Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 23, 1994 TAG: 9404230024
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
In a media conference call Thursday, Johnson said what he thought. Asked if he might dial up other former coaches-turned-analysts like Bill Walsh, Joe Gibbs, Mike Ditka, the two-time Super Bowl champion coach went deep.
"No," he said. "I told you. I want to be the best."
Johnson will be paid $650,000 for his opinions by Fox, and he will get another $250,000 from Home Box Office for a weekly appearance on "Inside the NFL." He'll also be getting a $2 million contract settlement from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Don't expect Johnson to avoid discussing his former team.
"If you'll check the record, I was not that reserved when someone was paying my salary, and I don't think I'll be that reserved now," Johnson said. "I'm not going to go out of my way to take a shot at anyone, but I'm not going to change my personality. I'm just going to give opinions. . . . I was critical of my employer when I worked for him. I'm going to try and get along with this boss."
Johnson said joining Fox reminds him of his move from championships at the University of Miami to what was then a doormat Dallas franchise.
"Five years ago, we started out and we became the best in the NFL," he said. "Fox wants to do the same. I want to be the very best. That's a mark of my career. I'll do whatever it takes. If it means I've ON THE AIR JACK BOGACZYK got to bulk up for endorsing some weight-loss milkshake, I'll do that."
\ FOX TROT: Johnson's decision for Fox over offers from ESPN and TNT puts him on the noon one-hour studio show with co-host Terry Bradshaw and recently retired Los Angeles Raiders lineman Howie Long. Fox is seeking a co-host. The candidates include Greg Gumbel - Bradshaw's superb CBS partner in recent years on "The NFL Today" - and ESPN "Up Close" interviewer Roy Firestone.
To date, Fox has hired three NFL play-by-play men - Pat Summerall, Kevin Harlan and Joe Buck. The five analysts are John Madden, Matt Millen, Tim Green, Anthony Munoz and Ron Pitts. The network will have six or seven teams. Among those being considered for play-by-play work are Thom Brennaman of Chicago's WGN and Home Team Sports' rising talent Kenny Albert, son of NBA voice Marv Albert.
\ DRAFT NOTICE: With ESPN getting the NFL to move its draft back to 3:30 p.m. Sunday, the ratings should be higher than last year's record 4.2 (or 2.6 million homes). The NFL will draft two rounds Sunday, but ESPN's 5 1/2 hours of live work won't cover that. Last year, the first round alone lasted five hours.
There are people who sit and watch the draft coverage from beginning to end who say that watching baseball is boring.
That's incredible.
\ HOOPLA: The NBA playoffs, with some especially attractive first-round matchups in the Western Conference, will begin next week with a new telecast format from Turner Broadcasting. Two Turner networks, TNT and TBS, will air playoff doubleheaders Thursday and Friday nights.
That's one game from each of the eight first-round series over two nights. The TBS games will air at 7 and 9:30 p.m. The TNT games start one hour later. NBC Sports begins its playoff coverage next weekend with a Saturday doubleheader and three games on Sunday.
TNT will televise a minimum of 26 games in the playoffs, into the conference finals, but it probably will show about 33-34 games. TBS will show at least five first-round games.
Turner's coverage begins Sunday night at 8 with a one-hour TNT playoff special, hosted from the Atlanta studios by Ernie Johnson, Hubie Brown and Doug Collins.
\ NEW PITCH: Home Team Sports is adding more pro baseball to its Baltimore Orioles lineup. The cable network begins a weekly Carolina League telecast starting May 2. The Monday night games, via tape mostly from the previous weekend series, are being produced by Lynchburg and Frederick, the only two clubs that show games on their hometown cable systems.
HTS again will produce and televise live the annual Carolina League All-Star Game, on July 20 from Wilmington, Del. The first date for Salem on the HTS schedule is June 6, the Buccaneers' game at Frederick from the previous afternoon.
\ EXPRESS TEAM: Roanoke Express radio voice Tim Woodburn and coach Frank Anzalone are a new TV team. The duo will call Game 5 of the ECHL finals Tuesday at Dorton Arena for Raleigh's WLFL, which will air the game on same-night tape delay. Whatever the Storm and IceCaps do, the TV team should be entertaining.
\ VERY SWEETPEA: One of the rewards of Pernell "Sweetpea" Whitaker's recent decision over Santos Cardona was a four-fight contract with Home Box Office that will pay the Norfolk boxer $18 million. The total sum is guaranteed only if he wins all four bouts.
It's the most lucrative contract outside the heavyweight division, so HBO viewers should expect a Whitaker-Julio Cesar Chavez rematch and a bout with Buddy McGirt in the not-so-distant future.
\ AROUND THE DIAL: With the NFL Draft extending into prime time, ESPN pushes "Sunday Night Baseball" back to 9 p.m. The Montreal-Los Angeles game will mark the regular-season debut of BaseCam, a wireless camera embedded in the side of the second-base bag. The camera is as thick as a deck of cards. . . . Jeff Dickerson, who has been sports director Jim Carroll's on-air caddy for years at WROV (1240 AM), makes his play-by-play debut when the Roanoke station airs four hours of the Stage 5 time trial of the Tour DuPont on May 9. . . . The annual NBA Draft Lottery is scheduled May 22 at halftime of an NBA playoff telecast on NBC.
by CNB