SAN DIEGO COUNTY : Persistence Finally Pays Off as Former Linebacker Moves to 1st String TV Anchor Job

Terrible is the word Jim Laslavic used to describe his early efforts as a television sportscaster, and few in the industry would disagree with him.

“It was, at times, a painful learning process” for Laslavic, said his former boss, KFMB-TV (Channel 8) News Director Jim Holtzman.

A linebacker in the National Football League from 1973 to 1983, Laslavic spent six years learning the TV business as the weekend sports announcer and Ted Leitner’s backup at Channel 8. Now he has moved into the starting lineup for the first time, as the lead sports anchor for lowly rated KNSD-TV (Channel 39).

His apprenticeship is over. He has a New York agent and the sports anchor job in a relatively major market, with an NBC affiliate counting on him to bring credibility to their sports coverage.

To say he’s come a long way only scratches the surface of Laslavic’s television career. If there is a lesson in his new-found broadcasting success it is this: Persistence pays off. After all, his post-football days could have been spent selling industrial fasteners.

Laslavic grew up in Etna, Pa., a small community with a large population of Yugoslavian immigrants. His father was 17 years old when he immigrated to Etna, where the Laslavic family owned and operated a restaurant and boarding house. There were 55 students in Jim’s Etna High graduating class; 22 on the football team.

After graduating from Penn State with a degree in business, he was drafted in the third round by the Detroit Lions. Unlike many pro athletes, Laslavic began contemplating his post-football life soon after starting his career with the Lions. During the off season he sold industrial fasteners (a.k.a. nuts and bolts), but a journalism career seemed much more appealing.

When he was traded to the San Diego Chargers in 1978, he was relegated to a backup role and started to pursue journalism more seriously. He took night classes at UC San Diego. He gladly accepted any type of writing job he could find, usually working free for small papers such as the Tierrasanta Times. He did sports broadcasts for radio stations in Detroit and San Diego, and he contacted the news directors of local TV stations, warning them he would be back looking for a job one day.

In 1979, when Laslavic missed the entire football season with a knee injury, he worked for The Times’ sports department in San Diego, covering high school football games and doing menial desk tasks. As his football career began to wane, he helped announce high school football games for Southwestern Cable television, once again working without pay.

“He’s one of the guys who makes it easy for public relations people,” said Chargers’ public relations chief Rick Smith. “Laz was always available to emcee something or make an appearance for charity.”

His first television break came at KGTV (Channel 10), which hired him in 1982 to do part-time work and anchoring during the off season.

That same year, Laslavic was traded to the Green Bay Packers. After the ’82 season, which was cut short by a players strike, he faced a pivotal point in his life. The Packers offered him a new contract worth $150,000 a year, a 50% raise, to be a backup linebacker. At the same time, Holtzman offered him a job as weekend sports anchor at Channel 8.

“It was a tough decision, but I realized that these jobs don’t come available that often,” Laslavic said. “I figured I was lucky to squeeze five years out of a reconstructed knee.”

As noted, his early efforts were inauspicious. By his own admission, he was inarticulate, uncomfortable and had difficulty putting together a newscast. His frustration was often apparent on the air.

Fortunately, Channel 8 was in first place in the ratings at the time, and Holtzman had patience.

“I think the thing that serves Jim best is he’s extremely likeable off the air, and that really translates on the air,” Holtzman said. “I felt he was a quality person, and he’d be a quality broadcaster.”

There was little pressure on Laslavic. When people thought about Channel 8’s sportscast, they thought of first-stringer Leitner, who also helped ease Laslavic’s transition. “I tried to stay off his back,” said Leitner, who often rails against ex-jock sportscasters. “I bent over backward to stay out of his way.”

Laslavic was given plenty of chances to improve. In addition to his weekend post, he filled in for Leitner, who was often gone, broadcasting for the Padres and other teams.

At some point it began to dawn on Laslavic, as he looked at the ratings, that he wasn’t doing that badly, even if Leitner was the main draw. Of course, fortunate scheduling helped. Referring to his Sunday early-evening broadcast between the “CBS Evening News” and “60 Minutes,” Laslavic said it was a slot where “dead air would get ratings points.”

Still, Laslavic recalled saying to himself, “I’m not scaring (the audience) away. They’re sticking with me and the rest of us.”

But he never actively shopped his tapes or tried to get a job outside San Diego. He settled in Coronado with his wife, Susan, and their two children, 2-year-old Hayley and James, 8 months.

The Channel 39 opportunity, though, was too good to pass up. He was tired of working weekends, and here was a chance to make his mark as a lead sports anchor.

“We did the best we could do to keep him here, with the limitation that he wasn’t going to take Ted’s place,” Holtzman said.

With his own show comes pressure that Laslavic has never faced before. Channel 39, mired in third place in a three-horse race, needs to improve its ratings. Bobby Estill, Laslavic’s predecessor, hired from a station in Boston, lasted only one year. Laslavic, however, seems unfazed.

“Pressure is something you put on yourself,” he said. “That’s something I learned from football. They hired me to do what I do. It’s not like I ‘souped up’ an audition tape and resume to get the job.”

Although he occasionally expresses an opinion or tells a joke, Laslavic’s style is far less opinionated than Leitner’s and devoid of the gimmicks and special effects common in other sportscasts. He simply shows a lot of videotape and gives the scores.

“Laz is a straight, no-nonsense, knowledgeable guy,” Channel 39 general manager Neil Derrough said. “Laz is not confusing. He’s consistent.”

Laslavic said he simply wants to be “true to his personality.” Channel 39 executives hope that approach will attract more San Diegans to the station, maybe even take a few away from Leitner.

“Laz is going to be in the market for a long time,” Derrough said.