Rick Monday Tries Different Position With the Dodgers

Coming back: Rick Monday is back with the Dodgers.

No, the 39-year-old outfielder, who was released last June, hasn’t been recalled. He has been hired as one of three announcers who will work on Dodgervision, a pay-cable service that will carry 20 home games this season. The two other announcers are play-by-play man Eddie Doucette and commentator Al Downing.

The broadcast booth may be Monday’s best position, what with his baritone voice, glibness and smooth delivery.

Monday isn’t sure. “Just because the experts say you’ll be good at something doesn’t necessarily mean you will be,” he said before departing for Vero Beach, Fla., this week. “I’ll just jump right in and either sink or swim.”

Monday will get his first test Saturday. He, Downing and Geoff Witcher, who will fill in for Doucette because he’s busy with the Clippers, will work the Dodgers’ exhibition game against Baltimore for Dodgervision. Manager Tom Lasorda also is scheduled to work in the booth.

The telecast is being offered free, as a promotion, to subscribers of the 24 cable companies that have agreed to take the pay service.

Coming back, part II: Gene Washington, a star quarterback for Long Beach Poly in the mid-60s, is returning to Southern California. The former Stanford and San Francisco 49er wide receiver has been hired by Channel 7 as a sports reporter.

“I report April 1,” he said. “I just hope they don’t tell me it’s all an April Fool’s joke.”

It’s no joke. Washington is an experienced broadcaster. He’s been a football commentator for NBC the last five seasons, and for the last year and a half has been a sports reporter for Channel 4 in San Francisco, an NBC affiliate.

Coming to Channel 7, an ABC-owned station, means he’ll have to give up the football commentating job with NBC.

“I just couldn’t turn down a job in a major market like Los Angeles,” Washington said. “And, besides, I’ll be coming home.”

Washington said he hasn’t been given any guarantees, but he hopes to work up to a weekend sports anchor position at Channel 7.

With Washington joining Channel 7, the station will have two former NFL wide receivers working as sports reporters. The other is Bob Chandler, former Trojan, Buffalo Bill and Raider. And Lynn Swann, former Trojan and Steeler wide receiver, used to work at Channel 7.

“We could sure field a heck of a football team,” Chandler said.

About his status now that Washington has been hired, Chandler said: “Nobody has said anything to me about what effect it will have on me. One thing playing football does is prepare you for disappointments. Of course, I hope to stay on. I really enjoy what I’m doing, and I’m sure learning a lot.”

Among the things Chandler has learned is that athletes don’t always cooperate with reporters. “I don’t want to name any names, but I’ve had problems with a few,” he said. “I’m just glad I was fairly cooperative when I was playing or I’d feel pretty bad about it now.”

Chandler said he learned about cooperating with the media from former teammate O.J. Simpson. “During our lean years in Buffalo, I’d see O.J. over there at his locker surrounded by reporters. No matter how bad things were going, he’d talk to all of them. O.J. is in a class by himself.”

Football cutbacks: After last season’s saturation coverage of college football, there probably will be fewer games on TV next season. The Pacific 10, for one, will insist on it.

The league is very close to a deal with Ted Turner, who would like to show four to seven Pac-10 games nationally on WTBS Saturdays at 5 p.m. Turner would pay about $400,000 a game.

Besides games on CBS and WTBS, each school in the conference will be limited to two appearances in their local markets, according to John McCasey of the Pac-10 office. “Discipline within the marketplace is the key phrase here,” McCasey said.

TCS-Metrosports, a Pittsburgh syndication company formed last April when Total Communications Systems and Metrosports merged, syndicated Pac-10 football games last season.

Recently, a $1.5-million suit was filed against TCS-Metrosports by the Pac-10, which is trying to recover $500,000 in rights fees owed for football, and $1 million owed for basketball. The company has since filed for bankruptcy.

Add football: USC is banned by the NCAA from appearing on TV next season, as are Arizona, Illinois and Wisconsin.

In Illinois, politicians are fighting the ban. Earlier this week, an Illinois Senate committee unanimously approved a bill that would allow state universities or the attorney general to go to court to challenge sports TV bans.

But an Illinois spokesman, Kirk Hard, said the school was not supporting the bill. “Even if the Legislature were successful in getting us on television next season, we believe the NCAA would impose further sanctions,” Hard said. “From the fans’ viewpoint, it’s understandable, but from the university’s viewpoint, the less said the better.”

Of the NCAA ban, Sen. George Sangmeister said: “What you have done is put a sanction on the fans and not the school.”

Notes There’s a logjam of NCAA tournament games on TV tonight. First, there’s Villanova-Maryland at 5 on ESPN, and St. John’s-Kentucky at 7 on CBS. No problem there, but then Alabama-North Carolina State will be on at 11:30 on ESPN, and Auburn-North Carolina at the same time on CBS. In the East, the ESPN game will be shown at 2:30 a.m. and the CBS game at 12:30 a.m. ESPN is allowed to show its game at 11:30 in the West because no Western team is involved. . . . The NCAA women’s West Regional final at Pauley Pavilion Saturday at 3 p.m. will be televised by ESPN but will be blacked out in most of Southern California. Those willing to get up at 5:30 a.m. Sunday, however, can see a repeat.

UCLA’s NIT quarterfinal game Saturday night against Fresno State at Pauley Pavilion will not be televised in Los Angeles, but it will be carried by radio station KMPC. . . . Next Wednesday’s NIT semifinal games at Madison Square Garden will be carried live by the USA cable network. The championship game Friday night will be televised live at 6 by USA and New York superstation WOR and tape-delayed at 10 by Channel 9. . . . Because of the Kings’ 7:30 game against Calgary Saturday night, radio station KGIL will not carry the Express’ 6 o’clock game at Arizona. So the Express game will be broadcast only on station KEZY.

Counter-programming: The USA cable network is bringing out the heavy artillery to combat next Monday night’s Academy Awards show. It’s showing a pro wrestling special--what else?--from 7 to 8 p.m. The special is aimed at promoting the March 31 “War-to-Settle-the-Score” show at Madison Square Garden, which has Hulk Hogan and Mr. T tangling with Rowdy Roddy Piper and Paul (Mr. Wonderful) Orndorff. Billy Martin will be the ring announcer, Liberace the time keeper and Muhammad Ali the referee. As you can see, they’re playing this one straight. Anyway, most of the principals involved will appear on Monday night’s special. . . . Candidates to replace Gene Washington as a football commentator at NBC include former Cleveland coach Sam Rutigliano, former St. Louis offensive lineman Dan Dierdorf and recently retired Miami offensive lineman Bob Kuechenberg.