And now for a little stomach-churning media goodness. One of the inevitable downsides of ESPN's new "Live" SportsCenter are some of the slip-ups that occur during live broadcasts which unfortunately make it to air. Case in point — this morning, at approximately 10:28, it appears NFL beat reporter John Clayton was suffering from a bout of uncontrollable flatulence while on the phone with morning host Josh Elliot. Mr. Clayton's unfortunate accident occurred just as Elliot inquired about the status of Derek Anderson in Cleveland. Right after he utters the phrase "Brady Quinn is lurking..." you can hear the distinct sound of a gaseous emission trumpet through the microphone right before Mr. Clayton gives his Browns report. (Smell the junior high irony, if you will.)

ESPN's media relations machine "could not possibly comment about that", but Elliot did say that he asked the newsroom "What the F was that?" after the incident occurred, but denies having personally "dealt it."

Maybe it was Hannah Storm playing a prank? She's a scamp, that one. — A.J. Daulerio

Anyway, Clayton is a perfectly serviceable NFL reporter, and he seems to get fewer stories wrong than, say, Mortensen. But Clayton really broke through on ESPN when he and Sean Salisbury had their initially real but ultimately staged "fights" on air. And look, John! You won! Where's Salisbury now? Definitely makes up for all those locker stuffings.

So: Do you like the John Clayton? Do you not like the John Clayton? Go go go.

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• "Family Guy."
• Separated At Birth-type photo matchups.
• John Clayton.

It's not so much that these things are inherently awful. They just kind of collectively leave us creeped out. But put them together ....

OK, so this is kind of a filler post. It's true. In fact, we're not sure whom we're trying to kid. We can't talk about anything else but Game 7, the rest of the day. Our attention is elsewhere. It's a risk, considering baseball isn't that popular anymore, apparently, but we're willing to take that risk. Because that's the only thing on our brains right now. Forgive us.

Poll: 32 Percent Of Americans Care About Baseball [Associated Press]

"Peyton Manning will have his best postseason thanks to the league's recent rule change that allows quarterbacks to handle the balls prior to games. This is huge. Quarterbacks won't be able to practice with them, but they'll be given game balls early enough during the week that they'll be able to rub them down and make them easier to grip."

John Clayton, ladies and gentlemen.

Dont' Expect Great Things from Jets, Mangini in '06 [ESPN](#8 on the list)

As you might expect, several sports figures made the list, topped by Randy Johnson, who comes in at No. 2. The paper says, "If he couldn't throw a ball 100 miles per hour, Johnson would be wearing a wife beater and getting hauled into a squad car on Cops." Others include:

• 29. Don Zimmer. "The gerbil's got a massive, ivory-white noggin' that never did much thinking to begin with."
• 30. Tony Kornheiser: "Yes, calling sportswriters unattractive is like shooting fish in a barrel. But come on, he looks like your uncle. "

Also making the cut: Julian Tavarez, Willie McGee (no!), Scottie Pippen, Jeff Van Gundy and John Clayton. Congratulations, all.

The 100 Unsexiest Men In The World [Boston Phoenix]
I'm Hideous, Look Away [The Everyday Joe]

But, as pointed out by Golden State Warriors blog The City, Clayton has made some concessions to a career now more based in television than in the written word. Most notably: A sad, lonely hairpiece that's shifting like a global warming-induced glacier. It's nice to see Clayton paying homage to Bill Murray's character in Kingpin. It might be fun to shift that thing in a different place on his head every time he does a segment; ESPN.com, we sense an interactive opportunity for you.

Wigging Out [The City]