L.A. CONFIDENTIAL.

Byline: -- Tom Hoffarth

The official resignation from Petros Papadakis -- our No. 1 pick in the 2006 ``Best and Worst of L.A. Media'' for sports-talk hosts -- went to the 1540-AM officials Tuesday, almost a week after he had stopped doing his afternoon drive-time show on ``The Ticket.''

``The last five years at the station have been the most fun in my life and I'm thankful for the opportunity, but I'm resigning to focus on my television career,'' Papadakis said.

Papadakis' contract was to run out at the end of this year. Speculation is that Dave Smith, a two-time No. 1 guy in our annual poll in recent years, will fill in the afternoons on the 4-to-7 p.m. slot, in addition to his 10 a.m.-to-1 p.m. national show.

That's the official scenario on the station's status. For those who tend to believe that this is all just reknotting the support ropes on the Hindenburg, you can read between the lines.