And you were so looking forward to White's commentary on Barack Obama.
*It was a joy to hear Dave Johnson sharing the radio call with Fred Manfra during the Orioles' series in Toronto. Johnson doesn't have a broadcast voice, but once you get used to it, he's well worth the listen. His comments about the Orioles' performance usually are limited to the post-game radio show, but the club and CBS Radio should consider making him a permanent part of the radio crew with Manfra and Joe Angel.
Johnson doesn't try to wow you, but he's sharp and picks up particularly on what the pitchers are doing or not doing, as befits the former major league pitcher he is. He explains things simply and clearly.
And Johnson - like Angel - doesn't hold back when he feels an Oriole should be criticized. For example, during reliever Dennis Sarfate's outing Tuesday in which he couldn't hold a four-run lead, Johnson chided Sarfate for trying to rely on fastballs, essentially saying, "Sure, now you throw a curveball."
*NBC has reunited Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann for its Football Night in America NFL Sunday night highlights/pre-game show. This can't be a full return of "The Big Show" from the halcyon days of their pairing on SportsCenter, but we'll take it. However, we can only expect so much of that bantering and on-air chemistry. After all, NBC's show still will be overseen by Bob Costas, and Cris Collinsworth and the analyst crew still need room to analyze.
I'd turn the whole show over to Patrick and Olbermann.
*ESPN has changed its plans for the live weekday morning SportsCenter rotation that starts next month. Instead of starting at 6, the live shows will begin at 9. Until then, ESPN will rerun the latest SportsCenter from the night before, as it does now.
ray.frager@baltsun.com
