Barkley, Steinbrenner are up, Brand Salisbury is down

Charles Barkley says he'll retire from broadcasting in four years. Thos Robinson/Getty Images

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1. W.C. Heinz, writing craftsman: His was the age before sportswriters begged for points for their sports arguments and preened for the cameras. Heinz passed from earth last week at 93, but his words stay aloft forever. There has never been a better deadline sports story than this one.

2. Charles Barkley, TNT NBA studio analyst: Barkley recently signed a contract extension with TNT that will begin with the 2008-09 season. He says that it will be his last. "I'm going to do this for four more years because it's so much fun, then I'm going to think seriously about doing something else," Barkley told SI.com. As part of the deal Barkley will continue to appear weekly on TNT's Inside The NBA studio show, as well as NBA All-Star weekend and Conference Finals coverage. He also will appear on NBA TV, which immediately makes NBA TV more palatable. "It was a big decision because I think about doing other stuff all the time," said Barkley. "That's why I only signed for four years. [Co-hosts] Kenny (Smith) and Ernie (Johnson) are jackasses but the crew is fantastic. I wanted to do it one more time and really enjoy the ride."

3. Hank Steinbrenner, Yankees senior vice president and ESPN fan:
In the latest issue of Play, the sports magazine of the New York Times, The New Boss called out an entire fan base. "Red Sox Nation?" said Steinbrenner. "What a bunch of [expletive] that is. That was a creation of the Red Sox and ESPN, which is filled with Red Sox fans." Was Hank thinking of a certain baseball analyst whose last name rhymes with "Hammonds" when he went John Rambo on Beantown? I contemplated asking ESPN's Communications department for a reaction, but then I remembered that three of the department's vice presidents are diehard Red Sox fans.

4. Doug Gottlieb, ubiquitous ESPN analyst: USA Today recently dropped a 1,505-word profile,a 10-picture photo gallery (including Gottlieb's cute kids), and three sidebars on the college basketball analyst. The sound you just heard was Gottlieb's television agent diving into a pool of cash.

5. Sam Erb and Katelyn Kerkhove, reporters for RedWire, a magazine published by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's College of Journalism and Mass Communications: In what has become a bit of cause celebre in sports-mad Lincoln, Kerkhove wrote this story on All-America volleyball player Sarah Pavan, who revealed in the article that she often felt isolated from her teammates, and sensed they resented her individual success. Erb followed up with a second-day story, which prompted Nebraska volleyball coach John Cook to offer what reads like intimidation. "If you don't stop doing it," the Daily Nebraskan reported Cook as saying, "I'm going to call over to the journalism college and get this straightened out." The Omaha World-Herald does a solid job of recapping the events. More reaction can be found here. Student journalists who dare report stories that don't fit the athletic department script often face pressure from administrators and coaches and message board zealots. It's not easy to stand up to such a power structure, especially in sports-crazed college towns where the program is larger-than-life. "I didn't have any hesitations in printing the story for the sheer fact that it is the truth and I stuck to what I was told," said Kerkhove, 21. "I stand by every single word I wrote. I've learned a ton from this experience. It showed me that the truth hurts and people (the readers) may not always like it." An FYI for employers: Kerkhove graduates this May and is looking for a job. Hire her.

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