Even though the 49ers and Giants lost last weekend, Al Michaels doesn`t see any less interest in Monday night`s meeting between the two best teams in the National Football League.
”It`s still the best game of the season,” says the ABC sportscaster.
”You don`t go fishing and throw this one back.”
Michaels, of course, has no choice. As the play-by-play announcer for ABC`s ”Monday Night Football,” he`d like those ratings numbers as high as possible. And the network is cleverly promoting it as ”the almost perfect game.”
”It`s hard to figure what those losses will do to the ratings,” says Michaels, although he predicts ”it`ll still be No. 1 for the week.”
After all, he adds, the recent Raiders-Dolphins game on MNF finished third in that week`s Nielsen ratings and MNF currently is ranked 13th among all network TV shows.
But Michaels isn`t going to live or die by those numbers.
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Or so he says.
”I follow them because it`s part of my business,” he says. ”But in the booth, I can`t think about it at all. All we care about is showing you the best game we can. After that, everything`s out of your hands.”
But it is a chance to reclaim some of the glory that used to be ”Monday Night Football,” when ratings used to be in the 30s (a 20 is a cause for celebration these days), when it was the only sports event in prime time
(which it was when it started in 1970).
”I don`t ever see us setting a record because of how we measure audiences now,” Michaels says. ”If we do a 21 or 22, it`ll be fine. You`ll never see the raw numbers we saw in the past. There used to be only five channels to choose from. Now there`s 35 (with cable) and football`s all over the place.
”Last year, `Monday Night Football` finished 10th overall, the highest it ever finished. It`s 13th this year and we`ll go higher after Monday. Sure, you`d like to see the numbers get better. But the other networks used to give away Monday nights; now they counter-program. Look what CBS has done with
`Murphy Brown` and `Designing Women.` ”
Michaels, though, has a helpful hint: more Bears games. The Bears were banished from Monday nights this season, perhaps for their 6-12 record last year. But a bad Bears team draws good numbers. And a good Bears team draws monster numbers.
”Clearly, we would have loved to have the Bears,” says Michaels. ”The Bears, since they returned to prominence, have gotten our best ratings. Had we had them on two times this year, it would have been very significant.”
Michaels cites two Bears games as carrying the same anticipation as Monday night`s contest.
”You have to go back to that Bear-Dolphin matchup in 1985 (when the Bears carried a 12-0 record into Miami) to see anything along these lines,” Michaels says. ”In 1988, there was a Bear-49er game at Candlestick that was tremendously anticipated. That`s where (Bears coach Mike) Ditka wound up throwing his gum.”
– Monday night`s clash also was a prime topic on both network NFL pregame shows Sunday. NBC`s Bill Walsh used visual aids (drawing board, tapes) to discuss why the 49ers would win, while CBS` John Madden just used his mouth. NBC`s Will McDonough said Giants coach Bill Parcells told him injured linebacker Carl Banks would play, while CBS` Terry Bradshaw said Banks told him he didn`t know if he`d be activated. Guess we`ll have to tune in to find out.
– CBS officials would neither confirm nor deny a report that the network was seeking a refund from Major League Baseball since it lost nearly $100 million covering that sport in this, the first year of a four-year contract. ”We`ve had discussions with (Commissioner Fay) Vincent regarding the contract,” said a CBS spokewoman Sunday. But she wouldn`t disclose the topics. ”The schedule (for 1991) has not changed,” she added. According to a published report, baseball officials were willing to add a couple of games to CBS` regular-season schedule in lieu of a refund.
– Best lines of the weekend: CBS college football analyst Dan Jiggetts on Texas A&M running back Robert Wilson: ”The way he runs, he deserves a license plate.” . . . ABC college basketball announcer Keith Jackson to analyst Dick Vitale: ”If we tied your hands, could you talk?”
– Best shots: Raiders defensive end Greg Townsend eavesdropping on a Broncos sideline huddle . . . Alabama players dousing coach Gene Stallings with a bucket of water as an interception clinched the Tide`s win over Auburn.
– Best features: CBS` Lesley Visser on Eagles QB Randall Cunningham and his
”street offense.” . . . CBS` James Brown on former Michigan Heisman Trophy winner Tom Harmon.
– Best apology: NBC`s Will McDonough, in discussing the results of the Lisa Olson case, saying, it ”was a KO over everyone, including me.” McDonough consistently had taken the side of Patriots management-and players. He added, ”I felt the stories were exaggerated.” They weren`t.
– Questions: Where did CBS come up with that awful Heisman Trophy music?
. . . Why did John Saunders, who speaks so softly on ESPN, have to shout during his premier hosting chores in Saturday`s ABC basketball coverage?
. . . Was it too much to ask Illinois basketball telecasters Dick Martin and Steve Kelly to give some credit to Illinois-Chicago for its victory over the Illini?