The Public League boys basketball championship Sunday will feature two of the top 10 high school teams in the nation, Simeon and King; the debut of Bulls star Michael Jordan as a TV analyst and more major-college coaches than you`ll find at a sneakers convention.
”Last year, we were very pleased with the rating results,” says Don Jackson, head of Central City Productions, which will present the contest at 5 p.m. on WGN-TV (Channel 9). ”This year, with Michael Jordan, we`re hoping it`ll do even better.”
But Jackson wants viewers to think about the classrooms the players come from.
”We`ve put together a package that`s more than just a basketball game,” he says. ”It becomes a happening. We`re trying to capture the excitement and the emotions of the kids and, at the same time, place an emphasis on academics.”
The emphasis will come at halftime, when Public League all-academic boys and girls teams will be named.
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These players ”may not be the stars of the team,” Jackson says.
”We`ll talk about the importance of what`s involved in that whole circle
(of athletics and academics).
”And, for the first time, we have an Academic Olympics, sponsored by the Sears Foundation. It`s a program where kids compete in areas of math, economics, arts, theater, performing arts.”
In addition, the finals of a citywide cheerleading competition also will be held.
Using the Bulls` Sam Vincent as a roving reporter, Jackson plans to interview business leaders and professional athletes who have graduated from the Chicago public school system ”to project them as role models.”
Vincent will interview the coaches and representatives of the 50 or so NCAA Division I schools who will be at the game.
”He`ll be talking to a Lou Henson (Illinois coach) about players who have come out of the Chicago high school program, like Marcus Liberty and Nick Anderson.”
Jackson, who has had his own TV production company for 19 years, led Marshall to the Public League title and a third-place finish in the state in 1961. He went on to captain Northwestern four years later. For him, telecasts like Sunday`s are just a little payback.
”I wanted to work with the Chicago public schools to bring back some of that spirit that was there when I was playing,” Jackson says. ”So I met with the Chicago Board of Education and with the people in the industry to produce the game.”
Which means Jackson`s company is responsible for just about everything from setting up the cameras to lining up the sponsors. That`s where Jordan comes in.
”We have McDonald`s and Coca-Cola as two of our long-standing sponsors, and Michael represents both of them,” Jackson says. The next step was for McDonald`s and Coke to land Air Jordan.
”The sponsors have certain dates, or so many promotional events, that they request Michael to make-if he`s available,” says Jackson. ”One is the Bud Billikin Day parade, which is in August when he`s not playing ball. This year, it just so happens the Bulls are off Sunday and Monday, so he`s available and it`s not a strain for him.”
While Jordan`s job will be to talk about the game, ”Michael has a big emphasis on education and staying in school,” Jackson says. ”He will be stressing that throughout.”
As will Jackson, who wants to get a message across: ”To let them know that ball is not all.”
– Because Al Michaels is serving jury duty in California, ABC Sports has switched basketball assignments for the weekend. Keith Jackson will team with ex-Navy star David Robinson on Saturday`s Illinois-Michigan telecast, and Michaels will join Dick Vitale for the Pac-10 tourney title contest at 3 p.m. Sunday. . . . Vitale will have to move quickly because he`s also scheduled to cohost ESPN`s NCAA selection recap show at 5 p.m. Sunday.
– WGN Radio will have a brief tournament selection show hosted by Randy Minkoff after the Cubs-Padres game Sunday. Chuck Swirsky will report from the De Paul campus.
– Former baseball star Steve Garvey, whose romantic exploits made the news last week, will appear on ”Larry King Live” at 8 p.m. Monday on CNN. That`s where Rebecka Mendenhall works. Garvey and Mendenhall, a CNN news editor, allegedly were engaged last fall, and Mendenhall says she`s carrying Garvey`s child. Garvey married another woman Feb. 18.
– ESPN, taking no chances, has immunized all its personnel under the age of 35 who will be covering the ECAC-North Atlantic Conference championship game at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. No spectators will be allowed in the 16,000-seat Hartford Civic Center due to a measles epidemic at various New England campuses. ”You`re going to be able to hear everything,” said analyst Bill Raftery. ”It should be a real education.”
– Judge for yourself: USA Network will rebroadcast Monday night`s Hector Camacho-Ray Mancini junior welterweight bout three times, starting at 7 p.m. Sunday. Camacho was awarded an unpopular split decision.
– Getting ready for `92: NBC has reached an agreement with the International Amateur Athletic Federation to televise major track meets through 1991. The network also named Randy Falco senior vice president in charge of Olympics coverage, replacing Michael Eskridge, who supervised the network`s coverage of last summer`s Seoul Games. Eskridge had been appointed president of CNBC, the network`s new cable channel.
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