Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 22, 1995 TAG: 9507240010
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
If you can broadcast from pole- and roof-riddled Salem Municipal Field, you can call a game from anywhere. Neely probably is the best broadcaster to call Salem games in the nine years the city's minor-league franchises have had their games on the air.
Working nine innings solo for 140 games isn't easy. The play-by-play man has to know the game enough to analyze, too. He doesn't want to talk to himself, so he tries to talk with the listener. If Neely's conversational and at times emotional style reminds listeners of Jack Buck calling St.Louis Cardinals games on KMOX radio, there's a good reason.
Neely, 30 and a University of Kansas graduate, grew up in St.Louis listening to Buck. In three years in the booth for the Class AAA Louisville Redbirds, Neely worked for the Cards' top farm club. He replaced Buck's son, Joe, when the younger Buck joined his dad on Cardinals broadcasts.
However, the No.2 job in Louisville was reduced to four innings on 72 home games only this season. Neely wanted more experience.
``I thought I needed innings,'' he said, sounding not unlike a Class A pitcher.
He didn't get a couple of Class AAA jobs that opened and closed quickly, and he considered sitting out the season, but he thought the experience in Salem would be a plus. After all, he's just like the Avalanche players. He's trying to reach the bigs. It's tougher for a broadcaster, though, because there aren't as many jobs.
``It's my sixth year doing baseball, so it's almost reactionary now,'' said Neely, whose arrival in Salem at the start of the season immediately followed his wedding in St.Louis and honeymoon in the Bahamas. ``I'm still learning. Whether it's Triple A or [Single] A, it's experience. The game is the same. The way you call it doesn't change with the level of play.''
He spent single seasons with Springfield (Ill.) in the Midwest League and Boise (Idaho) in the Northwest League before landing in Louisville in 1992. As for the future, he is certain of only one thing. He and his bride, Christine, won't spend another baseball season apart, as they are this summer. His wife works for a St.Louis law firm.
``We agreed after this season ends that wherever I end up next year, we'll be in the same city at the same time,'' Neely said. ``We'll just see what develops at the end of the season. It's a tough business to crack.''
In Brian Barnhart and Mike Minshall, Salem already has sent two of its past broadcasters on to Class AAA. Neely already has been there. If you listen to him on the Avalanche network, including Roanoke's WROV (1240 AM), it takes only a few innings to realize he probably is headed back to Class AAA - or beyond.
BLACKOUT: The Carolina Panthers are facing the strong possibility that at least a portion of their first NFL schedule won't be televised in the team's home market. Unless the Panthers sell out Clemson's Memorial Stadium - and right now the club is pushing two- and three-game ticket packages furiously - the NFL's blackout rule will put other teams on the air in Charlotte, N.C., when the Panthers are playing two hours down I-85.
The NFL's blackout rule blankets a 75-mile radius from the game site. Charlotte is more than 75 miles from Clemson, but a portion of the Charlotte TV market is closer than that to the stadium site - such as the training camp location of Spartanburg, S.C., which is 70 miles from Charlotte. If the market reaches into the 75-mile range, it must be blacked out.
The Panthers asked the NFL for relief on the policy for the one season the club plays at Clemson, but the league said it won't waive the rule.
CROWDED HOUSE: CBS Sports will air 39 hours of coverage from the U.S. Open tennis championships, starting Aug.28, and the only place you may find more analysts is at a psychiatrists' convention. It had been announced in the spring that John McEnroe would be added to the CBS crew, squeezing the air time of longtime CBS voice Tony Trabert. The network announced this week that Martina Navratilova also will work the Open from the booth, adding to the always keen observations provided by Mary Carillo.
SUCCESS PAYS: An NCAA championship has produced uncommon exposure for the Connecticut women's basketball team. UConn and Connecticut Public TV have signed a contract to air 17 women's games annually for a $260,000 rights fee. The deal also includes 12 coach's shows for Geno Auriemma and one UConn road football game each season. An increase in women's basketball exposure on the networks will come in future seasons, too.
CABLEGRAMS: Verne Lundquist has signed a multiyear contract with Turner Sports, and to his NBA work he will add play-by-play on TNT's Sunday night NFL half-season, replacing Gary Bender. Lundquist, who also will work golf and figure skating telecasts, leaves CBS Sports. ... Pam Oliver, who has been ESPN's Houston-based reporter, is moving from that network to the Fox Network as an NFL reporter reportedly for $250,000 annually. Oliver, 34, was a track and field All-America choice at Florida A&M. Before joining ESPN, she worked at stations in Tallahassee, Fla.; Tampa, Fla.; Huntsville, Ala.; Albany, Ga.; Buffalo, N.Y.; and Houston. ... ``Inside the NFL'' launches its 19th season on HBO on Sept.7, and the show's newest face is former Turner Sports reporter Nicole Watson. ... The Nashville Network will increase its fishing shows in 1996. TNN also will air live more than 50 motorsports events in 1996 and is developing a live motorsports call-in talk show from 6-7 p.m. on Saturdays. NASCAR Winston Cup events provide TNN's highest-rated programming.
by CNB