ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, January 20, 1996 TAG: 9601220023
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: ON THE AIR
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
John Kernan is returning to a desk job, but he certainly isn't complaining about it.
Kernan, who moved from the sports director's chair at Roanoke's WDBJ (Channel 7) to become an auto racing pit reporter for cable's ESPN, has a new role with the network. When the Sunday racing show ``RPM 2Night'' goes to weeknights starting in February, Kernan will be the host of the half-hour show on cable's ESPN2.
``It really kind of floored me when they asked if I'd be interested in doing it,'' Kernan said this week from his home in Gainesville, Fla. ``I just figured someone else would do it. I thought Dave Despain was the guy.''
After leaving Channel 7, Kernan continued to live in Roanoke and commuted to his ESPN assignments. Then, in May, Kernan and his wife, Anita Bevins-Kernan, moved to Florida, where Bevins-Kernan teaches broadcasting and attends graduate school at the University of Florida.
Kernan's new job means the couple will be moving again, to the Charlotte, N.C., area. ``RPM 2Night'' will air most nights from the studios of ESPN subsidiary Creative Sports in Fort Mill, S.C. On some occasions, Kernan will do the show from a track. The first two weeks of shows will air from Daytona International Speedway, starting Feb.7.
The show will air Monday through Friday at 7 p.m. Kenny Mayne, also a ``SportsCenter'' anchor, will continue to serve as host for the Sunday night RPM show at 6:30. Meanwhile, Kernan's pit reporting and race duties will be reduced because of his new job. His seventh year as a race reporter for ESPN will include 12 to 15 races, mostly NASCAR Winston Cup events.
``We kind of decided that this was one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities,'' Kernan said. ``I guess I should have had some idea when they called and wanted me to go on the NASCAR Cruise and do some interviews. Then, they invited us to the company Christmas party in Bristol, [Conn.]. That's never happened before. It wasn't long after that they called and asked.''
``RPM 2Night'' is described by ESPN as ``the `SportsCenter' of motorsports.'' The cable network is hoping racing enthusiasts will demand more systems add ESPN2, which has been cable's fastest-growing network during the past two years and is available in about 28 million homes.
The network will begin its NASCAR coverage with 50 hours from Daytona's Speedweeks, with 381/2 hours on ``The Deuce.''
``I'm really excited about this,'' Kernan said. ``ESPN is top of the line. It's where people in sports want to work. It's like how news people all used to want to go to work for CBS News, because that was the best. This is that kind of situation.''
ICEMEN COMETH: The National Hockey League season on the Fox Network begins today (8 p.m., WJPR/WFXR Channels 21/27) with live coverage of the league's All-Star Game from Boston's Fleet Center. Not only is it the game's first prime-time showing on a U.S. network, the telecast also will be the first to utilize graphically enhanced pucks.
Fox Sports and the NHL have combined to patent a hockey puck with a circuit board about the size of a thin silver dollar. That board gives the puck a glow when on camera and a comet-like tail when moving. The puck is highlighted, making it easier to follow.
The question is whether the visually enhanced puck will be a distraction for viewers. The NHL had four teams test the altered pucks - sawed in half to allow the board to placed inside, then glued back together with super-strength epoxy - for durability.
Fifty pucks have been prepared for the All-Star Game, and, once turned on, the battery within each disc lasts for 10 minutes. Once a battery is dead, that puck can't be used again. NHL officials are constantly changing pucks during a game to toss out those with cuts and dents, so most pucks don't last more than 10 minutes anyway.
Fox's regular-season NHL afternoon game coverage begins Jan.27, with six regional contests. The network will air games three consecutive Saturdays, then break until March 31, when it will have the first of three Sunday games to finish the regular season. The network also has nine Stanley Cup playoff games, the first six of those on Sunday afternoons.
NAME GAME: Chicago's WGN has announced Harry Caray will return this year for the 52nd baseball-broadcasting season of his career. Caray will work six innings of Cubs home games and a few road dates on the 143-game telecast schedule. Steve Stone returns as analyst. Wayne Larrivee will work the other three innings, replacing Thom Brennaman as a play-by-play man. ... John Lowenstein won't be back on Baltimore Orioles telecasts on Home Team Sports. HTS is replacing the often acerbic former outfielder with ex-Orioles pitcher Mike Flanagan, who will work 112 games on HTS and the Birds' over-the-air network. Jim Palmer gets the other 50. Mel Proctor returns on play-by-play. football and basketball networks, has been named the radio voice of the Class AAA Richmond Braves. ... With Ben Wright finally axed for sexist remarks he made eight months ago and Ken Venturi beginning his 29th and final season above the 18th hole, CBS will be changing its golf talent. Jerry Pate replaces Wright. The other CBS golf commentators this year are Gary McCord, Bobby Clampett and Peter Kostis, with Jim Nantz as anchor.
AROUND THE DIAL: The 12th annual All-Madden Team airs Sunday (5 p.m., WJPR/WFXR), with Fox NFL analyst John Madden making a few changes from past years in the one-hour telecast. One of those involves his longtime telecast sidekick, Pat Summerall. After 11 seasons as the All-Madden kicker, Summerall will be replaced by one of those booting Clydesdales from the Budweiser commercials. ... ESPN announced its first two college football Thursday telecasts for next season - Notre Dame at Vanderbilt on Sept.5 and Ole Miss against Tennessee in Memphis, Tenn., on Oct.3. ... College football's Senior Bowl moves to a new TV home today. Cable's TBS has the 2 p.m. game from Mobile, Ala. ... Ray Floyd will go for his third consecutive Senior Skins Game victory next weekend on ABC, meeting Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Jim Colbert in Hawaii. ... Home Box Office, a home for boxing for 23 years, begins a new series, ``Boxing After Dark,'' on Feb.3. The Saturday late-night series starts with two 12-round bouts. HBO's ``World Championship Boxing'' series will continue on selected Friday nights.
LENGTH: Long : 111 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ESPN. Former WDBJ sports director John Kernan will be aby CNBhost for ESPN2's ``RPM 2Night,'' which the cable network describes
as ``the `SportsCenter'
of motorsports.''