Shaquille O'Neal to join Charles Barkley on TNT show

Shaquille O'Neal will join TNT's popular NBA studio show, which is hosted by Ernie Johnson and made fun and interesting by analysts Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith.

Turner Sports made the announcement Thursday morning.

O'Neal, a 15-time NBA All-Star and once a sometimes contentious teammate of Kobe Bryant on the Lakers, said Thursday that he was not put off by the idea that comparisons of his rocky relationship with Bryant might be made with his role with Barkley, who is outspoken and who relishes his role as opinion-maker at TNT.

Angels’ ‘diaper dandies’ among youngest rosters in baseball

Dick Vitale, a college basketball analyst for ESPN as well as a Tampa Bay Rays' season-ticket holder, was seated in the front row next to the Angels' dugout during Wednesday's game at Tropicana Field. On TV, Vitale popularized the phrase "diaper dandies" to describe young but exceptionally talented players. And that's a term that could be applied to the Angels as well.

The team has a rookie closer, a rookie first baseman and a regular starter in center field who had less than two months of big-league experience coming into the season. Plus none of the pitchers in the starting rotation is older than 30.

“It’s a youthful, talented group that we have high expectations for, blended with some very, very good -– some terrific -- veteran players,” Angels Coach Mike Scioscia said. “It’s a great blend.”

And with an average age of 28.3 years, it’s also the fifth-youngest roster in baseball and the franchise’s youngest since the World Series year of 2002 -- though the average age of that team was skewed a bit by a handful of September call-ups.