CBS Can’t Ruin This Dodger-Brave Series

Thank goodness CBS isn’t involved in this weekend’s big series between the Dodgers and Atlanta Braves. Chances are, somehow, some way, things would get messed up.

CBS seems snake-bit these days.

There was that Jimmy Connors-Aaron Krickstein U.S. Open match on Labor Day that CBS showed out of sequence on the West Coast, ruining a lot of the suspense.

Then there was last Saturday’s rain-delayed game between the Dodgers and Braves at Atlanta, which CBS left in midstream. CBS cut off coverage at 6 p.m. EDT for local news. Not prime-time programming, local news!

It wasn’t such a big deal in Los Angeles because Channel 11 had the Dodgers and Braves, while CBS-owned Channel 2 showed Toronto and Oakland. But in the rest of the country, the switchboards at CBS affiliates lit up.

In the West, it was only 3 p.m. when CBS left the baseball game.

The 1-hour 19-minute rain delay in the first inning was CBS’ excuse for the botched coverage.

It switched to Oakland-Toronto during the rain delay, then picked up the Dodger game when it resumed. But when it appeared the Dodger game would not conclude until about 8 p.m. EDT (the 11-inning thriller won by the Braves, 3-2, ended at 8:31 EDT), the decision was made to pull the plug.

CBS went back to Oakland-Toronto for the conclusion of that game, then went off the air.

The apparent CBS message was: “To heck with regular season baseball.”

Baseball has heard that one before. CBS has destroyed the traditional “Game of the Week,” and now it takes possibly the biggest game of the year and spoils that, too.

Baseball itself deserves much of the blame for CBS’ shoddy treatment. The appearance is, it simply took $1.08 billion from CBS and said, “Do whatever you like.”

Add snafu: CBS, wisely, decided to continue to feed the Dodger-Brave game to its Atlanta affiliate.

And at least 12 other affiliates in the Southeast, defying a network edict, picked up the feed as well, as soon as they could find it. They had to search for the signal because the network had changed it from a national one to one designated only for Atlanta.

Shouldn’t it have been the affiliates’ decision in the first place?

They are the ones who should choose between losing local advertising money or feeling the wrath of their viewers.

For those 12 or so affiliates in the South, pleasing the viewers was more important than the almighty dollar. That’s the way it should be.

Credit the Dodgers and Channel 11 for adding two of this weekend’s games with the Braves--Saturday night and Sunday--to the television schedule. But let’s hope it doesn’t stop there.

The only other game scheduled to be televised on Channel 11 is next Tuesday’s at San Diego.

Three years ago, Channel 11 took considerable heat for not televising the Dodgers’ pennant-clinching game at San Diego. The same mistake wouldn’t be made again, would it?

CBS has picked up the Dodgers’ home game against San Francisco on Sept. 28, and it will be shown here, maybe even in its entirety.

The Dodgers’ game at San Francisco Oct. 5 probably will be on CBS, but no decision has been made. CBS has until 72 hours before the games to decide which it will show during the final two weeks of the season.

Tonight’s Dodger-Brave game is the last one on SportsChannel’s schedule, but one of the home games with the Padres Sept. 30-Oct. 2 may be added.

The division race has been a boon for SportsChannel, which needed one. And more subscribers mean more people are finding out that the announcing team of Joel Meyers and Duke Snider is a good one.

Double duty: CBS’ Dick Stockton suddenly has a busy weekend. Saturday he will be in Oakland to announce the Athletics’ game against Toronto with Tim McCarver, then Sunday he will be in Cincinnati to work the Bengals’ game against the Washington Redskins with Merlin Olsen.

Stockton was asked to replace Jack Buck on the baseball game after Buck was hospitalized in Philadelphia with internal bleeding. Buck is expected to return home to St. Louis Saturday and hopes to be back at work next weekend.

NFL lineup: With the Rams and Raiders on the road, Los Angeles gets the full treatment of NFL football Sunday.

There will be two 10 a.m. games--the Raiders at Atlanta on NBC, with Don Criqui and Bob Trumpy reporting, and Minnesota at New Orleans on CBS, with Jim Nantz and Hank Stram.

The CBS game at 1 p.m. is the Rams at San Francisco 49ers, with Pat Summerall and John Madden calling the action.

The TNT game at 5 p.m. is Dallas at Phoenix, and the Monday night game on ABC is the New York Jets at Chicago.

Pay-per-view update: Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who first said the NFL might experiment with pay-per-view in 1992, then changed it to 1993, is now saying not until after 1993.

“Our perspective has changed because of the television advertising marketplace,” Tagliabue said. “At this point, we are not going to be experimenting or using any form of pay-per-view of any kind during our current television contracts, which run through 1993.”

TV-Radio Notes

ABC has two regional college football telecasts Saturday--Arizona State vs. USC at the Coliseum at 12:30 p.m. and Washington at Nebraska at 5 p.m. . . . ABC has a well-balanced announcing team on ASU-USC, Al Michaels and Lynn Swann. Michaels went to ASU, Swann to USC. Keith Jackson and Bob Griese will be at Lincoln, Neb. . . . In all, there will be 15 college football telecasts Saturday.

After the Notre Dame-Michigan State game on NBC Saturday, about 2:30 p.m., will be one hour of live coverage of the naming of the 1992 Olympic basketball team. Bob Costas will be the host, reporting from the NBA Entertainment headquarters in Secaucus, N.J., with Marv Albert reporting from Chicago, where Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan will be. One or two college players are expected to join the NBA stars.

Recommended viewing: CBS’ baseball pregame show Saturday at 11:30 a.m. On the show will be an excellent piece on Tom Lasorda, put together by producer Rob Silverstein. A CBS crew spent the day with Lasorda on Wednesday. . . . Prime Ticket will televise a two-part feature on Chicago Bear Coach Mike Ditka on its “Press Box” shows Monday and Tuesday nights. In an interview, Ditka tells Randi Hall, among other things, about the scare his heart attack gave him, and his temper. “I do get angry,” Ditka says in Part 1. “Anybody who doesn’t is losing one of the great emotions of life.” In Part 2, Ditka says, “If I had to do it over again, I’d do it the same way. I’d try to clean up a few things, but I’d do it the same way.” . . . CBS’ Lesley Visser taped an interview with NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue that will be shown on Sunday’s “NFL Today.” The interview focuses on the league’s new rules regarding excessive celebrating.

As if the Dodgers-Braves, 15 college football games and a full schedule of NFL games isn’t enough, there’s also U.S.-Germany Davis Cup tennis on ESPN this weekend. There will be four telecasts--today at 1 and 11 p.m., Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 9 p.m. All but the first match today are delayed. . . . KABC’s “Ken and Barkley Co.” will hold a Dodger rally this morning between 7 and 9 at the station’s parking lot at 3321 S. La Cienega, between Washington and Jefferson. The first 200 people will receive Dodger gifts and refreshments. Guests include Lasorda, Steve Garvey and Tommy Hawkins. . . . CBS has assigned Jim Gray to file reports on the Dodger-Brave series throughout the weekend. . . . Vin Scully never ceases to amaze. This week, particularly Tuesday night, he not only called the Dodgers’ game against Cincinnati to perfection, but at the same time called the Braves’ game at San Francisco off television coverage.