ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 30, 1996 TAG: 9604010102
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: ON THE AIR
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
Some viewers won't tune in the NCAA Final Four tonight until the prime-time marquee matchup of Kentucky-Massachusetts. That would be a mistake, said Billy Packer, the CBS analyst working his 22nd straight national semifinals.
The first semifinal (5:30 p.m., WDBJ) of lower seeds Syracuse and Mississippi State offers intrigue, particularly for those into hoops strategy said Packer, who played in the 1962 semifinals for Wake Forest's only Final Four club.
``One team never plays man [defense],'' Packer said of the Orangemen, and their 2-3 zone that successfully dared Kansas to miss jump shots in the West Regional final. ``The other doesn't play zone. One's offense goes inside-out [Mississippi State]. The other goes outside-in. About the only thing they have in common is neither has a deep bench.
``It could be a strange game. The question is which guy breaks the other out of its style first.''
Although Packer is vocal about the NCAA Basketball Committee reseeding the Final Four to get the higher seeds in opposite brackets, he said the Kentucky-UMass winner would be wise not to think that today's 8:10 tipoff is for the national championship.
``That's what we all thought in 1983, when we couldn't wait for the N.C. State-Georgia semifinal to be over, so we could watch Houston and Louisville for the real national championship. You-know-who [N.C. State] won Monday night. Or, '85, when everyone wanted Villanova-Memphis State over to watch Georgetown-St.John's, and then Villanova won.
``The minute you think you're going to walk through, you go home. The champion has to win it on the floor.''
Packer figures Monday night's 9:22 championship tipoff will be a Southeastern Conference matchup, although that really isn't what CBS wants. The network would love to have Syracuse in the final, with the Orangemen dragging Eastern large-market viewers to the tube.
If it's an all-SEC final, the Nielsen rating figures to be the lowest since the 18.8 in 1988 for Kansas-Oklahoma, the last intraconference matchup for the NCAA crown.
HOOP SKIRTS: Last year, the NCAA women's tournament had a combined seven games on ESPN and CBS. This year, the cable network has given the NCAA women's tournament more than curiosity coverage thanks to a new $2.57 million contract that brought 24 games to viewers. So what's the next step in the evolutionary process for women's basketball?
How about more female play-by-play announcers? ESPN would like that, but first it has to locate them. Beth Mowins, the Syracuse-based anchor who works Big East women's games and called the West Regional for ESPN, was the only woman on ESPN play-by-play during the tournament.
``I'm sure it's something we'll look at,'' said ESPN publicist Dean Diltz. ``There just don't seem to be a lot of women out there right now who do play-by-play.''
Robin Roberts is one of them, but ESPN has its star in the studio, which is a good move. On CBS last weekend, courtside reporter Michele Tafoya filled in - and did a superb job - on the Midwest Regional men's final when Sean McDonough became ill.
KICKOFF: Major League Soccer's history begins Friday on ESPN, when U.S. Olympic and former Virginia coach Bruce Arena's D.C. United club visits San Jose in an 8 p.m. live telecast. The 10-team MLS has a 35-game cable contract, with 25 dates on ESPN2 and another 10 on ESPN.
The first U.S.-based ``major'' soccer league primarily will have a Thursday night game of the week on ESPN2, starting in May. ESPN has the first MLS All-Star Game at Giants Stadium on July 14. The playoffs, on both ESPN networks, lead to an Oct.21 title game at Foxboro Stadium on ABC.
TEED OFF: NBC should be happy about The Players Championship's final two rounds at TPC at Sawgrass. The tournament has 48 of the world's top 50 players, and because the PGA schedule has moved a week later this year, the Players event should see improved Nielsen ratings since it doesn't go head-to-head with NCAA Tournament regional finals as in past years.
With shows today (2-6 p.m., WSLS) and Sunday (2:30-6 p.m.), there will be only 20 minutes of overlap between the Final Four games on CBS and shots at the famous No.17 island green at TPC. The NCAA women's championship game doesn't begin on ESPN until 6:30 p.m. Sunday.
PUCKS BACK: The NHL returns to the Fox Network the next three weeks to finish the regular season with Sunday afternoon regional telecasts. Fox's Stanley Cup playoff coverage begins April 21 and runs through mid-June. The regional game Sunday has Pittsburgh at Philadelphia (3 p.m., WJPR/WFXR). The New York Rangers-New Jersey game is scheduled April 7.
AROUND THE DIAL: The made-for-TV movie on the life of Jim Valvano airs Tuesday night on CBS (9 p.m., WDBJ). ``Never Give Up: The Jimmy V. Story'' stars Anthony LaPaglia as the late N.C. State basketball coach. ... CBS Radio is dropping Jack Buck and Hank Stram as its NFL Monday night football team, replacing the duo of 18 seasons with Howard David and Matt Millen. Millen will continue as the No.2 analyst for Fox's NFL telecasts. ... Former All-Pro cornerback Ronnie Lott, recently retired, is expected to be named to Fox's NFL studio team, replacing new Miami coach Jimmy Johnson. ... ESPN2, which signed on less than 2 1/2 years ago, is approaching 31 million homes. ESPN has the largest cable universe, 68 million homes. ... Jeremy Agor, a senior public relations major at Radford, has been hired as an ESPN intern. Agor, of Champlain, N.Y., will work at the network through May on writing and research projects and video review.
LENGTH: Medium: 97 linesby CNB