ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, June 15, 1996 TAG: 9606180013
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: ON THE AIR
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
In a pastel world often viewed through rose-colored glasses, the golfers who play the U.S. Open say the course is tough enough.
Having Johnny Miller in the tower above the 18th hole for NBC Sports is just another hazard. Of course, that's why the opinionated Miller is golf's best telecast analyst.
``I just say what I think,'' said Miller, who will get plenty of shots today and Sunday during the Open telecasts on NBC (12:30-6:30 p.m., WSLS Channel 10). ``I try to look at everything as to what's good for the game and the viewers.''
Greg Norman's collapse in the final round of the Masters two months ago - his most celebrated fold, but not his first - has brought the Australian golfer Miller calls ``the best player in the world'' encouragement and support from much of the public.
Miller is among that group. Miller, the 1973 Open champ, also plays it right down the middle on Norman, however. Asked about Norman on the Open eve during a media conference call, Miller explained the intrigue surrounding the Masters crash.
``A lot of people like to see car races,'' Miller said. ``They want to see the best guy win, but, let's face it, some people like to see wrecks. And Greg gives us lots of wrecks.''
Norman's reaction in his first major after the Masters has been a story line in the first two rounds of coverage on NBC and ESPN from Oakland Hills, where Miller said, ``even par most likely will win the championship.''
Otherwise, the course - as always at the Open - will receive most of the analysis on NBC this weekend. On-course reporter Roger Maltbie said the par-70 layout in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., has produced ``the highest winning scores'' among courses that have been used at least three times for an Open since World War II.
``The rough is always a subject, but I think it's the toughest rough we've seen since 1985 at Oakmont,'' Maltbie said. ``It's very high [5 inches], and because of all the rain they've had, it's thicker than usual.''
Dave Marr, having moved from ABC to NBC, said all of the discussion surrounding the undulating greens at Oakland Hills - creating long-distance putts over large ridges - is only part of the problem for players this weekend.
``One thing I remember from playing here in Opens is that if you do keep it in play, you still have to deal with undulating fairways, too,'' Marr said. ``You find yourself trying to play with the ball above or below you. That's difficult, because you don't practice hitting those shots. On the practice tee, you always practice on level ground.''
Although the Open traditionally hasn't earned the telecast ratings of the Masters or the Skins Game, it has become an attractive event on the tube because it was the first championship with 18-hole coverage on the final two days.
NBC will continue that tradition this weekend. If the Open is tied after 72 holes, there is no sudden-death playoff. USGA rules call for an 18-hole playoff Monday. For a playoff, ESPN will be on the air from noon-2 p.m., with NBC picking up play at 2 p.m. until completion.
THIRD BASE: The announcement that ESPN will launch a third network Nov.1 gives ESPNEWS a month's jump on the new sports news network being launched by CNN and Sports Illustrated.
The question is how ESPNEWS will fill 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Although the format hasn't been finalized, expect a combination of ESPN's ``SportsCenter,'' Turner's ``Headline News'' and the talk-show style of CNN.
ESPN research showed a sports news network would be welcomed by 80 percent of those polled. On average each month, 15 million homes are tuned to the 11 p.m. ``SportsCenter,'' 14 million to the 6:30 p.m. show and 16 million to the 2:30 a.m. show and its repeats airing from 6 a.m. to noon.
``The way sports news has evolved, at any time right now, there are any number of topics we could go into,'' said John Walsh, ESPN's executive editor. ``There are breaking news, advancement of events, analysis. There will be a lot of opportunities to look into stories in different ways.''
Walsh said ESPNEWS will have a different staff than ESPN and ESPN2, although viewers can expect some of ESPN's stars - Chris Berman, Robin Roberts, Bob Ley - to at least appear on the third network at launch time.
ESPN hopes to attract cable systems by packaging ESPNEWS with its other two networks on what network sales and marketing chief George Bodenheimer called ``an affiliate-friendly basis.''
Besides a head start of at least one month, ESPN has another advantage over the CNN/SI venture. ESPN, thanks to ``SportsCenter,'' is where viewers are accustomed to finding most of their sports news. Name recognition does count.
BASEBALL FEVER: The ``Fox Saturday Baseball'' Nielsen rating dropped from 3.1 to 2.9 from Week 1 to Week 2, with both games going against College World Series contests on CBS, including the June 8 Series championship game won by LSU with a dramatic ninth-inning homer.
The combined CWS and Fox major-league rating June 8 was a 5.1. Fox would love to get that number, and having a schedule like the one today's four regionals provide will help. The local game (1 p.m., WJPR/WFXR Channels 21/27) is Atlanta-Los Angeles. The network also has the Yankees, Cleveland and the Cubs to attract viewers.
SURFING: CBS and ACC college basketball analyst Billy Packer was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame last week. Joining Packer, among others, as new members in the state's hall was longtime Winston-Salem sportswriter Mary Garber, a Hollins College alumna. ... The NHL playoff telecast ratings were up 69 percent on Fox compared with the last hockey season on ABC in 1994. ... ESPN's 18 live hours of coverage from the U.S. Olympic track and field trials in Atlanta continues through Friday night. ... NBC's decision to air a postgame show on cable's CNBC after the peacock network's NBA Finals telecasts has been a welcome addition. ... TNT is producing a two-hour documentary, ``The NBA at 50,'' to celebrate the league's birthday. It will air in November.
LENGTH: Long : 111 linesby CNB