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The NHL's Stanley Cup Final series is underway, and the NBA Finals begin Thursday. So why am I not very enthused? The reason is simple - it's June.

In my ideal little wide world of sports, the seasons would run as follows:

Hockey - start in November and end around the last day of April. The NHL season currently is a marathon of October through mid-June, which for me started gassing out back when the trees began blooming.

Basketball - start in Novermber (as it does now) and end in late April or, at the latest, early May, like it used to. Running into the latter-half of June is totally silly.

Baseball - start on early April, as it does now. Being the type of game it is, baseball is actually well-suited for a long season, though I'd wrap up the World Series by mid-October.

Football - The briefest season of all major U.S. sports. I'd start it a bit later, around October 1, but extend it until late February, so it'd be the same length. The Super Bowl has already broken the February barrier, and a later start would mean less training camp in brutal heat. Games in winter could be scheduled in southern locations and domed stadiums when possible.

My dream seasons would require cutting some games from schedules, so they'll never happen, since that means revenue cuts. But it's nice to dream anyway, as I simply shrug my shoulders even though basketball and hockey titles are hanging in the balance.

Carolina went one-up on Edmonton last night. But as I watched while wearing a sleeveless shirt and shorts, I could not help but feel something was wrong.

The Minnesota Vikings have changed their uniforms. The new design seems to be along the same lines as the recent updates that the Cardinals, Broncos, Bengals and, to a lesser degree, the Falcons, have made to their outfits. The helmet has also been altered, though not as extensively as the jersey and pants. Overall, I like the look - though I'll reserve final judgement till I actually see them running around with the new threads on.

Quarterback Brad Johnson wears the Vikings new road uniform, complete with purple pants. The Vikes last wore such pants in the early 1960s. But this outfit is no throwback design - the lines are clearly a derivative of the newer look sported by several NFL teams.

Bonnie Bernstein, who usually works the sidelines for CBS Sports, was a guest on "Rome Is Burning", the sports talk show hosted by Jim Rome on ESPN, which airs at 4:30 PM Eastern Time.

After watching the segment involving Bernstein, I've got to say that she's much more than just a pretty face. Her give and take on sports, ranging from basketball to football and some stuff in between, was as capable as I've heard from anybody in the business of sports commentary.

Bonnie Bernstein is beautiful, but what really impresses me is her knowledge of sports.

Bret Favre was never one of my favorite players. Lately, he's been losing additional ground.

I don't disllike the guy. In fact, he seems genuinely fun to be on the field with, judging from highlight segments I've seen. Basically my problem with him is his lack of efficiency as a quarterback and that he seems to thrive on drawing attention to himself. This week he drew the ire of many Packers' fans by saying "What are they going to do, cut me?" when asked about his plans.

Today,  he called a press conference at the site of his golf tournament and announced that, well,....he's still undecided about whether to play.

Favre pulled a similar act last year too. I've grown tired of it. I think the Packers need to move on. This is a case of a player greatly overshadowing an entire team, and I don't recall that ever being a good thing.

Brett Favre called a press conference to announce nothing new. Fearing the Packers won't be able to contend for a championship, he's reluctant to commit to another season with the team. The Packers should cut him and move on.

I opened the morning newspaper today to find this front-page headline: "Eagles Circle Their Calendar". The reason for the circling is that the Dallas Cowboys, and hence their new wide receiver Terrell Owens, will be visiting Philadelphia. Owens, as we all know (unless you've lived on Mars during the past year), ran into some problems with the Eagles and basically ruined their season.

The reason for my post on this topic is that there's no real news whenever the NFL schedule is released. We already knew that the Cowboys and Eagles would meet twice, as always, since they play in the same division. So before the ink dried when T.O. signed his new deal, we knew he'd be playing a game in Philadelphia. The NFL schedule also includes a four-game rotation among teams in opposing conferences - for example, teams from the NFC East play teams from the AFC South this year. No news there. There never really is.

But in typical sports-hype fashion, we get a blaring headline today that T.O. is coming to town; the same T.O. whose Eagles jerseys now sell for $10. Just wait until the season actually starts...the hype will be unbearable.

The NCAA Tournament featured eight games yesterday, and my bracket picking record was 5-3. Duke was an easy pick, but my 'feature' pick, Wichita State, beat Tennesee (though I must admit that I had Wichita State facing Winthrop, not Tennessee, in the second round).

Meanwhile, I'll comment on why the NCAA Tournament is the second-best sporting event of the year. Next to the NFL playoffs and the Super Bowl, the Tournament brings the most excitement to the sports calendar. The reason is simple: the one-game advancement/elimination format. Like the NFL, the sense of urgency is there for each team in each game, since it's win-or-go-home. That ratchets up the level of interest considerably.

The NCAA college bowl season in football does rival the NFL playoffs and the Tournament, but the problem with the college bowls is that, besides money, there's really not a whole lot at stake, save for the championship game that the BCS tries to come up with.

As far as the NBA, the NHL, and Major League Baseball are concerned, while their playoffs can be compelling, playing a series of games rather than once-and-done dilutes the thrill. It must be pointed out of course that, given the huge number of regular-season games that these sports have, settling things by means of a series is really the only way to do it. It's just that the seven-game format to me seems to lack real urgency until later in the series. Sometimes I think a best-of-five format would be better.

Not many posts lately....computer problems....anyway....

Catching up with the NCAA Tournament, your friendly neighborhood bracketologist went 24-8 in picking the first round of the tourney. That may seem like a gaudy record, but I've been forced to wince already:

 - Kansas, one of my Final Four picks, lost to Bradley. Yeah, that's right, Bradley. The Jayhawks were my Final Four darkhorse, but so much for that hunch.

 - Syracuse also lost, to Texas A&M. I had a gut feeling that the Orangemen would be spent after winning the Big East Tournament and playing four closely contested games in four days, but I picked them to advance to the Sweet 16. I should have trusted that gut feeling.

 - Tennessee beat Winthrop on a last-second shot, derailing my upset special of the first round.

Other than those somewhat major snags, I'm pretty happy with my picks. My Final Four, besides the Jayhawks, are Duke, Connecticut, and Ohio State. We shall see...

My lack of confidence (see previous entry below) in the NFL owners and players' desire to produce a new Collective Bargaining Agreement has turned out to be unfounded. The owners accepted the players' union proposal by a 30-2 vote, with only Cincinnati and Buffalo voting no.

The "no" votes are puzzling, since lower-revenue teams like the Bengals and the Bills stand to benefit most from the agreement, which calls for subsidizing "poorer" teams from the earnings of richer ones like New England, Dallas, and Philadelphia. Buffalo's Ralph Wilson complained that the agreement was too complex. Ralph, it may be time to give up the ownership gig, or at least allow someone more qualified to do the actual nuts-and-bolts running of the team.

With labor peace now assured through 2011, the league can set about contuing its amazing success. Everyone seems to love the NFL, and it is the most successful sports league in American history. That's why the owners and players were intent on getting a deal done  - they don't want to mess with a good thing.

This site was down for the past three days, so it's time to get caught up. The weekend's biggest sports headline was the continued NFL labor dispute. I'm not confident that this thing will be settled anytime soon. No worries yet - the actual agreement does not expire until 2008.

What I'd definitely like to see is the league explore some higher cap numbers. I haven't enjoyed the free agency era as much as I thought. While player movement is interesting to follow, I don't like to see teams cutting good players simply because of salary cap issues. In my view that tends to prevent teams from staying together longer and becoming more cohesive. It also hurts team depth, and in a sport as physical as football, depth is a must, especially during a sixteen game season.

If the current dispute continues, there will be no salary cap at all in 2007. I'm not sure that's a great thing either, though the league was cap-free throughout its history until 1992. I can just see Redskins owner Dan Snyder loading up on talent next year; but that may make up for problems this coming season, since the 'Skins are one of the teams that stands to lose players if there is no new Collective Bargaining Agreement in place soon.

It so often seems that the best sports stuff happens after I head to bed. Last night's NBA game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Houston Rockets is a case in point.

I hit the sack at 11:00 PM with the Sixers trailing but in the process of cutting an 11-point deficit. This morning I read that Philadelphia won 106-101. The fourth quarter featured seven ties and lead changes, and yes, I missed all that.

I seldom stay up past 11:00, and that means missing most Monday Night Football games' second halves, and the conclusion of most postseason baseball games as well. But there's no getting back lost sleep, so the sack is more important.

Allen Iverson scored 40 points to lead the Sixers to a 106-101 win in Houston. I missed a compelling fourth quarter, but at least I feel well-rested today.