ESP-Nding

Is it just me, or does ESPN SportsCenter have more fancy graphics now during its "Top 10" presentation than it has actual top plays?

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There must be a lot of desperate sports fans out there. Why else would so much sports programming have so many ads for match.com and eharmony?

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Scary thought: NFL preseason games - exhibitions - generate ratings as good or better than regular-season baseball. Yikes!

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OK Mets, Mariners, Cubs, Astros, Padres: rebuilding time is over. It's time to win again. Remember that? Try it. You've been stocking everyone else's prospects long enough.

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I am really, really tired of the postgame dousings and shaving-cream pies for baseball players. It's one game, assholes. Get over it.

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Who says horseracing is dead? In planning for a reunion with my fraternity brothers, I noticed it would cost into triple digits just to get in, eat and drink at a popular track near our old college campus. That's before placing any bets. Looks like we're going to have to run instead with the proletariat, fight for finish line views and wait in long lines to place bets while hoping the tip sheets we bought are accurate.

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And finally, I'm reading where ESPN says its soccer coverage of World Cup was second to none (except Univision's, that is). Hello, Mother Ship, Roberto Martinez was the only not-American studio analyst who spoke understandable English (even better than the Brits with their damn plural verbs on singular nouns). And he was the only one bold enough to call out errors. Otherwise, using foreigners to analyze their own countries' games resulted in wins followed by celebratory boasting or losses followed by tear-laden pity parties.