Morning Report: Sonny Hill in broadcasting's big time

The American Sportscasters Association yesterday announced their ranking of the top 50 broadcasters of all time.

Philadelphia's Mr. Basketball, Sonny Hill, was listed as "honorable mention."

Hill, an executive adviser for Comcast-Spectacor, has hosted a weekly show on WIP-AM (610) for the last 22 seasons.

He began his broadcast career in 1969 as a color commentator with Andy Musser for the 76ers. He was also a commentator with the NBA on CBS from 1972 until 1977.

Hill received the Mannie Jackson Spirit Award from the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.

"This is bigger than the Hall of Fame," Hill said in a statement released by Comcast-Spectacor. "It is truly an honor to be one of only three African Americans recognized. When I was born, we didn't even have a radio. We didn't even think of being in broadcasting."

The top 10: (1) Vin Scully, (2) Mel Allen, (3) Red Barber, (4) Curt Gowdy, (5) Howard Cosell, (6) Bob Costas, (7) Jim McKay, (8) Keith Jackson, (9) Al Michaels and (10) Dick Enberg.

The only Philadelphia broadcaster in the top 50 was Harry Kalas (41).

Happy family? Joe Torre openly criticizes Yankees star Alex Rodriguez and general manager Brian Cashman in a book due out early next month, according to several New York newspaper reports.

In The Yankee Years, Torre says Rodriguez was called "A-Fraud" by his teammates, the New York Post and the Daily News reported.

Torre, who managed the Yankees from 1996 to 2007, also claims he was betrayed by Cashman, New York's longtime general manager, the Daily News reported on its Web site.

Cashman did not immediately return a phone message from the Associated Press.

The book, co-authored by Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci, is due out Feb. 3 and is being published by Doubleday.

No hot frosh. So far the college basketball season has not shown anything like the last two, when freshmen were major superstars.

"You could see this coming two or three years ago," said ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla, the former St. John's coach. "We had an extraordinary couple of years. Now, with a few exceptions, there aren't many impact players."

In 2007, freshmen Greg Oden of Ohio State and Kevin Durant of Texas dominated the national news. Derrick Rose of Memphis and Michael Beasley of Kansas State were nearly as big in 2008, with Rose taking his team to the NCAA final.

For some reason, this season is different. Among the nation's top six teams as of yesterday - Wake Forest, Duke, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, North Carolina and Oklahoma - only two freshmen start: forward Al-Farouq Aminu for Wake Forest and guard Willie Warren for the Sooners.

"There's probably not a freshman today who could play in a meaningful NBA game," Fraschilla said.