FanHouse BobLey

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.

Incredibly, Cuban's plan seems to have worked. Selig has no backbone and gives in to Cuban's ludicrous demands, rather than attempt to fight him. After Selig and Cuban hash out a deal for the transfer of the Cubs, Cuban looks at you and says, "So, how can I keep you quiet about all this?"

"Six years. $180 million," you reply.

"Done."

Just like that, you're a Cub. As it turns out, Chicago is the best place in the world for you. You hit 42 home runs in Wrigley, and the Bleacher Bums love you. They toast you and, heck, you bring them cans of Old Style between innings. Lou Piniella didn't seem too happy when you shot-gunned a can out there one hot night in July, but you went 4-for-5 that night. What was he going to do?

Then, when you go 2-for-19 in the 2009 NLDS, they blame a goat! Sure, you jogged down to first base when you could've beaten out a double-play ball that ultimately costs the Cubs the NLCS, but the Cubs will NEVER win a World Series, so how could it be your fault?

And that time in the 2011 World Series when you struck out looking with the bases loaded in bottom of the ninth in Game 7 with the Cubs down two runs, that was totally the fault of the poor guy sitting just above the net in left field, who had what looked like a sure-fire grand slam off of your bat earlier in the game ricochet off his head and on to the field, only to have the call of "single" (you were admiring your blast, of course) inexplicably upheld after a 20-minute conference around the instant replay monitor. The poor guy went into a coma while Cubs' fans burnt his house down, blaming him for not catching the ball. You got a free cab ride home.

Cuban doesn't it like it when you do things like that either, but you constantly remind him that you have Peter Gammons on speed dial and he'd be very interested to learn about the Antarctic kidnapping. After three years in Chicago, you retire. You go to ESPN and tell the story of how Mark Cuban kidnapped you and blackmailed baseball into giving him the Cubs to a very befuddled Bob Ley on Outside the Lines. It's likely that not one person in the country believes your story, but you don't really care.

You spend your retirement hosting ice-fishing shows on Versus, who tried to capitalize on your Outside the Lines appearance, and by selling defective cornball-making devices on late-night infomercials. And of course, teaching Manny Jr. how to hit home runs.

THE END.

(Not sure how you got here? Start Choose Your Own Adventure: Manny Being Choosey in Free Agency from the beginning.)

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.