OK, We Interrupt Bicycling For Mindless Observations About TV

In summertime in Florida, I bike very early in the day and end up watching way too much TV when storms and lightning and heavy rains take over the rest of the day. Here's my Top 10 things about TV that have caught my attention.

-- Former Major Leaguer Brian Anderson was incredibly good as the color commentator during Rays games on FSN during a recent 10-game road trip in Seattle, Oakland and Texas. Anderson was pinch-hitting behind the mike for regular commentator Joe Magrane. Anderson was chatting as if he was hanging out with you while watching the game, cracking jokes while dropping in some expert observations.

-- ESPN's coverage of the Little League World Series/16-team tournament in Williamsport, PA creeps me out. I don't like big-time announcers, including former big leaguers, breaking down the swings, throws and pitches of kids who are only 12 and 13. The game coverage parrots MLB broadcasts and they're totally out of place given the emotional maturity of your average 12-year-old, who cries after getting beaten in a big game.

-- One of the most bizarre TV shows is on truTV where a bunch of wacky-looking repo guys and gals show up with a pick-up truck and a winch and stage confrontational showdowns with the car owners, who aren't exactly too pleased about losing their vehicles.

-- Here's a tip for you future grooms. Watch a few episodes of a wild TV show called Bridezilla on the WE network.

-- The roasts of B celebrities such as Bob Saget are outrageous on Comedy Central.


-- Do you think NBC showed enough U.S. women's beach volleyball during the Olympics?


-- My favorite sport to watch during the Olympics that I never see the rest of the year (or for four years): badminton. Those players are just wailing at the shuttle and the rallies last a pretty long time considering how hard they're slamming that sucker.

-- It seems like the political ads are pretty tame so far. I guess the goofy/mean-spirited rhetoric will be cranked up by October.


-- Watching the Rays win and hang onto first place in MLB's toughest division through the summer is a bit surreal, but I have to admit I just cringe when I watch a major leaguer with terrific ability like B.J. Upton jog around the bases instead of turning on the jets right from the get-go out of the batter's box. I played baseball in high school and college, so I know how truly difficult hitting and throwing that baseball can me. But the easiest thing to do is just run -- and run as hard as you can all the time. Is that asking too much?


-- When TV weather predicters tell you that a hurricane is coming to your town and all you get is a steady breeze and a bunch of clouds, it breeds complacency among the masses when hurricane chatter crops up on the tube. I know the TV people are not intentionally crying wolf because nobody has a crystal ball when it comes to Mother Nature. But people begin to tune out hurricane talk when you talk about one and it doesn't actually happen.