ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 9, 1997 TAG: 9704090008
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GAIL SHISTER KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
The newest addition to CBS News is uneasy with his job title.
``Contributor is a dangerous word these days,'' laughs former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley, proving that you can take the politician out of politics, but you can't take politics out of the politician.
Named a part-time ``contributor'' to CBS last week, the three-term New Jersey Democrat and ex-Knicks star will do pieces on American life for weekend editions of ``CBS Evening News,'' beginning in the next month or two.
Bradley, 53, who left the Senate in January, says his reports will focus on ``the changing circumstances of America. What are the situations that bring out the best in somebody? What are the stories that give meaning to people's lives?''
Bradley is no stranger to broadcast journalism.
After graduating from Princeton in 1965, his very first job was as a reporter for CBS-owned KMOX Radio in St. Louis.
He got the gig via a letter from the general manager his senior year.
``I didn't even know him,'' Bradley recalls. ``He asked me to stop by if I was in town, so I did. It seemed like an intriguing thing. I'm very curious, generally. A good reporter has to be curious and like to listen to people.''
Is Bradley listening to whispers about trying for the White House?
The erudite statesman ``hasn't ruled out'' a return to politics, he says, ``but right now my energies are going in a different direction. I have no idea about going back. Things in the future will determine that. Basically, life is an open book.''
In addition to teaching posts at the University of Maryland and Stanford, Bradley writes and does the lecture circuit.
One thing he doesn't do is play basketball, except for the 3-on-3 game he donates to the annual auction at his daughter's school.
Bradley did catch the exciting NCAA men's final on the tube.
He attended the Final Four last year at the Meadowlands, only his third appearance since he made it to the big dance himself in '65. (``I was always doing other things, either playing with the Knicks or in the Senate.'' Oh.)
Going into the Kentucky-Arizona matchup, Bradley was rooting for Kentucky, he says. Toward the end, his affections transferred to eventual winner Arizona, partly because of spectacular guard Mike Bibby.
Bradley and Bibby's dad, Henry Bibby, were teammates on the Knicks in the '70s, and, in the '80s, Bradley wrote him numerous letters of recommendation for head coaching jobs. As a player, the kid is better than his old man, in Bradley's view.
``Mike's quicker. He can do more things with the ball. Henry was a good shooter, and he knew the game, but he didn't handle the ball like his son. He didn't make the plays like his son.''
With Bradley on CBS, TV can now boast its own government in waiting. From Congress, Geraldine Ferarro (CNN); from a governor's mansion, John Sununu (CNN); to advise them, George Stephanapolous (ABC), David Gergen (PBS) and Pat Buchanan (CNN); and as press secretary, Dee Dee Myers (CNBC).
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: The erudite Bill Bradley hasn't ruled out a return toby CNBpolitics, he says, ``but right now my energies are going in a
different direction. I have no idea about going back. Things in the
future will determine that. Basically, life is an open book.''