Goodbye, Raymond

As you might have heard, tonight is the last night for "Everybody Loves Raymond," a television show that apparently is watched by a lot of people, though nobody we know. It's easy to forget — what, with all the hijinks and wacky misadventures — that the character of Raymond is supposed to be a sportswriter. Like all sportswriters in the movies and TV, Raymond's interaction with his subjects was not one of mutual loathing and utter contempt; he was such good pals with them, in fact, that sometimes they'd pop by his house and meet his irascible (but lovable, and how!) family. This is not realistic of course, but Raymond is a sportswriter who isn't 100 pounds overweight and more concerned about the best he has that night than his family, so hey, it's not a documentary, OK?

Athlete guest stars on "Raymond" after the jump:

Athlete guest stars on "Everybody Loves Raymond;"

1996 — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1997 — Terry Bradshaw Barry Bonds (seriously. He actually insisted he be credited as "Barry Bond." Ah, Barry.) Marv Albert Tommy Lasorda (twice, of course) Katarina Witt Kristi Yamaguchi Roy Firestone (remember him?) James Worthy Pat O'Brien (voice only. Naw, just kidding.) 1999 — Cleon Jones Ed Kranepool Tug McGraw