This piece originally ran on Dave's site What You Pay For Sports. Dave will be writing original pieces on here from time to time in addition to having his work syndicated on occasion. 

A bad product is difficult enough to sell as it is. It’s even harder to sell when you tell the public you don’t really care how bad it is.

So it goes for Houston Astros owner Jim Crane. His team has by far the smallest payroll ($24.33 million) in Major League Baseball. Predictably, it has the fewest wins, too, tied with the Miami Marlins. While Crane’s strategy of building up the farm system and bringing up prospects over the long term has supporters, his telling fans they can “write a check for $10 million” if they want a better team isn’t exactly a genius PR move.

It’s also just one reason why Comcast SportsNet Houston, the Regional Sports Network partially owned by the Astros, finds itself on the losing end of a carriage war — one more thing the Astros are losing.

Ed Note: The following appears courtesy Bloguin's National Hockey League blog - Puck Drunk Love.

Want to hear one of the worst attempts at the Star-Spangled Banner you'll ever hear? Of course you do. As the Portland Winterhawks and Halifax Mooseheads (don't you love CHL team names?) waited to drop the puck for the 2013 Memorial Cup, fans and players were treated to arguably the most uncomfortable, most awkward and most hilarious attempt at the U.S. National Anthem in sports history. Canadian singer Alexis Normand successfully sang "O Canada" before trying her hand at the anthem of the United States.

With the last day of the 2013 season taking place Sunday, ESPN signed off after four successful years broadcasting live weekly English Premier League games.  Starting in the 2010 season, ESPN struck gold with the pairing of Brits Ian Darke and Steve McManaman.  Darke had gained cult status in the USA after his enthusiastic World Cup calls while former Liverpool player McManaman had also played a role in South Africa in the ESPN studio.

The best broadcast booths are always the ones that have a natural chemistry and Darke and McManaman possessed that in spades.  The fact that they were on-site throughout England and were veterans of covering and playing in the league made them a landmark pairing for American viewers.  As they signed off for the final EPL broadcast before rights move to NBC next year, ESPN paid tribute to Darke and Macca with what else... an outtake reel!

All Times Eastern

College Baseball
SWAC Championship, Fort Worth, TX
Jackson State vs. Prairie View A&M -- ESPN, 9 p.m. (delayed from 5/19)

Florida State at North Carolina -- ESPNU, 6 p.m.

College Football
College Football Live -- ESPN, 3:30 p.m.

Golf
Big Break Mexico: It Takes Two -- Golf Channel, 9 p.m.
Feherty: Ken Venturi -- Golf Channel, 10 p.m.

During Game 2 of the Rangers-Bruins Eastern Conference Semifinals series on Sunday, NBC's Pierre McGuire asked Rangers coach John Tortorella how to describe Ryan Callahan, who scored a goal in the first period to tie the game at one goal apiece. Tortorella's response was brief, and extremely descriptive.

"Well right now, that's a HUGE goddamn goal he scored in the first period."

McGuire then thanked Tortorella and immediately ended the interview, likely with the horror of realizing that New York's coach had sworn on national TV. There were no immediate apologies from the NBC crew, and they essentially called Tortorella a wild card. These things happen sometimes, and seeing McGuire immediately have to squirm his way out of an uncomfortable situation is always entertaining to watch.

Former CBS golf analyst and 1964 US Open champion Ken Venturi passed away Friday afternoon at the age of 82.  Venturi's most important victory came at Congressional, when in the '64 Open he overcame extreme heat exhaustion to claim his only major.  It's one of the most famous major tournaments in the history of golf as Venturi was followed by a doctor for most of the day while he was battling for the win.  Earlier this year, Venturi was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame, although his physical condition didn't allow his attendance.

All Times Eastern

College Baseball
Oklahoma at Kansas State -- Fox College Sports Central. 2 p.m.
Oregon State at Oregon -- Pac-12 Network, 3 p.m.

College Lacrosse
NCAA Men's Division I Tournament
Quarterfinals, Indianapolis, IN
Denver vs. North Carolina -- ESPNU, noon
Notre Dame vs. Duke -- ESPNU, 2:30 p.m.

Friday night the Root Sports Rockies broadcast answered a fan question about home runs being hit into the fountains at Coors Field during the 6th Inning.  Rockies play by play man Drew Goodman jokingly says, "Yea, Cargo's about to."  On the next pitch, Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez hits a home run to straightaway center that falls just short and wide of the mark.  You can hear Goodman try and work the ball into the fountains and his slight disappointment that Gonzalez couldn't get the job done.

Gonzaelz did get the home run, but he couldn't hit the fountains... so we'll give this a 6.5 on the Psychic Announcer Scale.

After the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Houston Astros 5-4 in walkoff fashion thanks to a Houston error, Root Sports post-game interviewer Robby Incmikoski was interviewing Pedro Alvarez, who tied the game at four in the eighth inning with a titanic home run. Near the end of the interview, you can see Alvarez look past Incmikoski and slightly smile. Out of nowhere, Pirates pitcher AJ Burnett pies Incmikoski in the face, an honor usually reserved for the player getting interviewed post-game.

A baffled Incmikoski then tries to regroup, but before he can ask Alvarez his next question, he gets doused with the Gatorade bucket by another Pirates player. Give Incmikoski credit, because he managed to hold his composure after the Gatorade shower and finish the interview with Alvarez.

That dry cleaning bill sure will be ugly, though. I hope the Pirates cover that one.

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins advanced to the NHL Stanley Cup Conference Semifinals, and on the way, both clubs did extremely well in the ratings in their local markets. In the Penguins-Islanders series, Root Sports averaged a record 21.3 rating for the six games, with a 23.3 rating in  Game 6 setting the high watermark for a first round playoff game on Root and clocking in at the third-highest rated playoff game ever on the network.