For Paula Zahn, these Winter Olympics are the culmination of nearly 15 years in front of television cameras.
Zahn, who grew up in Naperville and bloomed in Los Angeles, is now living the high life-literally-in the French Alps as Tim McCarver`s co-host on CBS`
prime-time telecasts of the Albertville Games.
”I`m pretty dizzy thinking about it,” said Zahn recently. ”When I came to CBS (as co-host of `CBS This Morning` in 1990), I had no idea I`d be getting involved with sports.”
Nothing in Zahn`s professional background hinted of an association with sports, so she was surprised when CBS Sports President Neal Pilson told her she was being considered for the job. When Pilson made it official in January 1991, he told her not to celebrate because her work had just begun.
”I`ve actually been in training since (then),” said Zahn. ”It`s been a lot of work. Tim and I would get together two or three times a week to work with several of our producers.”
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Zahn isn`t a complete sports neophyte, however, having played tennis, golf and ”a little, very little” volleyball at first Naperville Central and then Naperville North. She eventually learned to ski at Four Lakes in Lisle.
”My best friend`s father was head of the National Ski Patrol there,”
Zahn said. ”He said we could get free passes to ski if we would volunteer to fake accidents on the hill so the Ski Patrol could bring us down on toboggans. That`s how I learned to ski-on free passes, faking accidents.”
Except to tape feature stories, Zahn hasn`t had much time to ski the Savoy slopes. Most of her time is spent inside the International Broadcast Center in Moutiers. But she understands the foolhardy nature of trying to cover these Games, spread over more than 600 square miles.
”Because of the logistics of the Games, our announcers are not going to be able to get (to the IBC),” Zahn said. ”We`ll have very little contact, other than telephone, fax machines and radios. The best way for me to get information is to sit in the control room and watch the tape being fed from each event. Which is a lot more efficient than dealing with phone calls.”
Which makes her pairing with McCarver ”great,” she said. ”What I like about him is that he`s really been working hard. He knows his stuff. He has great enthusiasm for athletes and the sacrifices they`ve made.”
Zahn, who received a local Emmy award while in Los Angeles and two broadcasting awards before that in Houston, has made some sacrifices of her own. Currently, Zahn lives with husband Richard Cohen and their daughter in New York City.
”We call more places home,” said Zahn, who also has worked several time shifts.
”It`s a very odd lifestyle. It`s incredibly difficult to stay healthy. You never get enough sleep. There`s no way to get the work done you need to get done. You just push that envelope. I wind up sleeping 14 hours a day on the weekends. My husband and I hardly ever go out. The problem on my (morning) show is that news keeps breaking. There`s no way to turn off the valve.”
But, for now, Zahn`s reward is a plum assignment, one that will end one day before her 36th birthday. And she feels all the drudgery has been worth it. As Zahn said, ”It`s my privilege.”
– CBS` prime-time Olympics coverage got off to a rocky start Saturday night. And we`re not talking about the unending Rocky Marval features. Zahn and McCarver had particular trouble describing the unusually creative
entertainment portion of the opening ceremonies. They stumbled over the difference between agoraphobia (fear of going outside) and acrophobia (fear of heights) when talking about the bungee jumpers. They talked about ”dancing snowflakes.” They waved the U.S. flag. What they didn`t do was have a clue. CBS producer David Winner fell back on interviews of the same athletes-Dan Jansen, Eva Twardorkens, Christopher Bowman-seen in earlier coverage. He tried gimmicks (putting a camera in Bonnie Warner`s hat) and glamor (seen enough of Katarina Witt yet?). What was needed were interviews with Pascal Ortego, the producer of the ceremonies, and Phillipe DeCoufle, the choreographer. What could have been an enlightening cultural experience turned into another jingoistic pep rally.
– CBS reported a 15.9 Nielsen overnight rating, making it the highest-rated Saturday night for the network since World Series Game 6 (21.4). The number also was a 64 percent increase over the network`s normal Saturday night rating (9.4). It did, however, mark a 6.5 percent decrease from the opener of the 1988 Winter Games at Calgary. That year, ABC got a 17 overnight.
– Weekend wanderings: For a while, it was hard to tell Saturday night if the network was broadcasting the Winter Olympics or Music Appreciation 101. Three different melodies-including Aaron Copland`s ”Fanfare for the Common Man”-in three minutes, but the best was David Frishberg`s humorous ”Report from the Planet Earth.” . . . Funniest shot: French President Francois Mitterrand doing the wave. . . . Worst decision: Saving the downhill for prime time Sunday, more than 12 hours after the event had ended. . . . Best feature:
Charles Kuralt (maybe he could have explained the opening ceremonies) on mountains. . . . Worst fill: Pairs figure skating competition without commentary.
– TNT begins its Olympic schedule at noon Monday with live coverage of the Canada-Switzerland hockey game and taped highlights of the men`s downhill combined, men`s singles luge and normal-hill (90-meter) ski jumping.
– Other weekend wanderings: After all the NBC hype, it still was touching to watch Magic Johnson leaving the locker room before the NBA All-Star Game. . . . Touching sight II: David Thompson telling his children ”I`m all right” after suffering a knee injury in the NBA Legends game on TNT. . . . Pick one: Bears tackle Stan Thomas was ”shot in the head” (CBS-TV), suffered a
”fractured skull” (WGN Radio) and/or was ”grazed” by a bullet (WSCR Radio).