TV-Radio / Larry Stewart : Musburger Finds a Way to Penetrate Georgetown’s Zone

A year ago, Coach John Thompson of Georgetown let it be known he wasn’t too fond of CBS sportscaster Brent Musburger.

Musburger, who was anchoring his network’s NCAA tournament coverage from a studio in New York, criticized Thompson for going into a delay in a victory over SMU. “When I have a team on the run, I don’t go into a delay,” Musburger said.

After hearing of the comment, Thompson said: “Well, Musburg (that’s what he called him) never had anybody on the run. He’s never coached anywhere. He’s never run anything, other than running his mouth.”

So how are the two getting along now?

“Fine,” Musburger said this week. “He even invited Billy Packer and me to one of his team’s practices last month, and he never invites anyone from the media to practices. I think once I showed him I couldn’t be intimidated, everything was OK.”

Musburger and commentator Packer will work both Final Four semifinals Saturday, which begin at 12:30 p.m., and also Monday night’s 6 o’clock championship game.

Musburger has been CBS’ No. 1 play-by-play announcer on college basketball since signing a big-money contract last December.

Before signing, Musburger requested more play-by-play work. He was given a choice: college basketball or NBA basketball.

If he had chosen the NBA, Dick Stockton would have moved in as CBS’ No. 1 play-by-play announcer on college basketball. Gary Bender apparently faced a demotion no matter what Musburger did.

Stockton said recently that he was glad Musburger chose the college game because he wanted to stick with the NBA. “I hope my desires figured in Brent’s decision,” Stockton said.

Said Musburger: “There was no reason for me to step in there (the NBA). I’m going to get to do plenty of NBA playoff games after the Masters (next week).”

Musburger on Packer: “He’s just excellent. He’s so observant that I don’t have to worry about the nuts and bolts so much. And he always listens to what the play-by-play announcer has to say. A lot of commentators don’t do that.”

Last add Musburger: He calls Georgetown the L.A. Raiders of college basketball. “You either love ‘em or hate ‘em,” he said. “There are a lot of people who would love to see Thompson and Georgetown have their heads handed to them.”

Of course, CBS will be in Lexington, Ky., for the Final Four in full force. But so will NBC. CBS’ contract to carry the NCAA tournament expires after the 1986-87 season, and NBC is interested in reacquiring the tournament.

So most of NBC Sports’ top executives will be in Lexington this weekend to show NCAA officials their good intentions. However, Art Watson, the department president, won’t make the trip because of recent hip surgery.

NBC’s Al McGuire will be there to do a one-hour special focusing on the championship game. McGuire asked his old buddy Packer to be a guest on his show, Sunday at 12:30 p.m., but since Packer has an exclusive contract with CBS, it couldn’t be worked out.

Dick Enberg will be in Lexington, too, but only as an ambassador for NBC. “I was hoping to spend the weekend in Palm Springs with the Angels, but I was told to be in Lexington, just to be there,” Enberg said.

Add Enberg: He made his return to the Angel radio booth last Tuesday, working the broadcast of the Angels’ 4-0 exhibition loss to Seattle. “Things haven’t changed much,” Enberg said, referring to the score. Enberg was with the Angels for 12 seasons, mostly lean ones, before leaving to work exclusively for NBC after the 1978 season.

Enberg said he won’t do any more broadcasts until the Freeway Series April 5-7. Tuesday, Enberg did the play-by-play for all but the fourth and seventh innings, when Allan Conin stepped in. Ron Fairly worked all nine innings as the commentator. The same format will be used whenever Enberg is there.

Enberg, who will work only on Angel radio broadcasts, said his schedule has been roughed out. “I’ll work 40 to 50 games--at least half of the home games. I’ll leave in late May for Europe to do tennis for NBC, the French Open and Wimbledon, and won’t return until after the All-Star break.

“I plan to work most of the home games after that. Exactly how many will depend on how well the team is doing.”

Notes The Angels will make their first television appearances of the spring this weekend when Channel 5 shows games Saturday against San Francisco and Sunday against the Chicago Cubs, both at 1 p.m. The telecasts will mark the debut of commentator Joe Torre, who will work with play-by-play announcer Bob Starr. Starr has moved over from the radio booth. Torre, former manager of the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets, has done a few college baseball telecasts for ESPN. An early analysis: His knowledge is evident, but he needs to work on his delivery, which is unsteady. Too many ya knows, for one thing. But the delivery should smooth out as Torre grows more comfortable behind a microphone. . . . Add Angels: The audio on both weekend telecasts will be in stereo.

The City of Hope will honor KABC radio sportscaster Bud Furillo with a $100-a-plate benefit dinner May 13 at the Sheraton Premier Hotel in Universal City. Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda will be the emcee, and many of L.A.’s sports stars will be on the dais. . . . The Express has switched from radio station KGIL 1260 to KWNK 760. KGIL General Manager Dick McGeary said the decision to change was made by the team and its radio packager. McGeary said he wasn’t even aware that his station had lost the Express until he got a call from Howard Zuckerman, who produces the broadcasts. . . . KWNK is the Simi Valley station the Kings dropped early in the season. The Kings switched to KGIL because of KWNK’s weak signal. So why did the Express go from KGIL to KWNK? Several reasons:

--There have been conflicts with King broadcasts on KGIL.

--The Express buys the airtime, and it’s less expensive at KWNK.

--KWNK offered a one-hour pregame talk show on game days. Fred Wallin and Randy Rosenbloom will be hosts of the show, “Sports Forum Express.”

--The Express usually plays day games, and KWNK’s signal is much better during the day.

The Express has also added Corona station KWRM 1370 to its network, which also includes KEZY 1190 in Anaheim.

The early failure of Western teams in the NCAA tournament apparently has reduced the interest in this part of the country. The ratings for games in Los Angeles are well below those in other major markets. For example, last Sunday’s St. John’s-North Carolina State game got an L.A. rating of 6.1, whereas the average rating in the nation’s nine major markets was 10.8. . . . CBS will televise the NCAA women’s championship game at Austin, Tex., Sunday at 10 a.m. The announcers will be Frank Glieber and Tennessee Coach Pat Head Summitt, who coached the U.S. Olympic team last summer. . . . A Santa Anita Derby special will air on Channel 56 next Thursday night at 8. The one-hour show will be hosted by Santa Anita’s Alan Balch. . . . San Diego beat: KSDO 1130 is now carrying Howard Cosell’s syndicated radio show weekdays at 6:11 a.m. and 3:55 p.m. KABC in Los Angeles carries Cosell’s show only on Sundays at 6:30 a.m. . . . The San Diego Padres’ pay-TV packages offered by Cox Cable are selling well. The combined total for the 41-game and 20-game plans is already 7,084. Last season, 7,079 were sold.