Kick sa-a-a-a-ve--and a beauty by Giacomin!(WHAT'S NEW? Holiday Gift Guide) (ESPN Play by Play and ESPN Sportscast)

When we were kids, it had to be the golden age of sportscasting--Bob Murphy, Ralph Kiner, and Lindsey Nelson shared the Mets TV and radio chores; Marry Glickman was calling Giants, then Jets, games; Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshire were the best football tandem around; Curt Gowdy seemed to be at every major event imaginable; Dandy Don Meredith was cracking wise (and funny) in the Monday Night Football booth ... but the best of the best (then and now) was Mary Albert, at the time the radio voice for the New York Knicks and New York Rangers.

It was kind of weird, actually, since I loathed the Knicks and loved the Rangers, so Albert's signature "Yesssss!" when the Knicks netted a basket proved grating while his "Kick sa-a-a-a-ve and a beauty by Giacomin!," in praise of the Blueshirts' All-Star netminder, was music to my ears. Moreover, Albert had a great schtick and repartee with his color commentators: Bill "The Big Whistle" Chadwick (the Hall of Fame referee credited with inventing the hand signals for calling penalties) and Sal "Red Light" Messina (a fair-at-best goaltender who toiled in the Rangers minor league system for years).

The point? The next Albert--or Bob Costas, or Greg Gumbel--could be ready to emerge if only he or she had a chance. That chance has arrived thanks to RealLiveSports and the All-Sports Network, who've teamed up to bring aspiring young broadcasters a pair of invaluable tools of the trade, ESPN Play by Play and ESPN Sportscast.

Play by...