Three of NBC’s broadcasters-Charlie Jones, Todd Christensen and John Dockery-weren’t going to wait until Saturday to start gushing over the Florida State-Notre Dame game. They were doing it earlier this week.
“This game has so many unique qualities to it,” said Jones, who has broadcast his own “unique” events, including the network’s last Game of the Century-the 1987 Fiesta Bowl. “Not only No. 1 and No. 2, but it’s during the regular season and it’s on a college campus. And it’s just not any college campus, it’s at Notre Dame Stadium, one of the all-time great settings for college football.”
Cue the marching band . . .
“Nobody likes pro football like I do,” said Christensen. “But from the jaded looks and the staid answers, I find my cynicism rising just a little bit. I actually enjoy a week of the golly-gee-whiz kind of attitude you can only get from kids 18 to 22. College football isn’t getting too big. Despite the peripheral aspects of steroids and illegal payments, between the sidelines, it’s still pristine and lovely.”
Cue the cheerleaders . . .
“This particular game is a special kind of contest,” said Dockery. “I’ve been to a lot of games, and sometimes you feel jaded. But this one has an electricity building up to it that you don’t want to miss. It’s something that’s different from the everyday kind of football game.”
Cue the teams . . .
“This is a fabulous week for college football,” added Jones. “And if the game develops into the great game we think it can be, I’m wondering if this isn’t going to be one of those very special sporting events that viewers around the country are going to remember where they were when they saw it.”
Cue the viewers . . .
With Bob Costas on hand as host, NBC has arranged to hold up the kickoff until 12:47 p.m., Chicago time, to allow for more than the usual pregame hype. Which, if the comments from Jones, Christensen and Dockery are any indication, certainly isn’t needed.
– NBC isn’t alone in South Bend. CNN’s Bob Lorenz interviews coaches Bobby Bowden of Florida State and Lou Holtz of Notre Dame live on “College Football Preview” at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. And ESPN’s “College GameDay” crew of Chris Fowler, Lee Corso and Craig James will report from the Notre Dame campus at 10:30 a.m. Saturday with features comparing the schools’ traditions, coaches and kickers as well as interviews with alums George Wendt (Notre Dame) and Burt Reynolds (Florida State).
– Ex-Bulls player and SportsChannel studio analyst Norm Van Lier has joined WMVP-AM as its late-night host. Van Lier works the 11 p.m.-2 a.m. slot formerly held by Ed Schwartz, who has moved to WLUP-FM. Also at ‘MVP, basketball talent scout David Kaplan has been hired as a contributor, starting with a two-hour show at 1 p.m. Saturday to discuss this week’s college signings. . . . Last Saturday’s Bulls telecast on WGN-Ch. 9 enabled the station to come in first in the local audience battle with a 16.2 Nielsen rating with a 28 share, compared to last year’s 16.5/26 for the home opener. . . . Last Saturday’s NBC Breeders’ Cup telecast had a 3.4 national Nielsen rating with a 9 share, up from 3.0 percent a year ago.
– WSCR-AM has made emergency plans to cover Saturday’s late-afternoon broadcast of the Illinois-Penn State football game. According to program director Ron Gleason, if the contest is still close at the station’s sign-off hour of 5:30 p.m., the broadcast will be moved to WXRT-FM. If the game is one-sided, however, “we’ll dump it,” Gleason said. He couldn’t say if that would be the plan for Illinois’ Nov. 20 contest against Wisconsin, another 2:30 p.m. start.
– NBC Sports Dick Ebersol has signed a new multiyear contract that, in effect, ends speculation he might become the next baseball commissioner. “The passion of my life is sports,” said Ebersol, “and I am thrilled to know that I will be able to stay involved with sports at NBC for the foreseeable future.” First up on Ebersol’s docket: completion of NFL contract talks. . . . Also at NBC, Gayle Gardner, who spent six years at the network as a sports anchor, left to join the Television Food Network, a 24-hour cable service premiering Nov. 23, as host of a call-in show devoted to food, health and nutrition. . . . Michael Jordan makes what could be his last competitive TV appearance when he takes on Sheryl Swoopes as part of NBC’s “Hoop-It-Up” telecast at 4 p.m. Saturday.
– ABC telecasts the New York City Marathon for the 13th straight year Sunday. Unlike the Chicago Marathon, which scrambles for TV coverage from year to year, New York keeps chugging along due to a combination of exposure and prize money, according to ABC analyst Marty Liquori. “It’s based solely on the impact of television,” says Liquori. “Exposure is the No. 1 priority for an athlete. The more exposure you get, the more valuable you are to your sponsor. You can’t get any more exposure than New York.” Chicago officials “have problems that they’re climbing out of,” said Liquori, who produced an abbreviated version of the Chicago race for Prime Ticket. “Television on a national level wasn’t available to them. Other marathons like Los Angeles and San Francisco are playing catch-up. New York is the forerunner in prize money and in attracting the elite field.”