This has been a LeBron TV Production

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I was really surprised to hear that LeBron will announce his big decision in prime time Thursday on ESPN. I mean, to this point in his life, everything he's done has been so understated.

My sources tell me it's between the Grizzlies and the Bucks.

Kid all you want about the speculation and hype and rumors and such. All I know is that it can't be easy for LeBron to decide between playing one more year for the Vikings or riding tractors in Hattiesburg.

If the Bulls miss out on LeBron and D-Wade and Bosh, word is that they already have a contract ready for Ron Mercer.

Did I say the Grizzlies or Bucks? Now that Vinny Del Negro will coach the Clippers, how can LeBron resist being the No. 1 attraction for L.A.'s No. 4 pro hoops team? And psssst ... my informant tells me that LeBron will command even more money than most of the UCLA and USC kids do.

ESPN's hoops expert, Chris Broussard, put his reputation on the line Tuesday by predicting LeBron just might end up in New Jersey. Unless he goes to New York. Or Miami. Or Chicago. Or re-signs with Cleveland. Seems that Broussard's segment ran out of time before he could name the other 25 teams.

So I guess this means McNabb's not going to St. Louis?

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The Bald Truth

When Rush Limbaugh says he wants to buy half of the Rams, we have to assume he's talking about the white half.

The Balder Truth

Word out of Memphis is that new Grizzlies guard Allen Iverson has a partially torn hamstring. He must have gotten it while partially practicing.

THE BALDEST TRUTH

Jeez, DeRo, nice throw!

Somebody please tell Mark DeRosa he's no longer with the Cubs and therefore is not contractually obligated to choke in the playoffs.

OK, OK ... DeRo also got three hits in the Cards' Game 1 loss to the Dodgers. And that's as many as Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez combined for when the Cubbies got swept by L.A. last year.

But still ... nice throw, DeRo!

Prior knowledge

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The Bald Truth

Congrats, Nats. You used the No. 1 pick to draft can't-miss, sure-thing, lead-pipe-cinch superstar pitcher Stephen Strasburg.

Now here's hoping Strasburg has a better go of it than the last can't-miss, sure-thing, lead-pipe-cinch superstar pitcher to come out of college. Guy named Mark Prior.

Those stupid Twins, drafting that no-talent hack of a catcher Joe Mauer back in 2001 instead of the cinch superstar Prior.

Ah, the baseball draft. The least exact science this side of blind dates.

Announcing Follies

1. It didn't take Steve Stone long to follow Homer Hawk's lead in constantly calling the White Sox "we." Then again, at least Stoney pitched for the Sox way back when. All Hawk did for the organization was screw it up royally during his 10 minutes as Sox GM.

2. In the closing moments of Stanley Cup Finals Game 6, did NBC's Mike Emrick really say the winner would be "the team that wants it more"? Yep, what a bunch of disinterested slugs those Red Wings were during their 2-1 loss to the Penguins.

3. I'm enjoying the work of ABC's Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson during the NBA playoffs, but I gotta admit that I miss Marv Albert. Is Marv the best basketball announcer ever? Yesssss!

The Balder Truth

The White Sox are doing enough damage to their own chances. They don't need help from ump Jim Joyce, who on Tuesday badly blew a call at home plate that would have given the Sox a ninth-inning victory over the Tigers.

The Tigers went on to win the game in the 10th.

Obviously, they wanted it more.

The Quote

"We're all frail as humans." - Phil Jackson on Kobe Bryant, who missed five free throws and had the ball stolen from him by Dwight Howard during crunch time of the Lakers' Game 3 loss to the Magic.

Funny. I don't remember Phil ever using "frail" as an adjective to describe any other high-scoring guard he coached.

Frosh Follies

A few days after learning that Derrick Rose enjoyed letting others do his schoolwork at Memphis, we learned that Tim "Blago" Floyd was using payola schemes to get O.J. Mayo into USC.

I can't blame David Stern for refusing to let 18-year-olds into his league. But does that mean our institutions of higher learning have to prostitute themselves to let these kids play ball?

There are other options for the likes of Rose and Mayo, including Europe. Let them eat pasta, baby.

THE BALDEST TRUTH

Dozens of kids who used to shoot hoops at the backyard court of our North Side home went on to play high school ball. A few even have gone on to play in college. But here's a first:

Kerry Masterson, 23, who played alongside my daughter Katie on a dominant grade-school team and often brought her game to our court on summer evenings, has been charged with first-degree murder for allegedly shooting a West Side shopkeeper during a robbery attempt last month.

No jokes. No clever rejoinders. Just another reminder that reality occasionally intrudes angrily on our everyday lives.