Andanh.com

His cell phone hasn't stopped ringing.

Congratulatory bouquets and balloons are still being delivered to his parents' house in Garfield. He signed autographs for a hour and a half the other day, and details regarding his early August flight to China should be arriving any moment now.

All because Christian Smith took a dive.

Maybe that's far too simplistic, perhaps too flippant, to describe what Smith, a former Kansas State middle distance star, accomplished late Monday night at the Olympic Trials at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. What happened -- Smith barely beating 2004 Olympian Khadevis Robinson for a third-place, 1:45.47 finish and a U.S. berth to Beijing as both literally vaulted across the finish line in the 800 -- was not only the realization of a lifelong dream, but also redemption.

There was a time, just last year, when Smith, who won the 2006 NCAA indoor mile championship while at K-State, doubted any of this was possible. At the start of 2007, his appendix burst. Four months later, 20 pounds had melted from his lithe, 160-something pound frame, and he wasn't running.

Stacey Mayberry watched her daughter, Addie, struggle in the aftermath of last month's tornado in Chapman that destroyed the family's home.

She knew Addie, who will be a high school freshman, didn't want to be around the ruined house. Addie wanted to be with her parents, but that meant being at the house as they searched for any remaining pictures and clothes.

"It was a struggle for her to see friends, too," Stacey Mayberry said. "They'd want to know how she was, and she was an emotional wreck for the first 3-5 days.

"Life has gone on for her, though. She got back into softball right away."

Mark Mayberry is a coach on his daughter's softball team.

Amazing how much an office can collect in 6 ½ years.

"A lot of junk," Kansas football coach Mark Mangino said.

With the move into football's new, $31-million digs across campus and adjacent to Memorial Stadium, Mangino and his staff have been busy sorting through all their stuff.

"Some things are just better to be thrown out," Mangino said. "I could start a bonfire."

A little housecleaning hassle is fine with Mangino because he's thrilled to be finally getting into the 80,000-square foot Anderson Family Football Complex.

The Seattle SuperSonics will move to Oklahoma City for the 2008-09 season as part of a settlement announced Wednesday with the city of Seattle.

The agreement ends a contentious relationship that culminated in a recent six-day federal trial over terms of the team's KeyArena lease in Seattle. The judge was scheduled to rule Wednesday afternoon.

The settlement calls for Sonics owner Clay Bennett and his Professional Basketball Club LLC to pay as much as $75 million to the city of Seattle in exchange for the immediate termination of the lease. The team's name and colors will be staying in Seattle.

"We made it," Bennett said after stepping to an Oklahoma City podium featuring the NBA logo and the letters OKC. "The NBA will be in Oklahoma City next season."

Bennett said the move would start today and the first focus would be on the SuperSonics' players.

El Dorado 8, Park City 7

El Dorado batting -- Wall 1-4, Williams 2-3, Abel 1-3, Springer 2-3, Rindels 2-3, Biguenet 1-2, Weiss 1-2, Armendariz 0-1, Bradford 0-3, Broadbent 1-3.

Park City batting -- Donley 2-3, Bieberle 1-4, Dibbens 0-2, Beckwith 1-3, Potter 0-1, Kemp 2-4, Wysong 1-4, Gilmore 2-3, Reinke 0-3, Strelow 0-3.

El Dorado pitching -- Killian 2-0, Kimble 4-0, Ward 1-1.

Hays at Dodge City

El Dorado 12, Derby 8

Today's Games

No games scheduled

Brad Davis pitched seven solid innings, helping the Wingnuts to a 5-2 victory at Pensacola, Fla., on Thursday night.

Davis allowed five hits and two runs and improved to 5-5 this season.

Wichita took a 3-0 lead in the third inning. Dustan Mohr's bases-loaded singled drove home to runs, and a base-hit by Steven Pearson added a third score.

The Pelicans' Rafael Alvarez hit a home run in the fifth inning to make it 3-1. Pensacola added a run in the seventh, but Davis stranded the potential tying run on second.

The Wingnuts added single runs in the eighth and ninth innings to provide breathing room.

Clegg Snipes gave up seven hits over 7 2/3 innings and allowed only one run to lead Pensacola to a 3-1 win over the Wichita Wingnuts in an American Association game on Wednesday night in Pensacola, Fla.

Tied 0-0 in the fifth inning, Pensacola scored first on a single by Dylan Parzyk that brought home Ricardo Cordova for a 1-0 lead.

Wichita's Chris Colton homered off Snipes in the sixth to tie the game at 1-1.

Pensacola's Brandon Sing answered in the bottom half of the sixth with his 13th home run, taking Gustavo Mata's second pitch out of the park for a 2-1 lead.

Pensacola added another run in the seventh when Cordova scored on an RBI single by Dallas Christison.

The death of Scott Kalitta has shaken up the NHRA and sent the organization, its owners and drivers back to the drawing board on safety issues.

Kalitta was killed in a fiery crash June 21 in Englishtown, N.J. After his Funny Car exploded, it was enveloped in flames, continued at highspeed through the sand pit at the end of the quarter-mile track and slammed into a retaining barrier. The drag parachutes deployed but did not open.

Graham Light, senior vice president of racing operations for the NHRA, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Thursday that a task force is being put together to study all aspects of safety and competition.

"For some time, we've been looking at the speeds and performance of these cars and one initiative we have is to develop a task force of reputable crew chiefs, headed by Dan Olson, who works for us on the technical Top Fuel-Funny Car side. (We're) looking at ratcheting the performance back a notch.

"The goal is to bring speeds back slightly and also, at the same time, hopefully reduce some parts carnage, which translates into an economic impact to the teams."

Brendan Hansen clung to the lane rope, glaring at the scoreboard. No matter how long he stared, the shocking result just wouldn't go away.

He wasn't first -- or even second.

He won't be swimming one of his signature events at the Beijing Olympics.

In the first major stunner of the U.S. swimming trials, Hansen failed to make the Olympic team in the 200-meter breaststroke Thursday night. The world recordholder less than a month ago was knocked out by a fourth-place showing, laboring to the finish in the wake of three countrymen.

Hansen's only solace: He still has a spot in the 100 breast and, most likely, the 400 medley relay.

Steve Marino, who grew up a half-hour away in Fairfax, Va., birdied three of his opening four holes at Congressional, never had a par putt longer than 5 feet and finished off his round with an 8-foot birdie to be in the lead after any round for only the second time in his career after shooting a 5-under 65 at the AT&T National in Bethesda, Md.

"I played a bunch of junior golf growing up here, all over the D.C. area, so it feels great to get off to this good start," Marino said. "And I'm looking forward to the rest of the week."

It's already been a big week for Jeff Overton and Frank Lickliter, who were among those at 66.

Overton had missed six of his last seven cuts, working harder than ever with nothing to show for it, until the 36-hole qualifier Monday outside Detroit for the British Open. He was the medalist, earning his first trip to a major.

"It just carried over from there," he said.

Jeremy Wariner isn't invincible anymore -- a point LaShawn Merritt proved once again Thursday night.

Merritt pulled his second upset of the year over the world's supposed fastest 400-meter runner, pulling away from Wariner in the final 150 meters to win the U.S. Olympic track and field trials.

"Not at all," Wariner said when asked if he was disappointed. "I just came out here to make the team."

Merritt finished in 44 seconds flat, defeating Wariner by 0.20. Earning the third spot was national indoor champion David Neville.

Moments before, the women's 400 went much more to form, with Sanya Richards winning and Mary Wineberg and Dee Dee Trotter capturing the other two spots.

A spot in her seventh Wimbledon final already secured, Venus Williams headed back to Centre Court to catch the end of the next match.

Scouting? Not really. More like rooting. And when Thursday's second semifinal ended, Williams stood, smiling and applauding for the woman who won, the woman she will have to beat to earn a fifth championship at the All England Club: her younger sister, Serena.

The most unusual and, at times, uncomfortable rivalry in tennis is once more in the spotlight at the pinnacle of the sport: Venus will play Serena in their third all-in-the-family Wimbledon final Saturday.

It's their seventh Grand Slam title match -- Serena holds a 5-1 edge over her sister -- but first final at any tournament since 2003.

"Our main focus is obviously both of us getting to the final," Venus said. "Then, from there, it's every Williams for themself."

Calendar

Space precludes us from running all listings. To see all listings, go to Kansas.com/sports and click on "Other Sports."

Baseball

• July 10-13: Postseason tournament at Southwest Boys Club for ages 7-8 (machine pitch), 10U, 12U, 14U. Fee $615. Call Kelly Decker, 316-260-4316.

Basketball

Roger Federer is back to his old self on the Wimbledon grass, and Rafael Nadal is moving ever closer to a new level of success at the All England Club.

The top two players in men's tennis are on course to meet in their third straight Wimbledon final, but both have to get through today's semifinals first.

"I don't want to think about the final," said Nadal, who lost to Federer in the last two Wimbledon finals but stretched the five-time defending champion to five sets last year. "Not yet."

Both players dominated their quarterfinal opponents, with neither facing a break point in straight-set wins. Federer hasn't been broken once through five matches at this year's tournament.

"I feel so comfortable on this Centre Court that my confidence level is obviously very high," Federer said after beating Mario Ancic to set up a semifinal match against two-time Grand Slam champion Marat Safin.

Sanya Richards had extensive plans over the two-day break at the U.S. track trials -- watch movies at the hotel, get plenty of massages and possibly take a brisk walk.

She had no time for sightseeing, fancy dinners or a night on the town.

After all, the 400-meter star still has work to do to secure her trip to Beijing. So do other big-name athletes like Allyson Felix and Jeremy Wariner, as the second half of the trials starts up today. There are up to 72 Olympic spots up for grabs over the final four days.

Tyson Gay (100 meters) and Bernard Lagat (5,000) are already in, but Felix has some work to do. She's one of the U.S. team's stars, but failed to qualify in the 100.

"I'm definitely disappointed," she said of her fifth-place finish.

Federer into men's semis _ Five-time champion Roger Federer outclassed Mario Ancic -- the last man to beat him at Wimbledon -- in straight sets Wednesday to reach the semifinals and extend his grass-court winning streak to 64 matches.

Federer will next face Marat Safin, who served 18 aces and overcame Feliciano Lopez 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (1), 6-3 to become the first Russian man to make the Wimbledon semifinals in the 40-year history of the Open era.

In the bottom half of the draw, No. 2 Rafael Nadal edged closer to a third consecutive Wimbledon final against Federer by blowing away Britain's Andy Murray 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

Wow, that kid from suburban Baltimore is something.

No, we're not talking about Michael Phelps.

Nineteen-year-old Katie Hoff stole the show at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, winning two events about 45 minutes apart Wednesday night -- and setting American records in both.

Phelps reached the halfway point to setting his program for the Beijing Games, earning his third individual title of the trials in the 200-meter butterfly after also locking up a spot in at least one relay. The 23-year-old is right on pace in his bid to go after eight wins in China and break Mark Spitz's 36-year-old record of seven golds.

The way things are going, Hoff might be just as busy as her former teammate at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club.

When Serena Williams sits in the stands watching big sister Venus play, she's not just cheering for her sibling.

With both in the semifinals at Wimbledon, Serena also looks for some kind of edge in case the two meet for the third time in the final Saturday at the All England Club.

"She's an opponent," Serena said. "You scout your opponents."

Before playing in the final, Serena will have to get past Zheng Jie of China, and defending champion Venus will have to beat Elena Dementieva of Russia in today's semifinals. If both Americans win, they'll play in the Wimbledon final for the first time since 2003, when Serena beat Venus in the championship match for the second straight year.

"She won last year," eight-time Grand Slam champion Serena said of Venus. "But I'm not going to sit here and say she's the favorite when I'm still in the tournament. That's not me."

A hearing on a civil lawsuit against Kansas guard Sherron Collins has been pushed back a week to Aug. 1.

The hearing in Douglas County District Court deals with the lawsuit brought by a 35-year-old Lawrence woman, who alleges that Collins sexually assaulted her in May 2007. A judge awarded the woman a default judgment in excess of $75,000 on June 16 because Collins failed to appear, then originally scheduled a hearing for July 8 to set an exact amount.

The rescheduled hearing will also now also include a counterclaim to the lawsuit that was filed on June 18 by Collins through an attorney. In the counterclaim, Collins denies he assaulted the woman and asserts that he missed the last court date because he wasn't aware a previously hired attorney had stopped representing him.

The Douglas County District Attorney's office is still considering criminal charges in regard to the incident. The DA is awaiting DNA results from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

BOWLING

A small but enthusiastic crowd gathered for a Fourth of July eve concert by seven-time Grammy winner Gladys Knight - sans The Pips.

Thursday night's show attracted around 1,000 fans, who took advantage of the extra space inside the Kansas Coliseum to dance in the aisles.

"She could be up there for hours and I'd be fine," said fan Patrice Poole, who had a seat on the front row.

Knight took the stage late - around 9:30 p.m. Dressed in a silky magenta pantsuit and sparkly pink shawl, she belted and bantered with the crowd until 11 p.m., when the 64-year-old singer delivered the song they'd been waiting for - "Midnight Train to Georgia."

Her set included hits that span a 46-year career, including 1969's "The Nitty Gritty," 1973's "Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye," and 1987's "Love Overboard."

Take a break from exploding fireworks and steamy heat this weekend with a visit to the Wichita Art Museum to see a new exhibit called "American Ruins." Here are more details:

1) The exhibit consists of sepia-toned black and white photographs by Los Angeles artist and filmmaker Arthur Drooker. His photos capture architecturally and historically significant ruins within the United States.

2) The exhibit is divided into four geographical categories: East, South, Southwest and California and Hawaii. Subjects range from Gilded Age gothic revival structures, to skeletal columns of once-grand Southern plantations, to ruins of dwellings belonging to the Puebloan peoples of the Southwest.

3) The photos were shot using a method called infrared, which creates dramatic highlights and enhances details that convey the ruins' age and character. It gives the images a haunting, almost ethereal atmosphere.

4) Drooker says he researched and planned for each photograph meticulously, including spending several days at each locale to become familiar with the ruins and to study lighting before deciding on a composition.

Roger Miller's "Big River," the 1985 Tony Award-winning musical adaptation of Mark Twain's classic "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," is a perfect show for the July 4th season because it celebrates the indomitable American spirit of adventure and personal freedom -- warts and all.

It's a big, sprawling, corny, funny, touching, riveting -- and thought-provoking -- tale that, in this revival directed by Mark Madama for Music Theatre of Wichita, becomes an irresistible hoedown (choreographed by Wichita native Shina Ann Morris) that sweeps up the audience.

The music from Miller ranges from country ballad to gospel lament to pull-out-the-stops comic romp. The Music Theatre orchestra under Thomas Wesley Douglas incorporated instruments and sounds not usually associated with Broadway, from guitar to harmonica to Jew's harp, with the violin going down-home as a fiddle.

Madama's cast was in universally great voice opening night, particularly Andy Mientus as mischievous Huck Finn and Nikkieli DeMone as runaway slave Jim, who team up for a raft adventure down the mighty Mississippi.

Mientus, a junior at the University of Michigan, has a solid Broadway voice that was channeled to be credible as the rough-hewn Huck. He wasn't too polished or too slick for the role although his musicality was never in doubt, particularly in "I, Huckleberry, Me," his anthem to independence, and "Leavin's Not the Only Way to Go," about his first broken heart.

Hot dogs are among the most American of foods -- right up there with apple pie. And although they're more a staple of backyard barbecues than restaurant menus, several Wichita eateries are doing creative things with dogs.

In honor of the Fourth of July, we offer this list of restaurants that serve that delicious, nitrite-filled, pre-processed foodstuff that Americans crave.

• Freddy's Frozen Custard, 8621 W. 21st St.; 310 N. Rock Road and 1525 E. 13th St.: Freddy's offers its hot dogs grilled and served plain, with chili or Chicago style, meaning it's topped with mustard, relish, onion, celery salt, pickles and mild jalapeno peppers known as sport peppers. During July, Freddy's is offering foot-long dogs as well. The restaurant uses Vienna all-beef hot dogs.

• Dog-N-Shake, with seven Wichita locations: It has "dog" in the name, so how can you go wrong? A home-owned Wichita fast-food joint, Dog-N-Shake sells a variety of dogs cheap, all served on a toasted bun with mustard, relish and onions. Kraut dogs, chili cheese dogs, spicy Polish sausage dogs and corn dogs are also available.

• Nu-Way Cafe, with five Wichita locations: They're known for their crumbly-is-good sandwiches. But NuWay also sells several types of hot dogs, including chili cheese dogs and corn dogs.

Some filmmakers have creative flames that burn eternally: directors like Hitchcock, Scorsese, Spielberg and Eastwood. Other careers blast off like rockets before sputtering on fluky fumes.

Whether they hit early with an artistic gem, a box office smash or films that manage to be both, Hollywood history is dotted with directors whose later efforts don't measure up to that first big bang.

Larry and Andy Wachowski took a steep fall from "The Matrix" to "Speed Racer," with only "V for Vendetta" slowing the descent. Elaine May was Hollywood's leading female director after "A New Leaf" and "The Heartbreak Kid," until the reviled "Ishtar" ended her directing dreams.

Jim Sharman turned "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" into a cult phenomenon. Then his quasi-sequel "Shock Treatment" flopped, banishing him to Australian stage work. The esteemed actor Charles Laughton crafted 1954's classic "The Night of the Hunter," and never directed again.

But our list includes five shooting stars (including a team) who rose even faster and crashed even more spectacularly. Our inspiration: the once-promising M. Night Shyamalan and his current cinematic awfulness, "The Happening."

The Sedgwick County Fair opens Wednesday for a four-day run at the fairgrounds in Cheney. Here are a few of the attractions:

1) The Pride of Texas Carnival is back with rides for kids of all ages. Hours are 6:30 to 11:30 p.m. each day of the fair. There is a per-ride charge or visitors can buy bracelets for unlimited rides.

2) One of the fair's most popular attractions is the Bull Blowout, featuring professional bull-riding and other rodeo events at 7 p.m. Friday, July 11. Tickets are $10 in advance for adults and $6 for kids 6 to 10. They're $2 more at the gage. Kids 5 and under get in free.

3) The big event on the closing night of the fair is the annual Demolition Derby, where competitors try to wreck as many vehicles as they can with their own jalopies remaining intact. Tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for kids 10 and under in advance; they're $2 more at the gate. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. for the event, which begins at 7 p.m. July 12.

4) This year's Fair Idol Contest will feature 16 finalists performing for a panel of judges as well as the audience vote. The winner takes home $500. Finals begin at 7:30 p.m. July 12 on the Open Air Stage.

Fireworks, parades, swimming parties, music, food and drink will be part of Fourth of July celebrations across the county today and Saturday.

Almost all activities are free and open to the public. Charges for refreshments may apply.

Here are the details:

1. Celebrate 2008 will take place tonight at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. KAKE, Channel 10, is presenting the activities again this year. The celebration will start with a National Baseball Congress showcase game at 6:35 p.m., followed by patriotic music, a program honoring Hometown Heroes and a fireworks show at 9:45. Tickets range from $5.99 to $10.99 at Select-A-Seat outlets or at the gate. Children 2 and under get in free. For more information, call 316-264-4625.

2.Another annual Wichita celebration is the Fourth of July Pancake Breakfast and Children's Parade in Central Riverside Park.

They are packing up Old Hollywood and moving it to Newbury Park in Ventura County.

That's where about 3 million film studio publicity stills, 50,000 original movie posters and 20,000 vintage fan magazines will be stored until they are auctioned off six months from now.

The huge cache of movie memorabilia, gathered over the last 43 years by film fan and collectibles dealer Malcolm Willits, includes original scripts and studio contracts signed by actors including Boris Karloff, Frank Sinatra and Vincent Price, and one that was signed by Elizabeth Taylor -- and her parents.

The collection, housed in a storefront on Hollywood Boulevard near the Pantages Theater, is considered by some experts to be second in size only to that of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

"I have a huge respect for this," said collection manager Craig Gilbert as he worked to catalog the contents of large envelopes stuffed with movie publicity photos, press kits and other original materials.

Pack A.D. is a two-woman band from Canada. But don't go hear them expecting anything like Alanis Morissette or Celine Dion, to name two famous female warblers from up north.

More like the White Stripes meets Howling Wolf meets Janis Joplin.

"We're really loud, for one thing," drummer Maya Miller said. "Usually we end up playing last and everybody's got their drink on. It turns into a party."

The approach got the grunge blues duo named Vancouver's best new band of 2007 by Canadian rock magazine Nerve. They play Saturday at Barleycorn's.

In a phone interview from Cottage Grove, Ore., the second stop on a 35-city tour, Miller said Pack A.D. evolved a little differently from most bands, stripping away members until it was just her and guitarist-vocalist Becky Black.

Apparently the old real estate adage "location is everything" applies to drum circles, too.

For several years, Chris and Barbara Atherton tried to start a drum circle on weekends in Riverside Park.

"We'd get, like, two or three people drop by," Barbara recalls. "People would walk by... not sure."

But after moving to Old Town Square on weekend nights this spring, the couple and their drumming friends have started attracting bigger crowds -- about 100 people one night, they say.

Everyone's welcome. The couple bring several of their own percussion instruments -- congas, djembes, tambourines and shakers -- and encourage people to bring their own as well.

Christie Brinkley testified at her divorce trial Thursday that the day she learned her husband was having an affair with a teenager was the day her world was "completely shattered."

The former Sports Illustrated model took the stand in state Supreme Court in Central Islip, N.Y., a day after testimony by her architect husband, Peter Cook, and his former mistress.

Brian Platt, a police officer and stepfather of the 18-year-old, informed Brinkley of the affair at a 2006 graduation at Southampton High School where the model was a speaker.

He tapped her on the shoulder, she tearfully recalled, and said, "That husband of yours won't knock it off. He's having an affair with my teenage daughter."

Brinkley said she looked at Cook, sitting in the front row of the graduation ceremony, and when he shook his head in denial, she thought: "My God, it's true. He did do that."

Pack A.D. is a two-woman band from Canada. But don't go hear them expecting anything like Alanis Morissette or Celine Dion, to name two famous female warblers from up north.

More like the White Stripes meets Howling Wolf meets Janis Joplin.

"We're really loud, for one thing," drummer Maya Miller said. "Usually we end up playing last and everybody's got their drink on. It turns into a party."

The approach got the grunge blues duo named Vancouver's best new band of 2007 by Canadian rock magazine Nerve. They play Saturday at Barleycorn's.

In a phone interview from Cottage Grove, Ore., the second stop on a 35-city tour, Miller said Pack A.D. evolved a little differently from most bands, stripping away members until it was just her and guitarist-vocalist Becky Black.

The lights at the Cotillion came down and country music legend Merle Haggard took the stage at 9:13 p.m. on Wednesday.

Exactly one hour later, the lights came back on after Haggard had played most of the chart-topping hits he has made famous during the last 40 years.

A glaring omission from the set was undoubtedly Haggard's most well-known tune, "Okie From Muskogee."

The 1,500-plus in attendance stood and cheered after Haggard sang "The Fightin' Side of Me," and an encore seemed sure to come.

It never happened, but most fans seemed content after singing along with Haggard for much of the night.

Baseball, hot dogs and fireworks sum it all up on the Fourth of July. What better way to celebrate America? All three will be combined Friday for the Fourth of July Special Event at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.

The night includes a National Baseball Congress showcase game at 6:35 p.m., followed by patriotic music, a program honoring Hometown Heroes and a fireworks show at 9:45. Tickets range from $5.99 to $10.99 at Select-A-Seat outlets or at the gate. Children 2 and under get in free. For more information, call 316-264-4625.

Another annual Wichita celebration is the Fourth of July Pancake Breakfast and Children's Parade in Central Riverside Park.

The event features breakfast by Chris Cakes from 7 to 11 a.m. Friday. Cost is $6 for adults and $4 for children 10 and under. Registration for the children's parade is from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. The parade featuring bicycles, tricycles and people on foot begins at 10 a.m.

All participating children will receive a free packet of treats and be eligible for prize drawings to be held at 10:45 a.m. All events are open to the public. For more information, call 316-262-6165.

The Fourth of July weekend has traditionally been a time when many TV programmers give over their schedules to "marathons." That's a nice word to describe hours and hours of the same program.

Here's a selective guide to six that will fill the airwaves today and Friday.

"The Twilight Zone" (original 1959-'64 series), 7 a.m.-5 a.m. today and Friday, SciFi Network, Channel 70. Don't miss: "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" -- An airline passenger (William Shatner) sees a creature on the wing (at 7:30 p.m. today).

Alfred Hitchcock movies, 6:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday, TCM, cable Channel 65. Don't miss: "The Birds" (1963) --Our fine-feathered friends go nuts (at 2:45 p.m.).

"Law & Order," 7 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday, TNT, cable Channel 30. Don't miss: "Exiled: A Law & Order Movie" -- This 1998 TV movie caught up with the demoted Detective Mike Logan (Chris Noth), attempting to get off "exile" on Staten Island and return to Manhattan duty (4 p.m.).

The dog days of summer came early this year on TV in the form of a smothering wave of reality TV.

The writers strike delayed the eagerly anticipated "Burn Notice," "The Closer" and "Mad Men" -- all of which arrive later this month.

In the meantime, we face a wave of overweight people treated badly, lost souls parading their lack of talent for public humiliation, judges hurling nasty critiques at wannabe warblers and hoofers and so on.

But some are watchable, even good, and this is our list of those shows:

"The Greatest American Dog," July 10 on CBS. A dozen smart dogs and their masters will live together and learn new tricks. Each week the dog and owner that perform the sloppiest trick get bumped.

Dennis Haysbert likes to think his portrayal as the first African-American U.S. president on Fox's "24" may have helped pave the way for Barack Obama.

"If anything, my portrayal of David Palmer, I think, may have helped open the eyes of the American people," said the actor, who has contributed $2,300 to the Illinois Democrat's presidential campaign.

"And I mean the American people from across the board -- from the poorest to the richest, every color and creed, every religious base -- to prove the possibility there could be an African-American president, a female president, any type of president that puts the people first," he said Tuesday.

Haysbert, 54, who now stars on "The Unit" on CBS, made his comments to reporters during a teleconference call promoting the upcoming American Century Celebrity Golf Championship at Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

No U.S. tour for Boy George