Late October is arguably the best period of the year in terms of the sports calendar: Baseball is actually exciting thanks to the playoffs, pro and college football are in full swing, and basketball is just about to begin. It's that one window where the U.S.' major sports are all in action.

So add to that overflowing menu of viewing options ESPN's "30 for 30" documentary series, or at least two of the upcoming offerings: "The Band That Wouldn't Die," director Barry Levinson's deeply personal look at the Balitmore Colts' departure from his beloved town, on Oct. 13; and "Muhammad and Larry," Albert Maysles and Bradley Kaplan's piece on the Muhammad Ali-Larry Holmes fight and its aftermath, on Oct. 27.

Fans of "Diner" and Levinson's other Baltimore-centric films (remember the Colts quiz to which an aspiring bride was subjected?) will get an extra kick out of his examination of the town's relationship with the team and how people reacted when then-owner Robert Irsay essentially packed up and moved for Indianapolis in the middle of the night. The best moment involves a press conference that an apparently drunk Irsay held on live TV, where he railed against the local press for reporting what turned out to be the truth.

"Muhammad and Larry," meanwhile, goes back to the 1980 fight where an out-of-shape Ali was pummeled by the much younger Holmes. The filmmakers use a treasure trove of footage shot at the time, as well as current interviews with Holmes and others, with many discussing the tragedy of the neurological condition that has left Ali a shell of his former self.

ESPN is on something of a roll -- witness its recent record-setting "Monday Night Football" rating -- but the channel is often more of an irritant than a haven for this sports fan, from the unrelenting bombast on "SportsCenter" (do those guys have to yell all the time?) to the hyperventilating analysis that characterizes its pregame shows and forums for sportswriters.

Credit "30 for 30" with commemorating the cable network's three-decade anniversary with an inordinate (if welcome) degree of class. In fact, I'll break down and praise the channel in terms to which we have unfortunately grown accustomed.

Booya.

The average wealth of ombudsmen just took a dramatic leap forward with word that former NBC West Coast President Don Ohlmeyer will become ESPN's new ombudsman, succeeding Le Anne Schreiber.

ESPN announced Tuesday that Ohlmeyer will begin an 18-month term in August, offering "independent examination, critique and analysis" of the cable sports network.

In the decade since he left NBC, Ohlmeyer went back to his sports roots by producing "Monday Night Football." Less well known is that he has taken up painting seriously as well as teaching at Pepperdine University, including the establishment of a mentoring program.

His ESPN history, however, is even more interesting, inasmuch as he owned a piece of the channel early in its lifespan and cashed out pretty fabulously when he moved on, meaning that he was already independently wealthy when he went to NBC in 1993 -- a situation that helps explain his take-no-prisoners attitude in running and helping revive the network.

Here's the passage in the release detailing that background:

In 1982, Ohlmeyer formed Ohlmeyer Communications Company (OCC), a full-service advertising agency and marketing firm, as well as a television consulting operation for clients such as the NFL, NHL and Major League Baseball.  In the 1980s, he also oversaw partner Nabisco's 20 percent interest in ESPN, serving as a member of ESPN’s board of directors.

At OCC, he served as executive producer for a variety of creative projects, ranging from sports events to dramatic motion pictures for television.  These included Crazy in Love, Cold Sassy Tree, Right to Die, Under Siege and Crimes of Innocence.  In addition, he has produced the Emmy Awards show and, in conjunction with Bob Pittman, created and produced the MTV Awards Show.  He also was the creator and producer of a magazine format series titled Fast Copy; a series of reality specials for ABC, Crimes of the Century; the critically acclaimed prime-time series Lifestories for NBC; and The Skins Game, the most successful made-for-television golf franchise ever.

OCC was sold to ESPN in 1993 and was merged with Creative Sports (purchased by ESPN in 1994) to form Charlotte-based ESPN Regional Television.

Tough-minded and never one to balk when it comes to expressing an opinion, Ohlmeyer will certainly bring a strong outside voice to the ombudsman role, and kudos to ESPN for tapping into his experience. If he pursues this new task as vigorously as he has everything else in his career, though, I suspect ESPN might have just signed up for more "independent examination" than they bargained for. And given some of the excesses of ESPN's coverage, that's probably a good thing.

Today's lightning-round observations:

- Rachel Maddow has a good thing going as one of MSNBC's new primetime hosts, but she really needs to work on her interview patter, especially when somebody asks her about the excesses that occur on her cable home.

Maddow made the pilgrimage to "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" on Wednesday. Stewart was complimentary toward her, but after showcasing MSNBC anchors obsessing about what was on the cafeteria menu for the Obama kids at their new schools, rightfully blasted some of the idiocy found elsewhere on her network. Maddow's standard reply -- I don't own a TV and don't watch television -- feels increasingly unconvincing, unless she also blocks out the monitors that MSNBC doubtless has running in its offices while she's preparing to do her show.

Understandably, Maddow wants to play nice with the other kids and not make waves, but being an acerbic critic of others and falling back on "Gee, I dunno" about your own place of employment doesn't really wash.

- Add ESPN's Chris Berman to the list of annoying pitchmen for Nutrisystems, touting the 40 pounds he's lost since going on the weight-loss program.

Unfortunately, his vocal chords sound as flabby as ever. Although Berman's signature lines were once novel, they're now sadly indicative of a sports spectrum where shouting anchors are more the exception in the rule.

So as long as you're losing volume on one front, any chance you could go all the way and lose a little on another?