Marv Albert

The plane truthYou've heard of Air Force One, the presidential plane?Now there's North Stars Won, the official name of the Minnesota North Stars' plane.After a long runway delay recently after a defeat in Los Angeles, one player said: "The tower can't find us. They should be looking for North Stars Lost."The King and ISacramento Kings forward Wayman Tisdale says that getting Mitch Richmond from the Golden State Warriors is "one of the best moves the Kings have made in a long time. I mean, one of the best since they got me."

Marv Albert, who was banished from broadcast sports television nearly two years ago after his conviction on assault charges, will return to NBC Sports and the NBA. The network announced yesterday that Albert, a 20-year NBC veteran, will return to call NBA games next season, as well as boxing in the Summer Olympics next year and men's hockey during the 2002 Winter Olympics. For Albert, who had been wooed by Fox to do NFL games, the chance to return to the sport he has been most closely associated with, basketball, and the network he has been identified with, NBC, were too strong to pass up. "I love the NFL, but, to me, the NBA is everything," Albert said in a national conference call.

Marv Albert's interest in lingerie leads the TV evening news, and Princess Diana's funeral commands more front-page space than Mother Teresa's. Newspapers run articles repeating the gossip that appears first in the weekly tabloids. Network news programs lighten up with reports on celebrities.Is this journalism?Many reporters and editors think something has gone wrong."We're having a crisis of conviction," says Tom Rosenstiel, former Los Angeles Times press critic, now the director of the Washington-based Project for Excellence in Journalism.

Ravens (1-0) vs. Steelers (0-1)dTC Site: Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh.Time: 1 p.m.TV: Ch. 11.Announcers: Marv Albert and Sam Wyche.Radio: WLIF (101.9 FM), WJFK (1300 AM).Line: Steelers by 4.Records: Ravens 1-0; Steelers 0-1.Record vs. spread: Ravens 1-0; Steelers 0-1.Last week: Ravens beat Raiders, 19-14; Steelers lost to Jaguars, 24-9.Last meeting: Steelers beat Browns, 20-17, in November 1995 at Cleveland Stadium for sixth straight win in series.Series: Browns held 52-40 advantage.Who's hot: Ravens QB Vinny Testaverde threw for 254 yards, ran for 42 more and scored a rushing TD in last week's victory.

Ten days ago, I asked on the blog if the 2011 Orioles season could get any worse. Nine losses, 75 runs allowed and one demotion of Zach Britton later, the answer is a resounding yes -- a Marv Albert-type yes. This weekend’s four-game sweep at the hands of the Red Sox was so ugly, it’s hard to imagine that things could get any uglier for the Orioles. At least we know most of Baltimore won’t be watching if they do. The Orioles were outscored 32-13 in the series -- the only fight they showed was when Kevin Gregg got in a slap fight with David Ortiz on Friday and when Michael Gonzalez chucked a pitch behind Ortiz on Sunday -- and they entered the All-Star break on a seven-game losing skid.

Today's most enticing television is available before prime time (thanks to the football playoffs on NBC and CBS), after prime time (thanks to "Saturday Night Live"), or on cable -- thanks to HBO's "Comic Relief VI."* "AFC playoffs" (12:30 p.m.-conclusion, WMAR, Channel 2) -- The weather forecast up in Buffalo, where the Bills play the Los Angeles Raiders, calls for snow flurries, high wind and bitter cold -- the perfect kind of game to watch on TV. Marv Albert and Paul Maguire have booth duties.

No one at NBC Sports can ever say it puts viewer interests ahead of its own business interests. On "NFL Live," both Saturday and Sunday, the network failed to report the biggest NFL story in years -- Fox's outbidding CBS for the league's NFC TV package.For the record, NBC Sports spokesman Ed Markey said the decision not to report the Commentarydeal had everything to do with the fact the network was still in negotiations with the league for the AFC package.This reasoning is mind-boggling. CBS went with the story on its evening newscast Friday when Dan Rather reported the Fox bid. On Saturday, Greg Gumbel also reported the story.

BaseballCardinals: Optioned P Cliff Politte and C Eli Marrero to Triple-A Memphis. Recalled P Sean Lowe and P Curtis King from Memphis. Will recall P Brady Raggio from Memphis today.Devil Rays: Purchased contract of former Orioles minor-league 3B Scott McClain from Triple-A Durham. Designated P Dan Carlson for assignment.Marlins: Placed P Antonio Alfonseca (pulled right groin) on 15-day DL. Recalled P Manuel Barrios from Triple-A Charlotte.Reds: Recalled P Danny Graves from Triple-A Indianapolis.

Proposed rules pose a threat to patients' privacySecretary of Health and Human Services Donna E. Shalala recommends medical record legislation that would have a devasting effect on patients' right to privacy because of the proposed exceptions to the confidentiality privilege.These exceptions mean records can be accessed without patient consent or knowledge for purposes which include: police law enforcement, oversight of the health care system, research, public health, and court proceedings in which the patient is a party.

With TV programming like this, who needs Buttafuoco for 0) ratings?Right up front, let me say I will continue in the effort to be the last person in the country not to go for a cheap laugh by mentioning Joey Buttafuoco. Should things get really slow later in the column, though, all bets are off. In fact, Danny Sheridan says bet the six-paragraph under on a Buttafuoco reference.* Carly Simon once sang, "These are the good, old days." She might have been referring to today's varied sports offerings on television.