THE NEXT GREAT SPORTS SHOW PERIOD: Years ago, two ink-stained wretches with different styles squared off on TV and created a franchise. Their names were Siskel & Ebert. Several episodes of cancer and one untimely death later, the franchise persists in a slightly different form. It was their perceived enmity that birthed the show, their natural tension that made them multimedia stars and household names.

Conflict is at the heart of any great story, and theirs came pre-loaded.

This enjoyable little piece in the Chicago Reader suggests the platform for another similar show, this time in the sports arena. It's a show that might fit well amidst the PTIs and Around the Horns that currently populate the airwaves.

According to the article, Chicago scribes Rick Telander and Jay Mariotti hate each other's guts. It also sounds like, deep down, each grudgingly respects the other. Perfect.

They are truly the Siskel & Ebert of sports. Telander writes lyrical, albeit sometimes lazy columns about whatever captures his imagination. He is more Bob Greene than Mike Royko, a guy whose easy prose suggests someone you'd like to have a beer with. Mariotti, on the other hand, is all piss and vinegar. He's always wading -- make that running -- dead center into the waves of the day, flinging terse sentences around in a vainglorious pursuit of the center of the storm. Mariotti is a grinder, a guy who lives and breathes sports, and who still wants to change the world. Meanwhile you can almost see Telander nearby in a chaise lounge, spiked ice tea in one of his mitts, shaking his head. Rick is the former jock, watching from the sidelines with a smirk. Jay is the last kid picked in a kickball game, now crashing the varsity locker room.

How long is it before somebody puts these guys in a little booth...together?