The Final Score

Some guys get on your nerves. Bob Costas does that for me. Don't worry, not like what Will Leitch does to Buzz Bissinger. It's just the way he carries himself, he just rubs me the wrong way.

For example, every year at the Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation dinner, the reporters stand in this pen as the celebrities walk on the other side of the rope and give interviews.

And every year Bob Costas shows up, walks on the other side of the rope and gives interviews. What could reporters be interested in asking Costas?

I'm surprised his HBO show is still running. I remember watching it when it first aired and thinking this is bad. I recall one segment had a special surprise guest come out to ask Costas questions. Why? Maybe others feel differently, but I thought that show was almost as bad as Magic Johnson's attempt at a late night television show a decade ago.

Almost.

Okay, I'm done. From now on I'll leave Costas bashing to Neil Best.

I don't really like deadspin.com much. I lost interest in that site after they redesigned it a while back (though I still take delight that they did a post on my Tyler Clippard's MySpace page column). I'm more of a thebiglead.com type of reader.

Anyway, I just watched the YouTube video of the Will Leitch-Buzz Bissinger steel caged match on Bob Costas' show and all I have to say is Wow. I wonder how Bissinger reacts when a waiter or waitress screws up his order. Settle down, man.

Note to self: don't cut off Buzz Bissinger in traffic.

Neil Best has been blogging about this showdown, so you can get much more there. I'm still stunned by all the angst and animosity that Bissinger carries around. Man, you're taking years off your life. It's only a Web site. If you don't like it, don't click on it.

On the debate below, I used a throwaway line from "Animal House"

"Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor"

Some anonymous commenter called me an idiot for saying the Rangers could still win the series (fine), but then corrected me and told me the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Eagle-eyed Final Score readers noticed that anonymous wasn't kidding -- he or she really thought I thought the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor.

Dude, or Dudette:

You are the first sports fan I've ever met who has never seen "Animal House." Rent yourself a copy. Also, "Caddyshack."

I just hope as a hockey fan you have seen "Slap Shot" -- I shudder to think you have not.

Other lines from "Animal House" that the commenter isn't aware of:

-- The time has come for someone to put his foot down. And that foot is me.
-- Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.
-- Leaving! What a good idea.
-- May I have ten thousand marbles, please?
-- Face it, Kent. You threw up *on* Dean Wormer.
-- As of this moment, they're on DOUBLE SECRET PROBATION!
-- Do you mind if we dance with your dates?

JIM: No.

The Rangers are done. D-O-N-E. Done. My only regret is that the Rangers will get swept and not lose in five games as I predicted. Too bad.

What a majorly disappointing series for the Rangers. They looked so good against the Devils, and they've outplayed the Penguins more often than not in these three games. But what do they have to show for it? Nada.

You could have seen this happening when the Rangers blew a three-goal lead in the first game. No good team does that in the postseason.

The party line for the Rangers fans today - at least for the ones courageous enough to show their faces - is that the Rangers could have won all three of those games. So why can't then win the next four?

Pfffttttt. Stop right there. This series is over. You know it. And the Rangers have only themselves to blame.

ANTHONY: A chance? Yes.

If I sat here and said the Rangers will definitely come back, it would undercut the vast amount of hockey knowledge I obviously have. But to say it's impossible? No way.

Jim says they can't. More importantly, our Newsday colleague Steve Zipay, who covers the team, says they won't.

I say there's a small chance they might.

Look, no one can making a living betting on a team to come back from 0-3 down. But it happens. It happened for our beloved Islanders once, it happened for the Red Sox against the Yankees in '04.

Could it happen for our beloved Rangers? All you have to do is go back to the first part of the first game of the series, when the Rangers took a 3-0 lead. A most learned colleague of mine who is a true hockey expert told me, "The Rangers are going to win the Cup. I just have a feeling about them."

Oops. Well, that guy had a feeling because of how the team was playing. Can they play that way again for four games, the last two on the road. It's unlikely. But impossible? No.

And don't forget that the NHL wants the Rangers to continue in the playoffs. I'm not saying the refs will throw the entire series the Rangers' way, but would it shock us if a few calls went in the Rangers' favor so the series can be extended? And once the Rangers get their confidence back. It's not like the Penguins are can't-miss Cup favorite locks. Any team can be rattled.

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? No. And it's not over now.

That's what I think.

He has NBA experience, overseas experiences, he's not afraid to try new things, employs an offense that is very fun to watch and is not afraid of dealing with reporters.

I assume he'll go to Toronto if Sam Mitchell is fired - former Suns GM Bryan Colangelo is quite familiar with D'Antoni's work. But if New York comes calling - and dangles millions - how can he turn it down?

Thoughts?

(BTW: I've read this book and liked it a lot. You should, too.)

Phil Hughes hasn't been blogging much of late, which he said in a post was due to all the travel. I do wonder ... when he gets sent down - and I think right now it's a question of when, not if - will he continue to blog from Scranton? Or might he just can it?

According to this story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Nelson is going there with a group of former major leaguers on a goodwill tour.

"I was supposed to be going in April, but something came up in terms of military security," he said. "When they called back, the Yankees and the Mariners had donated all this gear for me to take, and I still wanted to go."

YANKEES: Phil Hughes has to go down to Triple-A. End of story.

He's never struggled like this in his life. He's lost. He won't be able to figure it out up here. Darrell Rasner, welcome back.

Hughes will be back. And he will one day be a top starter. No reason to lose faith.

But he needs to go.

METS: I'm officially over the Carlos Delgado vs. Mets fans story. It was fun while it lasted, though.

Anyone who thinks it was much ado about nothing is dismissing the opinions of half the Mets' fan base. I would say from the feedback I've seen, half of Mets fans think it was a snub and half don't. That's fine. Only Delgado knows what was in his mind. Unless Mike and the Mad Dog can read minds as well as read lips on TV.

By the way, as much as Delgado did a dumb thing by not coming out for the curtain call, he did a smart thing by talking with the New York media for 20 minutes about it on Monday. Totally defused it.

It was as charming and engaging as I've seen Delgado, who sometimes talks down to reporters and gets prickly when asked simple questions like, "Were you trying to hit that home run to leftfield" or "are you upset about striking out four times?"

The story would have gone on another day if Delgado had snubbed the media on Monday. The media considers not talking to the media as the worst of all sins.

Making the media wait before talking to the media is the second worst of all sins.

Charging the media $8.50 for a terrible pregame meal is the third worst of all sins.

Jim and Anthony are keeping track of our predictions for how ever long we do The Final Score. Then, in 30 or 40 years or whenever we move on to other assignments, we'll tally up the results and the loser will have to buy the winner a steak dinner or a ticket to a Yankees game. Whichever is cheaper.

We'll update whenever some sporting event ends that we made predictions on. For example, three NBA series ended last night.

We're using a 5-3-1 scoring system. Five points if you get it exactly right, three if you get the team right but miss the series length by one game either way, one if you get the team right but miss the series length by more than one game.

Here's what ended last night

Lakers over Nuggets in 4
Jim's prediction: Lakers in 5 (3 points)
Anthony's prediction: Nuggets in 7 (squat)

Hornets over Mavs in 5
Jim: Hornets in 5 (nailed it! five points)
Anthony: Mavs in 6 (blew it! zip)

Spurs over Suns in 5
Jim: Suns in 7 (zero)
Anthony: Spurs in 7 (one charity point)

So that's an 8-point night for Jim vs. 1 for Anthony.
Making the standings

Jim 11
Anthony 7

I've done it once, against Cablevision, and within days one of their executive reps called to offer a settlement. I felt like Scott Boras. Anyway, I'm about to do it again, this time against a local tree cutting business for messing up another tree in my backyard, promising to fix it and then failing to answer my calls for the past two weeks.

(The daily voicemail I leave reminds me of trying to get a hold of B.J. Ryan's agent a few winters ago. It became apparent early that winter that he wouldn't talk, but I still left a message on his cell every day. I think I just wanted the satisfaction of knowing he had to go through the process of deleting the message every day. Anyway...)

So I realize you probably don't care about my weeping tree. But I do want to say the BBB is good people. Maybe if Knicks fans would have complained to them about Isiah Thomas, something would have been done earlier. Just saying. Okay, carry on.

We don't do much soccer here at the Final Score. But here's an item about soccer star Ronaldo that I was tipped off to by my soccer-loving pal Out of Botte (author of the hit book "Fish Sticks" with Newsday's Alan Hahn. Soon to be a major motion picture. Or not.)

Anyway, here's the item:

Rio de Janeiro (dpa) - Brazilian striker Ronaldo decided to keep to himself at his Rio de Janeiro home Tuesday, following a scandal involving transvestites who worked as prostitutes.

Ronaldo's advisors told Brazilian sports website Globo Esporte that the Milan striker cancelled planned appearances at two television programmes and asked physiotherapist Bruno Mazziotti to continue treating his injured left knee at his home.

Here's the link to the rest of the sordid story: