Naturally, he made Jim McKay wait.
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For Fidel Castro wouldn`t be Fidel Castro if the Cuban dictator didn`t keep the media, especially the American media, especially as honored and revered a gentleman as Jim McKay, waiting.
But when the two finished their conversation that June night almost six hours later, McKay recalled recently, the waiting was worth it.
”He was an entirely pleasant experience,” said McKay. ”He`s one of those larger-than-life figures. When the man walks into a room, it`s kind of like seeing a political cartoon walk in the door. (But) he answered the hard questions as well as the easy ones. We went through the whole gamut.”
And what was supposed to be just a brief feature for ABC to toss into its upcoming Pan American Games coverage turned into its own special, which will air at 2 p.m. Sunday.
The interview, arranged through ABC Sports and the Cuban government, had a twofold purpose. For ABC, it was a chance to make some news; for Castro, it was a chance to give his country a much-needed image change.
McKay`s biggest challenge, besides staying awake during the eight-hour wait (which eventually included a tour of Havana), was what to ask Castro.
”From the moment he walked in, he couldn`t have been friendlier or more cooperative,” said McKay, who wound up spending 4 1/2 hours with Castro in the Palace of the Revolution. ”He talked about everything from baseball to Jesuits-he went to a Jesuit college (and) he had good things to say about the Jesuits, oddly enough-to the Missile Crisis to the Kennedy assassination.”
But what got Castro started talking was, naturally, his love of baseball. ”I was wondering how I could set this guy at ease,” said McKay, who opted out of his usual host role for ABC`s Pan Am coverage. ”So the first question I came up with was, `How good a baseball player were you?` That got us off to a pretty good start. The next thing I knew, he`s talking about baseball.
”I said to my wife when I got home, `Here I am sitting eyeball to eyeball with the ruler of Cuba, one of the most significant figures of the 20th century, and he`s looking me in the eye and telling me the introduction of aluminum bats was a good thing for the younger players.` ”
Even when every topic had been covered, Castro wouldn`t leave, autographing baseballs and talking to the other TV personnel. Said McKay: ”I think he would have talked all night.”
– It was last Tuesday and the corridors of the TVKO offices in New York were bustling with activity as officials of the Time-Warner pay-per-view subsidiary were negotiating the rights fee for the Evander Holyfield-Mike Tyson heavyweight championship bout Nov. 8. The price of $39 million eventually was settled on.
Among the interested parties were Holyfield promoter Dan Duva and TVKO boss Seth Abraham, who was still recovering from a lengthy flight to New York earlier that day from Israel.
What was supposed to be a brief session between Abraham`s people and Duva`s people turned long when word leaked out George Foreman was filing a $100 million suit against Holyfield for allegedly reneging on a return match. This despite Abraham offering Foreman $5 million for an HBO fight in September against an ”opponent.” As the negotiations were concluding, several lawyers stood by the elevators. One of them summed up the day:
”Either way, Foreman wins. Either he gets $5 million (for the HBO fight), or $50 million (from the lawsuit).”
Just to be on the safe side, however, Abraham told a visitor he was flying to Las Vegas the next day to meet with Bob Arum, Foreman`s promoter.
”There`s still a couple of points to be clarified,” Abraham said.
”Main Events (Duva) and Top Rank (Arum) are fiduciary partners in TVKO.”
When it came to promoting the Tyson-Holyfield fight, ”Don (King, Tyson`s promoter) had no choice. Evander`s the champion. Don can pontificate. He can primp. But at the end of all that pomp and circumstance, Dan Duva represents the champion of the world, so he`s got the aces. We were never concerned the fight wouldn`t take place on TVKO, because Dan`s got the champ and the champion`s promoter is going to set the course of the negotiations.”
The same Dan Duva who was seen rushing between lawyers and telephones Tuesday. As one official from another sport said, ”Boxing is the only sport that loves to air its dirty linen in public.”
– Also on the boxing front, Showtime airs the delayed telecast of the WBC super-featherweight title bout between champion Azumah Nelson and Jeff Fenech at 9 p.m. Wednesday. . . . And unbeaten heavyweight Riddick Bowe meets Philip Brown on ”USA Tuesday Night Fights” at 8 p.m.
– Tom Kirkland begins a three-part series, ”Behind the White Lines,”
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examining the past, present and future of blacks in baseball on ”CNN Sports Tonight” at 10 p.m. Monday and on ”CNN Sports LateNight” at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday. In addition, CNN Sports will have a live half-hour special on the topic at 8 p.m. Saturday, hosted by Kirkland.
– Weekend wonderings: Now that WGN Radio has added the all-important Bears intrasquad scrimmage to its programming, what`s next? Play-by-play of the team`s physicals? . . . Nice shot: The Braves` Ron Gant celebrating his inside-the-park homer against the Cardinals before crossing the plate Saturday night. . . . Nice line: CBS` Jack Buck explaining a delay in the Dodgers-Mets game: ”They had to replace the first-base bag-it melted.” . . . Nice try:
NBC tried using a 3-D graphic to show the undulating greens at the LPGA Big Apple Classic. Fortunately, the gimmick, which didn`t work, was dropped Sunday.