The Front Row with MARK NELKE May 2, 2010

Item: NCAA expands men's basketball tournament from 65 to 68 teams.

Thought: After they teased us with the threat of an even larger field, I was kinda hoping they would expand to 96 teams - just to see how they would fit that extra round of games in. For those of us who try to go to the first and second rounds every year, I was looking forward to the possibility of two more games - sore butt be damned.

As it is, I hope they reward the good people of Dayton, Ohio, who have embraced the 65 vs. 64 game the past few years, by giving them all four play-in games on the same day. It would be nice, however, if they made the play-in games for, say, the No. 12 seed instead of the 16 seed, so they don't have to sit through four games featuring teams they've never heard of.

Actually, the bigger news is that, starting in 2011, all NCAA tournament games will be televised on either CBS, TNT, TBS or truTV. Now, we should be able to see whatever first- or second-round game we want to - we just might have to fish around for it. But that's better than being forced to watch what CBS makes us watch - or paying $59 to have our own choice. And we'll get to choose which Sweet 16 games we want to watch - instead of watching the four games that CBS makes us watch, plus parts of the other four games.

Now if they can get truTV hooked up with hi-def between now and next March ...

Item: Coeur d'Alene and Lake City will play a benefit baseball game Wednesday at 6 p.m. at McEuen Field. It's called Homeruns 4 Homeless.

Thought: According to the flier, fans can pledge a certain amount per home run hit, or just make a straight donation. If they want to see a lot of home runs, McEuen is the place for this game - if all the balls that fly out of there during Legion baseball in the summer are any indication. The Vikings used to play their home games there until building a field at Coeur d'Alene High some 15 years ago.

There are probably still some of John Schroeder's old home runs that still haven't been found on Tubbs Hill.

The game includes a food and clothing drive, and a 50/50 raffle. According to the flier, the Coeur d'Alene School District has approximately 240 homeless students.

Item: Post Falls and Lake City will play a softball doubleheader Monday at 3:30 p.m. at Lake City. In addition to being a key 5A Inland Empire League twinbill, the game is also intended to raise awareness for breast cancer.

Thought: The event is called Save 2nd Base, and it's the third year of the game for these two teams. The teams have been selling pink T-shirts, sweatshirts and headbands all week, and T-shirts and sweatshirts will be available at the game.

Lake City will wear pink jerseys made specifically for this game. Post Falls will wear black jerseys with hot pink highlights. First, second and third base will be painted pink.

Item: After his team lost in a lackluster effort in Game 1 of the Western Conference quarterfinals to the Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich lambasted his squad for "playing like dogs."

Thought: I've heard this quote for years, and I'm convinced more than ever this is an insult to dogs. I'd rather watch dogs play than many of the NBA teams, including most of the ones in the Eastern Conference. The other night, the Milwaukee Bucks scored a whole 69 points in a playoff game which, had they discovered how to play offense and won the game, would have ended the series. The final score was 83-69. Wow, that was exciting to watch! Give me Rover, Spot and Fido (or Muttley, for that matter) roaming in a dog park somewhere.

Item: Tiger Woods misses the cut at Quail Hollow, shooting his worst round as a professional (79) in a non-major.

Thought: I'm surprised networks didn't cut into regularly scheduled programming with this news, as big a deal as they were making about it on The Golf Channel. This just doesn't happen very often. Tiger has missed all of six cuts in 241 starts as a professional. Other star players miss cuts right and left and slink out of town with little commotion. According to pgatour.com, Phil Mickelson has missed 69 cuts in 410 starts on the PGA Tour - 65 as a pro, and 33 since Tiger turned pro in 1996. Mickelson has missed more cuts in majors (7) than Tiger has in all events combined. But when Phil misses the weekend, you don't hear about that much.

But, I guess now more than ever, whether you're the No. 1 player in the world or not, everything Tiger does is big news.

Item: Ben Roethlisberger ...

Thought: Next story?

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via e-mail at mnelke@cdapress.com.