Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 1, 1995 TAG: 9507030128
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
If it works, it will be because play-by-play man Dick Enberg, the consummate pro, is able to guide the humor and analysis of Paul Maguire and mesh the longtime analyst with booth rookie Phil Simms.
Can Maguire, often outrageous, be Maguire in a shared situation? And now that he's finally gotten the promotion to the top seat after so long, will he pull back on what worked so well on the second team with Marv Albert? If he does, sensing that he needs to be taken more seriously in a bigger role, the trio will flop.
The work of all three has been properly acclaimed. Simms, as a TV rookie last season in the ESPN studio, grew from an ex-quarterback into a candid analyst who wasn't afraid to criticize his former peers. It will be interesting to see whether Joe Montana will be able to do the same as a part-timer in NBC's studio this year.
As for the demotion of Bob Trumpy from Enberg's side after three seasons and two Super Bowls, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. In making the announcement of the new No.1 team, NBC Sports president Dick Ebersol lauded Trumpy's work ethic and loyalty and left the impression the former Cincinnati tight end's elevation to the top spot was somewhat because NBC had no ``star'' at the time.
Trumpy was outstanding with Enberg, as he had been with previous NBC partners. Maybe he didn't make people laugh and maybe he didn't accompany replays with a Maddenesque ``Pow'' and ``Boom,'' but he was strong with his analysis and opinions, great with the pen on the telestrator, and he taught viewers football.
When Trumpy got his chance, he made the most of it. Ebersol's new trump card may not be as good as the old Trump. He didn't deserve the demotion.
THE PITCH: Although networks won't be able to officially negotiate for baseball's future rights until Sept.29, the demise of The Baseball Network as announced last week by ABC and NBC already has brought speculation about the game's future on the tube.
CBS, despite losing about $500 million on its $1.057 billion baseball deal from 1990-93, is interested, and Fox's desire to add to its NFL and NHL sports profile should drive up the guaranteed ante at least a bit.
Fox would seem to have the best opportunity for baseball to approach its past network exposure. With no afternoon soap operas, the network could air every League Championship Series game nationally and not regionalize both rounds of the playoffs as The Baseball Network will do this year.
There already are reports that Fox would be willing to do a Saturday afternoon ``Game of the Week,'' although the weekly exposure - with several games aired regionally in the same time slot - could move to prime time the second half of the season.
If Fox bids $175 million annually for rights as some analysts predict, that combined with ESPN's annual average payment of $42.5 million to baseball would give each club about $7.75 million annually in TV bucks. That's half of what clubs received under the CBS-ESPN deals that expired in 1993, but slightly more than the Baseball Network arrangement was predicted to yield in its first seasons.
Hey, the talent already is at Fox, too. Fox NFL play-by-play men Thom Brennaman and Joe Buck are best known for their work as second-generation baseball voices, right?
KICKOFFS: Virginia Tech and Virginia are rivals for a prime-time ESPN football date on Sept.23, and appearances on each school's conference football TV series may come a week later, too.
UVa-Clemson and Miami-Tech are two of the three CFA games under consideration by ESPN that date. The other is Penn State-Rutgers at Giants Stadium. If Miami-Tech isn't the ESPN pick, it will be the noon Big East telecast. If UVa-Clemson isn't on ESPN, it will be the ACC TV game.
The following weekend, on Sept.30, the Wake Forest-UVa game appears certain on the ACC package, and the Tech-Pitt game is probable on the Big East network.
The Big East and ACC telecast schedules will start Sept.2, on WSLS (Channel 10) and WSET (Channel 13), respectively, with non-conference games - Purdue-West Virginia and Furman-Georgia Tech.
ROBIN SOARS: ESPN's Robin Roberts is moving to bigger and better things, and not just a $400,000 annual raise to $650,000. Roberts, a superb host and SportsCenter anchor for years, will have increased duties with ESPN and ABC, including the host role on ``Wide World of Sports'' and of ESPN's exclusive coverage of the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament coverage starting in March. Roberts signed a six-year deal with the networks, through 2001, for $3.9 million.
TUBE TALK: With Enberg heading a new NFL team at NBC and also anchoring the network's golf coverage that includes the Ryder Cup, he won't be the No.2 play-by-play voice for NBC on The Baseball Network's postseason. Greg Gumbel will replace Enberg with analyst Joe Morgan. Bob Costas and Bob Uecker remain NBC's top Baseball Network team. ... Enberg is working the Wimbledon tennis championships for NBC, so the 18th-hole anchor on NBC's three-hour coverage of the U.S. Senior Open golf today (3 p.m., WSLS) and Sunday is Dan Hicks. ... The final game of the Stanley Cup Finals last Saturday night on Fox became the highest-rated NHL telecast since the final game of the 1980 finals on CBS. Fox had a 3.6 national Nielsen rating for New Jersey's clinching victory. For all of the network's playoff dates, the Nielsen average was 44 percent above the ABC Stanley Cup rating in 1994. ... The teams for baseball's July 11 All-Star Game will be revealed Sunday in an ABC one-hour special (5 p.m., WSET). ... Fox's cable network, fX, is getting into sports with a live weekly show on Sunday nights starting Sept.3. The menu will lean heavily toward highlights, news and features.
by CNB