is a tremendous tragedy to the entire sport, Scott's friends and family and frankly, those who were traumatized by seeing the deadly crash before their very eyes at the track.

Here's a video with many triumphant moments from Scott's career. It seems to be a fitting tribute to the memories he left behind.



Our FDH drag racing correspondent Jeff Weber will be attending the next NHRA event, next weekend in Norwalk, OH. I was going to be getting some thoughts from him for our FDH readers even before this happened and now I'll especially be interested to talk to him about the mood at the track one week after this unthinkable occurrence. Drag racing fans are a resilient bunch and they do have to deal with tragedies of this sort, so I'll bet it'll be a sad-but-resolved feeling in the air the rest of this weekend in New Jersey and next week at Norwalk.

RIP Scott Kalitta, God Bless you and your family and friends.

NBA draft guide is released

By Rick Morris

It's here! It's done! Rejoice all ye NBA hoops fans, for your ultimate guide to this year's proceedings is available and it is FREE! HOOPS DRAFTOLOGY, a joint presentation of FantasyDrafthelp.com and Sportsology, is now online! In addition to the FDH and Sportsology media families, the guide will also be available through SportsTalkNetwork.com.

Here's the Table of Contents:

Page 1: HOOPS DRAFTOLOGY Overview
Pages 2-3: Rating the tiers of talent in the first round
Pages 4-6: Top 75 players regardless of position
Page 6: Strength of draft by position
Page 7: Center rankings
Page 8: Power forward rankings
Page 9: Small forward rankings
Page 10: Shooting guard rankings
Page 11: Point guard rankings
Page 12: Team needs
Pages 13-17: Previously completed NBA Draft transactions
Pages 18-19: Jason Jones NBA Draft rumor notebook
Pages 20-21: A conversation with 2007 top pick Greg Oden
Pages 22-23: Flashback to 2006 rookie playing card shoot
Pages 24-25: 2K Sports event at Rucker Park
Page 26: Jason Jones mock draft
Page 27: Rick Morris mock draft
Page 28: Blank mock draft sheet

NBA draft guide: strength by positions

By Rick Morris

Click here for HOCKEY DRAFTOLOGY, your ultimate guide to the 2008 pro hockey entry draft and offseason. Also, check out our friend Russ Cohen's podcasts live from the NHL Entry Draft at Card Corner Club and you can view the NHL Draft Tracker here. Pretty cool, huh?

Well, get ready for HOOPS DRAFTOLOGY, our guide to the 2008 NBA Draft, once again co-produced between FantasyDrafthelp.com and Sportsology. Targeted to be released by this Saturday, June 21, HOOPS DRAFTOLOGY will again serialized here and at Sportsology just like our hockey version was featured.

Today's installment? The FDH assessment of strength by draft position. Hint: hope your favorite team doesn't need a swingman in this draft! The overall depth is pretty sweet, though, as evidenced by the three positions above average to varying degrees.

Outstanding: Point Guard
Very Good: Power Forward
Good: Center
Average: Shooting Guard
Not So Good: none
Poor: Small Forward
Horrible: none

NBA draft guide: rankings by position

By Rick Morris

Click here for HOCKEY DRAFTOLOGY, your ultimate guide to the 2008 pro hockey entry draft and offseason. Pretty cool, huh?

Well, get ready for HOOPS DRAFTOLOGY, our guide to the 2008 NBA Draft, once again co-produced between FantasyDrafthelp.com and Sportsology. Targeted to be released by this Saturday, June 21, HOOPS DRAFTOLOGY will again serialized here and at Sportsology just like our hockey version was featured.

Today's installment? FDH Senior Editor Jason Jones' rankings by position, based on our Top 75 players regardless of position that we posted yesterday.

	Power Forwards	Size	School
1	Michael Beasley	6'10, 235	Kansas St
2	Anthony Randolph	6'11, 220	LSU
3	Kevin Love	6'10, 275	UCLA
4	Kosta Koufos	7'0, 265	Ohio St
5	Darrell Arthur	6'10, 225	Kansas
6	D.J. White	6'9, 240	Indiana
7	J.J. Hickerson	6'9, 240	N.C. State
8	Serge Ibaka	6'10, 220	Congo
9	Jason Thompson	6'11, 250	Rider
10	Nathan Jawai	6'10, 270	Australia
11	Richard Hendrix	6'9, 260	Alabama
12	Alexis Ajinca	7'1, 240	France
13	Joey Dorsey	6'9, 260	Memphis
14	James Gist	6'9, 235	Maryland
15	Ryan Anderson	6'10, 225	Cal
16	Darnell Jackson	6'8, 250	Kansas
17	Kentrell Gransberry	6'9, 270	S. Florida
18	Mickell Gladness	6'11, 205	Alabama A&M
19	Shawn James	6'10, 225	Duquesne
20	Vladimir Golubovic	7'0, 260	Serbia
21	Charles Rhodes	6'8, 245	Mississippi St
	Small Forwards	Size	School
1	Danilo Gallinari	6'9, 212	Italy
2	Nicolas Batum	6'8, 210	France
3	Bill Walker	6'6, 235	Kansas St
4	Donte Greene	6'10, 225	Syracuse
5	Joe Alexander	6'8, 220	West Virginia
6	Davon Jefferson	6'8, 215	USC
7	Luc Richard Mbah a Moute	6'7, 215	UCLA
8	Keith Brumbaugh	6'10, 215	Hillsborough C.C.
9	Pat Calathes	6'10, 210	St. Joseph's
10	Josh Duncan	6'8, 225	Xavier
11	Will Daniels	6'8, 225	Rhode Island
12	Gary Forbes	6'7, 220	UMass
	Centers	Size	School
1	Brook Lopez	7'0, 260	Stanford
2	DeAndre Jordan	7'0, 255	Texas A&M
3	Kosta Koufos	7'0, 265	Ohio St
4	Marreese Speights	6'10, 245	Florida
5	Roy Hibbert	7'2, 275	Georgetown
6	JaVale McGee	7'0, 237	Nevada
7	Ante Tomic	7'2, 237	Croatia
8	Trent Plaisted	6'11, 245	BYU
9	Robin Lopez	7'0, 245	Stanford
10	DeVon Hardin	6'11, 250	Cal
11	Omer Asik	6'11, 230	Turkey
12	Nikola Pekovic	6'11, 245	Serbia
13	David Padgett	6'11, 230	Louisville
14	C.J. Giles	6'11, 235	Oregon St
15	Sasha Kaun	6'11, 250	Kansas
16	Semih Erden	7'1, 240	Turkey
17	Aleks Maric	6'11, 270	Nebraska
18	Peja Samardziski	7'1, 255	Macedonia
	Point Guards	Size	School
1	Derrick Rose	6'3, 205	Memphis
2	O.J. Mayo	6'4, 195	USC
3	Jerryd Bayless	6'3, 190	Arizona
4	D.J. Augustin	6'0, 180	Texas
5	Russell Westbrook	6'3, 189	UCLA
6	Mario Chalmers	6'2, 170	Kansas
7	Tyrone Brazelton	6'0, 180	W. Kentucky
8	Goran Dragic	6'4, 200	Slovenia
9	Mantas Kalnietis	6'5, 194	Lithuania
10	Anton Ponkrashov	6'8, 215	Russia
11	George Hill	6'2, 180	Indianapolis
	Shooting Guards	Size	School
1	O.J. Mayo	6'4, 195	USC
2	Eric Gordon	6'4, 215	Indiana
3	Brandon Rush	6'7, 205	Kansas
4	Chris Douglas-Roberts	6'6, 195	Memphis
5	Courtney Lee	6'5, 200	W. Kentucky
6	J.R. Giddens	6'5, 200	New Mexico
7	Chris Lofton	6'2, 197	Tennessee
8	Shan Foster	6'6, 205	Vanderbilt
9	Jamont Gordon	6'4, 225	Mississippi St
10	Malik Hairston	6'6, 200	Oregon
11	Richard Roby	6'5, 210	Colorado
12	Kyle Weaver	6'6, 185	Washington St
13	Bryce Taylor	6'5, 205	Oregon
14	Uros Tripkovic	6'5, 190	Serbia

Hockey Hall of Fame incoming class

By Rick Morris

Our good friend at Sportsology, Russ Cohen, passed along this article to us and allowed us to reprint it here. Like him, I share a tremendous respect for the Hockey Hall of Fame -- it's the only one of the "Big Four" that I haven't been to and I want to rectify that when I make it up to the fun town of Toronto some day -- and I am personally a huge fan of "The Professor" Igor Larionov. I even own a copy of the DVD that was released in honor of his retirement; it's pretty sweet -- it's got the all-star retirement game that was thrown in his honor and an accompanying documentary.

As such, I'm pleased to reprint Russ' article here.


Anderson heads interesting 2008 Hockey Hall of Fame inductees
By Russ Cohen

Glenn Anderson is a player who has been overshadowed by some of the greatest names to ever play the game. Mark Messier, Wayne Gretzky, Jarri Kurri and that list of ex-Edmonton Oilers seems endless and now Anderson is the latest from that group to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame this November 10th.

“I’m really kind of humbled by it,” said Anderson, who is rarely a man of few words.

The other three inductees are Igor Larionov, Ed Chynoweth (in the builder category) and Ray Scapinello (in the referee/linesman category).

Back to Anderson: it seems this honor took him a bit by surprised, and even this veteran of six Stanley Cup Championship teams was at a loss.

“I did catch myself while walking on the streets of New York catching a second breath,” he said honestly. “It’s been a long time since I won a Cup. It’s up there with the greatest things I have had happen to me in my life.”

The New York experience from 1994 has obviously agreed with Anderson, but he hasn’t forgotten who helped him get inducted. You don’t get 94 playoff goals and 214 points (both good for fourth on the all-time list) all by yourself.

“You don’t realize how great the players are until you play with them,” he said, talking about his former teammates and his recent play with Larionov over in Russia.

“We were invited over by the President of Belarus,” Anderson explained. “We had a game over there and we opened a building. (Slava) Festisov had his 50th birthday in another game to open a building.”

Larionov and Anderson have stayed busy and the Russian player has his own reasons to be thrilled about being inducted.

“To be recognized is a huge part of Russian and international hockey,” he said. “It’s nice to see. For me to be inducted next to Slava and other Russian players like Valeri Kharmalov, who I got to play four game with before he died, and (Vladislav) Tretiak ...”

Scapinello never missed a game.

“I’m so humbled by this honor. Obviously the highlight of my 33-year career.”

Chynoweth had passed away in April, so his sons spoke on his behalf. He was one of the founders of the CHL.

If you haven’t made the trip to the Hockey Hall of Fame, check it out this November!

NBA draft guide: Top 75 players overall

By Rick Morris

Click here for HOCKEY DRAFTOLOGY, your ultimate guide to the 2008 pro hockey entry draft and offseason. Pretty cool, huh?

Well, get ready for HOOPS DRAFTOLOGY, our guide to the 2008 NBA Draft, once again co-produced between FantasyDrafthelp.com and Sportsology. Targeted to be released by this Saturday, June 21, HOOPS DRAFTOLOGY will again serialized here and at Sportsology just like our hockey version was featured.

Today's installment? FDH Senior Editor Jason Jones' Top 75 players, regardless of position. We posted his rankings previously, but these updated rankings reflect the dropout of several players from draft consideration.

	Name	Pos	Size	School
1	Michael Beasley	PF	6'10, 235	Kansas St
2	Derrick Rose	PG	6'3, 205	Memphis
3	O.J. Mayo	PG/SG	6'4, 195	USC
4	Jerryd Bayless	PG	6'3, 190	Arizona
5	Eric Gordon	SG	6'4, 215	Indiana
6	Brook Lopez	C	7'0, 260	Stanford
7	Anthony Randolph	PF	6'11, 220	LSU
8	Kevin Love	PF	6'10, 275	UCLA
9	D.J. Augustin	PG	6'0, 180	Texas
10	Danilo Gallinari	SF	6'9, 212	Italy
11	DeAndre Jordan	C	7'0, 255	Texas A&M
12	Russell Westbrook	PG	6'3, 189	UCLA
13	Kosta Koufos	PF/C	7'0, 265	Ohio St
14	Nicolas Batum	SF	6'8, 210	France
15	Brandon Rush	SG	6'7, 205	Kansas
16	Chris Douglas-Roberts	SG	6'6, 195	Memphis
17	Darrell Arthur	PF	6'10, 225	Kansas
18	Marreese Speights	C	6'10, 245	Florida
19	Roy Hibbert	C	7'2, 275	Georgetown
20	Mario Chalmers	PG	6'2, 170	Kansas
21	JaVale McGee	C	7'0, 237	Nevada
22	Bill Walker	SF	6'6, 235	Kansas St
23	D.J. White	PF	6'9, 240	Indiana
24	Donte Greene	SF	6'10, 225	Syracuse
25	Joe Alexander	SF	6'8, 220	West Virginia
26	J.J. Hickerson	PF	6'9, 240	N.C. State
27	Serge Ibaka	PF	6'10, 220	Congo
28	Jason Thompson	PF	6'11, 250	Rider
29	Nathan Jawai	PF	6'10, 270	Australia
30	Courtney Lee	SG	6'5, 200	W. Kentucky
31	Ante Tomic	C	7'2, 237	Croatia
32	Trent Plaisted	C	6'11, 245	BYU
33	Richard Hendrix	PF	6'9, 260	Alabama
34	Alexis Ajinca	PF	7'1, 240	France
35	Robin Lopez	C	7'0, 245	Stanford
36	Davon Jefferson	SF	6'8, 215	USC
37	J.R. Giddens	SG	6'5, 200	New Mexico
38	Joey Dorsey	PF	6'9, 260	Memphis
39	Luc Richard Mbah a Moute	SF	6'7, 215	UCLA
40	Chris Lofton	SG	6'2, 197	Tennessee
41	Shan Foster	SG	6'6, 205	Vanderbilt
42	DeVon Hardin	C	6'11, 250	Cal
43	Tyrone Brazelton	PG	6'0, 180	W. Kentucky
44	Keith Brumbaugh	SF	6'10, 215	Hillsborough C.C.
45	Jamont Gordon	SG	6'4, 225	Mississippi St
46	Omer Asik	C	6'11, 230	Turkey
47	Malik Hairston	SG	6'6, 200	Oregon
48	Nikola Pekovic	C	6'11, 245	Serbia
49	James Gist	PF	6'9, 235	Maryland
50	David Padgett	C	6'11, 230	Louisville
51	Richard Roby	SG	6'5, 210	Colorado
52	Kyle Weaver	SG	6'6, 185	Washington St
53	Pat Calathes	SF	6'10, 210	St. Joseph's
54	C.J. Giles	C	6'11, 235	Oregon St
55	Goran Dragic	PG	6'4, 200	Slovenia
56	Ryan Anderson	PF	6'10, 225	Cal
57	Bryce Taylor	SG	6'5, 205	Oregon
58	Sasha Kaun	C	6'11, 250	Kansas
59	Semih Erden	C	7'1, 240	Turkey
60	Darnell Jackson	PF	6'8, 250	Kansas
61	Aleks Maric	C	6'11, 270	Nebraska
62	Mantas Kalnietis	PG	6'5, 194	Lithuania
63	Luc Louves	SF	6'9, 200	France
64	Anton Ponkrashov	PG	6'8, 215	Russia
65	George Hill	PG	6'2, 180	Indianapolis
66	Kentrell Gransberry	PF	6'9, 270	S. Florida
67	Peja Samardziski	C	7'1, 255	Macedonia
68	Josh Duncan	SF	6'8, 225	Xavier
69	Mickell Gladness	PF	6'11, 205	Alabama A&M
70	Will Daniels	SF	6'8, 225	Rhode Island
71	Shawn James	PF	6'10, 225	Duquesne
72	Vladimir Golubovic	PF	7'0, 260	Serbia
73	Charles Rhodes	PF	6'8, 245	Mississippi St
74	Gary Forbes	SF	6'7, 220	UMass
75	Uros Tripkovic	SG	6'5, 190	Serbia

FDH Insider/Goon Squad June 18

By Rick Morris

The FDH Wednesday night lineup is back with a bang this week, with THE FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER leading off right out of the box from 7-9 PM EDT on SportsTalkNetwork.com. In Hour One, we return with another "Buy Low, Sell High" segment for Major League Baseball, before segueing into more NBA Draft coverage toward the end of the hour. We'll be previewing our forthcoming free HOOPS DRAFTOLOGY guide to the 2008 NBA Draft, produced in conjunction with our friends at Sportsology, and currently being serialized daily on our FDH Lounge blog.

Later in Hour Two, we examine our new free HOCKEY DRAFTOLOGY guide, also produced in conjunction with Sportsology and a publication that covers the NHL offseason as well as this week's Entry Draft!

Our segment will actually carry over into our next program, THE GOON SQUAD (9-10 PM EDT) -- yay synergy! After we break down the guide and the draft itself a bit more, we'll review the recently-concluded Stanley Cup Playoffs.

We'll be covering all this and much, much more, so tune in for all the fun Wednesday night on STN!

NBA draft guide: Rick Morris mock draft

By Rick Morris

Click here for HOCKEY DRAFTOLOGY, your ultimate guide to the 2008 pro hockey entry draft and offseason. Pretty cool, huh?

Well, get ready for HOOPS DRAFTOLOGY, our guide to the 2008 NBA Draft, once again co-produced between FantasyDrafthelp.com and Sportsology. Targeted to be released by this Saturday, June 21, HOOPS DRAFTOLOGY will again serialized here and at Sportsology just like our hockey version was featured.

Today's installment? One of the two mock drafts we'll be running in the guide, namely the Rick Morris version (it's my favorite, but I'm biased!).

	Rick Morris Mock Draft	Player	Position	Size	School/Country
1	Chicago	Derrick Rose	PG	6'3, 205	Memphis
2	Miami	Michael Beasley	PF	6'10, 235	Kansas St
3	Minnesota	O.J. Mayo	PG/SG	6'4, 195	USC
4	Seattle	Jerryd Bayless	PG	6'3, 190	Arizona
5	Memphis	Kevin Love	PF	6'10, 275	UCLA
6	New York	Anthony Randolph	PF	6'11, 220	LSU
7	LA Clippers	Eric Gordon	SG	6'4, 215	Indiana
8	Milwaukee	Danilo Gallinari	SF	6'9, 212	Italy
9	Charlotte	Brook Lopez	C	7'0, 260	Stanford
10	New Jersey	DeAndre Jordan	C	7'0, 255	Texas A&M
11	Indiana	D.J. Augustin	PG	6'0, 180	Texas
12	Sacramento	Russell Westbrook	PG	6'3, 189	UCLA
13	Portland	Joe Alexander	SF	6'8, 220	West Virginia
14	Golden State	Darrell Arthur	PF	6'10, 225	Kansas
15	Phoenix	Brandon Rush	SG	6'7, 205	Kansas
16	Philadelphia	Marreese Speights	C	6'10, 245	Florida
17	Toronto	Donte Greene	SF	6'10, 225	Syracuse
18	Washington	Chris Douglas-Roberts	SG	6'6, 195	Memphis
19	Cleveland	Kosta Koufos	PF/C	7'0, 265	Ohio St
20	Denver	Robin Lopez	C	7'0, 245	Stanford
21	New Jersey	Nicolas Batum	SF	6'8, 210	France
22	Orlando	Courtney Lee	SG	6'5, 200	W. Kentucky
23	Utah	Roy Hibbert	C	7'2, 275	Georgetown
24	Seattle	Serge Ibaka	PF	6'10, 220	Congo
25	Houston	J.J. Hickerson	PF	6'9, 240	N.C. State
26	San Antonio	Alexis Ajinca	PF	7'1, 240	France
27	New Orleans	Jason Thompson	PF	6'11, 250	Rider
28	Memphis	JaVale McGee	C	7'0, 237	Nevada
29	Detroit	Bill Walker	SF	6'6, 235	Kansas St
30	Boston	Mario Chalmers	PG	6'2, 170	Kansas

NBA draft guide: team needs

By Rick Morris

Click here for HOCKEY DRAFTOLOGY, your ultimate guide to the 2008 pro hockey entry draft and offseason. Pretty cool, huh?

Well, get ready for HOOPS DRAFTOLOGY, our guide to the 2008 NBA Draft, once again co-produced between FantasyDrafthelp.com and Sportsology. Targeted to be released by this Saturday, June 21, HOOPS DRAFTOLOGY will again serialized here and at Sportsology just like our hockey version was featured.

Today's installment? FantasyDrafthelp.com's assessment of team needs heading into next week's draft.

1	Chicago	PG, C
2	Miami	PG, SF, C
3	Minnesota	SF, C
4	Seattle	C, SF, PG, PF
5	Memphis	C, PF
6	New York	SF, C
7	LA Clippers	PF, SG, PG
8	Milwaukee	SF
9	Charlotte	PF
10	New Jersey	C, PF
11	Indiana	PG, C
12	Sacramento	PG, PF
13	Portland	PG, SF
14	Golden State	C
15	Atlanta	C, PF
16	Philadelphia	PF, SG, C
17	Toronto	SF, C, SG
18	Washington	C, SG
19	Cleveland	SG, PG
20	Denver	SG, PF
21	Dallas	C, SG
22	Orlando	SG
23	Utah	SG, SF
24	Phoenix	SF
25	Houston	SF, PG, PF
26	San Antonio	C, SF
27	New Orleans	SG
28	LA Lakers	PG, SF
29	Detroit	C
30	Boston	C, PG

Disrespecting the parking lot

By Samantha Jones
(posted by Rick Morris)

In any given day, there are a number of times that one is expected to abide by certain unwritten rules of etiquette. Whether it be participating in a conference call, a meeting with your superiors at work, pushing a grocery cart, or any number of things … when people abide by these unwritten rules, the world keeps moving along just fine. It only takes one @$$pipe to screw the whole thing up.

It seems that these violators of the natural order of things should be few and far between -- however, in actuality, they are there almost as often as the considerate part of the population. It all comes down to one concept: do you think that you are more important than the next person just because you are whoever you are?

You've seen this person, and you've probably seen him or her way too often. They are too important to follow these rules because they are above the rules. They are running late, and the rules don't apply. Or they have better things to do than to follow the rules.

The crux of this rant applies to parking lots. Let’s assume that you are looking for a spot in a Wal-Mart parking lot. The lanes serpentine towards and away from the storefront. The people I am referring to are the ones that are too important to drive to the end of the lane and turn into the next one. For them, it is much more convenient to cut across parking spaces, thus getting into the next lane without wasting the 7.3 seconds it would've taken to do it correctly. And the beauty of their pure arrogance is that they don't care if you have to slam on your breaks and give your significant other severe whiplash just so they didn't have to waste any of their precious time. And why? Because they are more important than you; their time is more valuable than yours.

Then there are the SuperPricks, the ones who not only do this, but are so arrogant and egocentric that they feel the need to add excessive speed to the equation. Just imagine: you are moving along looking right and left at a comfortable crawl while this jerk a mere eight feet from you crosses over spaces you might intend on turning into at a brisk 30 MPH. On the highway, 30 MPH is as slow as dirt; in a parking lot, it is redlining. I bet they'd act different if I took their sweet little Lexus fender and put in their back seat! And why? Because whether we want to believe it or not, people are jerks.

When you are familiar with an individual person, often they are nice and have redeeming value. When they are strangers in a stranger’s environment, then they are mindless inconsiderate jerks. Because they are more important than you...no matter what they do, who they are, or no matter who you are or what you do. When it’s not familiar, people are inconsiderate jerks.

FDH Lounge Show #30: June 15, 2008

By Rick Morris

Tonight's 30th edition of THE FDH LOUNGE (8-11 PM EDT on SportsTalkNetwork.com) features our trademark eclectic blend of content. In Hour One, after The Dignitaries of The Lounge make their traditional Opening Statements, we launch into a discussion about the three broadcasting giants who left this Earth since our last show: Jim McKay, Charlie Jones and Tim Russert. Our piece about it right here on the Lounge blog serves as the jumping-off point for our retrospective.

Next, we move to the subject Russert loved so much and covered so well: the 2008 presidential race. For the first time since we started our coverage on the show, the race is mathematically over on each side as Obama v McCain is now ON LIKE RADON. We'll check out the "veepstakes" on both sides, key considerations for the fall and all of the important angles.

After our political segment wraps up in Hour Two, we move into a discussion about attempts to "turn back the hands of time" as far as the Internet is concerned. Some big telecoms want to move back to the time before Internet access was paid for on a flat-rate basis, seeking to charge users who consume big downloads way more caysh. The NCAA already banned live-blogging at the College World Series and now the Dallas Cowboys (possibly in conjunction with the NFL, although that has not been substantiated yet) are trying to outlaw live-blogging from the press box. Whether it be attempts to victimize consumers by corporations nostalgic for the ability to charge for Web surfing by the minute or sports officials who think that stopping somebody from reporting on a game in progress will somehow cease the efforts of every dude in his boxers who's doing the same thing in front of the TV, the effect is the same. You can't reverse the progress of history and we'll break down the specifics for you.

In Hour Three, our old pal Russ Cohen from Sportsology comes on to discuss two topics of much coverage on his site: hockey and pro wrestling. Sportsology, of course, is the entity that partnered with FantasyDrafthelp.com to produce HOCKEY DRAFTOLOGY, our free 68-page e-Book devoted to the 2008 NHL Entry Draft and offseason. We'll be discussing the guide and upcoming draft in detail (he'll be on the ground in Ottawa for the big event on June 20-21), as well as the Stanley Cup Finals that he just got done covering in person and the NHL Awards. In terms of wrestling, as hard as it is to imagine, we're almost one year out from the Chris Benoit family tragedy and we'll discuss some of the conclusions in the earthshaking new RING OF HELL expose, as well as Russ's forthcoming article on SLAM! Wrestling about the new WWE Topps cards set. McMahon Money Mania's going to be on the table also, as well as any other goofiness from the pro graps business.

Lastly, we'll provide post-game coverage of the U.S. Open as Tiger Woods looks for another historic victory tonight and the other action just down the road via Interstate 5, the NBA Finals. Boston looks to put away the Lakers in surprising and decisive fashion. Think Phil Jackson believes he needs Andrew Bynum back yet?

Tune in for all this and much, much more when The Great American Radio Show comes to Internet Television for the 30th time tonight on The FDH Lounge, only on The Sports Talk Network.

RIP journalistic giants

By Rick Morris

The world of journalism saw three disparate but outstanding professionals pass on this week, and each happened before we could get a chance to address the situations individually here. Given their respect for other great talents, I'm sure they would be honored to be written about collectively.

Jim McKay was one of the founding fathers of sports journalism on television. Years ago, I read a copy of his memoirs that my mother owned. She was a fan of his because of his grace and professionalism, and these qualities shined through. He worked extremely hard to provide some great entertainment over the years and I have many fond childhood memories of "Wide World of Sports." The opening sequence is regarded as iconic, and rightfully so. This is one of these passings that does probably date you when you write about it, because unless you're at least in your thirties like me, you probably don't have many first-hand memories of McKay because he's been in quasi-retirement for so long. But he was a giant in his field, and one who never looked down on any of the "minor sports" that "Wide World" covered -- and as an enthusiast of many niche sports, I appreciated that greatly. Here's the tribute that ABC/ESPN produced about their longtime colleague:

Jim McKay's passing was not a shock. He lived to age 86 and had faded from the public scene over time. On the other hand, the sudden end of Tim Russert's life on Earth was the very definition of a terrible surprise. I have racked my mind in vain over the last day to generate comparable examples in recent years of someone who was an absolute giant in American life struck down in his (professional, if not physical) prime. He's been an omnipresent figure on the American political scene for two decades, and he dramatically revived one of television's most prized properties, "Meet the Press."

A former Democratic operative, he left behind his advocacy in a way that few figures who followed him through the revolving door of politics-and-journalism would ever be able to do. He was a thoroughly-prepared, relentless-though-polite questioner of politicians across the spectrum. I have seen way more sour grapes about his work since his passing from the left than I have from the right, which probably says something about the priorities of people who hold different political views, but now would not be the time to elaborate on that. Additionally, one more quick note: NBC News has been the focus of much attention over these past few months as they allowed the MSNBC prime-time political programming to devolve into left-wing infotainment. Now, more than ever, Russert was going to be needed to stand up for the integrity of the entire enterprise, and I can only hope that his followers in the ranks can successfully band together to keep the "Russert brand" out front at NBC News. It is almost impossible to imagine NBC's election coverage without him.

Notwithstanding what I just noted about how political blogs are covering this story, I'm struck by how many message boards are filled with notes from average people who looked up to him and counted on him for the coverage he provided to them every Sunday morning. There's not a lot of destination programming on the tube anymore. But far more than I realized, average people everywhere were tuning in every week because they counted on this man to help them make sense of the process. People are cynical about institutions these days; politics, the media, the sports world, entertainment -- all are corrupted by greed and a severe lack of ethics. However, Tim Russert had become an institution that people trusted and respected.

I admire his commitment to his blue-collar roots, as he was in the first generation of his family to attend college. I'm in the second college-educated generation of my family and I see a lot of similarities between my grandfathers and the "Big Russ" figure lovingly chronicled in Russert's books. As a fellow Rust Belt native, I share the same passion for my area sports teams that he did, and I noted on the local news in Cleveland last night many local folks who had fond memories of him from his college days here.

Of all the things being said about him, his commitment to faith and family are the greatest qualities of note. This Associated Press tribute captures the essence of the man.

Charlie Jones was a voice from my youth, broadcasting AFC football games on NBC. With the NBC depth chart being what it was back in the day, he was generally the play-by-play announcer on the #3 or #4-rated game on the network -- which put him on a disproportionate amount of games for my Cleveland Browns back then! He was just a natural, with a great voice for broadcasting and wonderful knowledge of the sport. This video from a 1983 playoff game gives you a feel for what he could do.

RIP Jim McKay, Tim Russert and Charlie Jones. Godspeed to you and your families.