The best of Neil Best

Standup man Seinfeld tells Benson to 'sit down'

Jerry Seinfeld created a bit of a stir this past week with his criticism of Lady Gaga on WFAN Monday and SNY Wednesday.

But during the radio interview the comedian also took issue with the humor on Brad Benson's ubiquitous, risqué WFAN commercials for his automobile dealership.

"Someone talk to Brad Benson," Seinfeld said of the former Giants offensive lineman. "Someone sit him down. You're not funny. Just sell the cars.

"We don't need the horrible humor. You're very funny for a football player. Please, please, Brad, if you're within the sound of my voice: Sit down. Someone needs to talk to this man, really."

Tennis talkers were tickled

I was tempted while listening to ESPN's announcers on the Isner-Mahut epic at Wimbledon to criticize them for dwelling a tad too much on its historic goofiness.

But in the end it was the right way to handle a set that finally ended at 70-68 - a result so beyond the bounds of normalcy that there was no overstating its strangeness.

By Day Three, not only were fans clamoring to get near Court 18, but assorted tennis luminaries were showing up in the stands and on ESPN, including John McEnroe and Tracy Austin.

You cannot blame ESPN for switching the match from ESPN2 to ESPNU to clear the way for soccer, given there was no guarantee the tennis match would end before the World Cup final July 11.

Sandler pooh-poohs hoops hops

Adam Sandler was the best basketball player among the stars of the new movie "Grown Ups," which is about a middle-aged reunion of a youth basketball team.

"I play basketball every day," he said. "I'm not great. I'm OK at it. I wish I could be better at it but I'm just slow and I can't jump too high."

So Sandler took advantage of a chance to improve by working with former UCLA and NBA guard Pooh Richardson, a consultant on the movie.

"I didn't do it for the movie as much as I do play basketball a lot and this was my excuse to get better at the game," he said.

Did the actors try to look in the movie like people who were good players as youngsters?

"We were good in sixth grade," Sandler said. "I've got to be honest: In sixth grade I was known as a good athlete. As the years progressed that went away. By eighth grade I was known as a good reader."

LeBron punches golden tickets

FanSnap.com, a search engine that covers 45 sites that sell NBA tickets, did a study of the "LeBron Effect"' this past season.

It showed tickets to James' home games averaged $130.28 on the secondary market, second only to the Lakers' $242.93, despite the smallness of the Cleveland market.

And it showed that for the several teams considered most likely to sign James, there was a huge spike for his games compared to the games just before and after visits by the Cavaliers.

That increase was 187 percent for the Knicks ($192.23 for James, $67 for games before and after his), 245 percent for the Nets and 311 percent for the Bulls.

High, far . . caught by the goalie

For those of us who are not soccer regulars, the World Cup has been an introduction (or reintroduction) to some of the sport's top play-by-play voices.

Ian Darke's call of Landon Donovan's game-winner against Algeria on ESPN was an instant classic, and so was the Spanish radio call by Andres ("Goooool!") Cantor.

This got Newsday editor Dave Whitehorn to wondering which American play-by-play men from other sports would be the best fits for soccer.

My vote? A no-brainer: John Sterling.

Often there is not much going on, so it's OK if his attention wanders, plus the ball is much larger and easier to follow than a baseball.

Best of all: Imagine the possibilities for goal calls with names such as Messi, Kaka and Surprise.

Email suggested Sterling calls for players in the 2010 World Cup to nbest@newsday.com.

Orel report on Mets

ESPN loaded up on Mets games early in the season, when the team looked as if it were going nowhere. Is analyst Orel Hershiser surprised by how the Mets have evolved since then?

"I think you have to be,'' he said. "It's not a professional disrespect as much as the Mets should be given a lot of credit for what they did by themselves, without the support of anyone around them.

"The fan base has responded to the results, but the fan base was skeptical of this being any kind of season for the Mets. There was always a tinge of sarcasm in talking about the Mets.

"Now they're getting to the point where the fan base is starting to believe in them."