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We know the Rockets aren’t done wheeling and dealing. We also know GM Daryl Morey came up empty in his efforts to acquire Spanish guard Rudy Fernandez on draft day (Portland swooped in and grabbed him instead).

Well, now comes word that the Blazers have yet another trade in the works that can’t be announced yet. The deal apparently involves Fernandez and would help Portland acquire a small forward.

I lied. Yesterday, I said the Rockets, despite lacking prime real estate in the NBA draft, were poised to take a step forward thanks to the depth of the 2007 class and the fact that a handful of quality players slip through the cracks every year. Well, I was wrong. You’d think by now I would know better than to trust a Houston sports team to execute a slam dunk on draft day.

In one of the more stunning moves of the night, Houston used its first round selection on Oregon point guard Aaron Brooks. On the plus side, his arrival will inject a healthy dose of sorely-needed athleticism into the hometown club. However, his size (he’s 6-0’, 170) will be prove to be a major liability on the defensive end and Brooks isn’t even a true point guard as his paltry assist numbers show (he averaged a mere 4.3 dimes per game during his senior season).

We’ve had our fun with Craig Biggio over the years, and there are certainly much more devoted fans of the guy than me.

But he gave Houston a tremendous, theatrical night Thursday – bringing out the hippie-ish Jeff Bagwell was stellar – and he also deserves thanks for something else.

Biggio’s a deeply religious guy, a Catholic who never, apparently, misses a Mass. And yet he somehow made it through all the post-3K interviews without seeing the need to inform us of the key role God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit played in his 5-for-6 effort.

There was some big news in Astro land yesterday. That’s right, Rick White was released and Stephen Randolph was designated for assignment. But the “oops, I did it again” bullpen did it again, this time the culprits were Trever Miller, Chad Qualls, and Brian Moehler.

Okay, okay. There was some other big news yesterday.

Craig Biggio got his 3,000th hit. And, yes, I know that I’ve been a bit cynical about the whole thing, but it was nice to see. Biggio is one of the greatest Astros ever, and it was nice to see him get the mark in an Astros uniform.

Here’s a bit of trivia. There are only nine players in major league history who have gotten 3,000 hits with one team. Craig Biggio is one. Can you name the other eight players?

This is where my editor breaks this up and makes you jump to the next page for the answer. So I’ll wait…

(The Jeopardy theme plays in the background)

Our very own Rich Connelly will be on Ralph Cooper’s Sports Rap today at 5:10 p.m., talking about this week’s cover story. You can listen live here.

We don’t know about you, but we’re not-so-secretly wishing Howard from Memorial will call. – Keith Plocek

This year's draft is quite possibly one of the most exciting in a couple of decades. Between the Durant-versus-Oden debate and the new tall Chinese guy (Yi Jianlian), a lot of new talent is headed into the NBA. You can watch the draft with other fans at the Rockets Official 2007 Draft Party tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Dave & Busters on Richmond and Fountainview. In addition to analysis by Sports Radio 610, there will be prizes and special appearances by Mike James, GM Daryl Morey and the Rockets Power Dancers. The first 500 fans get a Dave & Busters Player Card. -- Ishanee Parikh

The Rockets are now back in the second-round mix thanks to this minor deal that just went down.

I'm hoping this is a move to put the team in position to grab my main man from Marist, point guard Jared Jordan. -- Jason Friedman

Those of you (like me) battling the summer sports blues, take heart! For one day at least, we’re going to be treated to some genuine edge-of-your-seat, heart-pounding excitement. That’s right, I’m talking about the NBA draft. Of course, perhaps it says something about the current sports scene that this hair-raising event will not even feature a single solitary act of jaw-dropping athleticism (unless you count the stupendous stamina required by all in attendance to survive an entire evening with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and Dick Vitale). Nonetheless, this is pretty much as good as it gets for fans until football season gets rolling, so let’s be sure to enjoy it for all it’s worth.

While most of the nation is understandably preoccupied with the Oden vs. Durant debate, Rockets’ supporters have plenty on their minds as well. Barring a draft day trade, Houston won’t be welcoming a new member to its squad until pick number 26. And while the success rate for players chosen in that area is below 20 percent, rest assured a quality baller will still be on the board when the Rockets come calling. For one thing, NBA scouts say this is one of the deepest drafts they’ve seen in years. Also, take a look at this list of names:

If the Astros bullpen had a theme song, it would have to be Britney Spears' "Oops, I Did It Again." Because yesterday the bullpen, oops, did it again. This time, the offender was one Dave Borkowski who came in with one out in the 11th inning and proceeded to give up a monster double and a walk before letting Milwaukee's Damian Miller hit a three-run, walk-off home run to end the game.

If you think about it, the Astros bullpen could also use Britney's "Toxic" as a theme song, because you just can't get much more toxic than this pen's been this season.

When in the world will Roger Clemens finally retire? We'd like to think by the year 2057 but some witty folks seem to think otherwise. We don't know if the guys who made this video are Astros fans or not. But we do know all Astros fans should appreciate it. -- Brett Koshkin

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of the NFL in allowing "consensual" pat-down searches of fans before admitting them into the stadium for a football game. Now, I've got to check my legal dictionary again, because I don't think that consensual means what they say it means.

But here's the fun part. Cue NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy: "Pat-downs are an important part of our comprehensive security procedures, including secure facility perimeters and bag searches. These limited, consensual security searches are designed to enhance the protection and safety of our fans."

In our cover story this week I take a look at the odd world of sports-talk radio in Houston. We’re not much of a sports-talk town compared to cities like Dallas, but soon there will be four stations scrambling to grab a piece of that not-very-big pie. (As for the cover….well, if my Mom were still alive she’d no doubt be thrilled to see her son’s name displayed on a jockstrap.)

A couple of things I didn’t get around to mentioning in the story: one, I realize Ralph Cooper does a sports-talk show on KCOH. It’s just not part of the battle I was writing about, so there’s no need for outraged cries of racism.

Second, there are some interesting thoughts on what will happen when the Texans radio contract runs out in five years. KILT, looking to dominate the sports-talk market, broke the bank with a $70 million, ten-year deal in the team’s inaugural season, but few think anyone will overpay like that again.

It’s time for the Astros update. But words seem to be escaping me.

So here are some numbers:

Final score: Brewers 11, Astros 5.

Number of Craig Biggio hits: 1.

Number of Craig Biggio hits to 3,000: 3.

It's never easy to write about the death of a person that you've known. But today I find myself having do that.

J. Fred Duckett, the former Public Address Announcer for the Houston Astros, died last night in a Houston hospital.

I had the pleasure of working with J. Fred during his last several seasons with the Houston Astros. He was a funny man. He was well-read. He could converse on hundreds of subjects. He liked his job with the Astros, and he liked being known as the "Jose Cruuuuuuuuuuuuuuzzzz" man. But there were several things that he loved more than the Astros: his family, Rice athletics, and track-and-field.

Before I get too far along with the Astros update, I’ve just got to say that, if anyone out there has wondered about whatever became of Corey Hart, I found him. He’s playing right field for the Milwaukee Brewers. But he did not wear his sunglasses last night.

Now, on with the important stuff: the daily Houston Astros update.