If you're those Carolina Panthers cheerleaders do you really want to release a statement denying that you were having sex in the bathroom? These two girls are currently the most famous lesbian cheerleaders in history.

I'll go ahead and say they're the most famous cheerleaders, of any orientation. I think Paula Abdul has finally lost her first name, "Former Laker Girl."

There's lots of reasons to deny that they were having sex. They might have boyfriends, or girlfriends. They might have to face a jury in a conservative community. They might have families that wouldn't like the idea. And maybe they really weren't having sex and they just wanted to tell the truth about it.

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My only real point with the comment is that ESPN needs real competition in the sports news area.

The fake press conference thing is heinous. And it's amazing to me that with all of the billions of dollars out there in sports, ESPN has no serious competition. Amazing.

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You're 42. Judging by your photo, you look 28. Well done.

First, it's not a photo. It's a caricature. It was done when I was, I think, 38. But even then it was better and younger looking than I was. That said, I do look younger than I am. Runs in the family. I look 40.

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Lastly, this probably doesn't need to be clarified, but the House Committee's decision not to press charges is in no way an exoneration of Palmeiro.

The committee itself said that. There just was no way to prove that Palmeiro was lying in March, given the timing of his positive test.

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but how one mans' demise serves as a death knell to the sport beats me.

Me too. That's why I wrote what I wrote. I thought it was funny that a headline on another Web site said that boxing's glory days were at an end because Vitali Klitschko, who was a nothing fighter, was retiring.

So maybe what King meant was, "I am going to quit watching boxing now since another semi-champ is gone".

No, I quit watching boxing, for the most part, a while ago.

News flash: This era of light, welter, and middle weight fighters may someday be referred to as a golden age of boxing in terms of the sheer number of good young boxers- all we need is the match-ups.

I suppose that's true. If the talent level deteriorates enough, we may look back and think things were pretty good in 2005. The sheer number of good young boxers is illusory. Most of them only look good in comparison to the weak competition. In all weights, world champions today would have been club fighters 15 years ago. And the sad part of that is, world champions 15 years ago would have been club fighters 30 years ago. If you think the boxing's good today, it's either because you're new to boxing or you're just too young to remember when it was better. That's good. It's good to be young. I only look young.

I should point out that I only say this about boxing. I'm not an "it was better in the old days" kind of guy, a curmudgeon whining about how these kids today don't know anything about how the sport is really played. In just about every sport I know about, I believe the level of play is higher than it was 20 or 30 years ago. Boxing's an exception.

I didn't mean to say that all today's champs would have been club fighters 15 years ago. I just meant the average or typical champ today. There will always be a few talented guys around.

If you could transport a typical local main-event fighter, good local kid but nothing more, from 15 or 20 years ago to today, I think he'd have a hell of a shot at winning a world title.

Not to be a picker of nits, but as a former Angelino, I'm pretty sure its spelled with an "i".

Perhaps you lived in Angelino Heights? But a person from or living in Los Angeles is an Angeleno.

You let you San Fran roots show a little too much.

I'm a native Angeleno.

Is it your contention that people in L.A. don't say dude? They say dude in S.F. They stop saying it in L.A. since I left?

About blacking out games, that's a good point, it's better not to have a local team if you don't have DirecTV and the Sunday ticket. But from what I hear, the networks still seem to think the Raiders are the local team, so you don't necessarily get the best game, you get the "regional" game. Right?

Listen, boychik, bubbeleh and mameleh are for girls, tateleh is for boys. FYI.

At first I thought you were saying boychik and the other two were all for girls.

I understand bubele to be a unisex term of endearment, possibly, or possibly not, related to the word for grandmother, bubbeh. I've heard both arguments, pro and con. Anyway, I think there's an element of sarcasm when it's directed to a man -- think of the movie caricature of the exasperated agent or studio executive pleading with his male star to listen to reason -- but not an element of questioning his masculinity.

Got citations to argue?