Word on 7-0 Rams? Just Ask Vermeil, If You’re in No Hurry

As a coach, Dick Vermeil was a workaholic, poring over statistics and studying films.

As a CBS commentator, he’s not much different.

A reporter called Vermeil at his home in Philadelphia to get an opinion on the unbeaten Rams, since Vermeil will be working Sunday’s Rams-San Francisco 49ers telecast with Tom Brookshier. That telecast, incidentally, will not be blacked out locally.

“They’re very good,” Vermeil said.

But what about their offense?

“I don’t look at a team the same way a typical fan does,” Vermeil said.

Vermeil studies about 130 statistics provided by computer whiz Bud Goode of Studio City before making an evaluation.

“The Rams have a 1.7 power rating,” he said. “By that, I mean the Rams score 1.7 points to every one their opponents score. The average power rating for all the Super Bowl champions since 1978 is 1.5.”

Want more? Vermeil’s got more. Lots more.

“The Rams are averaging 179 rushing yards per game,” Vermeil said. “The Super Bowl champions since 1978 averaged 143 yards per game. In passing, the Super Bowl champions have the edge, 210 yards to 134, so the Rams are down a little there.

“But the Rams score 7.8 points per 100 yards, while their defense holds opponents to 4.7 points per 100 yards. That’s a plus of 3.1 points. Last season, the top team in points per 100 yards was the Washington Redskins with 7.9. Next was San Francisco with 7.5, then Miami with 7.4. So you can see 7.8 is pretty good.”

What about quarterback Dieter Brock?

“Brock has completed 58% of his passes,” Vermeil said. “The Super Bowl champions since 1978 completed 58.1% of their passes. So Brock stacks up well there.

“I’m not trying to build a case for Dieter Brock. I’m just saying he’s better than a lot of fans think he is. He is disciplined and has shown he has ability.

“I was working a local Philadelphia telecast when the Rams played the Eagles in the preseason. I thought he was doing everything right, except he wasn’t throwing the ball accurately. He looked a lot better when I saw him against Atlanta.”

Add Vermeil: A former Ram assistant coach, Vermeil went on to coach UCLA in 1974, and led the Bruins to a victory over Ohio State in the 1976 Rose Bowl game before moving on to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Vermeil got another glimpse of Ohio State last Saturday, working the Buckeyes’ victory over Purdue. “It was the first college game I’ve seen in 10 years,” Vermeil said.

Vermeil, who hasn’t forgotten his UCLA ties, said he’s glad to see that Michael Young, a rookie wide receiver from UCLA, has caught on with the Rams. “He’s going to be a good one, although he doesn’t look much like a football player,” Vermeil said. “I said on the air during the Minnesota game that he looks more like a kindergarten teacher.”

One benefit of the Vermeil-Brookshier team working Sunday’s Ram game is that viewers won’t have to listen to John Dockery, who worked the last two Ram telecasts with Channel 2’s Jim Hill, referring to Eric Dickerson as Dick. Or, worse yet, the Dick. Next thing you know, Dockery will be calling himself the Dock. Dickerson’s teammates may call him Dick, but to the viewing public, he is Dickerson.

Nepotism dept.: On last Sunday’s Ram telecast, Hill said of the Rams’ David Hill: “He’s generally regarded the best blocking tight end in the league, and he’s also underrated as a pass receiver.” That may be the case, but Hill is hardly the one to say it, since David Hill is his brother.

Series reviews: ABC generally has been getting good reviews on the World Series, and deservedly so. The announcing team of Al Michaels, Jim Palmer and Tim McCarver works well together.

“I’ve never enjoyed anything I’ve ever done in broadcasting as much as I’ve enjoyed working this Series,” Michaels said on the phone Thursday before Game 5. “Working with the other guy (Howard Cosell), I’d forgotten just how satisfying and enjoyable this business can be. How nice it could be.

“I’ve always considered covering the Olympics (the United States’ hockey victories over the Soviet Union and Finland in the 1980 Winter Olympics) my most memorable moment in broadcasting, and it probably still is because of the magnitude of the event. But nothing I’ve ever done has provided me with as much internal joy as this.”

“Sportstalk” talk: Contrary to earlier reports that KABC radio’s “Sportstalk” show would be cut to an hour, the show will remain three hours in length, with a few changes.

Bud Furillo will take on more responsibilities, Tommy Hawkins’ role will be more that of a feature reporter, and Lisa Bowman will no longer be on the show, at least for the time being. Also, there will be a financial news report at 4:55 p.m. daily, “Ross Porter’s Closeup” will be broadcast at 5:55, and Paul Harvey’s five-minute syndicated “The Rest of the Story” will be broadcast at 6:30.

KMPC’s Bud Tucker reported recently that the decision to stay with the three-hour format was based on KABC’s contract with the Dodgers requiring it for promotional reasons.

George Green, KABC’s general manager, said: “First of all, I find it amusing another station is talking about our show. If I was KMPC’s general manager, I wouldn’t like my people talking about what another station is doing.

“Secondly, it’s not true. There is nothing in our contract with the Dodgers that requires us to have three hours of sports programming year-round.

“It is true that we were considering cutting back on ‘Sportstalk.’ But we made a business decision. We thought, ‘Why go to the trouble and expense to promote a new show that we would carry only until the baseball season started again, when we now have a winning package.’

“The bottom line is we decided to stick with the three-hour format for the good of the station, for the good of continuity of our programming and for the good of the fans.”

Green said that the station received a lot of mail from listeners who were against the cutback.

Green also said that although Bowman’s contract is not being renewed, she may return to the show later.

Notes It is unlikely that Monday night’s Raiders-San Diego Chargers game at the Coliseum will be televised in Los Angeles. The Raiders were about 25,000 tickets shy of a sellout Thursday evening. . . . The national rating for Game 3 of the World Series Tuesday night was 25.4 with a 38 share, bringing the average for the first three games up to 23.5 with a 36 share. Ratings for Game 4 were not available Thursday. The first four games of the 1984 World Series drew an average rating of 23.0 with a 40 share. . . . The Rams and Raiders went head-to-head on TV last Sunday, with the Rams drawing an L.A. rating of 13.1, the Raiders an 8.7. . . . Former Ram Jack Youngblood has been hired as a regular on ESPN’s “NFL Game Day” show, which is televised Sundays at 8:30 a.m. . . . Dieter Brock will be the featured guest on Channel 56’s “Chalk Talk” show Saturday at 11:30 a.m., with co-hosts Nolan Cromwell and Bob Elder. The show will be rebroadcast Sunday at 8:30 a.m.

CBS begins its 1985 NBA coverage Saturday, with Patrick Ewing and the New York Knicks against the Philadelphia 76ers at 10 a.m. . . . ABC will provide live coverage of the New York City Marathon Sunday at 7:30 a.m. Rod Dixon will wear a micro-miniature camera mounted on a hockey helmet as he runs the course. Bill Rodgers will wear a micro-miniature electrocardiograph so that his pulse-rate can be monitored. . . . There seemed to be some audio problems during Prime Ticket’s first hockey telecast last Sunday. One viewer reported he was picking up music from KBIG during the hockey telecast. At least, he had easy listening.