KCRW's The Score

Since the Yankees aren't playing post season this year, I'm not avidly rooting for any one team but I must say that it would be sweet indeed to see Joe Torre go all the way with his Dodgers, especially after he was not even a mention in the Yankees' own goodbyes to their stadium. That Torre and Don Mattingly were treated with such disregard was shameful and it would be justice indeed if Torre reminded the Yankees what a superior manager he is, heading down that old familiar home stretch, this time out wearing Dodger Blue...

Since the Yankees aren't playing post season this year, I'm not avidly rooting for any one team but I must say that it would be sweet indeed to see Joe Torre go all the way with his Dodgers, especially after he was not even a mention in the Yankees' own goodbyes to their stadium. That Torre and Don Mattingly were treated with such disregard was shameful and it would be justice indeed if Torre reminded the Yankees what a superior manager he is, heading down that old familiar home stretch, this time out wearing Dodger Blue...

Let's start with the all-Sunday-long farewell to Yankee Stadium. From Paul Simon to Henry Kissinger to Babe Ruth's 92-year old daughter, fans and players of both today and yesterday, and cultural heavyweights spoke poetry about their lifelong memories of this special place. I admit I cried several times on Sunday as the televised tributes ran one after the other...

Let's start with the all-Sunday-long farewell to Yankee Stadium. From Paul Simon to Henry Kissinger to Babe Ruth's 92-year old daughter, fans and players of both today and yesterday, and cultural heavyweights spoke poetry about their lifelong memories of this special place. I admit I cried several times on Sunday as the televised tributes ran one after the other...

Let's check in with Michael Phelps, shall we? How's his life going nearly a month after winning his historic eight gold medals at the Beijing Games?...

Let's check in with Michael Phelps, shall we? How's his life going nearly a month after winning his historic eight gold medals at the Beijing Games?...

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Now that the U.S. Open has ended, so should the professional tennis season. The last Grand Slam of the year culminated in swirling drama in New York. On the women's side, the two best tennis players of our era, despite rankings that erroneously indicate otherwise, sisters of a close-knit family, Venus and Serena once again met as they had at Wimbledon. That grass-court final was an epic display of sublime athletic gifts as well as a compelling showing of mutual affection and respect. Older sister Venus prevailed at the All England Lawn and Tennis Club so it was storybook touché at Arthur Ashe Stadium when this time around younger sister Serena won the slam and the attendant $1.5 million...

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Now that the U.S. Open has ended, so should the professional tennis season. The last Grand Slam of the year culminated in swirling drama in New York. On the women's side, the two best tennis players of our era, despite rankings that erroneously indicate otherwise, sisters of a close-knit family, Venus and Serena once again met as they had at Wimbledon. That grass-court final was an epic display of sublime athletic gifts as well as a compelling showing of mutual affection and respect. Older sister Venus prevailed at the All England Lawn and Tennis Club so it was storybook touché at Arthur Ashe Stadium when this time around younger sister Serena won the slam and the attendant $1.5 million...

Murmurs had been growing louder over the past decade or so that the mystique of the Olympic Games had lost its luster. Widespread drug busts of such champions as Marion Jones had supposedly disillusioned us. Young people couldn't connect. They'd rather be watching the X-Games. The average age of the Olympic viewer rose almost ten years, to the upper 40's, from the 1992 Barcelona Games to Athens four years ago. But three forces combined in Beijing to catapult the Games once again high into widespread public consciousness...

Those who have been privy to the dress rehearsals for the Opening Ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic Games, to get under way for real tomorrow, say the pomp and pageantry driven by leviathan national Chinese pride is beyond what we in the West could possibly understand, much less generate...

Those who have been privy to the dress rehearsals for the Opening Ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic Games, to get under way for real tomorrow, say the pomp and pageantry driven by leviathan national Chinese pride is beyond what we in the West could possibly understand, much less generate...

Swimming and Track & Field are the marquee sports of every summer Olympic Games but gymnastics is known as the jewel of the whole spectacle--notably women's gymnastics. The television schedule purposefully orchestrates women's gymnastics into the heart of prime-time viewing. And if you think back over the years, you'll remember several women gymnasts as the key protagonists of many different Games...

Swimming and Track & Field are the marquee sports of every summer Olympic Games but gymnastics is known as the jewel of the whole spectacle--notably women's gymnastics. The television schedule purposefully orchestrates women's gymnastics into the heart of prime-time viewing. And if you think back over the years, you'll remember several women gymnasts as the key protagonists of many different Games...

I've often wondered how former Olympic athletes feel right about this time, on the eve of yet another Olympic Games. Do they wallow in nostalgia, national anthems taking them back to distant memories of zeal and triumph? What about the ones who underperformed? Do they anguish every four years, reliving what could have, should have, would have been when their one and only time was upon them?

I've often wondered how former Olympic athletes feel right about this time, on the eve of yet another Olympic Games. Do they wallow in nostalgia, national anthems taking them back to distant memories of zeal and triumph? What about the ones who underperformed? Do they anguish every four years, reliving what could have, should have, would have been when their one and only time was upon them?

One of sport's hallowed temples, one of America's cultural cathedrals, showcased gloriously at this week's All-Star classic, is closing down at the end of the season. I'm not a die-hard Yankee fan. Not like my friend Arlene who will suffer through every at-bat, every double play, from this time of the season forward, literally unable to leave the house if her Bronx Bombers have a crucial loss. I'm just one of millions who revere the history and the magical moments, Lou Gehrig's farewell and all, of Yankee Stadium. I'm just one of millions who has her own small, personal story of Yankee Stadium to tell...

One of sport's hallowed temples, one of America's cultural cathedrals, showcased gloriously at this week's All-Star classic, is closing down at the end of the season. I'm not a die-hard Yankee fan. Not like my friend Arlene who will suffer through every at-bat, every double play, from this time of the season forward, literally unable to leave the house if her Bronx Bombers have a crucial loss. I'm just one of millions who revere the history and the magical moments, Lou Gehrig's farewell and all, of Yankee Stadium. I'm just one of millions who has her own small, personal story of Yankee Stadium to tell...

The heartbreak of world-class sports is that an athlete retires while she's still young, oftentimes never to excel or find such passion again. And yet a 41-year old promises to be the darling of the Beijing Games...

The heartbreak of world-class sports is that an athlete retires while she's still young, oftentimes never to excel or find such passion again. And yet a 41-year old promises to be the darling of the Beijing Games...

Watching the Swimming Olympic Trials this week is on one hand inspiring, seeing world records fall, anticipating the excitement of following these athletes through to their dreams in China---understanding the many hours and days and years of discipline these athletes have put in. Just to make the final eight in any given Trials event takes special talent, extraordinary sacrifice. But it unnerves me when the gun goes off, knowing that after a mere minute or two of supreme physical and mental effort, after a long decade of dedication, only two will go to Beijing. The others, after all those laps, all those 5am workouts, all those lofty dreams, will go on to the rest of their lives...

Watching the Swimming Olympic Trials this week is on one hand inspiring, seeing world records fall, anticipating the excitement of following these athletes through to their dreams in China---understanding the many hours and days and years of discipline these athletes have put in. Just to make the final eight in any given Trials event takes special talent, extraordinary sacrifice. But it unnerves me when the gun goes off, knowing that after a mere minute or two of supreme physical and mental effort, after a long decade of dedication, only two will go to Beijing. The others, after all those laps, all those 5am workouts, all those lofty dreams, will go on to the rest of their lives...

The Olympics are a mere six weeks away and athletes all over the world are in their final training stages, heading toward the tricky taper period so they can time their peak just right...

The Olympics are a mere six weeks away and athletes all over the world are in their final training stages, heading toward the tricky taper period so they can time their peak just right...

Going into the Final Championship series against the Celtics, Kobe Bryant was compared often to Michael Jordan. Kobe, the NBA's regular season MVP, the greatest athlete since the great MJ. Now that the Celtics have whooped the Lakers for those NBA Championship rings, it is abundantly apparent that Kobe is in fact no Jordan...

Going into the Final Championship series against the Celtics, Kobe Bryant was compared often to Michael Jordan. Kobe, the NBA's regular season MVP, the greatest athlete since the great MJ. Now that the Celtics have whooped the Lakers for those NBA Championship rings, it is abundantly apparent that Kobe is in fact no Jordan...

Remember this name: Ben Doyle. This weekend, down at San Diego's Torrey Pines, the world's best golfers vie for the U.S. Open Championship title. Michelson, Goosen, Garcia, Tiger. Ten years from now, a name very likely in the Open hunt just might be Ben Doyle...

It never makes sense to me when analysis of an upcoming game or series includes the records of the teams from bygone eras. If the Colts and the Packers face off, for instance, analysts go back decades and talk about how the Baltimore Colts fared against Green Bay so long ago that today's Indianapolis Colts find the conversation irrelevant...

Major League Baseball is considering instant replay. Commissioner Bud Selig says he's open to the concept. He has put it "under advisement." Why "under advisement?" Why not hammer it down and make it official…as of tomorrow?..