Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, December 24, 1994 TAG: 9412280047
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
So, Super Bowl XXIX - that's 29 to non-Romans - will be played Sunday, Jan.29, at Joe Robbie Stadium in suburban Miami. Kickoff will be shortly after 6 p.m. ABC (WSET, Channel 13, locally) will air the game, with Al Michaels, Frank Gifford and Dan Dierdorf in the booth.
And for you party people who really want to plan ahead, next season's Super Bowl XXX is scheduled Sunday, Jan.28, 1996, at Tempe, Ariz., with NBC having the TV rights.
HAPPY HOLIDAY: One of the area's most familiar voices isn't on TV or radio, but it's nice to hear he is home for the holidays after a short hospital stay.
E.B. ``Pete'' Petersen, the public address maestro of Roanoke College, Virginia Tech, Salem High School, the Salem Civic Center and the Stagg Bowl, is feeling better after experiencing some cardiac problems.
He's expecting to return to the microphone Monday afternoon at the high school Holiday Hoops Classic at the civic center. It shouldn't be long before Pete's back on the golf course at Hidden Valley Country Club, too.
HOOP HOLIDAY: Seventeen bowl games will be televised in nine days (Sunday through Jan.2) and the NFL will finish the regular season with a five-telecast weekend, but NBC still will manage to squeeze in its NBA season debut doubleheader on Christmas.
The Seattle-Denver tipoff (4 p.m., WSLS) will be preceded by an NBA special, ``Below the Rim,'' a look at the league's little men at 3, followed by the ``NBA Showtime'' studio half-hour at 3:30. Hannah Storm hosts, and Julius Erving, Bill Walton and Peter Vecsey return with their often grinch-like opinions. The New York-Chicago nightcap tips at 6:30.
NBC won't have another pro hoops telecast until a Jan.22 twinbill.
TOUGH TASK ESPN analyst Mike Gottfried says his former assistant at Murray State, Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer, has a difficult assignment in Tennessee at Friday's Gator Bowl (7:30 p.m., TBS cable).
``Tennessee, during the season, has become one of the most improved teams in college football,'' Gottfried said of the unranked Vols (7-4). ``That might be a top 10 team right now. Frank's guys are going to have their hands full. Tennessee is so big up front, if that running game gets going, it's hard to stop.
``Defensively, [coordinator] Larry Marmie moved some people into the right places. Considering how Tennessee started, [head coach] Phil Fulmer did one of the best coaching jobs in the country this season. For Tech, [quarterback] Maurice DeShazo is going to have to have a great game if they're going to have a chance to win the game.''
HONESTY: Asked why the Gator Bowl chose Tennessee (7-4) over Mississippi State (8-3) as the team for the Southeastern Conference's third bowl slot, Gator executive director Rick Catlett said the game was thinking about the future, when it will match second teams from the Big East and ACC.
``We felt Tennessee's tradition was a plus, and the fact that they're in the SEC's Eastern Division with Florida was another point,'' Catlett said. ``They traditionally bring fans, and being honest, we're about to negotiate a new TV contract with a network, and we needed another rating point or two to help. Tennessee helps us more that way than Mississippi State.''
The Gator plans to move to a 12:30 p.m. kickoff on New Year's Day in future years. With the TBS contract ending, the game seems likely to move to CBS or ESPN. The per-team payoff will remain at the $1.5 million Tech and Tennessee will receive.
MILK RUN: CBS Sports has hired Heisman Trophy winner and CFL quarterback Doug Flutie as a guest analyst for Friday's Sun Bowl (2:30 p.m., WDBJ), and that got play-by-play man Jim Nantz reminiscing on Flutie's ``Hail Mary'' pass that stunningly lifted Boston College over Miami in 1984.
``I was the sports anchor at KSL in Salt Lake City and newly married,'' said Nantz, who will call the North Carolina-Texas game Friday. ``There were 30 seconds left in the BC-Miami game. My wife was making mashed potatoes and was at the critical juncture in preparation which calls for milk.
``Well, of course, we didn't have any milk and she insisted I go to the store at that moment. It may have been our first fight. So, needless to say, I missed the historic moment by two minutes. This is my own personal `Heidi' story.''
NO FREEDOM: Tuesday night's Freedom Bowl between Utah and Arizona is the only one of the remaining 18 bowl games that won't be televised in the region. No local stations picked up the Raycom telecast, and who can blame them?
AROUND THE DIAL: Virginia Tech's broadcast of Wednesday night's basketball game at Tennessee will be available to Hokies in Jacksonville, Fla., for the Gator Bowl on WZNZ (1430 AM). The Tech network broadcast of the Gator Bowl also will be on the air in Florida, on WRRX (97.7 FM) in Gainesville. Tech's Gator broadcast will be heard on the Armed Forces Radio Network to 350 stations in 135 countries, plus all U.S. ships at sea. ... WJPR/WFXR (Channels 21/27) will air a half-hour preview on the Domino's Valvano Classic, Roanoke College's basketball tournament that benefits cancer. The show, hosted by Dave Ross, airs Sunday at 8:30 a.m. The tournament is scheduled Jan. 2-3 at the Bast Center. WROV (1240 AM) will broadcast the championship game at 7:30 p.m. ... ESPN's new contract with the NCAA for a myriad of events, headed by coverage of the Division I women's basketball Final Four, is worth $2.67 million annually, up from $1.5 million. ... ESPN will air ``Voices of the Game,'' a 90-minute documentary on baseball broadcasting, Sunday at noon. More than 50 broadcasters will be featured, including Mel Allen, Russ Hodges, Vin Scully, Bob Costas, Harry Caray and Lindsey Nelson. ... The highlight of the Big East's new contract with ESPN moves the conference tournament semifinals and final into prime time on cable from afternoon games on CBS, starting next season. ... ESPN now has college football deals with the Big East, ACC, SEC, Big Ten and WAC, starting with the 1996 season.
by CNB