COMMENTARY : Notre Dame Exercised Rights

Something to remember as the fire and brimstone accompanying Notre Dame’s making a deal for some games with NBC continues. Always a reluctant member of the College Football Assn., the Irish, like all college teams, own the rights to their home games and simply exercised those rights. Other schools and conferences have been packaging deals for local stations and cable outfits for years while catching no flak.

A point to ponder: Considering the distance between Japan and the United States, will Mike Tyson be showered and gone from the arena by the time pictures of his first solid punch KO of Buster Douglas arrives on the East Coast via HBO Saturday?

Tickets for the sequel to Jimmy Doolittle’s “30 Seconds Over Tokyo” in the Egg Dome are going (slowly) for $1,035 (ringside) to $35 (Yokohama suburbs). Japanese fans must think two rounds is the usual length of fights. In previous title tiffs, George Foreman flattened Joe Roman and Tyson took out Tony Tubbs in that time.

NBA All-Star weekend commences Saturday with the Legends Classic on TNT cable. Overbearing Rick Barry will attempt to hog the spotlight in that one. An hour later, it’s the Larry Bird three-point shootout followed by the slam-dunk championship, which just might have no winner considering the field.

The game itself on CBS is slated to start Sunday after 45 minutes of pre-game show. An interesting feature during the wait will be the outtakes of pro hoopsters doing commercials.

Let’s see, I’ve had cable for a few months now, two channels have already gone to nothingness or ads for whiplash lawyers and the cost for basic service just went up $1.50 a month. Monopoly: n., exclusive control of a commodity or service in a given market that makes possible the fixing of prices and the virtual elimination of competition.

Lay in the Gravy Train, gang, USA Network has the 114th Westminster Dog Show next Monday and Tuesday from 8 to 11 p.m., EST, exclusively.

Question: Given the success and ratings of the World Football League and the strike replacement games a few years ago, why on earth would ABC be pumping $25 million into spring games from Germany, Italy and Mexico in 1991-92?

Answer: Mayhaps the NFL introduced a bit of persuasion, hinting that the network might lose “Monday Night Football” if it resisted.

Verne Lundquist takes this week’s he-gets-around award. No sooner did the CBS sportscaster finish the European Figure Skating Championships in Moscow Friday, than he was on the Aeroflot for Georgia Tech-Louisville hoops Saturday. Imagine interviewing a Soviet coach and Bobby Cremins back-to-back.

CBS follows that game with Georgetown vs. Florida at 4 p.m., EST. In between, CBS will have Winterfest. Already the network has started “Countdown to Albertville,” no doubt a slogan contributed by Brent Musburger.