Media Power Rankings For July

Clark Kellogg takes over as lead analyst for CBS's Final Four coverage. AP Richard Deitsch's Mailbag Submit a question or comment for Richard. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND Follow Richard Deitsch on Twitter

1. Clark Kellogg, CBS Sports: CBS executives first approached Kellogg in May 2007 to gauge his interest about the lead college basketball analyst position should Billy Packer step aside. Well, the moment has arrived.

"I had hoped if there was an opportunity I would be considered for it," Kellogg told SI.com this week. "It wasn't a burning desire or goal to have that position but I'm excited and really humbled that I have a chance to step into that role."

Kellogg, who is signed with CBS through 2009, said he has not spoken with Packer since the announcement but plans to have a conversation with him. "Billy is one of the best that's ever been a commentator for any sport, in terms of his insight, his understanding, and his ability to pick things up while they are happening," Kellogg said.

Given the large number of college basketball fans who disliked Packer's style, SI.com asked Kellogg if it was important to be likeable. "I would rather be liked than disliked, that's one way to answer it," he said. "It's more important to be credible and even-handed in how you approach your work. Some people enjoy being on the edge because that's who they are, but it's important, no matter what your style is, to be who you are. If you're combative by nature, then you have to be that way. Since I'm not that way off the air, I can't be anything on the air that I'm not off the air. That's just the way I roll."

2. Raquel Frietas, Fox Sports intern: Upon receiving about 20 pounds worth of promotional material from the paper-loving Fox Sports communications department, I was struck by a terrific piece of research on the 2008 All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium. Fox Sports offered a "Tale of The Tape" that compared a number of things in 1977 (the last time the ASG was played at Yankee Stadium) to 2008.

Among the items: The average cost of a dozen eggs (90 cents in 1977 to $2.17 in 2008), a New York City bagel (30 cents to $1.10), a new home ($48,650 to $231,000) and the highest paid Yankee (Don Gullett at $332,667 to A-Rod's $28 million). The brains behind this operation? Fox says give full marks to Frietas, a summer intern and senior-to-be at Maryland. She plans on taking the LSAT test this winter. Good luck in law school, kid.

3. Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times: Farmer was vilified in some circles after he reported last April that Brett Favre's agent had reached out to teams to gauge their interest in trading for the quarterback. His reporting proved to be true. "I do feel vindicated," said Farmer, who has covered the NFL at the Times since 2001. "Although I never doubted my sources -- these particular ones have never steered me wrong -- I didn't think the story would unravel this way. You can go line by line through my original story and it checks out with everything Favre has said.

"I did take a lot of heat. Some of those blogs were pretty brutal. But, for the most part, the nastiest comments came from people who have no experience covering the NFL or working as reporters. So I didn't take that stuff too seriously. On the flip side, a lot of respected people within the business came to my defense -- Peter King, Michael Wilbon, Jim Rome, Skip Bayless, ESPN.com's Matt Mosley, the Wisconsin State Journal's Jason Wilde and others -- and that was gratifying. All that being said, I don't want to gloat about getting this story right. We've all been right in our careers, and we've also been wrong."

Farmer's reporting on Favre (Said Farmer: "I'd say that if he does play this season, I don't think it will be with the Packers") is particularly impressive given that he's working in a market that does not have an NFL team. "I've always said I have the best NFL job in the country," Farmer said. "Because L.A. doesn't have a team, I don't have to view the league through the prism of a particular club (i.e. What does this mean for the 49ers?) and I don't have to worry as much about the minutiae (Was that a right or left ankle sprain?). Also, the league cares a great deal about its image in L.A. because it eventually wants to come back here, so what's written in the L.A. Times is important to the people at 280 Park Ave."

4. Ken Rosenthal, Fox Sports: The more I see of this guy, the more I like him. Rosenthal has successfully transitioned from a print career at the Baltimore Sun to one of the better baseball reporters on television. Last weekend he was asked about colleague Mark Grace's Hall of Fame candidacy during Fox's pregame show, a program that traditionally serves more vanilla than Dairy Queen. As Grace listened in the studio, Rosenthal said that while he "loved" Grace, he could not vote for him. Honest answer. Good television.

5. Charles Barkley, TNT Sports: It's been an eventful year for Barkley, from a gambling debt dispute with Wynn Las Vegas to a memorable interview with CNN in which he described some in the GOP as "fake Christians." Now comes something much less controversial: The Philadelphia Daily News recently reported that Barkley has been paying the college tuition of Christian Abate, a 28-year-old bus boy at The Saloon restaurant in Philadelphia.

Abate had enrolled in education classes at Temple University, only to drop out of school because of financial hardship. "I met him at the restaurant one day and we started talking -- he gave me a compliment on all the stuff I do for kids," Barkley told SI.com. "I live in Philadelphia during the summers and he told me he had to quit school because he couldn't afford it. I told him that sucks. We got to stay on these kids and never give up. Don't worry about the ones you can't help, but the ones you can.

"So I said, 'Why don't you let me pay your way through college?' He kind of looked at me and said, 'Uhh, you serious?' He was just in shock. I told him, 'Hey, think about it. Let me know by the end of dinner.' I called him back over and he said, 'If you're serious, I'd really appreciate that.'

"I've been doing it for a few years now. I sent the last check last week. This is his last term. He's a great kid, and he loves working with kids. I just thought it was a shame that someone who wanted to go to school to be a teacher couldn't go."

Abate is scheduled to graduate next May.

6. Bob Papa, NFL Network and Trent Dilfer, ESPN (tie): While play-by-play announcers have little if no impact on ratings, they do have a huge effect on how you perceive a broadcast. A terrific journalist and master host, Bryant Gumbel was simply out of his element as the lead voice of the NFL Network. Both sides parted cleanly and the NFLN made a smart hire with Papa, a well-regarded radio voice for the Giants.

As someone who has heard Papa often, I appreciated that he criticized coaches and players when the team's play deserved it. Obviously, most hometown announcers want the teams they cover to win, but good listeners and viewers want honesty -- at least occasionally. Good to see him get a bigger stage.

Dilfer is a terrific hire for ESPN. He's a smart and articulate guy. Remember where you read it first: He'll end up being one of ESPN's best hires in recent memory.

7. Jimmy Rollins, Phillies shortstop: I really liked what I saw of Rollins during the recent Costas Now program on baseball. He was engaging, thoughtful and offered interesting opinions on how to increase the numbers of African-Americans in baseball. If I'm a television executive, Rollins is a guy I'm putting on my futures list.

"Jimmy Rollins showed great promise as a broadcaster off of his performance on Costas Now," said HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg. "He showed a willingness to speak candidly on a variety of topics. He has plenty of time to work on his broadcasting skills, but for now we will enjoy watching him on the base paths."

8. Ann Meyers Drysdale, NBC and Brad Daugherty, ESPN (tie): It's a tricky business, the conflict of interest business. Meyers, the general manager of the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, is serving as an analyst for NBC on Olympic women's basketball. That means she'll be offering analysis on players she employs (such as Cappie Poindexter and Diana Taurasi) as well as those whose job it is to prevent her franchise from achieving success.

Daugherty, a NASCAR analyst for ESPN, recently bought a 33 percent stake in the new JTG Daugherty Racing team. "If there's a conflict with a specific issue, we'll have other announcers deal with it," said ESPN spokesperson Mike Soltys.

Asked about Meyers and any potential conflict of interest, NBC Sports spokesperson Brian Walker said, "Ann has been an Olympic commentator with NBC since the 2000 Games, an indication of the high regard we have for her. Very few people in either men's or women's basketball have her credentials."

Reasonable responses. It's also reasonable for viewers to watch Meyers Drysdale and Daugherty that much closer.

9. Michael Irvin, ESPN (Dallas) 103.3 radio host: "Michael doesn't need to audition for anyone," NFL Network executive producer Eric Weinberger recently told Dallas Morning News writer Barry Horn. "We all know he's one of the most charismatic and hard-working talents out there."

I'm a fan of Weinberger's work -- especially what he's done with his network's NFL draft coverage -- but this quote was laugh-out-loud funny. Irvin's work at ESPN and Fox Sports Net was a train wreck reminiscent of the final scene in Silver Streak, and for those of us who watched draft coverages that Irvin worked on at ESPN, he brought zip, zero, nada to the table after the opening round.

Irvin has found a nice niche in Dallas on the radio at ESPN 103.3 FM, especially given his contacts (Adam and Jerry Jones, T.O.) in the Cowboys organization. Given his remarkable induction speech last year, Irvin's addition to the NFL Network's Hall of Fame coverage is a smart one-off play. But a full-time national gig? Uh, no. We've been down this road before.

10. Skip Bayless, ESPN: It's hard to come up with a new take on Bayless, who has banked plenty of coin during the decade as Bristol's in-house contrarian. In a stunning take even for him, Bayless questioned the motivation of Terrell Owens on ESPN's First Take after the Cowboys wideout tended to an ESPN.com writer after he was hit by an automobile in Los Angeles. Rare is the person who can make T.O. a sympathetic figure but Bayless pulled it off with Hall of Fame élan.

A television executive told me long ago that there's always value in having someone on the air whom people dislike. A watercooler guy, he called it. I imagine there are some viewers who like Bayless, but none have e-mailed me in five years of writing a media column for SI and SI.com.

Settled on the cheap score is how my old colleague Jeff Pearlman described Bayless, unquestionably a talented writer. But then again I just dropped 176 words on him (including a First Take reference), so a job well done, sir.