Now that I'm back in L.A., I can hear Jim Rome live on Jacor's KXTA 1150, but there's still no excuse for this tape-delayed BS in San Diego. Canned radio is inexcusably bush league, especially with a show as prominent as Rome's.

KXTA is a bad station. They have the Dodgers, but if you're, oh, fifteen miles from the transmitter, or driving by a two story building someplace, you can't hear a thing. When the team was on KFI years ago, you could pick up Vinny in Boise and Spokane. Now, on a clear night, you might get them in Chatsworth. Then again, you might not...

ESPN's "Baseball Tonight" is still the most significant show in television history. Always has been. Continues to be. "I Love Lucy?" Please.

I'd prefer a tad less Peter Gammons, but you can't have everything. It's a great show. All the hosts are great, Harold Reynolds is great, Dave Campbell is great, Brian Mcrae's getting there, Tim Kurkjian, if he could just learn to pronounce his own name, will be there soon. Not everyone likes Chris Berman, but I like his style. Charlie Steiner on radio, also great...

Over at Fox, Mark Gubizca has all but lost the speech impediment, the hitch in his delivery that hampered him so last year, and does a yeoman's job. Ditto Kevin Kennedy, simply the best analyst going.

In SoCal, Fox's regional thing has gotten better, kinda. John ("You can get a rug, I used to wear a rug.") Fricke has a way about him, and the hair really does seem to be growing. Gaard Swanson is more like a person now, but unfortunately for Fox, Lisa Guerrero stands out as a total boob...

Billy Crystal did some good things with "61." Those furry helmets were a distraction, but it qualifies as a baseball movie, and is worth watching...

And check out "Hopes and Dreams in Minor League Baseball -- A Season with the Williamsport Crosscutters." Pretty original stuff. Documentary, candid, fresh stuff. With any luck, director Steve Patterson will be making baseball movies long after Billy Crystal. $19.95 plus shipping. www.crosscutters.com or 800-606-9642...

Vinny, you're the greatest....

Howard Cole