ABC Has the Last Word, and It’s Not a Good One for O.J.

When Roone Arledge hired O.J. Simpson as a football commentator, it wasn’t because Simpson sounded like actor John Houseman. Or Vin Scully. It wasn’t because of Simpson’s name, either.

Simpson’s appeal is that he is a student of the game and, with his drive to succeed, works hard. Eventually, he’ll master this sports announcing business.

Granted, Simpson isn’t the smoothest of talkers. Even so, he has succeeded in business and entertainment. He’s done pretty well for someone who grew up in a section of San Francisco where enunciation isn’t a top priority.

Simpson took some shots during the season. One critic even said his problem was that he seemed to have a brick wall between his brain and his mouth. But Simpson persevered. He worked all the harder, and improved.

So along comes the Super Bowl, the game, and what does Arledge do? He benches his rookie. He assigns him to the pregame, halftime and postgame shows.

Talk about destroying one’s confidence. Maybe Arledge never heard Tammy Wynette sing “Stand by Your Man.”

If Arledge had wrested John Madden away from CBS, OK. Even Brent Musburger. But Joe Theismann?

Theismann, of course everybody’s favorite sportscaster, will be working alongside Frank Gifford and Don Meredith.

There were early reports that Meredith was going to be shoved out of the booth, too. There had been talk about ABC also using San Francisco Coach Bill Walsh or Miami Coach Don Shula, if either was available, or some other coach.

Meredith probably wouldn’t have accepted a secondary assignment. Apparently when push came to shove, Meredith was in. An ABC spokesman said that decision was made Monday morning by Arledge.

Meredith’s agent, Ed Hookstratten, disagreed. He said that there was never any doubt that his client would be working in the booth.

As for Theismann, he isn’t a bad quarterback, and he’s a pretty fair talker--if you like guys who run off at the mouth.

Does that qualify him to work in the booth in the Super Bowl? Hardly.

You’d think Simpson would be fuming. Not so. At least not publicly.

“It’s not in my contract that I work the Super Bowl,” he said. “I knew a month ago that there was a possibility I’d be replaced. I’m the rookie. I didn’t think they would replace either Frank or Don. They’ve been doing ‘Monday Night Football’ for 14 years. You don’t replace guys like that.

“Roone called me last Monday (Dec. 31) and explained it was ABC’s policy to use current athletes and coaches on big events. They’ve done it on baseball. I understand.

“To be honest about it, maybe Joe Theismann can provide more than I could. He was a quarterback in the last two Super Bowls. And the stars of this game, Dan Marino and Joe Montana, are both quarterbacks. I never even played in a Super Bowl.

“I’ve got to be a realist. I’m just happy I got a Super Bowl assignment. I’m finally going to be involved in a Super Bowl.”

Simpson will be working with Mr. Personality, Dallas Coach Tom Landry.

Mike Weisman, executive producer for NBC sports, was in town this week and was asked about ABC’s decision to bring in Theismann for the Super Bowl.

“I think it’s risky to try someone new on a big event like that,” he said. “Theismann may be good--he’s personable enough--but it’s very chancy.

“We’ve brought in new people like Tom Seaver and Don Sutton for baseball, but that’s a little different. In baseball, you have several games in which they can develop. They’ll get used to the job and get more comfortable as a series progresses. They’ll be a lot better in the third, fourth or fifth game than they were in the first.

“There is no substitute for experience.”

Weisman also suggested that Theismann, as a current player, may be reluctant to be critical. “The Redskins play the 49ers next season, so I don’t think he’d want to upset them,” Weisman said.

“I don’t want to sound critical of ABC,” he said. “We wish them well. If they have a good telecast and a good rating, it helps all of us in the sports broadcasting business.

“You also have to understand that ABC doesn’t have the same reserve of football announcers that we and CBS have. ABC does only one game a week and no pregame show.”

Theismann wasn’t talking to reporters at the start of this season. He said media distractions had contributed to the Redskins’ loss to the Raiders in the last Super Bowl. Sports Illustrated even ran a cover picture of Theismann with tape over his mouth.

“If Theismann has a bad first quarter, will he refuse to talk during the rest of the game?” Weisman wondered.

Notes Howard Cosell, who took himself off professional boxing a couple of years ago, is no longer announcing amateur boxing either. Al Michaels will be handling ABC’s “U.S.A. vs. the World in Amateur Boxing” series by himself. The series begins Sunday at 3:30 p.m., with the U.S. facing Argentina in matches taped at Longview, Tex. . . . Now that Cosell is off the sport of boxing totally, he is calling for it to be outlawed. “I don’t think improvements or controls are the answer,” he said. “I think the answer is abolition.” Cosell will appear on the PBS show “Frontline” with Judy Woodruff in February to express his views.

ABC’s Super Bowl pregame coverage will begin at 1 p.m., with the kickoff set for some time shortly after 3 p.m. . . . ABC is charging $1 million for a one-minute Super Bowl commercial, the highest price in television history. . . . NBC, which televised the 1983 world track and field championships at Helsinki, Finland, has announced that it has reached agreement with the International Amateur Athletic Federation to televise the 1987 world championships at Rome, as well as other IAAF-sanctioned events. Those events include the World Indoor Games from Paris Jan. 20. . . . Add track: ESPN will televise the Sunkist meet at the Sports Arena Friday night, Jan. 18, live at 7. The telecast will not be blacked out in Los Angeles. Former longer jumper Ralph Boston will be a member of the ESPN broadcasting team.

Because of a new microwave antenna, NBC this weekend will be able to provide coverage from three of the four courses the Bob Hope Classic is being played on--Indian Wells, Bermuda Dunes and Tamarisk, which is about 15 miles from Indian Wells. . . . NBC has put together a tribute to Lee Trevino, who is working the telecast with Vin Scully. The piece will air Sunday. . . . ESPN sportscaster Greg Gumbel has lost 48 pounds since the end of October. How is his new look being accepted by viewers? “A lot of people have called to ask if he is sick,” an ESPN spokesman said.