Ric LaCivita, producer for CBS` upcoming Major League Baseball package, may not be out to ”reinvent the wheel,” as he says, but he`s not leaving much to chance, either.
LaCivita, in town last weekend for the Chicago Baseball Writers` Diamond Dinner, said he`s planning a crash course in ”situation baseball” for his 16 cameramen next month at Boardwalk and Baseball in Florida.
”You could rehearse till the cows come home with real games and not see a first-and-third steal situation,” LaCivita said. ”We want to hone the instincts of our cameramen. We want to get their instincts in tune with baseball.”
To that end, LaCivita has made up a list of 46 (and growing) situations he will run through with a college baseball team, stopping and starting as often as necessary so his crew, which will include analysts Tim McCarver and Jim Kaat, is comfortable.
”We`ll do things that may never happen,” LaCivita said. ”Baseball is a sport that depends on the instincts of the cameraman.”
And how has his crew taken to the idea of four eight-hour days studying the intricacies of the suicide squeeze?
”They`re all excited,” LaCivita said. ”We`re building a team with this kind of camaraderie. As opposed to a (spring training) or real game, we can stop and start again and again.”
Besides the Florida workouts, LaCivita is planning on using two spring games and the Cubs` home opener April 6 as full dress rehearsals.
”We have big shoes to fill,” he said.
And he doesn`t want any surprises. What he plans to do in postseason play, however, is another matter.
According to LaCivita, because of the hefty sum (more than $250 million a year) his network is paying for the baseball contract, CBS is planning to sell two full minutes of commercial time between innings of the playoffs and World Series.
Which bumps up against the baseball rule limiting between-innings time to 2 minutes 15 seconds. And, said LaCivita, an umpire starts a stopwatch as soon as ball hits glove.
”You add 10 seconds for promos and that doesn`t leave us much,”
LaCivita said. ”It takes three seconds for the announcer just to get out of an inning by giving the score. What if the inning ends on a sensational play? Where do I put the replay? What happens if we miss the first pitch and it`s
(the magnitude of) Kirk Gibson`s homer in the World Series?”
LaCivita is worried already. But not about talks of lockouts and strikes. ”I let other people think about that,” he said. ”We don`t want to take our eye off the ball. We have to be ready to go April 14.”
– NBC had two debuts over the weekend, and neither went smoothly. ”NBC Sports Update” on Saturday had trouble keeping its scores up to date (to the chagrin at one point of host Bob Costas) but came back well on Sunday with the first report of John McEnroe`s disqualification from the Australian Open, complete with videotape, as well as taped coverage of new Clemson football coach Ken Hatfield`s press conference.
The network`s new golf coverage team also had its bumps during the Bob Hope Classic. Host Bryant Gumbel was flustered a few times while trying to coordinate the various on-course commentators, eventually stammering ”all right . . . all right . . . all right” as Joel Meyers` interview with Hope went too long. And Gumbel and analyst Johnny Miller looked overdressed, especially for the desert, in their dark blue blazers and ties. ”They`ll only be dressing up for special occasions,” said an NBC spokesman. ”Otherwise, they`ll be wearing golf sweaters.”
– And while it wasn`t a debut, the National Hockey League made its first appearance at NBC since 1975. And, despite low overnight Nielsen ratings, ”I think the NHL should be encouraged,” said an NBC spokesman. ”After all, they went up against a couple of monstrous NBA games.”
The game nationally drew a 4.4 rating with a 10 share. A national Nielsen rating point represents 921,000 TV households. Shares are a percentage of sets in use. Locally, the game did worse, averaging only a 3.1 rating with a 7 share. So much for Chicago being a great hockey town. Of course, the Bulls-Knicks on WBBM-Ch. 2 competed with the hockey telecast on WMAQ-Ch. 5.
The last time hockey was carried on an over-the-air network (1980, Flyers vs. Islanders Stanley Cup Finals, CBS), it also had a 4.4 rating. ”The NHL and our people were pleasantly surprised (by the ratings),” said the NBC spokesman.
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NBC Sports boss Dick Ebersol, however, wasn`t thrilled with the event he inherited in the first place. And it`s doubtful after Sunday there`ll be much more hockey on network TV.
– More on Gumbel: His brother Greg, the former WMAQ-Ch. 5 sportscaster now with CBS, said, ”I wonder how much Ebersol is paying Bryant not to play. He loves the game that much.” . . . Bryant had breakfast one day last weekend with PGA Tour newcomer Robert Gamez, who won the recent Tucson Open, his first pro event. It`s part of what an NBC spokesman said was executive producer Terry O`Neil`s attempt ”to bring an NFL approach to golf.” . . . The irony of Gumbel missing Friday`s ”Today” show to prepare for the Hope Classic was his replacement as host was Bob Costas. Kinda makes you wonder why they just didn`t send Costas out to California, where it was cool and sunny, and keep Gumbel in New York, where it was cold and snowy. Then again, it doesn`t.
– For the second straight year, WLS-Ch. 7 made the commendable decision to pre-empt ABC`s telecast of the East-West Shrine college all-star football game for its United Cerebral Palsy Telethon. But the station should have shown the game on tape after the 10 p.m. news Sunday instead of the umpteenth rerun of a made-for-TV tearjerker.
– Wayne Larrivee is vying with James Brown as the Hardest Working Man in Show Business. At least on Saturdays. For the second time in a month, Larrivee did a Big 10 basketball game for Raycom in the afternoon and then a De Paul contest for WGN-Ch. 9 at night. And in between, he could be heard (on tape) on WGN Radio`s ”Pro Football Weekly.” That doesn`t take into account his work for ESPN and WGN during the week. Whew.
– We know the ”All-Madden Team” has made the big time. What started out as a gimmicky feature on CBS six years ago now has a corporate sponsor. Fortunately, John still retains his sense of humor. Of Neal Anderson, one of three Bears to make the squad, Madden said, ”Last year, I caught him in a tuxedo and threw him off the team.” For the record, Richard Dent and Dan Hampton joined Anderson.
– Best lines of the weekend: Greg Gumbel: ”Patrick (Ewing) is here, but his game hasn`t followed him through the door.” . . . NBC`s Al McGuire: ”(North Carolina coach) Dean Smith likes to give you a nick, then bleed you, then destroy you.” . . . CBS` Hubie Brown: ”In this league (NBA), you`re better off if you use your forearm across the back; you`re stronger and they never call the foul.”
– Best features: CBS` Lesley Visser on homeless New York City high school star Donald Taylor. . . . NBC`s Gayle Gardner on drug-plagued NBA player Chris Washburn.
– Best shots: Rain dripping through the Louisiana Superdome roof. . . . Bears coach Mike Ditka scowling after missing a putt during the Hope Classic.