Its nightly cast of characters is certainly an attraction as well: host Chris Rose, former professional athletes D'Marco Farr (NFL), John Kruk (MLB) and John Salley (NBA) and actor/comedian Tom Arnold as the voice-of-the-fan.

They provide viewers on Fox Sports Net with provocative, irreverent and politically incorrect discussions of sports, sports topics of the day and even an occasional side trip into the real world.

And this sometimes-raucous television hour also serves up a nightly serving of one of the fastest-rising television sports personalities, Lisa Guerrero, In addition to providing crisp, informative updates throughout the show on what's going on in sports, Guerrero also takes an active part in the opening segment.

The stage is set for the rest of the show and Guerrero proves she can set things up as well as anyone else.

"I have very strong opinions. I'm not trying to uphold the honor of female-kind," she said from her Los Angeles residence recently. "I like sports, I know sports and these guys respect my opinion as a person. At first, the guys were kind of unsure of how to deal with me, but it's basically like having five older brothers. We've got a terrific chemistry."

Guerrero celebrated her 38th birthday in April and the show celebrated its first birthday last week. Like the show, Guerrero has no plans of backing down from her go-for-it-all personality.

"The reality of working on TV is it's a visual medium," said Guerrero, who has appeared in more than 200 commercials and dozens of television shows including "In the Heat of the Night," "Cybil," "Matlock," "Linc's," "Frasier," and a big role in "Sunset Beach."

"I look a lot like my mother and I take a lot of pride in looking like her, in her memory. I won't ever apologize for how I look. There's this thinking out there that if you are pretty, you can't be smart. If you're smart, you can't be funny. Women can be attractive after the age of 30."

The show just concluded a nearly monthlong "All-Star Summer" that was filled with big-name sports and entertainment guests, interactive viewer

contests and more of the wacky stunts that have vaulted it to a high spot in the summer television ratings.

"Summer is a time when most television networks provide very little original programming and 'The Best Damn Sports Show Period' is doing just the opposite. We're loading the show up with everything we can think of to attract new viewers to a unique sports program that has been gaining momentum since December," said Fox Sports Net president Tracy Dolgin.

In addition to mixing it up with the boys five days a week, Guerrero spends at least part of her weekend attempting to do serious sit-down interviews with some of the big names in sports like: Curt Schilling, Barry Bonds, Randy Johnson, Alex Rodriguez, Nomar Garciaparra.

"We're not politically correct at all," she laughed. "The show is unlike anything else on sports TV. This is the only place you'll see guys who played the game give you opinions about the game. If you don't watch it, you're missing some great stuff. If people aren't laughing at us, they're upset at us. I think we're doing one great job."

Guerrero came through Pittsburgh in the spring and watched a Pirates game at PNC Park and obviously was impressed. She says that nearly every time she does a Pirates highlight from a home game, she refers to it as "beautiful PNC Park."