FanHouse Bob Ley

BRISTOL, Conn. -- ESPN is just days away from celebrating its 30th anniversary, and it goes without saying that the once-derided idea of a 24-hour cable channel devoted exclusively to sports has been a success.

But does ESPN's greatest success come from its ability to entertain, or to enlighten? Chris Berman and Bob Ley, two broadcasters who have been with ESPN from the beginning, had slightly different takes on that. And surprisingly, it was the jovial Berman who stressed the importance of journalism to ESPN's success, while the evenhanded Ley insisted that ESPN needs to entertain.

John McCain has long been a supporter of reforming the sport of boxing, and it sounds as though he'll continue to make that a pet issue if he ends up in the White House.

In an interview with ESPN's Bob Ley that was taped over the weekend and will be shown for the first time on Tuesday's 9 a.m. ET SportsCenter, McCain reiterates his belief that boxers should unionize.

ESPN's Bob Ley interviewed Republican presidential candidate John McCain today at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, as the Worldwide Leader attempts to give equal time to both candidates after Stuart Scott interviewed Barack Obama last month.

The problem, though, is that Scott gave Obama a puff piece, complete with a game of one-on-one that ended with a hug. Somehow I can't see Ley and McCain hugging it out at the NASCAR track.

ESPN tells me they don't know yet when the interview will air, but I'm betting that when it does air, we'll see that Ley asked tough questions, because he's a good journalist. And I'm sure the McCain campaign will use Ley asking McCain tough questions and Scott asking Obama softball questions to bolster their claims that the media is biased against Republicans, because that's been one of the key McCain talking points in the last couple of weeks.

ESPN should have assigned Ley to both the Obama interview and the McCain interview. As for Scott, he didn't realize it at the time, but he was doing McCain a big favor by treating Obama with kid gloves.

As we all know, it was a rather ominous day for MLB with the Mitchell report and all. But hey, there has to be some humor in it all, right? Well, yes, thanks to Jose Conseco getting booted and Rondell White "buying something," it was a tad funny.

And to top it all off, here's Bob Ley -- or should I say STEROIDS_BobLey_STEROIDS -- interviewing ESPN legal expert Roger Cossack. Cossack means to throw down Jason Grimsley here, but it comes out Jason Preistly. I mean, who can blame him, though: just look at Priestly. What a dreamboat.

Via AA.

While at least a decent portion of America screamed and cheered when Barry Bonds was indicted, there wasn't rejoicing from all corners of this country. Take Charles Barkley, for instance. In the above interview with Bob Ley, he comes off more than a little upset. All and all, he raises many an excellent point. Why after four years have they come to this conclusion? Four years, really? Also, he states that though race wasn't the entire motivating factor here, it at least had something to do with it.

But Charles, let's face it. Barry Bonds took steroids. And no amount of you screaming witch hunt is going to change that.

Video via Ballhype by way of Oriole Post.