Montana Might Be Seen on NFL Sundays

If Joe Montana ends up in broadcasting, which he is pondering, a structured studio role would seem to fit him best.

NBC is the early leader in the Montana Derby and probably would use the retired quarterback on its NFL studio show, which could use a shot in the arm.

NBC made a mistake when it made Bill Walsh its No. 1 commentator. It’s unlikely the network would make the same mistake with Montana.

Fox, ESPN and Turner are also interested in Montana.

A decision is expected within a week or so.

*

Trivia time: Who was the network play-by-play announcer for “the Catch,” Dwight Clark’s game-winning reception from Montana in the 1981 NFC championship game?

*

NBC has added Phil Simms to its stable of football commentators, but gone is former Raider tight end Todd Christensen.

Christensen, bright and articulate, has what it takes to make it in broadcasting. But word is his moodiness hurt him at NBC, and his contract was not renewed.

Christensen, reached at his home in Alpine, Utah, said of his dismissal, “I guess it had more to do with personalties than competence.”

Then he added: “Hold on. (Pause) My wife overheard what I just said and thinks I should say something a little more humble, like, I thought I was better than I was.”

Christensen said he is still interested in pursuing broadcasting, adding, “That is, if the Raiders aren’t interested in a tight end.”

*

NBC ends the NBA regular-season this weekend with a game Saturday and two Sunday. No surprise: The Chicago Bulls are on Saturday, when they play host to Charlotte.

NBA ratings on NBC early in the season were off 46% from last year and were still off by 4% when Michael Jordan returned. They’re now 13% higher than a year ago.

*

This is a big weekend for Bill Walton. Tonight, he’ll be among former Celtics at Boston Garden for the team’s last regular-season game there. Saturday, he’ll work the Bull-Hornet game for NBC with Tom Hammond. Sunday, he’ll be in Phoenix for the Suns’ game against Seattle, joining Greg Gumbel and Steve Jones on a three-man announcing team.

*

Trivia answer: Vin Scully.

*

The Classic Sports Network, featuring classic sports events and programs from years past, is scheduled to be launched May 6. It was supposed to start in March.

The problem was convincing cable companies to clear a channel, and that is still a problem.

The network, however, will be available in part in 2 million homes through a new channel owned by Liberty Sports, which also owns Prime Sports. Liberty’s new channel is called Prime Sports Showcase.

The Classic Sports Network will also be available to people with DirecTV and PrimeStar mini-satellite dish systems.

*

The Golf Channel has been around since January, but because cable companies are unwilling to upgrade systems and increase channel capacity, it is still hard to get unless you have a DirecTV or PrimeStar system.

You can’t even get it on cable in the Palm Springs area.

“This is one of the hot spots for golf in the country and we can’t get the Golf Channel,” said Frank Wallace of Palm Desert, a pro at one of the area’s 70-plus golf courses.

*

Golf’s popularity continues to boom. The final round of the Masters got a 9.8 rating, the highest for a non-playoff Masters final day in 14 years. CBS averaged a 3.8 for the final two rounds of the Heritage last weekend, the highest for that tournament since 1990. And NBC averaged a 3.3 for the PGA Seniors, highest since 1991.

There’s more good golf this weekend. ABC has the Legends of Golf from the Stadium Course at PGA West, and CBS has the Greater Greensboro Open.

TV-Radio Notes

Baseball is back: Channel 5 gets ready for the baseball season with two half-hour Dodger specials and one half-hour Angel special this weekend. The Dodger specials, with Vin Scully as host, will be on at 7 p.m. Saturday and at 5 p.m. Sunday. The Angel special will be on at 6 p.m. Saturday and repeated at 5:30 Sunday. . . . Channel 5 will televise the Dodgers’ exhibition game against the New York Mets on Sunday at noon.

ESPN will televise the Dodgers’ season opener Tuesday, and Channel 5 will carry their home opener a week from tonight. The Angels will be on from Detroit the following day. . . . One thing different on ESPN this season will be a score-all-the-time graphic, something Fox started and ESPN copied for football.

ESPN offers NFL draft coverage Saturday and Sunday, beginning at 9 a.m. both days, and XTRA offers radio coverage on Saturday. Lee Hamilton and the Sporting News’ Joe Stein will anchor XTRA’s coverage. . . . NTN Communications, the Carlsbad company that created the popular computer game QB1 that is played in conjunction with football telecasts, will experiment with a new game, NFL Draft IQ, in which people attending the draft in New York or at other selected sites can try to predict who will draft whom.

Saturday night’s George Foreman-Axel Schulz fight is on HBO, where it belongs, not pay-per-view. . . . The second in an ABC series of programs on women in sports, “Passion to Play: the African American Experience,” will be on ABC Sunday at 2 p.m. Robin Roberts is the host.