June Show Lacks Journalistic Punch

By Randy Williams

NEW YORK (AQB)–The latest edition of HBO’s award-winning Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel features some interesting stories but falls quite a bit short of the show’s best efforts.

Below is a breakdown of each of the show’s segments – a profile of former tennis great John McEnroe, a look at the controversy surrounding baseball umpires, an examination of sexual harassment in women’s sports and a feature on star tennis sisters Venus and Serena Williams.

The profile of McEnroe includes an interesting interview by Jim Lampley and some great footage of some of his greatest triumphs (and arguments). In the piece, McEnroe talks of his love for art and about his rivalry with Jimmy Connors, while campaigning for a doubles spot on the U.S. Davis Cup team.

Though the segment talks about McEnroe’s oft-controversial image, it fell short in one critical area. Yes, it mentioned McEnroe recently did something that “he swore he’d never do” – broadcast a women’s tennis match – but it failed to discuss his sometimes contentious relationship with fellow tennis analyst Mary Carillo.

In 1993, Carillo and McEnroe engaged in a war of words after McEnroe said that women were less qualified than men to broadcast men’s tennis. Such comments by McEnroe sparked much controversy in the tennis world, though they certainly weren’t the first politically incorrect remarks made by Johnny Mac.

Still, McEnroe offers some intriguing thoughts about what’s wrong with the game, even suggesting that the sport’s structure favors lesser players.

“I think one of the things they need is someone to look them in the eye and sort of be a liaison perhaps. Commissioner McEnroe is available,” he said.

The show’s top feature is Frank Deford’s Umps Ire, detailing the controversy surrounding Major League umpires.

The segment includes revealing interviews with Richie Phillips, leader of the umps’ union, and Sandy Alderson, baseball senior vice president of operations, but boils down to a few key issues, including the changing direction of the strike zone.

Umpire Jerry Crawford insists the strike zone hasn’t changed during his 22 years as an umpire, a claim disputed by baseball analyst Tim McCarver, and Alderson says “I got worried when I found out that players were more concerned with who was umpiring the next day, than they were about who was pitching the next day. OK? When you get to that point, you’ve got a problem.”

In particular, Deford does a fine job of eliciting information from Phillips without seeming combative. My only complaint is the lack of interviews with active major league players. Then again, players may have been hesitant to appear on the show, fearing repercussions at the plate.

An interesting stat: Under Phillips’ leadership, the umpires have gone from a maximum salary of $40,000 in 1978 with no in-season vacation to $250,000 with five weeks of off-time in 1999.

Meanwhile, Derek McGinty’s piece on Venus and Serena Williams, and their father, Richard, was decent but not great.

Just once I’d like to see a story on the siblings that doesn’t focus on their father, who, despite being a consistent liar and a crackpot, appears to have the best interests of his children in mind. Yes, he’s made statements that could best be described as racist but I don’t care about him: Tell me about the athletes!

McGinty’s interviews show some of the sisters’ personalities – they giggle as they respond to questions – but aren’t extremely revealing. I think he took it easy on the sisters – laughing after Serena admitted she intentionally hit Arantxa Sanchez Vicario with the ball in a match – and could’ve done a much better job in querying Venus and Serena on their perceived aloofness.

Not a stellar job by Mr. McGinty but, on the upside, at least he lost the brutal hat he wore in last month’s show.

The final segment, Bernard Goldberg’s feature on sexual harassment in women’s sports, is the show’s worst effort but it’s not Goldberg’s fault.

For the life of me, I can’t understand why the program focused on incidents that haven’t been more highly publicized.

Granted, it’s a good idea to show viewers lesser-known cases to indicate the wide range of the problem, but the program glossed over accusations leveled at legendary North Carolina women’s soccer coach Anson Dorrance, a case that has been heavily reported in the past year.

In fact, HBO’s partner, Sports Illustrated, delivered a revealing feature on Dorrance in the Dec. 7 issue. How hard would it have been for HBO to have used SI’s S.L. Price, who wrote the Dorrance article, to help in the reporting of this piece?

A disappointing piece on a subpar show.

Grade: C. Quite average.

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Program Has An Outstanding Feature, Two Good Pieces

By Randy Williams

NEW YORK (AQB)–The latest Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO includes an outstanding segment on BYU’s dismissal of a star athlete for violating its honor code, a well-done piece on pedophiles who coach youth sports and an intriguing conversation with Joe Morgan on baseball’s hiring practices for African-Americans.

However, the show (10 p.m. ET Thursday) includes a disappointing interview of New York Jets coach Bill Parcells by Jim Lampley. Lampley knows how to ask questions and is a good journalist but it just didn’t seem like he was tough in his queries of Parcells. Not that this is the first time the media has been accused of not asking the coach questions that need to be asked.

There were no wonderings about Parcells’ ego and HBO should’ve talked with some of the coach’s detractors, instead of his former high school hoops coach and ex-NFL star Phil Simms. Yes, the interview of Simms was interesting, with the quarterback admitting that he was even nervous walking by Parcells in 1988, after he had already taken the Giants to one Super Bowl title. Still, this segment could’ve been so much better.

[NOTE: This show's review is based on an advanced copy for the media, which doesn't include studio scenes with host Bryant Gumbel.]

The best segment was Derek McGinty’s look at Brigham Young University’s dismissal of star running back Ronney Jenkins for violating the school’s honor code by having premarital sex.

McGinty did a nice job, sitting down for a long interview with Jenkins, who argues that BYU treats honor code violations more harshly than it does criminal conduct, as two players who were arrested recently have returned to the team. Jenkins is now playing at Northern Arizona.

Credit McGinty for asking tough questions of Jenkins, asking why in the world he would put his scholarship at risk after he had once been warned after engaging in premarital sex. Jenkins didn’t have a good answer for McGinty.

In an evenhanded manner, much like when he interviewed all parties in his April “Racism in NASCAR” feature, McGinty also speaks with BYU’s dean of students, who talks about the importance of the school’s honor code. Give credit to BYU for allowing a member of their faculty to speak with HBO.

Like McGinty, Mary Carillo also did a fine job with her assignment, though hers had to be the most uncomfortable – probing the molestation of youth athletes by pedophiliac coaches.

The most gripping part of the entire show was Carillo’s interview of young Adrian Martinez, a young man who was violated by Garen Pearson. Martinez described how his coach would hold him down during their sexual encounters, saying “He’s a good coach but he’s got a sick mind.”

Carillo also spoke with Pearson, who blamed the children and said he couldn’t comment further, and Wayne Bowers. The interview of Bowers was particularly good, with the candid pedophile, who served five years for his crimes, admitting that he is a danger to children if he coaches youth sports.

I would’ve liked to have a chat with a psychologist who treats pedophiles but I’m not quibbling with Carillo’s effort, which was very good.

Finally, Larry Merchant spoke with Joe Morgan about baseball’s efforts to get African-Americans involved in the game. An outspoken critic of baseball commissioner Bud Selig, Morgan argues that Major League Baseball’s “Intentions are good but let’s take it to the next level.”

Merchant is a good interviewer and peppers Morgan with solid questions, openly disagreeing with the Hall of Famer’s contention that he’d be ignored by baseball today if he were an up-and-coming young player.

Credit Merchant for showing the numbers that support Morgan’s contentions by showing that only 15 percent of major leaguers are African-American, compared with 77 percent in the NBA and 65 percent in the NFL.

Morgan argues that baseball sets up playing schools in the Caribbean nations but doesn’t do much in its own backyard, allocating just $2 million a year to Reviving Baseball in Inner cities, or RBI. Unfortunately, Merchant wasn’t able to talk with Selig about baseball’s practices as the commissioner refused to sit down with the network for an interviews.

All in all, a pretty good show with three solid pieces and one disappointing profile.

Grade: B. Did I mention that the Parcells profile was disappointing?

Play dates: 5:30 p.m. ET Friday; 11:30 a.m. Sunday; 1 p.m and 8 p.m. Tuesday; 8 a.m. Sept. 23; 3 p.m. Sept. 25; 11 a.m. Sept. 27.

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Latest Show Has 2 Good Features, 2 Disappointing Profiles

By George Stahl

NEW YORK (AQB)–The latest Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO this month includes two terrific features on the increased use of andro by high school students and on a reverse discrimination lawsuit filed by a former Orlando Magic assistant coach.

Unfortunately, the show (10:15 p.m. ET Monday) also contains two poor profiles on new South Carolina coach Lou Holtz and Miami coach Jimmy Johnson. Both suffer from the oft-repeated AQB criticism of Real Sports profiles – the lack of interviews.

[NOTE: This show's review is based on an advanced copy for the media, which doesn't include studio scenes with host Bryant Gumbel.]

This month’s star piece is Bernard Goldberg’s examination of the increased use of the muscle building supplement Androstenedine, or Andro, by high school students since Mark McGwire acknowledged using it last year in his record-breaking 70 home run season. McGwire has since said he has stopped using it.

Goldberg lists the problems linked to Andro use – heart disease, liver problems, stunting of growth, to name a few – and shows how easy it is to buy the supplement, which doesn’t require Food and Drug Administration approval because it is considered a natural substance.

But what separates this piece from other Andro stories is that Goldberg and producer Tim Walker tracked down a strength and conditioning coach at one of the nation’s top high school football programs in West Monroe, La., who approves the use of Andro so much that he has given it to his son since he was 12.

And what about the concerns some have about Andro? “I think you could say that about caffeine, drinking coffee, drinking Cokes, eating hamburgers, eating too much fat, not eating enough fat. You could pick any topic,” the father said. “I’m concerned as a parent. But myself and my wife and my son have talked about it and, at this point, until there are more studies done, we’re OK with it.”

And the son’s reaction? “My Dad is the one who gets it for me, so obviously he thinks it’s real good. Before we get anything new, or anything, he’ll research it to make sure it’s OK and not going to hurt me in the long run,” the 16-year-old said.

The other excellent feature is Armen Keteyian’s piece on former Magic assistant coach George Scholz, who was fired by the team after the 1992 NBA season. Since then, Scholz has pursued a lawsuit against the Magic, accusing the team of firing him because it wanted a black assistant coach. (Scholz’s replacement was former NBA player Tree Rollins, a black man).

Keteyian, who first reported on the lawsuit in his excellent 1997 book Money Players: Days And Nights Inside The New NBA with Harvey Araton and Martin Dardis, details the history of the case, which was thrown out of court in 1996 for lack of evidence despite the fact that four of the six jurors were planning to decide in Scholz’s favor. An appeal overturned the judge’s decision, and the case now returns to the court next month.

The show’s two profiles, sadly, do not match its two features. As we have said in the past, most recently with last month’s look at Derek Jeter, HBO’s practice of featuring quotes mostly from the profiled person misses a lot of the story. As my mother always says, you can tell a lot about a person by the friends they keep.

This is most evident this month in Frank Deford’s piece on the “new” Jimmy Johnson, who wants to ease some of the pressures of being an NFL head coach in order to spend more time with his family.

Deford, who wears a funky shirt in the piece, nicely documents how Johnson came to this self-realization at the funeral of his mother in December and how Johnson’s relationship with his two sons have changed since then. All three of them are interviewed.

However, the piece could have been so much better with interviews with assistant coach Dave Wannstedt, who was brought in after being fired by the Chicago Bears to help Johnson’s workload, and with Dolphin players, who could have commented on if they had noticed a difference in their head coach.

Sonja Steptoe’s profile of Lou Holtz also suffered from this problem. For example, despite the fact that one of Steptoe’s main topics is Holtz’s relationship with his players, her piece includes only one former player, ex-Notre Dame quarterback Tony Rice, and no current South Carolina players.

Is it me or is that a little one-sided?

The Holtz story was far from the best work from Emmy-winning Steptoe or producer Richard Brenner, who handled Real Sports’ look at the war between ESPN and Fox Sports in January. The piece included nothing on Holtz’s wife, who has been fighting throat cancer and whose opinion reportedly influenced Holtz’s decision to return. It also seemed disjointed, jumping from one issue to another without a smooth transition – something unusual for this well-produced series.

For a much better look at Lou Holtz, check out Chris Dufresne’s excellent story on Holtz in Sunday’s Los Angeles Times.

Grade: B. Real Sports features are among the best on television, but its profiles…

Play dates: 10:15 p.m. Monday; 6 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Thursday; 1 p.m. Saturday; 5 p.m. Sept. 3; and 10 a.m. Sept. 5.

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Report On Accused NFL Agent Tops Latest Show

By George Stahl

NEW YORK (AQB)–After a couple lackluster episodes, HBO’s Emmy award-winning Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel reclaims its title as television’s best sports magazine with an above-average July program.

Bryan Burwell’s look at accused NFL agent Tank Black leads a strong show, supported by Armen Keteyian’s probe into Minnesota’s academic scandal and Mary Carillo’s profile of track star Marion Jones. The only segment I had major issues with was James Brown’s piece on Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter.

But it’s Burwell’s investigation into Black’s dispute with the NFL Players Association that will have people talking after they see this program. The NFL players agent, who had five No. 1 picks and seven of the top 46 selections in this year’s draft, lost four of his clients – all University of Florida defensive players – after it was revealed that the NFL players union was investigating him for alleged illegal activity.

Black, a black man, denies the charges of providing cash and gifts as incentives to sign players and has sued the NFL Players Association, saying the union’s investigation is racially motivated.

The problem, as Burwell points out so well, is that the agent bringing the charges against Black is black, the two known players who signed the sworn affidavits incriminating the agent are black, and the head of the NFL players union, Gene Upshaw, is black.

“I don’t see where the racism is in this process. Enlighten me. Show me where it is,” said Burwell, who is also black.

I won’t tell what Black and his lawyer says, except that it’s not the most convincing of arguments.

Overall, Burwell did an excellent job, but I have two minor complaints about the piece. First, Burwell and HBO did not show any interviews with Black’s current clients, such as those who have stayed with him since the draft or Green Bay Packer star Robert Brooks, whom Black is overheard talking about in the piece.

However, the preview copy that the media sees does not include the studio segments between Gumbel and the reporters, so those issues may be addressed at that time.

Second, before Burwell asks Black to show him the racism, he badgers the witness by forcing Black to tell him what color the agent, players and union chief are. While it makes for dramatic television, it is unnecessarily demeaning to Black.

Keteyian’s look at the University of Minnesota academic scandal doesn’t add anything new to the shocking story, which the newspaper St. Paul Pioneer Press ably reported, but it does provide a terrific overview of the entire scandal.

You can’t blame Keteyian for not breaking anything new on the story because no one from the school would talk to him. Former Coach Clem Haskins, Minnesota President Mark Yudof, Vice President McKinley Boston, men’s athletic director Mark Dienhart and former academic counselor Alonzo Newby all turned down interview requests.

Their silence shows either tremendous respect for Keteyian and Real Sports or fear of further self-incrimination.

Keteyian does talk to, among others, former academic counselor Jan Gangelhoff, who claims to have written more than 400 papers for players from 1993 to 1998, and former Gopher A.J. Whaley, who flunked out of school despite Gangelhoff’s help.

What Gangelhoff and Whaley say only confirms the feelings of many who question the legitimacy of major college athletics, and forces college basketball lovers to once again put on their blinders.

This month’s show also includes profiles of the two of the country’s best young athletes. The profiles are done in typical Real Sports fashion with a heavy emphasis on quotes from the person being profiled, and few others. The style works for the show’s piece on track star Marion Jones, but it fails for Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter.

Reporter James Brown talks to Jeter, his father and – of all people – Reggie Jackson. That’s all that is shown. Among the missing in action are Jeter’s sister, with whom he reportedly is very close to and talks about during the piece; his mother, who is white (Jeter’s father is black); and his teammates or coaches (What’s wrong with Joe Torre or Don Zimmer, whom Jeter is often shown kidding with on the bench?)

Hell, even Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and singer Mariah Carey, with whom Jeter had been romantically linked, would have been better than Jackson, who certainly doesn’t know Jeter as well as any of those other people mentioned.

Jeter’s piece would have been much, much better if it was done like one of ESPN’s SportsCentury profiles, which often feature 20-30 interviews in a half-hour show. I would have preferred hearing more people talk about who Jeter is than Jeter humbly deflecting any self-revealing questions.

However, the Real Sports modus operandi for profiles works well for Mary Carillo’s piece on Jones, who is aiming for an unprecedented five track and field gold medals at the Summer Olympics next year. Showing more of the 23-year-old talking about herself increases her recognition with viewers, who should know more about the first American track star to be ranked No. 1 in three different events in a year.

Building national awareness is certainly not needed for Jeter, who is one of the most marketable sports stars in the country. Because of that, HBO should have treated his piece differently.

Grade: B+. Jeter piece was the only major blemish on an otherwise solid show.

Play dates: 10 p.m. Monday; 5:30 p.m. Thursday; 1:30 p.m. Saturday; 8 p.m. Aug. 3; 4 p.m. Aug. 6; and 9:45 a.m. Aug. 9.

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November’s Real Sports Falls Short

By Randy Williams

NEW YORK (AQB)–The latest episode of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel is long on inspiration but short on investigation.

The show, which airs at 10 p.m. ET Tuesday, includes a segment on the 1966 tie between Notre Dame and Michigan State and stories about Houston Comets star Cynthia Cooper, paralyzed would-be Maryland quarterback Tim Strachan and the mysterious death of former NFL linebacker Demetrius Dubose.

The Dubose piece is the only investigative part of the program and Jim Lampley does a pretty good job of checking out the scene of the crime and giving viewers an idea of the events that led up to Dubose’s shooting. However, the reporter is much tougher on law enforcement than he is on those who tell Dubose’s side of the story.

For example, a toxicology report that shows Dubose had three drugs in his body, including cocaine and ecstasy, is brushed aside. In fact, when Lampley talks with the Dubose family’s lawyer, he doesn’t challenge the attorney’s assertion that the former Notre Dame player had no drugs in his system. He also doesn’t get tough with anyone about why Dubose was found sleeping in a neighbor’s apartment.

Throw in the fact that the one “eyewitness” that Lampley interviewed was down the street from where the crime was committed and refused to talk to police and I wind up curious why Real Sports put a piece that was so short on substance on the air in the first place.

When a black man is shot by white police officers, it seems the normal reaction of the media is to doubt authority and to side with the “victim.” Perhaps Dubose was shot by overzealous police officers. Maybe he wasn’t. Watching Lampley’s piece doesn’t bring us one step closer to the truth.

The story of the 10-10 deadlock between the Fighting Irish and Spartans is a potentially interesting one, but Real Sports‘ effort isn’t particularly inspiring. Sure there are quotes from Notre Dame coach Ara Parseghian and many others, such as Michigan State defensive end Bubba Smith and Notre Dame tailback Rocky Bleier, but the Jack Whitaker piece isn’t as good as it could’ve been.

How about some perspective from fans who watched the game? Or announcers who broadcast it? What did some of the AP or UPI pollsters think about No. 1 Notre Dame taking the tie instead of going for the win? The comments from the players and coaches were fairly predictable, though Smith said he understood why Parseghian did what he did. Overall, I thought Real Sports could’ve done a little more digging.

The other two pieces – on Cooper and Strachan – are stories about people who are inspirations to many of those around them. Cooper has emerged a stronger person after dealing with her mother’s death and the loss of best friend Kim Perrot. Strachan, who broke his neck while a star schoolboy quarterback, says he thinks he’s a better person as a result of his paralysis.

These stories are nice – in fact, I enjoyed them both quite a bit – but they’re not the investigative works that Real Sports is known for. Then again, the item about Demitrius Dubose isn’t the kind of work the program is proud of, either.

Grade: C. The Dubose piece was very disappointing.

Play dates: 1:30 p.m. Thursday; 10 a.m. Saturday; 4:45 p.m. Monday; 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 25; 8 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 30.

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By George Stahl and Randy Williams

• Dallas cornerback Deion Sanders probably won’t return this season.
• Carolina owner Jerry Richardson wants George Seifert, Mike Holmgren or Steve Spurrier. Mortensen said he probably won’t get any of the three.

• Colt quarterback Peyton Manning should be able get most of his incentive money, practically guaranteeing himself the full value of his contract ($46.5 million) in his rookie season. Many observers had considered many of the incentives unreachable.
• Bill owner Ralph Wilson gave quarterback Doug Flutie the $250,000 bonus that he would have received with the Patriot win that the officials stole from him and the Bills. (Mortensen also reported this on “Countdown.”)
• Jet quarterback Vinny Testaverde is taking backup quarterbacks Glenn Foley and Ray Lucas to Hawaii with him.
• 49er owner Ed DeBartolo seeks his active owner status back.
• The Eagles have a long list of coaching candidates, including Steeler defensive coordinator Jim Haslett; both Denver coordinators, Gary Kubiak (offensive) and Greg Robinson (defensive); Jaguar offensive coordinator Chris Palmer; Kansas State coach Bill Snyder; and former 49er coach George Seifert.

• Many referees polled by Fox favor bringing back instant replay.
• Suggested George Seifert may be the next coach of the Eagles
• “Despite public denials by Florida head coach Steve Spurrier, we have learned that Spurrier will listen to head coaching offers – that at the end of the season.” … At halftime of the 1 p.m. games, CBS’ Jim Nantz said he wanted to clear up a report made by “another pregame show” suggesting that Spurrier was entertaining NFL coaching offers and was going to go with “the highest offer.” Nantz reported that Spurrier has since denied that and said he was happy at Florida. While CBS deserves credit for following up the report, the network should get punished for taking a cheap shot at Fox and misinterpreting its report. Another poor job in what is becoming an increasingly ugly situation at CBS. (The quoted part at the top of this note is all that Brown said on the Spurrier subject.)

CBS’ Mike Lombardi

• Packers coach Mike Holmgren may end up in Carolina, where the money and the job is what he is seeking.
• Said Panther lineman Kevin Greene should have been suspended for the last two games of the season, although he suggested that coach Dom Capers, who was nearby during the whole argument, could have done more to have prevented it.
• Redskins, despite a confusing ownership situation, seeks to extend quarterback Trent Green‘s contract, by using some of Gus Frerotte‘s bonus money.
• Lions, happy with Bobby Ross as coach, will hire a GM to help recruit better talent.

Long called Greene’s actions “unacceptable” and that “Kevin Greene was wrong” but he thought the penalty was fair because it was done in the heat of moment and just happened to be caught on television. He added that similar incidents occur often in practice. Bradshaw agreed, saying the fact that Greene and the assistant reconciled so quickly on the sidelines made it less of an issue.

However, Collinsworth said the Panthers’ slim one-game suspension on an attack by a white player added to the NFL’s racism as perceived by black players, who feel there would have been more of an outcry by the league and media if a black player was involved. Collinsworth compared Greene’s suspension to Panther running back Fred Lane, a black man, who received a one-game suspension for making an obscene gesture.

Brown agreed with Collinsworth calling the one-game suspension and no league action “very weak.”

This discussion, which was the best I heard all year on Fox, is another example of why the network has the best NFL pregame show. The foursome restrained from trying to be funny and seriously debated an important topic, of which they had strong feelings. Great stuff.

The lack of coverage by the other networks on this incident was surprising and disappointing. CNN offered a very short piece about players attacking coaches and talked about Pittsburgh’s struggles, in general. ESPN said precious little about the incident but offered a Sal Paolantonio feature about Stewart’s collapse. CBS‘s Jim Nantz and Mike Lombardi said Greene should have been suspended for the season. Lombardi also showed video of the attack and suggested that Capers could have done more to prevent it.

Best features:
1. ESPN’s Greg Garber on the importance of the football.
2. Fox’s Pam Oliver on the emotional week that the Falcons have had.
3. Fox’s Howie Long on his tough guys for this season. For the most part, the players selected were predictable, but the whole segment was enjoyable. Click here to see a list of the players picked. (The list wasn’t up as of Sunday afternoon; however, Fox Sports Online promised that it would be up shortly.) NEXT WEEK: Terry Bradshaw will give out the Terry Awards.
4. ESPN’s Chris Mortensen on the resurgence of Atlanta QB Chris Chandler.
5. CNN’s Jim Huber on 1972 Dolphins hero Earl Morrall.
6. ESPN’s Ed Werder on the struggles of the Dallas Cowboys.
7. CBS’ Jim Nantz’s look at the relationship between Steeler coach Bill Cowher and quarterback Kordell Stewart. The feature was well done, except he never interviewed Stewart (or explained why he didn’t). Afterward, Jones said questions about Stewart’s leadership remain, Allen said the whole team – not just Stewart – has to pick it up and Lombardi added that talks on extending Stewart’s contract past next year are on hold until Pittsburgh sees more from him.
8. CNN’s Tom Rinaldi on Arizona’s 16-year playoff absence.
9. CBS’ Craig James on the Packers. It was slightly disappointing and too melodramatic, especially with the background music.

Top game tips:
1. CNN’s Meyer said Dallas’ Emmitt Smith will run for more than 173 yards against Philadelphia. Arizona’s Adrain Murrell rushed for 173 yards against the Eagles last week.
2. CBS’ Marcus Allen said Patriots backup quarterback Scott Zolak may go deep on the first play to loosen up the 49er defense, while CBS’ Brent Jones said the 49ers may blitz early and often.
3. CNN’s Josie Karp said Cowboy defensive back Deion Sanders is not expected to play Sunday but will be a game-time decision. Cowboy receiver Michael Irvin, though, will play.
4. CBS said Steeler backup quarterback Mike Tomczak got 40% of the offensive plays in practice this week.
5. ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio reported Cincinnati RB Corey Dillon won’t play.

Top stats/facts:
1. Kansas City is allowing 30 points a game on the road – CNN.
2. The oft-repeated stat: St. Louis leading rusher is still Greg Hill – and he hasn’t played since week three – ESPN.
3. Jacksonville’s Jonathan Quinn is the fifth of eight rookie quarterbacks drafted this year to start. With Quinn’s appearance, the Jaguars are the ninth team to start three QBs this year – ESPN.
4. New England’s Robert Edwards rushed for 195 yards last week after gaining 191 in the previous five games – ESPN.
5. Scott Zolak’s father was the high school coach of Joe Montana, Fox’s Dick Stockton.

CNN Predictions:
Denver/Miami – King, Lofton and Meyer pick the Broncos
San Francisco/New England – King, Lofton and Meyer pick the Niners
Green Bay/Tennessee – King foresees Tennessee; Lofton, Meyer take the Pack

Other Predictions:
1. CBS’ Brent Jones said Arizona will get the No. 6 seed in the NFC and that Detroit may cause problems for Atlanta today. Fox’s Bradshaw also foresees Detroit causing Atlanta problems.
2. Fox’s Cris Collinsworth said Dallas will have tough time against the Eagles today.
3. CNN’s Meyer said Dallas’ Emmitt Smith will run for more than 173 yards vs the Eagles. Arizona’s Adrian Murrell rushed for 173 against Philly last weekend.

Best interviews:
1. ESPN’s Joe Theismann, covering tonight’s Minnesota-Jacksonville contest, with Vikings coach Dennis Green.
2. CBS’ Jim Nantz with Keyshawn Johnson.

Unanswered questions:
1. Why does CBS go around its game sites twice, often repeating the same information? The second time, at 12:30 p.m., really stops any momentum that the show may have developed before that.
2. Why doesn’t CBS keep Craig James at the desk with Jones and Allen for the whole show? It is clear that the banter and the excitement improves when he is there.
3. Why does Fox try to do too much when it is on the practice field? Although the segment is usually entertaining, it isn’t always easy to understand the football point given the silliness among the hosts.

Glitches:
1. As CNN’s James Lofton introduced a graphic, the footage never appeared.
2. During one of Peter King’s segments on CNN, a practice version of “The Star Spangled Banner” nearly rendered his comments inaudible.

By George Stahl

NEW YORK (AQB)–First, Frank Gifford and Dan Dierdorf left.

Then, the starting time returned to 9 p.m. ET.

Now, Monday Night Football continues its offseason of change by moving its halftime show back to New York and to the new ESPN Zone restaurant in Times Square, which is expected to open in mid-September.

Who said ABC Sports is trying to separate itself from ESPN’s image?

Chris Berman will remain host of the “Toyota/Lexus Halftime Report,” while Al Michaels will conduct the interviews.

“We’re thrilled to be televising halftime for the 1999-2000 season from ESPN Zone in Times Square,” ABC Sports President Howard Katz said in a statement Tuesday. “Having Chris live at the crossroads of the world in New York at the flagship ESPN Zone is another exciting component for Monday Night Football‘s 30th Anniversary.”

“I’m looking forward to interacting with the people of New York City,” Berman said also in a statement. “New York has passionate fans of every NFL team, and Monday Night Football at ESPN Zone will bring them, as well as fans from around the country, together.”

The “Toyota/Lexus Halftime Report” will begin broadcasting Sept. 20, the second week of Monday Night Football. The Monday Night Football season kicks off Sept. 13, when the Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos host the Miami Dolphins. At halftime that night, the Broncos will retire the No. 7 that former quarterback John Elway wore for Denver.

After launching in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor in the summer of 1998, ESPN Zone opened in Chicago this summer and will open in Atlanta in January 2000 and in Washington, D.C., in the spring. Gee, Baltimore in 1998. New York in 1999. Might the show move to Atlanta or the Capital in 2000?

If there are any such plans, ABC isn’t saying. All that is known is that New York is the place this year. The halftime show, which features a live studio audience, will take place in ESPN Zone’s Screening Room, which features two 16-foot televisions as well as a dozen 36-inch monitors.

“As we open our flagship ESPN Zone in the sports capital of the world, Monday Night Football‘s halftime show will be the first of many broadcasts that will take place in New York,” said Art Levitt, president of Disney Regional Entertainment. “These broadcast opportunities will really give spectators an up-close, 3-D experience of what ESPN is about.”

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By George Stahl

NEW YORK (AQB)–ESPN had most of the angles covered Tuesday night in the Buffalo Sabres’ 2-1 win in game four of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Dallas Stars, tying the series at two games apiece and guaranteeing a game six at 8 p.m. EDT Saturday on ESPN.

Fox, though, has the next game – the pivotal game five – at 8 p.m. Thursday.

ESPN’s coverage began Tuesday with a prophetic statement by analyst Barry Melrose. The former Kings coach said on ESPN’s half-hour pregame show, Quest for the Cup, that the pressure for Buffalo was on goalie Dominik Hasek, who needed to have a big game because Melrose didn’t see the Sabres scoring more than two goals against Dallas.

Hasek made many fine saves, and the Sabres converted on two Dallas miscues with the puck to win 2-1. This correct analysis adds to a terrific playoff campaign by Melrose, who has established himself as one of the better studio analysts in any sport.

Thanks to Melrose and his desk mates, John Saunders and Darren Pang, ESPN has had stronger between-periods analysis and perspective than Fox’s duo of Suzy Kolber and Terry Crisp in the finals.

Like the Sabres, game announcers Gary Thorne and Bill Clement also were better in game four than in game three. Thorne, usually an excitable announcer, seemed especially psyched Tuesday night. “Can you feel the heat, baby?” Thorne asked rhetorically during a Buffalo rush in the Sabres offensive zone.

In the first period, Thorne let out a “This is not a good sign for Buffalo” and then compactly listed everything that the Sabres were doing wrong to that point.

Of course, Thorne knew what to say because Clement was doing a good job of picking out Buffalo’s early problems. Clement, though, changed his tone as the action shifted and, by the third period, he was showing why Dallas wasn’t as sharp as in game three.

During the telecast, ESPN and the NHL unveiled a new camera located in the top corner of the net. The camera does not move and focuses only on the goal line. The view came in handy to amplify Dallas goalie Ed Belfour’s turnaround stick-save in the second period on a tip-in attempt by Buffalo’s Miroslav Satan.

About the only thing that ESPN has slipped up on have been the skirmishes at the end of the periods. Similar to Saturday, ESPN went to close-ups of players at the end of the second period, instead of sticking with the wider angle to give viewers a better perspective of the pushing and shoving on the ice.

However, the network did a better job with the dispute that occurred at the end of the game.

Also, ESPN tends to change cameras to catch close-ups of potential hard checks; however, by doing so, it has occasionally missed key action happening elsewhere. For example, in the second period, ESPN focused on a Buffalo forecheck and ended up missing a shot on goal by the Sabres.

But that’s about all that ESPN missed Tuesday.

Other notes, thoughts and observations on ESPN’s telecast Tuesday night.

Top Stats:
1. Buffalo goalie Dominik Hasek is 18-0 in his playoff career when leading going into the third period. (Now 19-0)
2. Dallas is the best third-period team in the playoffs with a 16-goal differential this year.

Top Quotes:
1. “That’s why those two former Chicago Blackhawk goaltenders are going to the Hall of Fame, and I’m not,” Darren Pang said after showing some spectacular saves from Ed Belfour and Dominik Hasek between the second and third periods.

Hmm:
1. “This series has been one of the most intense series that I have ever seen in the Stanley Cup Finals,” said Bill Clement, who is announcing his 14th straight Stanley Cup Finals after appearing in two as a hockey player.

Top Shots:
1. Dallas goalie Ed Belfour making a terrific turnaround stick-save in the second period on a tip-in attempt by Buffalo’s Miroslav Satan.
2. ESPN used a replay in the first period to show how quickly and efficiently Dallas gets the puck out of the Stars defensive zone.

Unanswered questions:
1. Why does ESPN promote the upcoming intermission report with more than 10 minutes left in the period?
2. Is it any coincidence that a hockey player, Boston’s legendary Bobby Orr, is the SportsCentury athlete this week, allowing the network to heavily promote Friday’s show during both of its Stanley Cup telecasts?

Grade: A-. ESPN shows it’s ready to take over full reins of the NHL TV pact.

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By George Stahl

NEW YORK (AQB)–Fox Sports executive producer Ed Goren said the network has had to fight more than just ABC, CBS and NBC in its battle to win higher ratings for the NHL.

“There are too many people [in hockey] who still believe that the only important product that hockey has is the live product in the stadium. And that kind of thinking is really counterproductive in growing the sport for a television audience.

“If we’re doing a 2 rating, we’ve got 2 million households watching hockey. And if you’ve got to deal with the general manager who’s concerned with the 15,925 in their arena, that’s some very narrow thinking.“

As Fox prepares to televise its final Stanley Cup finals, Goren spent much of Monday’s conference call trying to summarize the network’s sometimes-rocky five-year relationship with the NHL. Next season, Disney sisters ABC and ESPN take over.

“Nobody likes to be a lame duck. I don’t think it’s healthy for a network or for a sport,” Goren said, adding that the network “didn’t have the option” of returning this year’s rights after ABC/ESPN last summer negotiated a five-year, $600 million deal beginning with the 1999-2000 season.

Goren, though, is proud of Fox’s NHL coverage, which included glowing pucks, battling robots and new camera angles.

“We very easily could have taken the hockey package and said, ‘Heck, let’s satisfy the hard-core fans and let’s just cover it the way it’s always been covered,’ which is very vanilla. For a hard-core hockey fan, you don’t need any more than the basics.

“That was not the road that we decided to take. I think that some of the success that we’ve had has been because we have expanded our view of how to cover the game,” Goren said. “The coverage has gotten more intimate and more interesting for the casual viewer. I think we have created a lot of new hockey fans.”

But he also knows that, with the help of the NHL, its coverage could have been a lot better.

For example, “we have to be very efficient in getting to commercial and getting back in time for the puck to be dropped. The NBA is much more enlightened on this,” Goren said, explaining that besides showing commercials, NBC spends time during the timeout showing replays, interviews and sound bites that “help personalize and sell the game.”

“Now, you’ll get some [NHL] general managers who will say, ‘If you make that commercial break too long, then the Dallas line with [Mark] Modano – their No. 1 line – is going to get more ice time because they’re able to rest during that break, and they’re going to be getting more ice and that’s a disadvantage for Buffalo.’

“Well, I prefer to think that if a Modano line is getting more ice time, that is not necessarily a disadvantage for Buffalo. That is a win for the hockey fan who wants to see the best players on the ice.

“A comparable thing would have been an NBA general manager saying, ‘Those NBC breaks are too long, you’re letting Michael Jordan rest, and he’s going to end up playing all but two minutes of the game because of this.‘

“How terrible that is,” Goren said mockingly.

The Fox executive also referred to the ice show fiasco in Dallas a couple weeks that forced the network to show Buffalo-Toronto, when the Dallas-Colorado contest would have been the better choice.

“Now why it was a surprise to people that the best team in hockey would advance to the conference finals and host an opening game is beyond me. There’s something wrong there. Just when there’s a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel, and we’re getting a little bit of a ratings roll, something like this happens which makes no sense whatsoever.”

Goren made it clear that he wasn’t criticizing NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. “He has tried on a number of occasion to enlighten his ownership and the general managers.”

Goren also made it clear, once again, that he was satisfied with Fox’s NHL regular-season ratings.

“I’m not convinced that the regular-season numbers were necessarily disappointing. There are reasons for the numbers being what they were,” he said, adding that for the first two years, Fox averaged about a 2 household rating during its six-game regular season schedule.

“I would suggest that our sales people were probably selling the games because of the high [demographics] at a higher rate than others were selling college basketball.”

But the ratings fell with the longer regular-season schedule.

“Once we went to 11 weeks, we’re going up against stiffer competition. We’re going up against the NCAA basketball tournament, which we avoided the first couple years. We’re going up against the Masters, and there was a Tiger factor there. So the ratings did slide.”

For that reason, Goren isn’t surprised that ABC is reportedly considering a four-game regular-season schedule next season.

“Those ratings should go up off of four regular-season games. But I’m not sure that four games over the air necessarily serves the sport where most of their games now are on cable. And I leave it to you to look at those cable numbers.”

“[ABC] should get a ratings boost because they are picking their spots as to when they go on. If nothing else, I think from what I’m reading, the synergy and cross-promotion should get those ratings way up from where they’ve been.”

But that might not translate into playoff success.

“The postseason is a little different. In every sport, most of your money is backloaded into the postseason. There is a bump, there is a ratings bonanza. Whether you’re talking baseball, football, NCAA basketball, NBA, the postseason ratings are dramatically higher than regular season.

“Yet, for whatever reason, the postseason numbers in the NHL are higher, but they are not necessarily higher. And If they are higher, they are not high enough to justify the regular-season numbers.

“My two cents on the postseason numbers has been that, for the most part, if you are Boston Bruins fan, once the Bruins are out of the playoffs, you’re not necessarily watching Dallas and Colorado. There aren’t enough hockey fans. There aren’t enough national personalities in the sport to drive you to watch a game that doesn’t involve your home team.”

Fox play-by-play man Mike “Doc” Emrick agreed.

“The NHL has a lot of tremendous players, but so far they don’t have the guy with the persona that Wayne Gretzky had. How do you create a guy like that ? I don’t think you can. I think it just has to naturally evolve.”

“I think the one thing that will help hockey greatly in the future is if we can find the young player or that young player evolves who can be like Gretzky was in 1980 and do all the local shows when he comes to town and do the interviews that will get this sport greater and greater coverage.”

Fox analyst John Davidson has another reason. “I don’t know spit about ratings, I’m an analyst. I can tell you this much: Fox didn’t get a break knowing that we went through four different finals and every one was a sweep. Who would have expected that? Especially after the ’94 finals, where the Rangers and Vancouver went seven games. It would have helped if we had longer series. There’s no doubt.

Goren is sorry to see his top NHL announcing team of Emrick and Davidson leave.

“They are as fine a broadcast team as we have in this country,” Goren said. “One of the sad things to me as a hockey fan would be not having the opportunity to enjoy their work down the road. And hopefully something can be worked out for them.”

At least better than the NHL contract worked out for Fox.

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