Cunningham, Heat Might Put Riley in Different Hot Seat

Here’s a hot one. Pat Riley could end up working for CBS as a pro basketball commentator next season.

Here’s the scenario:

First, Billy Cunningham would have to give up his job with CBS, which he has said he may do, so that he could continue as part owner and general manager of the new Miami Heat basketball team. He is expected to decide next week.

Next, Riley would have to give up his job as coach of the Lakers to replace Cunningham, which is a possibility. Riley’s contract with the Lakers is up for renewal, and CBS, in the past, has expressed interest in Riley, who worked as a commentator with Chick Hearn before moving to the coaching bench.

Riley has already accomplished a lot as a coach and may decide he wants to try something new.

“We’ll just have to see what Pat wants to do,” said Ed Hookstratten, Riley’s agent. “When he gets back from vacation later this month, we’ll sit down and talk.”

Add rumors: The one that has Keith Olbermann going from Channel 5 to Channel 2 as a third sports anchor is heating up, but Olbermann’s agent, Jean Sage, said her hands are tied until she can sit down with Channel 5’s news director, Jeff Wald.

“Jeff Wald won’t talk to me,” Sage said. “I find it disturbing that here we are, six weeks before Keith’s contract expires, and Wald refuses to negotiate.”

Olbermann’s contract expires Sept. 1, and Channel 5 has the right of first refusal, meaning the station can match any offer Olbermann gets.

Sage said that other stations besides Channel 2, in Los Angeles and elsewhere, are interested in Olbermann.

This year, it’s ABC’s turn to cover baseball’s All-Star game, Tuesday night in Cincinnati. The announcers for the 5:15, PDT, game will be Al Michaels, Jim Palmer and Tim McCarver. Joe Morgan and Gary Bender will be there to help out.

CBS radio will also broadcast the game, with Brent Musburger--yes, he really is everywhere--doing the play-by-play. The commentators will be Johnny Bench and Jerry Coleman.

There are all kinds of related programs leading up to the game.

One is “Baseball’s All-Star Comedy Classics ‘88,” an hour show syndicated by Blair Entertainment, which Channel 7 will televise Sunday at 5 p.m.

Comedian Robert Klein is the host of the show, shot at Boardwalk and Baseball, the baseball theme park near Orlando, Fla.

Guests include Sparky Lyle, Jimmy Piersall, Moe Drabowsky, Ron Luciano, Bill Lee, Kurt Bevacqua and Jay Johnstone. Morganna Roberts, the kissing bandit, also makes an appearance.

Add All-Stars: ESPN offers 15 hours of All-Star programming, beginning Sunday at 4:30 p.m. with a baseball quiz. It will be followed at 5 by a special edition of “Baseball’s Greatest Hits.”

On ESPN’s “SportsCenter” show Sunday night at 8, Chris Berman will talk to Pete Rose and former Cleveland catcher Ray Fosse, now a TV announcer for the Oakland Athletics, about their famous collision in the 1970 game at then-new Riverfront Stadium, when Rose scored the winning run in the 12th inning of a 5-4 National League victory.

Monday night at 6, ESPN will show the National Old-Timers’ game, taped June 20 at Buffalo. Tuesday, ESPN will have a special one-hour “SportsCenter” show, which will originate from Cincinnati at 4 p.m.

TBS gets into the act Monday night at 5:05 with its “All-Star Gala,” a two-hour show that will originate from the Cincinnati zoo. Larry King is the host and his guests include Tom Lasorda, Steve Garvey, Willie Mays and Dave Winfield.

Also Monday night, radio station KNX, via CBS, will broadcast a one-hour All-Star special, beginning at 8:07.

ABC’s “Good Morning America” Tuesday will devote almost the entire show to baseball.

With no major league baseball Wednesday, ESPN will fill the void by televising the triple-A all-star game at Buffalo at 5 p.m.

The Emmy Awards dinner for sports will be held Wednesday night in New York and will be televised on 115 stations by Raycom Sports.

Channel 11 will carry the two-hour telecast, beginning at 8 p.m., a delay of three hours. WWOR will carry it live at 5.

It used to be that the sports Emmies were a joke. The judges included network employees, who sometimes were asked to vote on their own shows. National Football League Commissioner Pete Rozelle was even a judge once. Can you imagine him voting for a baseball show over a football show?

Anyway, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and Raycom have since taken steps to make the awards more legitimate.

Alan Thicke and Joan Van Ark will serve as hosts of the show.

Camp time: Sportscaster Camps of America will hold two four-day sessions for aspiring sports announcers at Loyola Marymount Aug. 3-7 and Aug. 8-14. The camp was founded four years ago by Roy Englebrecht. Bob Miller, the Kings’ announcer, is the co-director.

Those already signed up for one of the sessions, according to Englebrecht, include a 62-year-old insurance vice president, a surgeon and a former Ram wide receiver, Preston Dennard.

Englebrecht said applications are still being accepted. Each session costs $645. For further information, call (714) 760-3131.

TV-Radio Notes

NBC offers a double dose of the New York Mets and Houston Astros. It will televise tonight’s game at 5:15 and Saturday’s game at 10:45 a.m., with Vin Scully and Joe Garagiola reporting both games. . . . Marv Albert will unveil his Albert Achievement Awards on tonight’s pregame show at 5. A taped interview with Commissioner Peter Ueberroth will also be shown.

NBC is taping the McDonald’s U.S. Gymnastics Championships at Houston, with highlights to be shown on “SportsWorld” Sunday at 11:30 a.m. Viewers will get a chance to check out NBC’s Olympic gymnastics announcing team of Dick Enberg, Bart Conner and Mary Lou Retton. More than 130 gymnasts are competing, with point totals counting 40% toward qualifying for the Olympics. The remaining 60% will be determined at the Olympic trials in Salt Lake City Aug. 4-7.

CBS offers coverage of the three-week Tour de France bicycle race on three successive Sundays, beginning this Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Tim Brant and Phil Liggett report. . . . The 1987 fight between Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvelous Marvin Hagler will be televised Monday night at 5 on ESPN as part of its “SuperBouts” series.

Remember the old Gerry Gross-produced “Sports Challenge” show with Dick Enberg? Now comes a similar show, “Grandstand,” a syndicated program produced by Phoenix Communications Group, which owns Major League Baseball Productions. The premiere will be televised by Channel 4 Saturday at 3 p.m. Teams are made up of a sports celebrity and a fan. The hosts are Curt Chaplin, a New York radio sportscaster, and model Deborah Johnson. The celebrity panelists on Saturday’s show will be Earl Weaver, Maurice Lucas, and Bobby Hull. . . . Byron Scott will be Rich Marotta’s guest on “It’s Your Call” on Prime Ticket Monday night at 7.

Now that ABC has acquired the rights to the Rose Bowl, Keith Jackson and Bob Griese will announce the game. . . . NBC lost $4 million on this year’s Rose Bowl telecast, but Bob Iger, ABC sports vice president in charge of program planning, said at a press conference in Pasadena Thursday that acquiring the game was “a dream come true.”

Ram broadcaster Jack Youngblood is one of four people who have auditioned for Jimmy the Greek’s spot on CBS’ “NFL Today.” The others are Dick Butkus, Gary Fencik and Archie Manning. Butkus is considered the favorite, although Fencik also impressed the CBS people.

Rick Kulis, president of Choice Entertainment, the Torrance-based pay-per-view sports distribution company, and his wife Judy have a new baby, 9-pound 5-ounce Corey. . . . CBS radio has selected KNX’s Pete Arbogast as one of three reporters to cover the Seoul Olympics.