Mike got the choice gig of playing "Street Eye for the White Guy," undergoing a street-balla makeover to coincide with the launch of an urban basketball video game. His newfound buddies Trikz and Big Al adorned him in the latest too-big sweats and too-big shirts, which cost too-big money to look like a tool. Thank god Mike is married, 'cause it's kinda all over now from the chick standpoint. Except maybe in the barrio.

Unfortunately, weather prohibited the new Mike from testing his skillz on the streets of Elizabeth, N.J., and for some reason ESPN.com ran the column without that crucial element, instead of — oh, I don't know — sending him back out there the next day, maybe. I guess they had to get it out of the way to clear editorial space for Bill Simmons to make his 5,000th Godfather reference.

Mike and I go way back. Well, back to 1999, when I supervised 10 producers of FOX Sports Net regional websites. Mike was our New England man, and I was the guy who stood on my desk, so everyone in their cubicles could see me, and barked out orders like, "Wilt Chamberlain just died. Let's get pictures of all the women he banged!" and "Staff meeting at the Village Idiot. The chick who serves topless, with Band-Aids on her nipples, gets off at 8 p.m.!" The inflatable Dilbert cubicle door helped lighten the mood, too. I swear I had one, and imagine the sadness in the newsroom on my last day when I was rolling on the floor, forcing the air out of it. (I was, of course, not sad at all. This being 1999, a 55% percent raise was waiting for me somewhere else.)

If only I'd thought of sending one of the guys out for an XXXL wardrobe, maybe the total monthly traffic of the sites would have been higher than what PK.com gets in a day. But it's great to see the former staffers doing well. Mark Feinsand is the Yankees.com site editor. Eric Wilbur is blogging for Boston.com. Other guys on the FOXSports.com "regionals" staff are producing and writing for SI.com and AP MegaSports. Former general staffers like Rob Peterson and Randy Kim are at NBA.com, Darren Rovell, then just an intern, is one of the best known sports-business writers. Phil Coffey is doing that ice thing at NHL.com. Others have landed at MLB.com, AOL and parts known and unknown around the globe. Clearly those Village Idiot happy hours inspired a great deal of success.

Other Sports Links:

• Our Resilient Pastime — George Will opines in The Washington Post that Bud Selig has been baseball's greatest commissioner. Tough to argue when attendance and revenue is at an all-time high. (Thanks, Art)

• The MLB Misery Index — ESPN.com's Jim Caple ranks all 30 teams based on a 60-point system that measures two types of fan misery — despair (produced by losing seasons) and pain (brought on by agonizing ends to winning seasons). The Bombers barely crack the radar. Which is why when people ask, "How can you have fun rooting for the Yankees?" I say, "very easily."

• Still Waiting for a Championship — A Page 2 list of the 10 greatest current pro athletes, with a minimum of 10 full seasons, who haven't won a championship. Just think, Roger Clemens would be on the list if he wasn't smart enough to leave the Red Sox.

• Mark Cuban Prank Called by Spurs Fans — The Mavericks owner blogs about his cell phone number ending up in the wrong hands. About the annoying voicemails left, Cuban says, "It only takes me a second to delete them, but I cant get past it for some reason. Maybe its because Spurs fans are just irritating and rude at all times."

• If Bonds Breaks HR Record, Aaron Doesn't Plan to Be There — Atlanta resident Hank Aaron says he has no interest in flying around the country to follow Barry Bonds in his quest for home run No. 756, should he challenge the mark in either 2005 or 2006.

• Madden NFL 2005 Screens — Some shots of how the most popular sports video game, with an August 2004 release date, looks. Mark me down for bedtimes no earlier than 4 a.m. throughout August.