Leroy Burrell, Oksana Baiul and Scotty Thurman may be the big names at the Goodwill Games that open Saturday, but Mike Klatt may be the star.
Klatt, a native Chicagoan, is the coordinating producer for Turner Broadcasting, host broadcaster for the Games. Klatt is in charge of the 64 hours of live and taped coverage for TBS and the 17 hours for ABC.
It is no little chore, considering the site: St. Petersburg, Russia.
“On my first visit two years ago, staying at the best hotel in St. Petersburg, it was difficult to order an American soft drink with ice in it,” said Klatt. “I just left the cruise ship that’s hosting us (near the broadcast center) and managed to eat one of the better Mexican meals with a cold Mexican beer for dinner. I’d say that’s quite an accomplishment in two years.”
Also an accomplishment has been working with the three Russian broadcast entities that will be handling the telecasts.
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“It’s been a challenge to pull this off,” said Klatt, who also produced TNT’s 1992 and ’94 Winter Olympics coverage. “Until six weeks ago, this (broadcast center) was a very dusty warehouse on the Gulf of Finland. I look around at miles of wires, air-conditioning tubing and cubicles. And I realize television is television, no matter where you do it.”
Besides the “exotic locale,” Klatt also has going for him “the best track meet since the Barcelona Olympics” because of the invitation-only format of the Goodwill Games. New record-holder Leroy Burrell will meet former record-holder Carl Lewis in the 100 meters Monday, while Lewis also will take on longtime nemesis Mike Powell in the long jump Tuesday.
“The effort’s been made to create the matchups that often don’t appear in the Olympics,” said Craig Masback, who will be track and field analyst for TBS’ coverage. “The Lewis-Burrell matchup is a compelling one because the surface that’s been installed in (Petrovsky Stadium) is the world’s fastest. And Burrell burns with purpose, because it hurt him a lot to lose the World Championships to his very good friend, Carl Lewis, in 1991.”
Because of the particular individual matchups in other sports, such as gymnastics and figure skating, Klatt compared the Goodwill Games-created by Ted Turner off the boycotts of the 1980 and 1984 Summer Olympics-and Olympics to the Masters and U.S. Open golf tournaments.
“It’s a totally different animal,” said Klatt.
Julie Moran and Mark Jones are hosts for ABC’s coverage that starts Saturday, while Nick Charles and Fred Hickman do the same for TBS. ABC will share announcers Cheryl Miller, Dick Button, Peggy Fleming, Roger Twibell, Dwight Stones, Bart Connor, Kathy Johnson, Cynthia Potter, Donna de Varona and John Naber with TBS, while Turner supplies ABC with Nicole Watson, Ernie Johnson Jr., Craig Sager, Hubie Brown and Ron Thulin.
And Andres “Goooooooal” Cantor, Norberto Longo and Jessi Losada move from the World Cup to provide Spanish-language coverage of the Games for Univision, starting at 9:50 p.m. Saturday on WCIU-Ch. 26.
Personnel moves: Cubs broadcaster Thom Brennaman will work with analyst Anthony Munoz on Fox Sports’ NFL telecasts this season. Former WLS-Ch. 7 reporter Lonnie Lardner, now entertainment editor/reporter for “Good Day L.A.” on Los Angeles’ KTTV-TV, will be a feature reporter on “Fox NFL Sunday,” joining co-hosts Terry Bradshaw and James Brown and analysts Howie Long and Jimmy Johnson. . . . Ahmad Rashad, with NBC since 1983, has signed a multiyear agreement with the network that includes hosting part of the 1996 Summer Olympics and the Notre Dame football pregame show as well as continuing as primary courtside reporter on NBA telecasts. . . . David Downs, vice president for programming, has been promoted to senior vice president and Tony Petitti, director of programming, to vice president at ABC Sports. . . . Daryn Kagan has joined CNN as a sports anchor, while producer/reporter Michael Galanos rejoins CNN Sports. . . . Richard Petty has been added to CBS’ announcing team for the Talladega 500 at noon Sunday on WBBM-Ch. 2.
They’re ba-a-a-ack: The Bulls, who were involved in the four highest-rated NBA regular-season telecasts last season despite the absence of Michael Jordan, will make at least five-and possibly a maximum eight-appearances on NBC this season, according to the league schedule released Thursday. In addition, the Bulls will be part of the TNT/TBS package 12 times. Locally, SportsChannel and WGN-Ch. 9 will divvy up the rest of the schedule in about two weeks.
Programming notes: WMVP-AM morning host Steve Dahl plans to have three slabs of ribs from Corky’s Bar-B-Q in Memphis delivered to Indians slugger Albert Belle-Corky’s, get it?-before Friday night’s game against the White Sox. . . . “Pit Pass with Pete Pistone,” a one-hour program on auto racing formerly called “Raceline,” airs at 5 p.m. Sundays on WCBR-FM through October. . . . WSCR-AM airs the Chicago Classic Celebrity softball game at Grant Park at 11 a.m. Sunday.