These Inquiring Minds Had to Know

How low can TV go? Not much lower than Channel 7 did recently.

After the tabloids came out with some predictable trash about Magic Johnson, Channel 7, unbelievably, decided to react.

There was really nothing of substance in the tabloid stories, but that didn’t keep Channel 7 from sending a crew to the Century City office of Johnson’s agent, Lon Rosen.

The crew showed up unannounced and demanded a response.

Rosen explained that he had not read the tabloids and had no comment. The Channel 7 reporter, Joe McMahan, had the tabloids in hand and asked Rosen to read them and respond.

Again, Rosen declined.

Unknown to Rosen, the cameras were rolling during this exchange, and it was shown on the news that night.

Rosen was incensed and so was Johnson.

Making matters worse, Channel 7’s general manager, Terry Crofoot, took six days to return Rosen’s repeated calls.

Rosen, contacted by The Times, declined comment, but sources say that he considered turning down Barbara Walters’ request to interview Johnson because she works for the same network that employs Crofoot.

Rosen had a change of heart only because he thought it would be unfair to punish Walters and ABC for the actions of one person in Los Angeles.

Still, Connie Chung and CBS got to Johnson first. Chung’s interview, conducted Wednesday at Johnson’s home, will be shown on “Face to Face With Connie Chung” next Wednesday at 10 p.m. The entire one-hour show will be devoted to the Johnson story.

Crofoot, reached at his office Thursday, declined comment.

Add Crofoot: He is in hot water with former colleague John Severino, the president of Prime Ticket.

Crofoot was the news director at Channel 7 under Severino when Severino was the general manager there, but they are now adversaries.

Prime Ticket applied for membership in the television academy so it would be eligible for local Emmy awards, but with Crofoot and Channel 7 leading the opposition, the application was rejected.

“They are out and out afraid of us,” Severino said. “They think if we won all the sports awards, we’d lord it over their heads.

“And of course we would.”

Crofoot, agreeing to comment on this matter, said: “The bylaws stipulate that local television stations and local cable systems are eligible. Prime Ticket is neither. It is a network.”

It’s now that in-between time in college football--in between the regular season and the bowl season.

So the big attraction this weekend is Army-Navy on ABC Saturday at 10:30 a.m. More accurately, it’s the only attraction.

Were it not for its history, Army-Navy would not be on national television.

Army, which had such powerhouses as Colgate, Harvard and Akron on its schedule, is 4-6. Navy played Ball State, William & Mary and Delaware, but that didn’t keep the Midshipmen from going 0-10.

ABC’s Keith Jackson, who will call Saturday’s game with Bob Griese, has one suggestion for improving football at the service academies.

Jackson says five years of service commitment after graduation is simply too long.

“A lot of these kids go to prep school for one year, then you’ve got four years of schooling at the service academy, then comes five more years of required service after that,” Jackson said.

“They’re asking a young high school recruit to commit 10 years of his life. I think they’re asking too much.”

Jackson is hardly anti-military. Anything but, in fact. He is a former Marine, having signed up right out of high school.

“The 4 1/2 years I spent in the military were the best years of my life,” he said. “The discipline and the education I got helped me tremendously later in life.”

An example of Jackson’s discipline: When reached at his home in Sherman Oaks on Wednesday, he was busy wrapping Christmas presents. Yes, wrapping Christmas presents the first week of December. Now that is one disciplined individual.

Jackson took time out to express a few other opinions, such as:

--Washington is the No. 1 team in the nation.

“I picked Washington No. 1 before the season started. So did Bob Griese. We felt Miami was a year away. And we haven’t changed our minds.”

--No, Washington and Miami should not play to decide things once and for all.

“It’s more fun this way. It gives us all something to argue about.”

--Michigan’s Desmond Howard will win the Heisman Trophy, hands downs.

“If he doesn’t win it, there should be a Senate investigation that would make Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill look like child’s play. Desmond Howard is the most exciting player I’ve seen in a long time.”

After Army-Navy on ABC Saturday, about 2 p.m., will be the first “Chevrolet College Football Awards Show.”

The one-hour special, with Brent Musburger as host, will originate from the College Football Hall of Fame at Kings Island, Ohio, where the winners of six major college football awards will be announced.

They awards include the Maxwell, which goes to the outstanding player; the Davey O’Brien, which goes to the top quarterback; the Jim Thorpe, which goes to the top defensive back; the Doak Walker, which goes to the top running back; the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm, which goes to the top senior quarterback; and the Chevrolet college football coach of the year.

Don Ohlmeyer, who will produce the show, came up with the idea.

“Just because the Heisman is based in New York, the perception is it is the only award,” he said.

TV-Radio Notes

Former UCLA quarterback Steve Bono, who has become an overnight star for the San Francisco 49ers, will be featured on CBS’ “NFL Today” Sunday. He is interviewed by Lesley Visser. . . . The CBS game Sunday is the 49ers at Seattle at 1 p.m., with Tim Ryan and Irv Cross reporting. . . . The 10 a.m. game on NBC Sunday is Denver and Cleveland, with Joel Meyers and Dan Hampton.

One reason for watching Saturday night’s George Foreman-Jimmy Ellis fight on HBO is an excellent feature on Foreman that will be shown during prefight coverage, which begins at 7. . . . The fight will also be televised in the Soviet Union. It will create quite an impression, no doubt. . . . Mike McCallum and James Toney meet in a middleweight title fight on pay-per-view on Friday, Dec. 13. Toney knocked out Michael Nunn last May. Also on the TVKO card will be a heavyweight fight between Riddick Bowe and Mike Evans.

The Ironman Triathlon, formerly televised by ABC, will be on NBC Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Something else different is that the telecast is being produced by organizers of the event, which was run Oct. 19 in Hawaii. The organizers sold the commercials and bought the time from NBC, thus guaranteeing a profit for the network. The announcers, John Tesh, Craig Masback and cyclist Davis Phinney, were supplied by NBC, as was the lead producer, David Michaels.

CBS opens its college basketball schedule Saturday with Kentucky at Indiana at 12:45 p.m., with Jim Nantz and Billy Packer reporting. . . . Burt Reynolds will be a guest on the “John Robinson Show” on Channel 2 Sunday at 10 a.m. . . . Tom Candiotti and O.J. Simpson will be Steve Edwards’ guests today on KABC radio’s “Sportstalk.” . . . Channel 9 has finally hired a replacement for sportscaster Joe Fowler. He is Mark Steines, who comes from Springfield, Mo., and starts Dec. 16.

At halftime of tonight’s Clipper telecast from Denver, Channel 13 will offer a nicely produced “Welcome Back Charles Smith” feature. . . . Attention hockey fans: A two-volume video tape commemorating the Kings’ first 25 years is available, and so is another tape of interest, “75 Years of NHL Hockey Heroes and History.” . . . Figure skater Robin Cousins has been hired as a consultant for a figure-skating episode of the Fox network’s popular “Beverly Hills 90210” series.

Tonight’s Rialto Eisenhower-Long Beach Wilson Southern Section prep playoff game at Long Beach’s Veterans Stadium will be broadcast live on KCKC (1350), with Larry Hausner and Bob Harvey calling the action. KCKC is in Rialto. . . . The other Division I semifinal, Mater Dei-Loyola at Santa Ana Stadium, will be taped for showing on several Orange County public-access cable channels at various times next week. The announcers are Paul Westphal and Mike Lansford. . . . The Division I championship game on Dec. 13 at Anaheim Stadium will be broadcast live on XTRA (690).