As a reader of this column (and of course, The Daily Czabe) you have figured out by now that I do not shy away from scorching the "World Wide Leader In Sports" on everything from Chris Berman to Woody Paige, and plenty of other stuff in between.

Hey, somebody has to, right?

The big four-letter has a hard won monopoly on sports in this country, and they have pursued it ruthlessly for almost 30 years. It's good to be them, but somebody has to "fight the resistance."

E-mailers often say "Czabe, you're just jealous." Damn right I am! I am jealous as hell. I want my own TV show called "Facts or Volume!" I want to call play-by-play for sporting events I'm not actually qualified to broadcast! I want constant cross-promotion of me and my show on every ESPN outlet from Bristol One to the tiniest iPod Nano screen in the Burmese jungle.

But, I try not to let all that cloud my opinion.

So for the sake of fairness, allow me to present the first annual "ESPN Honor Roll." These are guys on ESPN who do a good / great job with a minimum of self-promotion or shtick. Remind me about this time next year, so we can update the list as needed.

Without further ado (and in no particular order)...

Mike Tirico ("Monday Night Football"): A crisp play-by-play voice, who is extremely accurate on facts and research. Plus, his golf coverage on ABC showed incredible improvement from the time he got the gig.

Jon Anderson ("SportsCenter"): Consistently delivers calm, intelligent, economically written copy, which is always easy on the ears when getting your nightly highlights. Plus, he's a Green Bay native.

Chris Fowler ("College GameDay"): It's not about him, and never will be. It's about college football and setting the stage. Nobody does it better. Plus, nobody can out prepare him.

Jay Bilas (College basketball analyst): The simple quality of his information and analysis shines through all the time. Can break down a single game, or the state of a program with equal ease.

Tom Jackson ("NFL Prime Time"): Despite a hissy about Rush Limbaugh, TJ remains a pillar of integrity. Calling Michael Irvin "retarded" may have been politically incorrect, but extremely satisfying.

Kenny Mayne ("Mayne Event"): His talent for scoping out and delivering a genuinely hilarious piece is rare in TV. Why can't he do more of them?

Sal Paolantonio (NFL reporter): Sal Pal won't make it about him, and he's seldom wrong. His professionalism has earned the trust of his deep well of NFL sources.

Lester Munson (Legal analyst): His colleague in sports-law-issues Roger Cossack may look better on TV, but Munson was 6 lengths ahead of him reporting the Vick case as it unfolded.

Peter Gammons, Karl Ravech, Tim Kurkjian, John Kruk ("Baseball Tonight"): They never talk above the heads of the average fan, but at the same time manage to satisfy even hardcore seamheads.

Scott Van Pelt ("SportsCenter"): His passion for the games shines through on the highlight calls. He's not just a guy with a nice TV job reading a prompter. He's a hardcore fan, too.

Tom Rinaldi ("SportsCenter" features): When a moving sports story needs to be told, Rinaldi nails it just about every time. The piece about the autistic high school basketball manager who had his one shining moment is perhaps the best sports TV feature ever.

Mel Kiper Jr. (NFL Draft expert): I bet ESPN would love to find somebody else who is as good as Mel, but that guy doesn't exist. Mel ain't coasting, either. He works hard to defend his rep as the football talent Dali Llama.

Joe Morgan & Jon Miller ("Sunday Night Baseball"): That team is as satisfying as a fresh PBJ sandwich and glass of cold milk. It never gets old.

Rece Davis (College football studio host): Another guy who is all steak, no grandstanding. He doesn't need shtick. He's just solid.

Ron Jaworski ("Monday Night Football" and "Edge NFL Matchup"): He's been teaching us couch lumps the finer points of quarterbacking in the NFL for years now. I hope he never quits.

For everybody up there at the mighty Cable Sports Channel in the Connecticut Woods who did NOT make this year's "Honor Roll," don't despair. There's always next year, and chances are you're still ranked higher than Skip Bayless.