Sasha Vujacic is a heartbreaker

With the seconds ticking away and the Lakers about to wrap up the Western Conference final over the Spurs with a five-point victory Thursday night, Los Angeles' Sasha Vujacic was supposed to do what anyone with class does. He was supposed to dribble out the clock. Instead, he decided to take a meaningless three-point shot at the buzzer.

And he nailed it!

Even the TV guys commented that it was kind of bush-league. Well, it was more than that. Just ask all the gamblers out there who had the Spurs-PLUS SEVEN-AND-A-HALF. Yep, do the math. Instead of winning by five, the Lakers won by eight. Today, you have to think that Sasha has become the most hated player in the NBA in some circles. Then again, Sasha might now be the most popular player in the league in other circles -- those that had the Lakers-minus seven-and-a-half.

All-Children's Telethon bumps French Open, LPGA on Sunday

Hey, tennis fans. If your plan was to spend Sunday afternoon watching the French Open on Channel 8, you're likely out of luck. The French Open and the LPGA's Ginn Tribute will not be seen Sunday because of Channel 8's annual All-Children's Hospital Telethon. The telethon runs from Saturday night at 8:30 to Sunday evening at 6:30.

A spokesman from NBC told Two Cents on Thursday that the network approached Channel 38 about picking up the tennis and golf, but nothing has been worked out, and likely won't be. The telethon also means that Game 4 of the Stanley Cup final will not be seen on Channel 8 Saturday night, but Channel 38 is picking up NBC's coverage of the Red Wings and Penguins.

Before you get all riled up, save it. The All-Children's Telethon has been on Channel 8 for 25 years, and it's an important cause, certainly more important than a tennis match or golf tournament or any sporting event. So if you're going to complain about it, take it somewhere else. Channel 8 is doing the right thing.

What's up, Doc? Mike Emrick honored by Hall of Fame

The Hockey Hall of Fame announced Thursday that Mike "Doc'' Emrick will receive the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for outstanding contributions as a hockey broadcaster. Emrick is pretty much the American voice of hockey, having called games on all the major networks, as well as primarily the Flyers and Devils over the past 30 years. Actually, I'm surprised Emrick is being honored this year. I would've sworn he had won this award years ago.
Here are my picks for the top five hockey announcers on television:
1. Sam Rosen, MSG (Rangers). Still the gold standard.
2. Bob Cole, CBC's Hockey Night in Canada. Some think he has slipped in recent years, but still feels like a special game when he's calling it. Expected to retire before next season, but here's hoping he still calls games now and then.
3. Rick Peckham, Sun Sports (Lightning). The locals know how professional this guy is. A class act off the ice, too.
4. Mike Emrick, MSG (Devils), Versus, NBC. Sounds like he's having the time of his life every second he is calling a game.
5. Jim Hughson, CBC's Hockey Night in Canada. Usually calls the second game of the Saturday night doubleheader and is expected to take over for Cole on the prime-time game.

NBA to Spurs: Uh, sorry fellas

The NBA acknowledged a foul should have been called on the final possession of Game 4 in the Western Conference final. With 2.1 seconds left and the Spurs trailing by two, San Antonio's Brent Barry was bumped by Lakers guard Derek Fisher before taking a shot. No foul was called, and Barry missed a shot at the buzzer. Here's the video of the play.

Had the foul been called, Barry would've been awarded two free throws with a chance to tie the score. Instead, the Lakers won and took a commanding 3-1 series lead.

Two things jump out.

One is why is the NBA issuing statements like this? Why publicly embarrass the officials and incite fans by pointing out one call when there are probably dozens of calls and noncalls a game that could go either way. Why single out this one? Yes, it was the end of the game, and, yes, it should've been called. But both teams probably could dig up 10 other calls during the game that went the wrong way.

The other mistake happened before the game even started. The closest official to the Barry-Fisher play was Joey Crawford. You might remember Crawford was suspended at the end of last season after a verbal altercation with Spurs star Tim Duncan, who was ejected from a game by Crawford. Why in the world is Crawford officiating Spurs games this deep into the playoffs?

This is not to suggest that Crawford would have it in for the Spurs. But you know there are fans out there who do believe Crawford might be looking for payback. Why give them the ammunition, especially in the wake of all the bad publicity after official Tim Donaghy admitted to betting on games?
If Crawford has earned the right to officiate playoff games, let him work the Eastern Conference.

Stamkos has nothing on this kid

By now, you've probably seen the dipsy-doodle, behind-the-legs goal scored by soon-to-be-Lightning draft pick Steve Stamkos in a junior all-star game skills competition. But I'll take this kid here. Check out the move of this NINE-YEAR-OLD at the intermission of a Dallas Stars game a while back. This is incredible.

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Rays making a name for themselves

Rays mania is sweeping the nation! Well, sort of. There might not be lines forming outside the ticket office at Tropicana Field, but the rest of the country is starting to realize that Tampa Bay actually has a baseball team. That hasn't happened since Lou Piniella went bat-crazy on Ben Grieve a few years ago. Now the Rays actually are getting some recognition beyond Tampa Bay, and not for being the punch line to a bad joke. Here are 10 examples of how the Rays are starting to make a name for themselves outside of Tampa Bay.

Making the cover of Sports Illustrated
A cartoon of Carl Crawford tossing around a Yankees player under the headline "Bizarro Baseball'' was cool and, sure, a little weird. But the Rays finally made the cover of the premier sports magazine in America and it wasn't, you know, for being in the background of Big Papi hitting a homer or something. The cover is usually reserved for the hottest story and top sports star of the moment and the best part is no one thought it was strange the Rays landed on the cover. And jinx? What jinx? The Rays did lose their first two games after making the cover, but then won four in a row.

Going national
ESPN recently announced that the June 4 game against the Red Sox will be shown nationally.

Making the cover of Sporting News
This one isn't out yet, but it will be this week, and here's a sneak peak. Closer Troy Percival graces the cover. Don't they call Sporting News the Bible of Baseball? Hey, awesome, the Rays are in a bible!

They're running out of media request memos
Carmen Molina, the manager of communications for the Rays, says she runs out of room on her sheet of media requests just about every day. Two years ago, the Rays would get, maybe, five to seven requests a day. This year? "Like 20 a day,'' Molina said. Not only is the local media swarming, but the requests come from all over -- from Boston to San Diego, from big stations in New York to a little station in Columbus, Ga. Sometimes they ask for certain players. More often that not, they just want "anybody who is available.''

The Jim Rome show
Welcome back to the jungle, Clones. Romey here. Talked to Rays closer Troy Percival recently. It was epic. Callers had great takes. The Rays are talking smack, taking names. It's epic. If the Rays keep it up, we'll talk to C.C., maybe Bossman Junior. It'll be epic. I'm out.

Mike & Mike in the Morning
Being on ESPN Radio's Mike & Mike isn't like a singer at Radio City Music Hall, but … it's probably the biggest national sports talk radio show outside of Jim Rome, and is simulcast on ESPN2. B.J. Upton made his Mike & Mike debut last week.

Sales are up
According to the Rays and Major League Baseball, retail sales -- you know, hats, jerseys, T-shirts, those little wooden bats and so forth — are up 70 percent, the second-highest jump behind the Rockies. Of course, part of this is because of the Rays' name and uniform change. Still, selling more stuff today than you did yesterday is a good thing. Don't look for explanations. Just enjoy it.

Making the cover of ESPN The Magazine
Rays centerfielder B.J. Upton shared the cover with brother Justin of the Diamondbacks. ESPN and its properties rule the sports world, so to finally get its attention means the Rays must have arrived.

Tuning in
Rays communications VP Rick Vaughn said the phone rings off the hook whenever the team is not on television. See, there are two ways to look at it. When the Rays are on, it's essentially three hours of advertising. During a recent game against the Cardinals, the Rays had a viewing audience of about 85,000 homes. That's probably about 200,000 people, give or take,and that's impressive. But if fewer games were on, maybe more would go to the games. The bottom line is the Rays still have drawn fewer than 20,000 fans at home more often than not. The rest of the country is getting on the bandwagon. Now all the Rays are waiting for is the locals.

Pardon the Interruption
The ESPN afternoon show had the Rays as a talking point on a recent edition. Co-host Tony Kornheiser admitted he didn't know who managed the Rays or any of their players. Who cares? The best sports-talk show on TV was talking about our Rays. And if Tony sees this, it's Joe Maddon.

Announcers say the dumbest things

It happens practically every baseball game. Runners on base. A pitch in the dirt. The catcher blocks it. And the announcers say, "What a great play by (catcher's name) blocking that ball. That's the type of thing that doesn't show up in the box score, but what a play.''

Enough already. Isn't that the catcher's job? Look, the mailman delivers mail. The butcher cuts meat. Catchers block pitches in the dirt. Do they say that every time a shortstop fields a grounder or a leftfielder catches a fly ball? The catcher is supposed to block the ball, and heck, half the time it's a lucky bounce anyway. Here are five other stock phrases by announcer that drive me batty:

* When a basketball players dives for a loose ball: "Look at that hustle!'' Hey, if I'm paying 50 bucks to sit in the upper deck, a guy better be diving for balls. Isn't this, too, part of his job? In fact, if he doesn't dive for a loose ball, I'm ticked.

* Anytime white players in any sport are described as "scrappy,'' while black players who work just as hard are described as "gifted.''

* "These two teams really don't like one another.'' You mean there are teams out there that do like one another?

* When a hitter hits a blooper to the opposite field: "What a great piece of hitting!'' Why? Because he swung late or otherwise swung the bat like he was supposed to? Know what a "great piece of hitting'' is? Sitting on a fastball and hitting it into the third deck.

* "You won't meet a nicer young man.'' Listen, unless Gandhi comes back to life and joins the Red Sox as a closer or something, let's retire that phrase, shall we?

Ashley Harkleroad represents female athletes by getting naked

You've probably heard that Ashley Harkleroad, who apparently is the 61st-ranked female tennis player in the world, will be in the August edition of Playboy. After getting dusted 6-2, 6-1 by Serena Williams at the French Open on Sunday, Harkleroad said, "I'm proud of my body. I was representing a female athlete's body.''

Harkleroad can do what she wants, including posing for Playboy. That's her business. But don't come off like you're representing female athletes and it's important business to make sure men see the naked female athlete. To be honest, I'd never heard of her until I saw a headline that said, "Tennis star to appear in Playboy.'' Just be straight-up and say that you're the 61st-ranked player in the world, you're making a name for yourself and you're getting paid.

Number of the day

1,981. That's how many homers the entire American League is on pace to hit this season as of Monday afternoon. Hmm, not saying baseball's new drug policy has players watching themselves, but if you throw out the strike-shortened 1994 season, this could be the first time since 1992 that the American League has not hit at least 2,000 homers. In fact, from 1993 to 2007, the American League averaged 2,471 homers a season -- 490 more than what the league is on pace to hit this season. Only one AL player -- the White Sox's Carlos Quentin -- is on pace to hit at least 40 homers. In the American League, at least two players have hit 40 homers every year, again skipping the 1994 season, since 1990.

E: Rays TV

Rays TV dropped the ball tonight because it took its eyes off the ball. The big story going into tonight's game was Josh Hamilton playing his first game at Tropicana Field. Obviously, when the Rays drafted him in 1999, we all thought Hamilton would be wearing a Rays uniform when he made his Trop debut. Then when he went through his well-chronicled drug problems, it seemed terribly unlikely he would ever play in the majors at all. But he survived, cleaned himself up and arrived in town Monday leading the majors in RBIs. What a story.

The interesting part about tonight was seeing what kind of reaction he was going to get from the Rays fans. In fact, Hamilton even asked in a Marc Topkin story Sunday if he was going to get booed. But as Hamilton was walking from the on-deck circle to the batter's box and his name was being announced, Rays TV was showing a slo-mo replay of Scott Kazmir's delivery while analyst Joe Magrane was talking about Kazmir.

That couldn't have waited? Instead of seeing shots of the crowd, hearing the crowd and seeing Hamilton's reaction, we saw a replay of Kazmir. For the record, Hamilton got a nice ovation. It would've been nice if we had seen it.