While race officials keep trying to make the Indianapolis 500 safer, ABC Sports officials keep trying to make the race more watchable. Not an easy task when the cars are gobbling up ground at the rate of 300 feet a second.
Producer Bob Goodrich and director Don Ohlmeyer have tried just about everything, from putting cameras in the cars to implanting cameras on the track wall. But despite a record 44 cameras this year, race commentator Paul Page admits none of them will give the viewer the same atmosphere as being at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
”The speed of the cars works against us,” says Page. ”We`re fairly limited by the size of a TV screen. Whenever I bring friends to the Speedway, they`re always impressed by the size of it. It`s very hard to conceive of cars traveling 2 1/2 miles in 43-44 seconds. Because they do it that way, no matter how hard Don works to cut those cameras, you still don`t get an idea of the size of the place.”
”We try to show what a spectacle this place is,” adds Goodrich, ”but I`m not sure we`ve ever been able to capture what it`s really like. We try to come up with anything we can. But to be here and sense it is an entirely different proposition.”
To try and overcome those obstacles, Goodrich this year has mounted
”lipstick cameras” (named for their shape, not their function) on the wall outside Turns 2 and 4. ”It`ll give the viewers a better sense of what it feels like coming around those corners,” says Goodrich. He`ll also try different angles for the two on-board cameras apiece carried by drivers Rick Mears, Bobby Rahal, Al Unser Jr., Danny Sullivan and Michael and Mario Andretti.
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”It`s very, very difficult to show the speed so the viewer gets a sense of what 223 (m.p.h.) is like,” says Goodrich. ”There`s only so many places you can put cameras and only so many cameras you can use. (Ohlmeyer) does a better job than anybody in television in portraying speed, because he believes very strongly the cameras have to be low and close to the track. It`s a challenge, and it`s something we`re constantly trying to improve.”
– It`s the sound, rather than the sight, of speed that makes the race`s radio coverage different. WBBM Radio will carry the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network broadcast, hosted by Bob Jenkins, at 10 a.m. Sunday.
– The Bulls continue to help SportsChannel set regional cable records. Game 5 of the Knicks series May 12 averaged a 17.2 Nielsen rating with a 24 share, breaking the previous mark of a 13.9 rating set last year. From 8:30 to 9:30 that night, the SportsChannel telecast was the No. 1 show in that time period, cable or broadcast, an interesting feat considering SportsChannel is available in only half the area homes. . . . National Nielsen figures for Sunday`s Game 7 of the Bulls-Knicks series was 12.9 with a 30 share, making it the highest- rated conference semifinal game of all time.
– WMAQ-Ch. 5 will have live postgame shows following the Bulls-Cavaliers contests Saturday and Monday, with sports anchor Mark Giangreco and news anchor-cum-Bulls-fan Ron Magers reporting from Richfield, Ohio, and sportscaster Jon Kelley and analyst Dick Versace in the Chicago studio. Also, Channel 5 will have a special one-hour newscast preceding Monday`s game at 1 p.m. . . . Magic Johnson won`t be available to NBC this weekend due to previous commitments. Unfortunately, Cotton Fitzsimmons is again available. . . . Bulls assistant Tex Winter and his somebody-other-than-Michael offense is spotlighted on Monday`s ”NBA Showtime” (2 p.m., WMAQ-Ch. 5).
. . . Several Bulls players react to Upper Deck`s ”Trade Jordan” advertising campaign during ”NBA Inside Stuff” at 11 a.m. Saturday on WMAQ-Ch. 5. . . . TNT completes its NBA season with its record 37th playoff game when the Jazz and Blazers meet at 7 p.m. Friday.
– Giving credit where it`s due: While Bulls overhype has peaked unusually early this year (after all, the conference finals have barely begun), perhaps it`s time to remember the work WLUP Radio sports host Chet Coppock did to help build the hysteria a few years ago. Back when the Bulls were learning to win but not yet worthy of leading the 10 o`clock news, Coppock was doing ”Coppock on Sports” live from the Stadium as pregame and postgame shows. Wonder if the Big Guy will do the same with the Blackhawks next season? Will words like
”eh” and ”aboot” start creeping into his vocabulary?
– For those who have been waiting for the return of the weekly radio baseball ”Game of the Week” (especially in light of CBS-TV`s six-week hiatus from the sport), you`ll have to wait a while longer. WMAQ Radio has obtained the rights to the CBS Radio baseball package-which includes Sunday night contests, the All-Star Game, the playoffs and the World Series-but won`t be carrying any games until summer due to the station`s other sports commitments, i.e., the Bulls. In addition, the station will again air Notre Dame football in the fall, using WGN Radio for Irish contests if there are conflicts with baseball. – ESPN continues its hard-news approach with an hour-long ”Outside the Lines” program that examines sex and sports Wednesday. ”Incidents ranging from sexual promiscuity to sexual assault have dominated the sports headlines over the past year,” says ESPN Managing Editor Steve Anderson. ”In this special, we will examine male athletes` lifestyles in relation to women and sex.” . . . The Mid-Continent Conference`s weekly ”SportsCheck” (7 p.m. Tuesday, SportsChannel) tackles the problems of cost containment on the college level with basketball coaches Brian Hammel of Northern Illinois and Homer Drew of Valparaiso.
– Gayle Gardner will return to ”NFL Live” this fall. Gardner, who worked on the NBC pro football studio show for one season after first joining the network in 1988, will be responsible for a weekly halftime ”headline”
feature and then join host Bob Costas to discuss the issue. O.J. Simpson and Will McDonough will also be back this season. . . . CBS sportscaster James Brown and Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer co-host The Learning Channel`s ”So You Want to Be in Baseball?” The one-hour show at 9 a.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday is designed to familiarize junior high and high school students with career options in sports.