DUBIOUS DOZEN IT'S TIME TO DROP THE TOWEL AND EXPOSE THIS YEAR'S LIST OF TURKEYS IN SPORTS MEDIA.

Byline: TOM HOFFARTH The Media

ABC put out a trial balloon in May to see if Charles Barkley was interested in joining ``Monday Night Football.'' Thankfully, he wasn't.

ESPN put Gary Miller on a plane to Coney Island to cover the Hot Dog Eating Contest on the Fourth of July. Remarkably, he did it.

Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan put his foot in his mouth, again, by saying on a sports-talk radio show that the Vanderbilt couldn't beat Western Kentucky in the NCAA basketball tournament because the team had ``too many white guys.'' Strangely, he didn't get reprimanded for it.

And somehow, none of these incidents were quite egregious enough to be included in our annual Dubious Dozen list of the most regrettable incidents in the sports media during the past year.

What qualifies for such a distinction? Here is the 2004 roll call, in no particular order, for you to decide:

OVER EXPOSURE

--The culprit: CBS and MTV.

--The crime: About 89 million viewers were watching the network's coverage of halftime at Super Bowl XXXVIII on Feb. 1 when, with Janet Jackson on stage, Justin Timberlake sang the words, ``I'm gonna have you naked by the end of this song.'' And he made good on it.

What Timberlake later claimed was a ``wardrobe malfunction'' exposed Jackson's bare breast to the TV audience, some of whom just finished watching a pay-per-view ``Lingerie Bowl'' event.

CBS went into an immediate damage control mode, but it wasn't sure who to throw under the bus. An apology issued in the third quarter said: ``CBS and MTV deeply regret this incident.'' Five minutes later, the statement was revised, taking MTV out of the apology. Viacom owns CBS and MTV, which produced the show for the network.

In September, the FCC slapped the network with a $550,000 fine. Viacom, which has about $27 billion in revenue, agreed to pay it Tuesday.

--The aftermath: Many talking heads contend that single incident decided the 2004 presidential race because of how it divided the country on the issue of morality and decency.

Networks began instituting five-second delays on live sports coverage after four-letter words began to make it on the air and spook executives into thinking they'd be subject to FCC fines as well.

The latest ABC ``Monday Night Football'' promo featuring a naked actress (only her backside was revealed) taking off a towel and leaping into the arms of Philadelphia Eagles receiver Terrell Owens is now being investigated by the FCC.

The Jackson Affair also changed production of the halftime show. The NFL took it over and announced last week that Paul McCartney would be the featured act for the 2005 game.

Any more fallout? We'll keep you abreast.

GOLDEN BOY TARNISHED

--The culprit: Paul Hornung.

--The crime: The Heisman Trophy winner from Notre Dame, doing a radio interview in March, said he thought the university had to ``ease it up a little bit'' on its academic standards because ``we must get the black athlete if we're going to compete.''

This, despite the fact the Irish football roster of 68 scholarship athletes is 55 percent black, above the average for all Division I-A schools.

--The aftermath: Hornung apologized the next day after a flood of criticism, but it wasn't enough. Radio syndicator Westwood One was told to replace him on the Notre Dame broadcasts this fall.

In his autobiography published in October, Hornung wrote: ``Some members of the board of trustees had decided it was more important to curry favor with the politically correct crowd than to stand up for me. ... I'm not going to be doing the Notre Dame games anymore because I don't want to be somewhere I'm not wanted.''

HOLD ALL CALLS

--The culprit: The Associated Press.

--The crime: Someone working on the desk in New York ``inadvertently'' sent a list of the private telephone numbers for about 750 sports celebrities on the national wire service in early January. Before it could send out a ``mandatory kill'' bulletin, the list had circulated onto the Internet, so millions had access to phone numbers belonging to people such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Mike Ditka, O.J. Simpson and Pete Rose.

--The aftermath: Mistakes happen, an AP spokesperson admitted. Just as another AP made on Aug. 7.

It sent out a seven-paragraph story on the death of Milton Green, a former world-record hurdler who boycotted the 1936 Berlin Olympics, at the age of 92 in Palm Beach County, Fla.

Later that day, the AP issued a correction. Green's age was 90, not 92.

Still later that day came another correction. AP discovered that Milton Green was alive. It was another Milton Green, a businessman from Boca Raton, Fla., who had actually passed away.

WATCH YOUR WORDS

--The culprit: Chris Berman.

--The crime: On July 13, the lead story on ESPN ``SportsCenter'' was a rumored trade of Shaquille O'Neal from the Lakers to Miami. In Houston, an ESPN ``Baseball Tonight'' studio crew covering the All-Star Game couldn't believe their event was being short changed on the news judgment scale.

ESPN's Harold Reynolds started to grumble. Chris Berman responded: ``Now you know why I don't watch our show anymore.''

And because of a satellite-switcher malfunction, viewers heard Berman's slam on his own network.

--The aftermath: While rumblin', stumblin' and fumblin' to do play- by-play on the Angels' division series against the Boston Red Sox, Berman continually referred to the team's home park at ``The Ed.'' Which was short for Edison Field. Which was the name of the park before it was changed to Angel Stadium of Anaheim before the 2004 season.

THE GRADUATE, OR NOT

--The culprit: Mike Freeman.

--The crime: After 11 years as a reporter for the New York Times, once doing a series about academic fraud in college football that led to an NCAA investigation against Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett, Freeman left to accept a position with the Indianapolis Star.

A week later, he resigned. Someone tipped the paper off that he had inaccuracies on his resume. Although he said he graduated from the University of Delaware, he actually didn't.

--The aftermath: ``This was a terrible, unforgivable manipulation of the fact,'' Freeman said. ``It was the only time I have told such falsehoods and no other deceptions have ever appeared in any of my newspaper stories or two books in my 16 years of practicing journalism.''

In April, the Florida Times-Union hired Freeman as a columnist.

BAD RELIGION

--The culprit: Steve Lyons.

--The crime: In September, the Fox Sports baseball analyst was explaining to viewers his take on the decision by Dodgers first baseman Shawn Green to sit out a game during Yom Kippur.

``He probably did it more for the heritage and not the religion,'' said Lyons. ``He's not a practicing Jew. He didn't marry a Jewish girl. And from what I understand, he never had a bar mitzvah, which is unfortunate because he didn't get the money.''

--The aftermath: Fox suspended Lyons for a game - turned out, it was the Giants-Dodgers telecast on the next-to-last day of the season when the Dodgers clinched the NL West on Steve Finley's grand slam. Lyons' apology was issued, and he was back on the air during the playoffs.

KUDOS ALL AROUND

--The culprit: The Tampa Tribune.

--The crime: Before the seventh game of the Stanley Cup Finals, the newspaper that covers the Tampa Bay Lightning prepared two editorials: one if the Lightning won, the other if it didn't.

But after the Lightning clinched the title, the paper ran a piece congratulating the Calgary Flames for their victory. In all 275,000 editions. They blamed it on a computer malfunction.

--The aftermath: ``We took a puck in the gut this morning,'' editorial page editor Rosemary Goudreau wrote in an online statement. ``We extend our heartfelt apologies.''

WHEN BOXING WRITERS ATTACK

--The culprits: Ron Borges and Michael Katz.

--The crime: Borges, of the Boston Globe, and Katz, of maxboxing.com, were part of the media covering the Oscar De la Hoya-Bernard Hopkins bout in June at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Then, Borges and Katz became the undercard.

Katz, who wears a neck brace and walks with a cane, accused Borges of being a ``toadie'' for fight promoter Don King. Borges retaliated by slapping Katz and knocking off his beret.

``You schmuck, how can you hit a cripple?'' Katz said.

``You've been getting away with that (infirmity) for years,'' Borges answered.

That caused Katz to start poking Borges with his cane, setting off a melee. One person landed on promoter Bob Arum, knocking him down.

--The aftermath: Katz would only call the incident ``embarrassing.'' Borges wouldn't comment. The judges scored it an ugly draw.

THE ERASED TAPE

--The culprit: FSN Midwest.

--The crime: During the Dodgers-Cardinals division series in St. Louis, a camera crew for FSN Midwest recorded a heated exchanged between Dodgers outfielder Milton Bradley and Los Angeles Times reporter Jason Reid in the team's clubhouse.

But reporter Brent Stover claimed he was ``intimidated'' by a Dodgers official to rewind the tape and record over it.

``The situation felt very threatening, so at the time, I felt like (erasing the tape) was the best thing to do,'' Stover told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

--The aftermath: Stover was pulled from FSN's coverage for the rest of the series. Dodgers spokesman John Olguin insisted he was never confrontational with Stover and only concerned with the tape's content because it captured video of naked players emerging from the shower.

When Bradley and Reid made up, no TV crew was around to record it.

SAME TIME NEXT YEAR

--The culprit: ESPN.

--The crime: It hosted the 12th annual ESPY Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood in June. It then aired it on tape-delay four days later, pushing the start of the Dodgers-Diamondbacks Sunday telecast up two hours to accommodate it.

--The aftermath: It plans to hold the 13th annual ESPY Awards in Hollywood next June.

`PLAY' IT AGAIN

--The culprit: ESPN's Original Programming.

--The crime: ESPN was proud to debut a soap opera called ``The Playmakers,'' an 11-episode dramatic series focused on a fictional pro football team. NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue wasn't a big fan and told Disney chief Michael Eisner as much, complaining about the story lines surrounding sex, racism, homophobia and marital infidelity.

ESPN stood its ground. ``Nobody charts our programming future but us,'' executive Mark Shapiro said.

In February, ESPN decided it wasn't worth upsetting its broadcast partners and announced there would be no second season. It would only be ``rubbing it into the faces of our most important client,'' Shapiro said.

--The aftermath: Not to let a good thing go to waste, ESPN issued the series in a boxed DVD and slapped a $49.95 price tag on it.

Eventually a British channel, FX UK, added it to its lineup in June. ``American football is not big here at all,'' an executive with the network told TV Guide, ``but we were sure our viewership would be intrigued to see what the NFL didn't want to air.''

THANKS, NOW LEAVE

--The culprit: The Dodgers.

--The crime: After 28 years of doing play-by-play for the franchise, Ross Porter, 65, was informed that his one-year contract would not be renewed.

In a statement sent to the media, Porter's dismissal was buried in the third paragraph. And a statement that Porter issued thanking Vin Scully, former Dodgers general manager Fred Claire and former team owner Peter O'Malley was omitted.

--The aftermath: The Dodgers hired 55-year-old Charley Steiner as Porter's replacement Monday. Porter personally called Steiner to congratulate him. Two days later, the team finally got around to re-signing manager Jim Tracy.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) The ``wardrobe malfunction'' involving Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson during the Super Bowl halftime show earned CBS owner Viacom a $550,000 fine.

Elise Amendola/Associated Press

(2 -- color) Terrell Owens' skit before a Monday Night Football game caused a stir quelled only by last week's Pacers-Pistons brawl.

Donna McWilliam/Associated Press

(3) Former Heisman Trophy winner Paul Hornung was sacked after saying Notre Dame ``must get the black athlete if we're going to compete.''

Mike Roemer/Associated Press