Sportscenter

After stringing together five straight scoreless appearances and picking up his first save of 2011 in the Indians series, Michael Gonzalez allowed three runs in Monday's 15-10 loss to the Red Sox. To make matters worse, the Orioles reliever was picked for this week's "Not Top 10" segment on SportsCenter after falling off the mound Monday while throwing a pitch. Poor Gonzalez. The guy just can't win. He is the Orioles' Charlie Brown.

The sorry tableau of two replacement referees standing side by side in the end zone making opposite calls on a controversial play at the end of ESPN's "Monday Night Football" led to the largest audience on record for the post-game SportsCenter show. That image of those two hopeless referees making the opposite call on a contested reception will long serve as the symbol of what has happened to the game in this labor dispute between the real referees and owners. But the ratings for the games, compromised as they might be by utterly inept officiating, just keep going up. Sunday's contest between the Ravens and the New England Patriots was seen by 21.3 million viewers.

I’ve got good news for fans holding out hope that Sergio Kindle will suit up for the Ravens in 2011 (and beyond): The second-year linebacker told The San Antonio Express-News he was cleared to resume playing football in March and he already has visions of watching himself on “SportsCenter” highlights dancing through his head. “First and foremost, we have to wait for the lockout,” said Kindle, who missed the entire 2010 season with a fractured skull he suffered when he fell down a flight of stairs the week before training camp.

After stringing together five straight scoreless appearances and picking up his first save of 2011 in the Indians series, Michael Gonzalez allowed three runs in Monday's 15-10 loss to the Red Sox. To make matters worse, the Orioles reliever was picked for this week's "Not Top 10" segment on SportsCenter after falling off the mound Monday while throwing a pitch. Poor Gonzalez. The guy just can't win. He is the Orioles' Charlie Brown.

BRISTOL, Conn. -- From his perch at the "SportsCenter" desk, Dan Patrick is the cool, calm, authoritative anchor personified, a guy who looks not to have a care in the world.And, in a certain sense, he really doesn't have a concern. Patrick, probably the lead "SportsCenter" anchor as the core of the signature 11 p.m. show, has had his appearances trimmed to twice a week -- at his own request.In addition, ESPN officials have also created a daily radio talk show for Patrick, again at his request, to take his career in a different direction after 10 1/2 years here.

A seemingly innocuous four-minute piece on the reformation of former Dallas linebacker Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson airing on Monday's 6:30 p.m. and overnight "SportsCenters" may have dangerous repercussions.It was a thought-provoking story on how the gifted defender on the Cowboys teams of the 1970s has bounced back from acocaine addiction, but more interesting is where the piece came from.The story was reported and produced by NFL Films, a biased source, and raises questions about how closely intertwined the leagues and the networks should be.In many ways, the line between the networks and the leagues they cover has been blurred, if not directly crossed.

If you lived in Seattle in the early 1990s, there's a decent chance that Kenny Mayne tried to sell you long distance phone service, picked up your garbage or assembled your garbage cans.Starting a week from Sunday, Mayne will be delivering your sports news and highlights when he joins Dan Patrick as co-anchor of the 11 p.m. "SportsCenter," ESPN announced yesterday.Mayne, whose sense of humor is as offbeat as they come, inherits the chair left vacant when Keith Olbermann left for MSNBC and a good deal of pressure to keep the ratings high on one of the most popular and critically acclaimed shows in all of television.

A FOOLISH consistency, the saying goes, is the hobgoblin of little minds. How much you care about seeing the same anchors doing SportsCenter at set times will probably determine whether you believe that hobgoblin has taken up residence in ESPN's offices. The network announced this week it is setting up consistent anchor teams, starting Monday. During the week, Dan Patrick and Fred Hickman will be at 6 p.m., John Anderson and Steve Levy at 11 p.m. and Scott Van Pelt and Neil Everett at 1 a.m. The latter two teams will switch spots each month.

Keith Olbermann's deep, but he's not playable anymore, or at least not on ESPN.Olbermann, 38, whose insouciant persona dovetailed nicely with the unflappable Dan Patrick on the 11 p.m. "SportsCenter," will appear on the show for the final time on June 29, a full six months before his ESPN contract expires.Olbermann could not be reached yesterday, but his agent, Jean Sage, told the Associated Press that the departure was "amicable," and said no decision on Olbermann's future had been made.

NFL PrimeTime 8:30 p.m. [ESPN] Find out what you saw when you watched the four playoff games, courtesy of ESPN's NFL College of Cardinals. This show is followed by a two-hour SportsCenter just on the playoffs. When it comes to the NFL, anything worth doing is worth overdoing.

I’ve got good news for fans holding out hope that Sergio Kindle will suit up for the Ravens in 2011 (and beyond): The second-year linebacker told The San Antonio Express-News he was cleared to resume playing football in March and he already has visions of watching himself on “SportsCenter” highlights dancing through his head. “First and foremost, we have to wait for the lockout,” said Kindle, who missed the entire 2010 season with a fractured skull he suffered when he fell down a flight of stairs the week before training camp.

Former Walbrook star Roscoe Smith is having a solid freshman season at Connecticut. A two-time Baltimore Sun All-Metro selection , Smith has averaged 6.7 points and 5.3 rebounds for the Huskies this season. But one of his highlights keeps showing up on "SportsCenter," and it's not for a good reason. Smith has been the reigning "worst of the worst" champion on ESPN since he missed a game-winning, buzzer-beating halfcourt heave against Texas two months ago. There's no shame in that, right?

ESPN said Jamal Anderson, arrested over the weekend on drug charges, wasn't scheduled for appearances anytime soon, except maybe an occasional 1st and 10 or SportsCenter. But the network has yet to hear from him. So let's guess we won't be seeing Anderson soon. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/mediumwell)

NFL PrimeTime 8:30 p.m. [ESPN] Find out what you saw when you watched the four playoff games, courtesy of ESPN's NFL College of Cardinals. This show is followed by a two-hour SportsCenter just on the playoffs. When it comes to the NFL, anything worth doing is worth overdoing.

8 p.m. [FX] Sports content (from memory, so maybe I've forgotten something): Brett Fav-ruh, Cameron Diaz (left) on the driving range and Diaz wanting to watch SportsCenter. Now, everybody sing along to "Build Me Up Buttercup."

There seems to be the feeling that Joe Flacco's debut was overlooked by the national sports media. However, Tom Brady suffered a season-ending injury to alter the balance of power in the AFC East, and Brett Favre made his victorious debut with the New York Jets. Even if those teams weren't in the most media-intensive section of the country, those two stories figured to dominate SportsCenter and the various NFL wrap-up shows. (For more, go to baltimoresun.com/schmuckblog)

ESPN said Jamal Anderson, arrested over the weekend on drug charges, wasn't scheduled for appearances anytime soon, except maybe an occasional 1st and 10 or SportsCenter. But the network has yet to hear from him. So let's guess we won't be seeing Anderson soon. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/mediumwell)

8 p.m. [FX] Sports content (from memory, so maybe I've forgotten something): Brett Fav-ruh, Cameron Diaz (left) on the driving range and Diaz wanting to watch SportsCenter. Now, everybody sing along to "Build Me Up Buttercup."

Filling in for an ill Samari Rolle, cornerback Corey Ivy will start in back-to-back games for the first time since Oct. 17, 2005. As excited as he is about Sundays, Ivy also looks forward to Tuesdays, the players' regularly scheduled day off. What's your favorite off-day activity? Well, now I spend it with my newborn daughter [Blaise, who was born Sept. 14], walking around the house with her and loving on her. How has fatherhood changed you? I'm a homebody now. I just want to relax at home with my wife [Emilia]

Where, oh where did Linda Cohn go? It used to seem that you couldn't turn on ESPN without seeing her smiling face and hearing her New York tones. Then, like a pitch served up by Orioles middle relief, she was gone. What happened was that last year, after 13 years as a SportsCenter anchor, she had had enough of the grind. The glamour of getting home to her husband and two children at 3:30 a.m. had worn off. She asked to do something else at ESPN. And so she has, popping up on ESPNews' interview show The Hot List, reporting from pro golf tournaments and hosting the X Games.