ESPN was just a fledgling cable network in 1979 when one of the bosses came up with an idea: Let`s televise the National Football League`s annual draft. It`ll be cheap (you only need one camera to show the commissioner saying, ”And the Giants pick . . . ”) and lengthy (teams had 12 picks apiece) programming.
So much for the past.
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When ESPN begins its annual draft coverage at 10 a.m. Sunday (pre-empting personal favorite ”The Sports Reporters”), there will be live post-selection interviews with the top picks and interviews from at least six remote locations.
All that in addition to host Chris Berman, analysts Tom Jackson, Joe Theismann and Mel Kiper Jr. and reporters Chris Fowler, Mike Gottfried and Fred Edelstein at New York`s Marriott Marquis Hotel.
And there will be the inevitable surprises-and headaches-for producer Fred Gaudelli, who has been in charge of the 5 1/2-hour ESPN show for the last three years.
”Every year, the burden is put on our announcers, the researchers and myself to have every possible story out there in detail,” Gaudelli said earlier this week. ”That part never changes. Every year, you have crazy stories. You make it fresh by having the freshest information and be ready to go with that.”
Gaudelli begins preparing the show in February. Even so, ”You`d be surprised how much changes from February until April,” he said.
Gaudelli tries to put his talent where his analysts` strengths are. For instance, Theismann and Jackson concentrate on personnel directors; Berman on the overall picture.
Gaudelli called it ”about 2,000 times harder” than a regular NFL game, which he produces for ESPN. ”It`s the hardest show I do every year. You`ve got 100 players to worry about, 28 teams to figure out. Logistically, it`s a real mission and to have everything covered is even a tougher mission.”
To that end, Gaudelli will have Craig James baby-sitting agent Leigh Steinberg and possible first-round picks David Klingler, Tommy Maddox and Desmond Howard.
”You always worry about that one stone you didn`t turn over,” Gaudelli said.
The show has taken on a life of its own. And a big part is the use of remote locations.
”The integration of our remotes has become a big, big plus for the show,” said Gaudelli. Like in 1990, when Andre Ware was being interviewed and reacted with joy as he was selected No. 1 by the Detroit Lions. ”There aren`t too many dramatic moments in a show like this, and that`s about as dramatic a moment as you can have.”
– Also caught in the draft: WGN, the flagship radio station for the Bears, will have 12 hours of coverage, starting at 9:05 a.m. Sunday. Chuck Swirsky, Wayne Larrivee and Hub Arkush will anchor at the Arlington International Racecourse party, while Randy Minkoff reports from Lake Forest. . . . WBBM Radio will devote Sunday`s ”SportsLine” at 10 a.m. to the draft, with Brian Davis and Ted Albrecht in the studio and Dave Eanet at Bears HQ. . . . WSCR Radio will have Dan Jiggetts, Dan McNeil and Pro Football Weekly`s Steve Silverman reporting live from Halas Hall starting at 10 a.m. . . . WLUP Radio`s three-hour coverage, beginning at approximately 5 p.m., will follow the Knicks-Pistons playoff game. Draft coverage is hosted by Chet Coppock, with Jerry Kuc in Lake Forest.
– With the Bulls` quest for a second straight NBA title beginning Friday against the Miami Heat, SportsChannel will open its coverage at 6 p.m. with a special edition of ”Bulls Beat” featuring Tom Dore, Johnny Kerr and coach Phil Jackson live from the Stadium. At 6:30 p.m., a special ”SportsChannel Report,” anchored by Steve Kashul and co-hosted by former Bulls star Norm Van Lier, will have reports from Dore, Kerr, Mike Goldberg and Julie Judelson. . . . The Blackhawks-Blues game Friday night will be shown live on
SportsChannel-Plus and picked up in progress by SportsChannel if there is a significant portion of the final period remaining. The entire contest will be repeated at 11:30 p.m.
– CBS has moved the Blockbuster Bowl into the open New Year`s Day time slot vacated last week when the Cotton Bowl switched to NBC. The network`s agreement with Raycom, which created the Blockbuster Bowl two years ago and buys time on CBS to telecast it, also allows for New Year`s Day games in 1994 and 1995.
– A potential conflict-of-interest has arisen at ABC Sports over Jim McKay`s love of horse racing. John the Bold, a 3-year-old colt technically owned by Margaret McKay, has three wins in eight races going into Saturday`s Federisco Tesio Stakes at Pimlico. If the horse does well, McKay plans to enter him in the Kentucky Derby, which ABC telecasts May 2. ”If Jim enters the horse, he won`t host the Derby,” said an ABC spokesman. ”He`ll be treated as any owner would be.” Which is why the network will have an update on John the Bold during ”Wide World of Sports” on Saturday.
– ”Showcase of Champions,” featuring the top men and women bowlers in the area, begins an eight-week run on WGBO-Ch. 66 at 9 p.m. Saturday, with Duane Dow and Carmen Salvino.
– You can find out a lot of things in the center-field bleachers at Wrigley Field. But only local freelance producer Peggy Kusinsky found out she had won a national Sports Emmy there Monday night. Kusinsky, a graduate of Resurrection High School, was honored for producing and writing an ESPN feature that appeared on ”NFL GameDay” about Miami Dolphin Greg Baty and the man who had been stalking Baty`s wife. Kusinsky was working Monday night`s Phillies-Cubs game as a freelance producer for the ESPN telecast. . . . CBS won six Sports Emmys, one more than ABC, NBC, ESPN and Home Box Office. HBO`s ”Play-By-Play: A History of Sports Television,” won three awards, as did NFL Films` syndicated series, ”This Is the NFL,” seen locally on WBBM-Ch. 2. USA Network won its first Sports Emmy-for Innovative Technical Achievement-for use of Helmet-Cam on World League football games.