Sports took a backseat yesterday to the "Miracle on the Hudson River." Since I'm still TV-less, I watched the news stream on WABC's website as information trickled in. And one of my great media theories proved to be right once again -- sports journalists are great at covering breaking news.

When a story of this magnitude hits, it's all hands on deck. That means if you're a sports reporter, you become a news reporter for a day (I know, I've been there). WABC had Jessica Taff on the scene. Anchor Diana Williams tossed to Taff for what Williams thought was going to be a one-on-one phone interview with one of the survivors. Instead, the survivor was mobbed by the media horde. Taff stuck her phone into the crowd to get the sound over the air and the crew back at the station did a good job of adjusting to the situation.

It was after that interview that Taff showed why sports journalists are so good in these situations. Like a good radio play-by-play person, she painted a picture for us with her words, told us what we couldn't see and gave viewers a sense of how this man was feeling.

Now, for full disclosure's sake, Taff is a friend of mine. However, I bring this up not to cheerlead a friend, but to prove a point. Remember Al Michaels during '89 San Fran earthquake? He won a News Emmy for his work during that catastrophe. I didn't get to see how the other stations covered the crash yesterday, but I'm sure the Len Bermans and Sam Ryans of the world would have been great in that spot, as well.

Transitioning to sports news ... Vince Carter saw the crash.

And the Nets? It's tempting to do a little "crash" play on words here, but I will take the high road. Blazers 105, Nets 99.

It's clear Rex Ryan is the frontrunner for the Jets gig (he's really growing on me; seems like the anti-Mangini). But "Spags" isn't out of the running ... he met with Woody Johnson earlier this week.

College hoops ... UCONN 67, St. John's 55.

The Isles fell to Boston, 2-1. Highlights below:



Also related ... could the Isles be testing the waters ... in Kansas City?

It's official: Shanahan is a Devil again.

And finally ... the Rangers will be bonding with their dads this weekend.