"BRAYLON...DO YOU BLOG?"

A few final (for this morning) thoughts on the show:

-- Where were the women? Only one of the 15 panelists was female (Selena Roberts of SI) and none of the topics concerned women in sports. If HBO ever returns to this format, or to something similar, here are some females they'd definitely want on based on intellect and wit: Mary Carillo, Rebecca Lobo (far funnier than you might imagine), Doris Burke and, the best female sportswriter out there as far as I'm concerned, Sally Jenkins.

-- HBO Sports may not be able to replicate the, ahem, buzz the next time they did it, but "Costas Now" should definitely return to the live format. And it would behoove them to do such a program with more frequency, say, once every six weeks. Make it a 30-60 minute show. Look what this format has done for Bill Maher's career...and Costas, by the way, was as articulate a guest as "Real Time" has had this season.

-- Remember the anecdote Michael Wilbon shared about George Michael ("Sports Machine", not sex machine). It was Michael who stepped into a crowded press room at the NCAAs and shouted, "WHERE ARE THE BLACK PEOPLE?" (Michael is white, by the way).

Anyway, that reminds me of a favorite moment from SI. It was just before Christmas, when all of the writers are invited for an annual pow-wow at the Death Star, I mean, Time Warner Building. It was just after lunch and all of us were to meet in the conference room. At the time there was only one black writer on staff, Phil Taylor, who happens to be a wonderful guy.

I am seated next to Kostya Kennedy, who has a wicked wit, and Phil happens to walk behind us in search of a seat. As he does, Kostya mock-whispers to me loud enough for Phil to hear, "See that? All the black writers only hang out with each other."

Phil smiled.

That and other priceless vignettes will someday be available in my tell-most-but-not-all memoir about SI entitled, "To B. Peter Carry, Or Not To B. Peter Carry." (don't worry if you don't get that).

TODAY'S QUESTION

Is it just me or do all allergy relief medicine spokesmodels have the most beautiful, sparkly eyes?

TODAY'S ANSWER

Someone asked, so I'm answering: The reason that it's called a Phillips screwdriver is because a man named Henry Phillips invented it. Henry invented both the screw and the driver (I know!...sorry, stole that from Craig Ferguson) and had them patented in 1934 and 1936. One of the biggest advantages of the Phillips screw, according to the story I read, is that "Phillips screws are almost impossible to overscrew", and we all know how painful that can be.

Me, I'm working on a Mackenzie Phillips Screwdriver, which is made with orange juice, vodka and cocaine.

MICAH OWINGS

Anyone who played Little League baseball remembers that the team's best pitcher was also likely its best hitter. Or at least one of them. Because that kid was just the best all-around baseball player on the team (me, I played rover). So it's somewhat of a surprise that Arizona Diamondback hurler/hitter Micah Owings is such an anomaly. Last week Owings, who has a 4-1 record this season, hit a pinch-hit three-run homer for the D-Backs, who trailed by two at the time, in a win against the New York Mets.

The homer was even more surprising because the Mets, once Owings came to the plate, brought in a lefty reliever to face Owings, a lefty, and Arizona manager Bob Melvin chose to keep Owings in the game. He may just be the best hitter on baseball's best team thus far in '08.

ESPN had a terrific graphic on Owings the other evening showing that, among pinch-hitters with a minimum of 75 career plate appearances, Owings has the fifth-best OPS (On-base % + Slugging %) of all-time behind only Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig and Barry Bonds. Good company.

Evening Stars, Morning Stars

Did you stay up until the end of the San Jose Sharks-Dallas Stars Game 6 NHL playoff game this morning? I went to bed after the 3rd overtime, shortly before 2 a.m. here on the East coast. Dallas won in the 4th O.T.

Breaking News from CNBC

It appears that Microsoft (MSFT) has abandoned its hopes of purchasing Yahoo (YHOO). My sources tell me that MSFT is now looking into buying Yoo-Hoo. "There are those who'd wonder why we'd transition from hoping to acquire a complementary tech company with a wildly lucrative search engine to a company that specializes in manufacturing chocolaty soda drinks," said my highly placed source in Redmond, Wash. "The answer, of course, is spite."

Programming Idea

I'm no Ben Silverman, but I'd like to see NBC create a 30-minute Sunday morning show all about sausage-making. Brats, kielbasas, hot dogs, breakfast links, everything. Then they'd have an hour of TV featuring, back-to-back, "Meet The Press" followed by "Press The Meat".

You're welcome.

Tony Prito

My good friend Charles Davis (NFL Network, Fox) phoned last week and left the following voicemail message: "John, was Tony Prito Italian or was he Puerto Rican?"

Prito, of course, was in Frank and Joe Hardy's posse, along with husky Chet Morton, Biff Hooper and Phil Cohen. So I Wikipedia Tony and this is what I learn:

Son of Italian immigrants and a close friend of Frank and Joe Hardy, Tony works for his father's construction company and in the Casefiles is also the manager of Bayport's local Pizza Parlor, Mr. Pizza.

Wow. Stereotype much, F.W. Dixon?

The funny part is that when I Wiki'd Chet and Biff, their ethnicities were not mentioned. It is mentioned that Phil is Jewish, though.

Personally, I feel scarred and I'm going straight to Bayport Chief of Police Ezra Collig to file a complaint.

Also, Charles and I have concluded that Fenton Hardy must have been on the take. How else could he have afforded to have his own private pilot?

Pat Putnam

Sad story regarding former Sports Illustrated boxing writer Pat Putnam, who died in 2005. As someone who occasionally fact-checked his stories, it was disturbing to have come across this.

Moose Crossing

Finally, I'd like to report that a Moose made a successful border crossing from Canada into the United States a week ago Friday. The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service should take note, as should perhaps the Dept. of Homeland Security.