By JOHN P. WISEOne Great Season
+ Josh Elliott will be sorely missed from the ESPN "SportsCenter" morning crew for many reasons, but the one serious question I have is who will read the tragedy scripts? If he was on the desk when a dramatic story broke, it was almost always the professional and savvy Elliott who got the read. Hannah and Sage are too concerned with flashing pretty smiles, and just about anyone else working alongside Elliott was inferior in every way. That morning block is going to suffer without Elliott more than people realize. Best of luck to him on "Good Morning America."
+ Before the Lakers and Hornets tipped off their Game 2 the other night, I heard someone refer to it as an "almost must-win" for the Lakers. And just Friday morning, I see ESPN is saying the Knicks, currently in an 0-2 hole against Boston, are in a must-win scenario. Is that series a best-of-five? Because I've been under the impression that all first-round series in the NBA playoffs are best-of-seven. And in such a case, a team trailing 0-2 is not up against the ole must-win pressure. Don't get me wrong, the Knicks would be far better off winning Game 3 at Madison Square Garden tonight to pull to within 2-1, rather than losing and falling behind 3-0. But that would be stating the overly obvious. Unless a team faces an elimination game, it is not a must-win game. Maybe invent a new term like "a really-should-win game." The manufacturing of drama has got to end in sports broadcasting.
+ Doug Collins had the quote of the week when he was asked if he believes in moral victories. The veteran coach's 76ers had just lost Game 3 and fallen behind 3-0 to the Miami Heat when he issued the following answer last night: "What the hell? I'm 60 years old. I'm a moral person but I don't like moral victories."
+ I never thought I'd be looking ahead to this season's remaining games between Kansas City and Cleveland, but the teams will square off three times again next week and a total of 14 more times the rest of the year. The Indians and Royals just split a four-game series that had a little bit of everything: a pair of one-run games, a walk-off winner, a couple of late-inning rallies that fell short, an extra-inning game, some good pitching, good defense and a little bit of offense. No MLB series this week had what the Indians and Royals offered, and they ended it the same way they began: one-game apart atop the AL Central, and owners of the two highest win totals in baseball. I'd love to think one of these teams is not a fluke, that their series in Cleveland in late July will matter to somebody.