Musburger’s ‘Dream’ Being Postponed by Rain

On April 1, Brent Musburger was fired by CBS. Nearly five months later, he’s about to live out what he calls one of his lifelong dreams: broadcasting the Little League World Series.

Musburger, 51, signed a six-year contract--estimated to be worth between $11 million and $12 million--in May with ABC, the network that has covered the final game of the Little League World Series for 27 consecutive years. This year, ABC will have Musburger and analyst Jim Palmer to head its Little League World Series team.

“When I was with CBS, I never thought I’d be able to do this game since it was always a staple of ABC,” Musburger said. “But when I joined ABC, someone asked if I’d like to do it and I jumped for it.

“I grew up playing Little League in Montana. It was always a dream for me to come here and play. Since I never realized that, I figured the next best thing would be able to be here for television.”

Musburger, who said he might begin the broadcast with his trademark, “You’re looking live at . . .,” arrived in Williamsport Thursday to begin preparation for the championship game, one that ABC planned to televise nationally Saturday on “Wide World of Sports.”

Rain delays have pushed back the series schedule, however, so the championship game that was scheduled at 1 p.m. (PDT) Saturday will not be played any earlier than Sunday.

Musburger said ABC will broadcast the game that will decide the U.S. Little League champion--Cypress versus the winner of today’s game between Shippensburg, Pa., and Mobile, Ala. That game has been rescheduled for Saturday at a time to be determined.

“If it’s just the U.S. championship game, we’ll do that,” he said. “Obviously, they’d like to have a championship one way or another.”

The rain has played havoc with the tournament scheduling, and, despite forecasts of continued showers, Little League spokesman Steve Keener said Thursday morning that the tournament will be completed no matter how many days it takes.

Musburger says he’ll also stay as long as it takes.

“I didn’t just come here for a cup of coffee,” Musburger said. “My next event isn’t until Ohio State-Texas Tech (football game). I’m prepared to stay for two weeks. I may ask my family to come over.”

Musburger, who lives in Weston, Conn., a short drive from Trumbull, home of the 1989 Little League World Series champions, said he has been a fan of Little League baseball since he started playing as a youngster in Billings, Mont.

“My father, who passed away five years ago, started the Little League program at Billings,” Musburger said. “And I’ve umpired Little League and coached both my boys in Little League.

“It became very fashionable for a time to criticize Little League, to say that the parents put on too much pressure and all that, but I never felt that way. I always felt that the good outweighed the bad.”

As far as broadcasting goes, Musburger said the 11- and 12-year-old Little Leaguers make for fun stories.

“The kids are very refreshing,” he said. “Little League is probably one of the last true pure sports. It’s not a major league game. It’s still played by 12-year-olds who aren’t perfect. . . . At the pro level, after the first year on the road, it’s all just a business.”

And even though broadcasting is a business for Musburger, he says he still admits getting caught up at times in being a fan.

“A lot of people thought when I came to ABC and said I wanted to do the Little League World Series, they said, ‘Oh yeah, right.’ But it’s a real sincere desire on my part,” Musburger said.

“I never really lost that fan edge. Although that used to get me in trouble sometimes.”