CBS Is Trying to Keep Its Game Coverage Simple This Time

Ted Shaker, executive producer of CBS sports, was sitting with a couple of reporters after a Super Bowl press conference. “Can you believe the turnout we had?” he asked.

Shaker shouldn’t have believed. The room was packed, all right, but besides reporters the crowd included conventioneers at the Anaheim Marriott who simply wandered in to see what was going on.

It sure beat attending a stuffy seminar.

Brent Musburger, referring to his troubles doing a college basketball game last weekend, said: “One thing for sure: I’m not in charge of instant replay. You can have instant replay.”

Jimmy the Greek, who had the flu, missed the press conference. “He’s busy doing more research on the game,” Musburger said.

John Madden got in a dig, too. “The greatest thing about the NFL is the people who make the picks are never right,” he said.

Irv Cross noticed a familiar face. “Hey, Mike, I see you back there,” he said, referring to Raider official Mike Ornstein, who three Super Bowls ago shoved Cross out of the way while Cross was on the air.

“This year, we’ve beefed up our security.”

Will McDonough said: “If things go Sunday the way this press conference is going, we should have No-Doz as a sponsor.”

CBS is trying to keep its game coverage simple. The network Sunday will use only 14 cameras. It used 20 for the Super Bowl in 1982, and NBC used 21 last year.

“A smaller number is easy to work with,” Shaker said. “Also, there’s a tendency to justify the existence of all those cameras by using them all, whether necessary or not.”

Director Sandy Grossman said he’d like to have a few more cameras just in case, but 14 is certainly enough for routine coverage.

Announcers Pat Summerall and Madden are simply the best. Madden is excitable and witty, but he sees the game so well, picking up on things the viewers at home don’t.

Another thing: Madden doesn’t second-guess. “After a quarterback throws an interception, the worst thing to say is, ‘Boy, he would like to have that one back,’ or, ‘He shouldn’t have thrown that one,’ ” Madden said.

“Now that’s really stupid. Of course he shouldn’t have thrown it.”

Hoopla Dept.: Sunday’s two-hour pregame show will begin at 1 p.m., with the kickoff scheduled about 3:10 p.m.

Pregame show features include:

--Video diaries by guard Keith Bishop of the Broncos and running back Tony Galbreath of the Giants.

--Charles Osgood reporting on which state has a stronger claim to the Giants, New York or New Jersey.

--Pat O’Brien reporting from a coal mine near Georgetown, Colo.

--A “Beat the Greek” segment in which viewers will be given a 900 number and can call to agree with the Greek’s pick or disagree.

--Ben Wright reporting from Italy, where the game will be televised live at 1 a.m.

On the international front, Frank Gifford will announce the Super Bowl telecast being fed to England, and Stu Nahan will announce one being fed to Ireland.

Add hoopla: There’s a lot of Super Bowl-related programming scheduled for this weekend.

The one show that is mandatory viewing, at least for football purists, is NFL Films’ “Road to the Super Bowl,” to be shown on Channel 4 at 7 p.m. Saturday and repeated Sunday at 2 p.m. In San Diego, the show, as good as any ever done by Steve Sabol and crew, will be carried by Channel 8 only at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Unfortunately, Channel 2 is showing GGP Sports’ “John Madden’s Super Bowl Special,” also at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Tonight at 7:30, Channel 2 offers “Super Bowl Blitz,” with host Jim Hill. Included are interviews about football with celebrities.

From Zsa Zsa Gabor: “I only know that two gorgeous teams beat the hell out of each other. And that American men are insane. When they look at football, they don’t even talk to you.”

From Carol Burnett: “I like to watch the guys walking away.”

From Yakov Smirnoff: “When I came to America, I was paranoid about the KGB. When I started watching football and saw the players huddle up, I thought they were talking about me.”

The NFL Alumni Assn.’s players of the year will be announced at a benefit dinner at the Century Plaza Saturday night, and CBS will cover it live.

The announcements will culminate a one-hour special, “Kraft Salutes Super Night at the Super Bowl,” which begins at 10 a.m.

Patrick Duffy is the host, and the guests include Lucie Arnaz, Tim Conway, Eric Dickerson, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Phylicia and Ahmad Rashad and Lily Tomlin.

Blimp Dept.: A new blimp, the Slice airship, the largest ever, will carry the CBS camera in the sky. But the Goodyear and Fuji blimps also will be over the Rose Bowl Sunday.

If you’re a little Super Bowled out, a recommended change of pace is Bud Greenspan’s marvelous movie, “16 Days of Glory: Part I,” which will make its television debut Saturday night at 7 on the Disney Channel.

The official film of the 1984 Summer Olympics offers fascinating behind-the-scenes stories.

It will be repeated twice more in January and six times in February.

“16 Days of Glory: Part II,” which has not been seen by the public, will make its debut in June on Disney.

Greenspan plans to syndicate both parts, which run 2 hours 25 minutes each, to commercial television early next year.

“16 Days of Glory: Part I” was in movie theaters in 30 markets last fall but only for a week. “That was the intention,” Greenspan said. “That was a tease.”

Greenspan said about 50,000 video cassettes have been sold and that the Disney showings should “make sales skyrocket.”

Greenspan said the deal with Disney is perfect for both parties. “It is so important to us that the movie be shown uninterrupted, and that’s what Disney can provide,” Greenspan said. “And what we provide Disney is good entertainment for the entire family.”

TV-Radio Notes The halftime show Sunday is limited to 19 minutes. That gives halftime producer Ron Miziker of the Walt Disney Co. four mintues to get hundreds of performers, a stage and props into the Rose Bowl, 12 minutes to summarize a century of Hollywood history and three minutes to get everyone off. . . . Whatever happened to old traditional halftimes with marching bands? . . . MTV is going all out with a Super Bowl weekend, beginning today and 4 p.m. and concluding Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Every half hour a video will be introduced by a Giant or a Bronco player. Saturday from 10 to 11 a.m. is “Super Bowl Video Hour” and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. is the “MTV Super Bowl Party,” with hosts Alan Hunter and Michael J. Fox. . . . The game’s MVP is scheduled to be presented with his prize, a new car, on NBC’s “Today” show live Monday morning. That means he’ll have to be ready to go on camera by 4 a.m. “I’ll bring along some aspirin,” said NBC’s Bill Macatee, who will make the presentation.

Little Caesars sports book is offering bettors a break if they pick the same team in the Super Bowl as Jimmy the Greek. Bettors can put up $105 to win $100, instead of $110 to win the same amount, if they pick the same team as the Greek. “What we’re saying is Jimmy the Greek will pick the loser again,” said Little Caesars owner Gene Mayday. “He’s a proven quantity.” . . . Longtime Giant fans Rob Reiner and Billy Crystal talk about their team on this week’s “Inside the NFL” on HBO. The show, which was on Thursday night, will be repeated tonight at 7 and again Saturday at 10 a.m. . . . Jack Nicklaus as a high school basketball star is the subject of ESPN’s “Scholastic Sports America” Saturday, scheduled to be shown around 3:30 p.m., after third-round coverage of the Phoenix Open.