Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 15, 1990 TAG: 9003152573
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK TV/RADIO SPORTS COLUMNIST
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
About 9:30, a few minutes before the UVa-Notre Dame tip-off, NCAA Productions play-by-play man Bob Rathbun will turn to his game analyst for a comment, and what happens next is guaranteed to be one of the biggest upsets in this tournament.
Don't adjust your picture. Don't call your cable system. Yes, the analyst is wearing lipstick.
Mimi Griffin is no stranger to television, but she will be the first woman to announce a telecast of the NCAA men's tournament. She's not exactly entering through the back door, either. The UVa-Notre Dame game will be televised nationally by ESPN, and the NCAA Productions feed will be picked up by over-the-air stations in Chicago, parts of Indiana and across Virginia (9:30 p.m., WDBJ Channel 7).
"Friends have asked, `Are you nervous?' " Griffin said. "I'm well beyond being nervous on television. And it's basketball. I know basketball. It doesn't matter whether men or women are playing it, it's still basketball.
"I'm sure there will be things I'll say that later I'll wish I hadn't said. And I'm sure I'll say some things that will cause people to sit up and say, `Hey, she knows this.' "
Griffin, 33, will call her fifth NCAA women's championship game for CBS Sports on April 1. She has worked the women's tournament for ESPN for several years, and this season called the NCAA Productions regular-season women's schedule with Rathbun.
Jim Marchiony, the NCAA's director of communications, wanted Griffin to work in the men's first round last year, but Griffin had a business conflict.
"I was shocked when he asked last year," Griffin said. "This time, I wasn't surprised at all."
Marchiony isn't worried that Griffin can't handle the assignment.
"She works as hard as Bob Rathbun does," Marchiony said. "Mimi is very conscientious. She knows basketball. I'm sure we'll have some reaction as to why we have a woman there [working a men's game]. But I'm more concerned about the fact that she's very good at what she does.
"I didn't do this as a publicity stunt . . . Mimi is a good analyst. I thought Virginia-Notre Dame would be a good, competitive game, it was going to be live on ESPN, and I thought Mimi deserved the opportunity."
Cheryl Miller worked for ABC Sports as an analyst on several men's backup telecasts this season, but made little impact. Marchiony made a wise move in pairing Griffin with Rathbun, with whom she has worked more than 25 women's games. It also will help that Rathbun, who calls ACC games, is familiar with the Cavaliers. This will be the Norfolk sportscaster's 12th UVa telecast this season.
Mike Patrick and Dan Bonner will call two of the four NCAA first-round games in Richmond. Bucky Waters steps aside after one game as the analyst with Rathbun to give Griffin her shot.
Growing up in Lancaster, Pa., Mimi Senkowski watched ACC basketball in the days when C.D. Chesley's syndicated telecasts helped the conference build its reputation. She learned "an incredible amount" of her basketball knowledge from Pat Wallace, her coach at Lancaster Catholic High.
"She studied all of the great coaches, John Wooden, Dean Smith and others," Griffin said. "She didn't just teach me how; she taught me why."
Senkowski played college basketball at Pitt and ranks as the Panthers' No. 16 all-time scorer, and then built her basketball contacts and background in three years as the national director for promotions of women's athletics with Converse. Four years ago, she left the shoe business to start her own sports marketing and promotions firm, MSG. Her firm's work has been primarily in professional golf.
Her husband, Bill Griffin, was Lehigh's career scoring leader until last year, when he was surpassed by Darren Queenan. A couple of nights ago in their Allentown, Pa., home, the Griffins sat together and watched tapes of Virginia and Notre Dame.
"I don't know why, but when the pairings came out, I turned to my husband and said, `I bet they'll ask me to do the Virginia-Notre Dame game,' " Griffin said. "I don't know why I thought that. Then, Jim called and told me which game he wanted me to work. It was like the `Twilight Zone.' "
Rathbun isn't concerned about Griffin's competency. But he knows that some male viewers will hear Griffin, but won't listen to her.
"It's not like Mimi has never done a game before," Rathbun said. "I have total confidence in her work, and we work well together. She's done the women's final for CBS. I don't care what it is, you don't do CBS without doing a nice job."
Griffin said she isn't approaching the Southeast Regional first-round game as an audition. But it may well be. CBS Sports gets exclusive rights to the men's tournament next year, and in expanding its first-round coverage, the network will need 16 analysts. Next year, CBS also will televise the women's semifinals, an almost-certain assignment for Griffin.
by CNB