Musburger Couldn’t Contain His Ego, Had to Get in Final Word

Brent Musburger couldn’t leave well enough alone.

After his final CBS telecast, Musburger showed class when he simply said thanks and told viewers, “See you down the road.”

But Musburger’s ego got the best of him. He had to go on other networks and attack his former bosses, claiming they had a vendetta against him.

Musburger said he was simply being honest.

In his mind, there had to be a reason that CBS chose not to renew his contract.

I’m Brent Musburger!

Humility has never been one of Musburger’s strong suits. Turned into a celebrity by the magic of television, he is greeted in hotel lobbies and at stadiums with adulation.

Much like Howard Cosell, he never could see that the masses actually didn’t like him, although, granted, Cosell was much more disliked than Musburger has ever been.

But there was great resistance to Musburger’s becoming the lead play-by-play man on baseball. Here’s one joke that was going around:

Question: What are the most frightening words imaginable?

Answer: You are looking live at Fenway Park, and I’m Brent Musburger.

Musburger probably believed such things were contrived and simply ignored them.

A while back, Musburger, during a face-to-face meeting, explained his version as to why he got bad press.

In his view, it was because of the competition between newspapers and television.

What he said, essentially, was that newspaper editors, fighting a losing battle against almighty television, created TV sports columns simply to knock their powerful competitor, and that was why he was so widely criticized.

The hole in Musburger’s theory is that some sportscasters are praised in newspaper columns.

The firing of Musburger isn’t the only intriguing story in the sports TV business. So is the one about Al Michaels and his feud with his boss at ABC.

Dennis Swanson, ABC Sports president, gives the talented Michaels the prime assignments--Monday night football, the World Series, the Kentucky Derby.

Michaels, meanwhile, praises Swanson, although he is a hot-tempered former Marine drill sergeant who is disliked by many in the business.

But something happens and Swanson suspends Michaels for two weeks without pay for a minor offense--his teen-age daughter worked as an ABC messenger, which is apparently against a company nepotism policy.

The story, because of its oddity and the people involved, makes national news.

At first, Michaels and his New York agent, Art Kaminsky, try to downplay the story. Michaels is quoted as saying it was simply a “bookkeeping error.”

Kaminsky, asked point-blank if it isn’t true that Michaels was suspended for two weeks without pay, at first says, “No comment.” Then he says, “Don’t write that, because it won’t be true.”

Well, guess what.

Michaels and his agent are admitting the suspension and using it as a ploy to get Michaels out of his ABC contract, presumably, so that he can go do baseball for CBS.

But CBS said its baseball announcing teams are set for the season.

So what’s going on? Maybe Michaels is looking ahead to next season. It’s really hard to tell.

Musburger and Michaels are both likable and pleasant enough, at least they used to be. They are both hard-working, bright, possess solid communication skills and have achieved fame and fortune in a high-profile profession.

But maybe they have become victims of that profession. They have multimillion-dollar contracts, earn at least four times as much as their bosses and are considerably more famous.

They travel in limos and stay in fancy hotel suites. They are treated with deference wherever they go.

Through it all, it’s hard to maintain a level head, to remain down to earth.

Musburger claims his bosses, believing he “was getting too big for his britches,” wanted to bring him down a few notches.

And apparently that’s what Swanson had in mind with his ill-advised suspension of Michaels.

With Michaels and Swanson at odds, the best bet is that Musburger ends up at ABC. Swanson is telling friends he’d like to hire him.

Channel 2 viewers might have been caught off guard, seeing Hosea Sanders, a morning news anchor, doing the 5 and 6 o’clock sports Wednesday night. Gil Stratton filled in on the 11 o’clock and all three newscasts Thursday night.

Keith Olbermann, according to station officials, was felled by a bad back, and backup Tony Hernandez is on vacation.

Rumors were making the rounds Thursday about flak between Olbermann and his station, but Olbermann’s agent, Jean Sage, said they are not true.

“Keith went into the station (Wednesday), had some still promo shots taken, then went to the doctor and went home,” Sage said.

Sage said Olbermann hurt his back in a fall a few months ago.

With the start of the baseball season and with the NHL playoffs under way, SportsChannel Los Angeles has launched a major campaign to acquire new affiliates and new subscribers.

The station televises selected home Dodger and Angel games, plus non-King playoff hockey.

Lynn Woodard, the pay service’s new general manager, wants to increase subscriptions from the current 100,000 to 450,000 in three months.

Woodard said the plan is working with affiliates in a marketing campaign, offering SportsChannel as part of a package and, in some cases, reduced prices. Woodard said the recommended price range is between $6 and $10.

Also, John Mohr, the president of SportsChannel America’s regional networks, said that contracts with the Dodgers and Angels have been renewed and solidified and will run through the 1994 season.

TV-Radio Notes

ESPN is off to a roaring start with its baseball coverage, sort of. The announcing, the updates and everything else has been superb. But many cable subscribers were irritated on opening day. Because the Dodgers were part of a tripleheader, most Southern California cable companies had no second game--the Dodgers were blacked out--and then Baltimore-Kansas City was tape-delayed. The problem, ESPN spokesman Mike Soltys said, was two rainouts and a limited schedule. However, some cable companies picked up the wrong feed, which was the right one as far as viewers were concerned. It gave them Baltimore’s 7-6, 11-inning victory over Kansas City, the last three innings of the Dodgers’ 4-2 win over San Diego, and Texas’ 4-2 victory over Toronto. And that was great.

CBS’ baseball coverage begins Saturday, and Los Angeles will get the Dodgers at Houston at 10:15 a.m., with the No. 2 team of Dick Stockton and Jim Kaat reporting. . . . Ron Cey, making his debut as SportsChannel’s Dodger commentator Monday, was a bit stiff. And he needs to project more. But his work was a pleasant surprise. A high point occurred in the eight inning, when the San Diego Padres failed to pull pitcher Bruce Hurst. “Frankly, I’m surprised they’re leaving him,” Cey said. Hubie Brooks hit the next pitch for a game-winning three-run homer.

HBO, on a boxing hot streak, televises the Michael Nunn-Marlon Starling fight Saturday night at 7. KNX offers radio coverage, with Rich Marotta and Seat Williams reporting. . . . Recommended viewing: “History of the NBA” on HBO Monday at 8 p.m. Pat Riley is the host of the one-hour show.

SportsChannel will televise Monday’s Boston Marathon, beginning at 8:30 a.m. . . . SportsChannel’s new weekly baseball show, co-produced by major league baseball with Joel Meyers and Joe Torre serving as hosts, begins on Thursday. . . . Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, as part of his book-promoting tour, will be Rick Dees’ guest on KIIS-FM this morning from 8 to 9, will be on Channel 7’s “AM Los Angeles” Tuesday morning at 9, and will be Michael Jackson’s guest on KABC radio later that day at noon. . . . KLAC has hired Gabe Kaplan as host of a new 5-to-6 weeknight sports talk show, “Sportsnut,” beginning April 30.