One of Roone Alredge's lasting legacies from his days as news and sports director at ABC is the idea of creating storylines, and making the story the focus of a broadcast, with the game and/or news being used as the backdrop from which to tell those stories.   While that's sometimes an effective way to cover an event, you have to prepare for the possibility that the game won't turn out like you thought it would, and you may have to go in a different direction.  Lately, the people at ESPN (and the creation "ESPN on ABC") seem to have lost sight of this fallback plan.

Take, for instance, the Belmont Stakes from this past Saturday.  Da' Tara won the race, a victory which ended Big Brown's hopes of winning the Triple Crown.  However, you wouldn't really know that from the post-race coverage.  I've rewatched this a couple times just to make sure that I saw what I thought I saw, and the tape confirms my initial impressions.  It's a long clip, but worth watching:

Notice anything after the race?  How about almost zero acknowledgement of the actual winner of the race?

Within six seconds of the finish of the race, the cameras shot away from Da' Tara and focused directly on Big Brown.  Twenty seconds in they mention Da' Tara very briefly, and then it's all Big Brown all the time.

Jerry Bailey and Randy Moss speculating on whether Big Brown was healthy or not.  A replay of Big Brown fighting jockey Kent Desormeaux around the first turn.  A shot of the very sweaty Rick Dutrow Jr.  Jeanine Edwards interrogating Desormeaux about why he eased up Big Brown.  An aerial shot of Big Brown being walked back to the barn.  Terry Gannon repeating Desormeaux's quote of "I had no horse".  Replaying the start of the race to see if Big Brown got off to a rough start.

Over four minutes passed before there was any mention of anything related to Da' Tara; in this case, it was trainer Nick Zito.  In fact, the only reason I haven't said when the first mention of Da' Tara came up is because there isn't a mention of him in the clip, which extends more than four minutes past the race finish.

I get that the Triple Crown possibility was a huge draw, and that's why most people were watching the race.  I also think they could have been drawn into the telling of the 38-1 longshot, ridden by a 22 year old jockey who'd never mounted a horse in a Triple Crown race, that shot out to the lead, dared the other horses to come match him, and then blew the field away.  Instead, they decided to conduct an immediate investigation and interrogation into why the 1-4 favorite didn't run his best race (and have we not learned from the Duke lacrosse fiasco that it might be better to gather some information and then make a judgment after cooler heads have prevailed).

But I guess I shouldn't have expected anything more from the ESPN family of networks, where college hoops games have become a vehicle to talk about Duke basketball, Ray Lewis dominates the camera during any Ravens game on the network (after they finish talking about Michael Vick), MLB games are littered with sidebar discussions of "who's number one" over what's actually going on in the game, and NASCAR races are shot almost exclusively from the perspective of Hendricks Motorsports at the expense of the fans of the other 40 drivers.

Years ago, an interviewer asked one of the top executives at ESPN why people were so drawn to the station.  His response was short and to the point: you can't go to the video store and rent tonight's game, you have to watch the game.  I think ESPN's forgotten about that statement.  Perhaps someday they'll go back to simply broadcasting the game.  Until then, let's just hope that the games play out like the story says it should.

The wait is over!!!  Ken Griffey Jr. hit a two-run shot in the first inning of Monday night's game in Florida, his 600th homerun of his career. Nine days had passed since Junior hit No. 599 a week ago Saturday against the Braves.

A knee injury limited Griffey in Philadelphia to just one start, but despite not getting a homerun in the team's first seven games of their eight-game road trip the veteran slugger has six hits in 14 at bats and has drawn nine walks.

Now the monkey is off his back Junior can just go out and play. Unfortuantely the lingering knee problems may not go away as easily. 

For Michael Strahan, 15 NFL seasons and one Super Bowl championship turned out to be enough. The 36-year-old defensive end made it official Monday, when he officially informed the Giants of his intention to retire, putting an end to one of the most storied career in franchise history, according to the NY Daily News. He called team officials just before leaking word of his decision to the media, and just after his now-ex-teammates and coaches began a voluntary practice inside the practice bubble at the Meadowlands.

"It was important that my teammates knew which way I was going before they got on the field to start the work to defend out title," Strahan told FoxSports.com. "It's time. I'm done."

If Strahan doesn't change his mind - something a few of his teammates still believed was possible - he'll leave the game with 141 1/2 sacks. That is officially a Giants all-time record, and unofficially tied with Lawrence Taylor for the most in team history (Taylor had 9 1/2 sacks as a rookie in 1981, one year before sacks became an official NFL statistic). He also set the NFL single-season record with 22 1/2 in 2001.

This past Saturday at the O2 Arena in London, England, an end of an era was most likely witnessed in the main event. Matt Hughes, a future UFC Hall of Famer and the greatest welterweight in UFC history, took on the up-and-coming Thiago "Pitbull" Alves. Things didn't go nearly as planned for Hughes and with the exception of maybe one more fight (against Matt Serra) his career could be coming to a close.

Lets get right to the results from Saturday night.

Thiago Alves def. Matt Hughes by TKO at 1:02 in the 1st Round.
Alves came into this fight four pounds overweight which had some contemplating his dedication. Coming in overweight for a fight is one of the most disrespectful things you can do in MMA. At the end of the fight we found out that Alves was nursing a sprained ankle which he says didn't allow him to train like he normally would, thus he wasn't able to cut the weight. The sprained ankle didn't matter in this fight. While the first round was pretty much even, the second round belonged to Alves. His speed and quickness (yes those are two different things) took over in the second round which led to him landing a flying knee to the body followed by a straight punch to the head which send Hughes to the mat. That was all Alves would need as the ref called a stop to the fight and awarded him the TKO victory. The win for Alves could propel him into a title shot against the winner of the Georges St-Pierre/Jon Fitch fight in a couple months. As far as Hughes goes, he said at the end of the fight that he has at least one more fight left in which there's no doubt who he wants that one fight to be against.

Michael Bisping def. Jason Day by TKO at 3:42 in the 1st Round.
This was Bisping's second fight since dropping down from light heavyweight to middleweight. It was also his second straight victory in dominating fashion. Not much to say about this fight other than Bisping looked awesome. Day didn't have an answer to his onslaught either on the ground or standing up. Bisping's barrage of punches lead to the referee stepping in to stop any further damage to Day. The win by Bisping marks his second straight first round TKO victory and his fifth in his last six victories overall.

Mike Swick def. Marcus Davis by Unanimous Decision at 5:00 in the 3rd Round.
Davis came into this fight with a 12-fight win streak spanning over three years. Unfortunately for him he could not fend off Swick's ground and pound attack. While he was never in any serious danger of having the fight stopped, Davis never had control during the fight that ended up going the distance. Swick opened up a couple different spots on Davis' face, most likely because of the amount of scar tissue on his face. So on top of having to deal with Swick dealing blows to his face, Davis had to deal with the blood getting in his eyes, mouth and nose. Davis was clearly the crowd favorite but even that didn't help him as Swick controlled this fight from start to finish. It wasn't an exciting fight or one for the highlight reel for Swick, but its a win and a good one over a great fighter in the UFC.

Thales Leites def. Nate Marquardt by Split Decision at 5:00 in the 3rd Round.
This was the fight that stole the show in my opinion. It was also one that ended in some controversy. Marquardt suffered two point deductions during the fight which ultimately cost him the fight. The first one came in the second round when he delivered a knee to Leites' head while he was still down on the mat. There was no doubting that should have been a point deduction. The second point deduction was much more controversial. Referee Herb Dean took a second point away from Marquard for an alleged elbow to the back of Leites' head. The replay showed that the elbow was actually to the side of his head, which is not illegal. It was that point deduction that ultimately cost Marquardt a win, or at least a draw. Because of the point deductions making the last two rounds a tie 9-9, the fight was decided by what happened in the first round, which according to two of the judges, Leites won. It was a great fight regardless of the way it ended. The win for Leites will push him forward into contention for Anderson Silva's middleweight title. I'm not sure if that's a good thing as he really should have lost this fight and would probably get destroyed by Silva. Marquardt will be back and he'll be back even better in his next fight. Of all the middleweights out there, Bisping aside, another fight between Marquardt and Silva would be worth a main event billing, no doubt.

Fabricio Werdum def. Brandon Vera by TKO at 4:40 in the 1st Round.
Billed as the co-main event during the advertising for this event, this was actually the first televised fight of the night. Unfortunately it ended with a lot of controversy when referee Dan Miragliotta stopped the fight with just 20 seconds left in the first round. Vera landed the first substantial blow midway through the first round but Werdum weathered the storm. Eventually Werdum would score a takedown and mount Vera and start raining down a storm of punches. Vera appeared to be fine and was intelligently defending himself, but Miragliotta stopped the fight anyway. Oddly enough it was Miragliotta that stopped the fight just a little over a week ago between Kimbo Slice and James Thompson. At the end of the fight Vera confirmed with Joe Rogan that he was telling Miragliotta that he was OK and to not stop the fight. Apparently he was hard of hearing and did the exact opposite. The win for Werdum will likely push him into a heavyweight title shot against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in December. Its unfortunate for Vera, but he'll be back and he'll pose a big challenge for whoever the champ is once he gets to that No. 1 contender spot.

PRELIMINARY BOUT RAPID RESULTS

• Martin Kampmann def. Jorge Rivera by Submission (guillotine choke) at 2:44 in the 1st round.
• Matt Wiman def. Thiago Tavares by KO at 1:57 in the 2nd round.
• Kevin Burns def. Roan Carneiro by Submission (triangle choke) at 2:53 in the 2nd round.
• Luiz Cane def. Jason Lambert by TKO at 2:07 in the 1st round.
• Paul Taylor def. Jess Liaudin by Split Decision at 5:00 in the 3rd round.
• Antoni Hardonk def. Eddie Sanchez by TKO at 4:15 in the 2nd round.

PPV Prediction Results: 1-4 (63-41 overall)

Up next for the UFC is the finale of this season's "The Ultimate Fighter" which takes place on Saturday, June 21 and features a main event between Kendall Grove and Evan Tanner. And then on July 5th the fight that a lot of people have been waiting for will happen when this season's TUF coaches, Forrest Griffin and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson step into the Octagon with Rampage's light heavyweight title on the line.

It's that time of the fantasy season, time to start thinking trade. Ten weeks into 2008 many owners are growing impatient with some of their struggling stars. The deeper that they fall in the standings the more their patience wears thin. Remember, the key to success in any fantasy sport is buying players while their value is low and sell players while their value is at its highest.

The following scenario comes from a move that I made this weekend in one of my league's, my first trade of the year.

I play in a 12-team mixed, head-to-head, keeper league (keep any 5 players) that favors pitching, and starting pitching in particular. Roy Halladay has been a staple on my staff for the past couple of seasons. I opted to keep John Smoltz this year as my SP2 and drafted Chris Young as SP3 in Round 3 of the draft. Late-round steals Edinson Volquez and Joe Saunders have joined my mid-round picks of Chad Billingsley and Zach Greinke. Earlier this week I had to release Smoltz and that told me it was time to make a deal to help bolster the rotation.

STRATEGY
RULE #1: Find your strenghts and areas where you have depth and then start looking for owners that have a need.  

RULE #2: Prioritize Your Needs. If you don't you could go looking for a SP and get dangled a 3B, but you may already be solid there. Don't settle for anything less than what you initial goals were.

RULE #3: Put yourself in their shoes. Don't put out ridiculous offers that you know are stupid. This only makes owners more likely to avoid starting up any trade talk with you. Also, try to get in their heads. What players are likely pissing them off right now? Who is their favorite team? How many games out are they from the playoffs? All of these questions and more need to be considered.

Another twist to the league I am in is that you have to use guys in their natural spots in the outfield as we start a RF, CF, and LF.  I have been starting Kosuke Fukudome in right, Alex Rios in center, and Carlos Lee (in left). Johnny Damon has been used mostly as my utility after Conor Jackson cooled off.  A recent waiver claim of Jose Guillen provided me some depth. 

  There are four teams in my league with a Cubs' reference in their team name. With Fukudome off to a solid start and a leading candidate for the NL Rookie of the Year. With that in mind and applying the three rules above,  I went to work. 

Then I found it my ultimate buy low candidate, a starter with the ability to be a fantasy ace, but who is off to a shaky start. C.C. Sabathia was sitting on a Cubs' fans team that needed a bat after David Ortiz was disabled and one that needed to add multiple arms.

THE DEAL
Traded For - SP C.C. Sabathia, RF/CF Ken Griffey JR
Traded Away - RF Kosuke Fukudome, SP Bartolo Colon, and SP Andrew Miller

FINAL TAKE
I wasn't crazy about parting with Fukudome, but I could afford to so. Colon is a ticking time bomb (sell high) and I am a big fan of Andrew Miller, but not enough yet to keep as one my keepers at year's end and I couldn't see a scenario where I could trust him a week in and week out basis. 

In return I get the 27-year old Sabathia. The big left-hander is suffering through the same thing Carlos Zambrano did last year with Cubs as he has been distracted by his free agent status at year's end.  He still has the stuff to dominate and over his last nine starts he has allowed three or fewer runs in six games. His 3-8 record has had a bit to due with poor run support, but I am banking on him finding his grove as the summer heats up and having a good shot of being a keeper. Griffey was a total throw in and will serve as my fifth outfielder and be No. 3 on the depth chart at utility. I am concerned about his knee, but there is still a chance he could get hot and maybe even traded to a contender.

You think you've had some great trips in your life?  Well go to the back of the line buddy, because this guy has got your vacation whupped!

A British man named Adam (no last name given) is going to be attending a grand total of 35 NFL games during the 2008 season.  He's worked out the schedule so, over the course of the 17 week season, he'll be seeing a game at all 32 NFL stadiums.  Also, he'll be traveling to Toronto for the Bills/Dolphins game, as well as the Chargers/Saints game at London.

Adam's primary mode of transportation: driving (I'm going under the assumption that he'll break that rule for the U.K. game).  I'm not totally sure that Adam appreciates the size of the United States; when you're within a few hours of multiple countries, driving across one country doesn't seem too difficult.

Regardless, I say kudos to Adam on his quest, as well as his ability to take such an enormous amount of time off of work.

Nine days ago Ken Griffey Jr. hit a home run off of Jair Jurrens of the Braves. It was the 599th HR of his career. AND IT WAS NINE DAYS AGO!

The feat of hitting 600 home runs has certainly lost its luster in recent years. Griffey will be the sixth player to join the club and the third in the last six years. That's not very prestigious. But it is still something special. And it sure would be nice if Junior would get it over with!

Of the previous five guys to hit 600 home runs, no one has waited this long since hitting number 599. Babe Ruth hit his the next day. Hank Aaron waited just two days and Barry Bonds three. Last summer Sammy Sosa hit his 600th five days after 599. And the longest anyone has taken is Willie Mays. In 1969 Mays went a full week before becoming just the second player to hit number 600. So at least Griffey can add one more small record to the feat. Whenever that happens.

Of course, maybe the real question is when will he hit number 700?