COMMENTARY : Appearance of Advocacy on Par With Reality

Apologies to Perry Como, but we’ve got questions, stacks and stacks of questions.

Why were broadcasters Dan Dierdorf and Jack Buck speaking to the 28 NFL owners last week as part of the St. Louis delegation’s presentation seeking an expansion franchise for 1995?

Dierdorf and Buck were there because they’d been asked to talk about the virtues of the city they both call home. Both should have politely declined.

Though Dierdorf insisted neither he nor Buck is financially involved “in any way, shape or form” with the St. Louis expansion effort, they are still members of the media. Dierdorf is among TV’s most insightful analysts with ABC’s Monday night crew; Buck is a Baseball Hall of Fame broadcaster who still does CBS Radio’s NFL game of the week and is listed as sports director for KMOX, the city’s top-of-the-line radio station.

As such, both still deal on a daily basis with the news. Even doing play-by-play and color, part of their job description includes reportorial tasks; interviewing, gathering information and offering opinion based on what they’ve learned.

The basic premise of Journalism 101 is that members of the media should not serve as advocates for any group. In this case, was it really necessary for two highly regarded, nationally known figures to show support for a consortium of wealthy investors about to pay $140 million up front for an NFL franchise that will eventually earn them a substantial profit?

No!

In an interview this week, Dierdorf said: “I have no problem in retrospect as to whether I should have done it. I was there as a citizen of St. Louis. All I addressed before the owners was that St. Louis is more than a baseball town. I played 13 years in this city, and it was always my perception I played in a good football town, with the stadium at 90 percent capacity.

“I was not there in a journalistic capacity. I wasn’t representing ABC. I did not ask ABC for permission, and ABC has no problem with me being there. ... Anyone who paints a picture of this as me somehow being responsible for possibly getting a team for St. Louis is grossly overestimating my contribution.”

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Why is James Brown doing commercials for Georgetown basketball on WTEM radio?

James Brown, the classy voice of college basketball, NFL football and many other sports on CBS, can be heard regularly on Washington’s all-sports radio station pushing season-ticket packages for the Hoyas.

Sorry, J.B., that’s not your job. Let them use someone who has no ties to college hoops, not a man who works for a network that will be airing at least three Hoyas games nationally this season. And Brown probably will be involved in some way with each of those telecasts, again as a member of the media (see Dierdorf/Buck above).

Brown said he was asked to do the spots by the station’s sales department, not Georgetown. He also admits in retrospect it might not have been such a wise idea, and that “maybe I’ve been running so hard and fast, I should take a closer look at things that might look like I’m crossing the line. ... I definitely don’t think it will lessen my ability to be critical, if that’s necessary.”

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Why doesn’t NBC Sports President Dick Ebersol stop talking about the possibility that his network might not televise the NFL next year unless the league reduces its rights fee demands for the next contract?

Testifying last week in federal court in an NBA suit regarding telecasts of Chicago Bulls games, Ebersol estimated an $88 million loss for his network on the NFL this season. According to Ebersol, the three major networks will lose more than $200 million this season.

I don’t doubt it. I also don’t doubt that all of this is public posturing even as Ebersol and the other networks are involved in serious talks with the league about a new TV contract.

But no football on NBC next season? Don’t believe it. The NFL needs the three major networks -- all of them -- as much as the networks need the NFL. Paul Tagliabue knows it. Last year, the commish even tried to give the networks a rebate, a proposal that was voted down by the owners.

Tagliabue said in an ESPN Radio interview last week that the league will remain on two networks every Sunday. He also said a pay-per-view experiment would not be out of the question over the course of the next contract. Grab your wallets and stay tuned.