Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, November 12, 1994 TAG: 9411170024
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Vitale, the ESPN and ABC analyst, not only has the Cavaliers No.6 in his preseason rankings. He picks UVa to reach the NCAA Final Four in Seattle with Arizona, Kentucky and defending national champ Arkansas, his favorite.
``I really like their competition this season,'' Vitale said of the Cavaliers. ``They have all the elements they need this season. The one dilemma they had last season was scoring points. Now, they have Cory Alexander back from injury and have added [freshmen] Curtis Staples and Norman Nolan.
``Harold Deane and Jamal Robinson will be better with experience. Junior Burrough can make the tough shot. And you know they're going to keep playing that tough defense. It's the kind of team no one wants to play because of the way they play defense everywhere.''
Vitale knows UVa's question mark is in the middle, where Chris Alexander apparently has beaten out Yuri Barnes for a starting job. The Cavaliers' lack of height is their only deficiency, Vitale said, but, ``They do block out [rebounding] very well and they know how to attack the basket. Besides, every team has at least a little flaw.''
Vitale, whose one-hour season preview - ``Slam, Bam, Jam'' - airs Tuesday at 10:30 p.m. on ESPN, said UVa is no lock to finish in the first four of the ACC, however.
``The ACC is the best conference this year, and seven teams are legitimate top-25 teams, and Clemson and N.C. State aren't cupcakes, either,'' Vitale said. ``North Carolina, Maryland and Duke are up there with Virginia, but Georgia Tech is right there, too. That's how good the league is this year.''
Vitale, who is ready to turn up the volume on another season, said the Cavaliers also have the right man in charge. He said coach Jeff Jones ``is often overlooked because he's not as charasmatic or in the bright lights hitting one-liners like some others. But he's a solid, solid coach and he's in the perfect environment.
``The bottom line is to know your strength, and Jeff does. You have to know where you fit. Jeff wouldn't be a good match, say, at the [Nevada-Las] Vegases. At Virginia, he's a perfect match.''
LANDSLIDE: One vote was no surprise in this election week. In a choice between two attractive NFL telecasts, the WSLS ``Name the Game'' toll-free phone vote was the most lopsided in the two-year history of the democratic AFC picking process.
The Cleveland-Philadelphia game got 11,423 votes and will be aired Sunday at 1 p.m. on Channel 10. Left feeling like the Democrats was San Diego-Kansas City, with 1,918 votes. Not only was the disparity created by the always vocal Browns' fans who are railroad transplants from Ohio. There are a good number of Eagles' rooters in the region, too. And with Washington's bye week, it figures some Redskins' fans voted to see another NFC East team.
That said, WFXR/WJPR (Channels 21/27) still has Sunday's big game from Fox, with Dallas-San Francisco at 4 p.m. For the first time in 20 years, NBC's coverage of the AFC holds a Nielsen ratings advantage over the NFC package (moved from CBS to Fox) after 10 weeks of the season. Dallas-San Francisco probably will erase that Nielsen lead Sunday.
MADDENING: John Madden, who will work the Cowboys-49ers telecast on Fox with Pat Summerall, said one of those NFC powers will be in the Super Bowl. As for the Super opponent for Dallas or San Francisco?
``I don't think there's any consensus, general or otherwise, who the AFC team will be,'' Madden said this week on a conference call. ``One week, you think it's Miami, then it doesn't look that way. Then, Kansas City. I thought that was the team the second week of the season [when the Chiefs beat San Francisco]. The Raiders? No. Buffalo? They lost twice to the Jets.
``It's tough at the halfway point to even see who the other team will be, but I'd say they're going to lose.''
WHINE AND POSES: In an interview with Verne Lundquist during tonight's ``Ice Wars,'' spoiled skating champion Nancy Kerrigan whines that CBS hurt her reputation during the Winter Olympics when the network's cameras and microphones caught Kerrigan's zinger on gold medalist Oksana Baiul while they waited for the Ukranian skater to appear for the medals ceremony.
Uh, Nancy, you also ripped Mickey Mouse. You weren't ambushed in the Baiul situation, either. In an interview with The Associated Press, CBS Olympics host Greg Gumbel, now with NBC, summed up your situation.
``We had the same cameraman with the same camera in the same place for the whole Olympics,'' Gumbel said of Kerrigan's whining that CBS ``overheard'' her remarks. ``She's not the sharpest knife in the drawer.''
AROUND THE DIAL: The Roanoke Times & World-News again will publish college basketball TV schedules on a week-to-week basis, beginning Monday. ... Jim Gibbons, who was a Washington Redskins' radio and TV voice for 25 years, was inducted into the Washington Hall of Stars during halftime of the Redskins-49ers game Sunday. Gibbons is the owner of Roanoke's WFIR/WPVR Radio, where his son, Terry Gibbons, is general manager. The elder Gibbons also is the man who broke in a rookie CBS analyst in 1960 - Pat Summerall. ... The Old Dominion Athletic Conference basketball preview show will air Monday at 4:30 p.m. on cable's Home Team Sports. ... With Roy Firestone ``exploring new challenges'' in broadcasting, ESPN SportsCenter anchor Chris Myers will take over as the host interviewer of ``Up Close,'' Firestone's signature show for a decade. When Myers is on assignment, SportsCenter reporter Andrea Kremer will be the substitute host. ... Kansas football coach Glen Mason has the right idea about those irate Jayhawk fans who keep calling his talk show. ``I hope they keep firing,'' Mason said. ``I'm a lot tougher on myself than anyone else is. I'd much rather have it that way than the apathy that used to be around here.''
by CNB