CBS Giddy Over Reunion With the NFL

It has been only four years, yet it has been a lifetime. The last time CBS televised a live NFL game to the nation, on Jan. 16, 1994, an NFL fan had yet to witness a St. Louis Ram, a Baltimore Raven, a Tennessee Oiler, a Carolina Panther or a Jacksonville Jaguar.

Dallas was on its way to an NFC championship game victory over San Francisco, soon to be followed by a second consecutive Super Bowl triumph and talk of a dynasty certain to carry the Cowboys, unimpeded, through the rest of the decade.

Archie Manning was still the most famous quarterback in his family.

Ryan Leaf was still in high school.

Brett Favre was making cameos only in the NFC playoffs, not Cameron Diaz movies.

Greg Gumbel remembers, because he was the CBS studio host on that dark day in the network’s history, when he had to sign off on CBS’ 38-year association with the NFL, not knowing when, or if, the NFL was ever coming back.

His was the last face CBS viewers saw as the NFL faded to Fox . . . and it will be the first they see Saturday night, when “The NFL on CBS” reopens for business in Vancouver, Canada, for the American Bowl exhibition between the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks.

“It’s kind of one of those strange quirks of fate,” says Gumbel, now CBS’ lead pro football play-by-play announcer. “I was hosting ‘NFL Today’ and it was my duty to sign off for football on CBS four years ago. . . . I signed off for the NFL on CBS and I will sign back on CBS. This opportunity is truly a joyous one for me.”

Gumbel will be teamed with color commentator Phil Simms, recruited from NBC, now the odd network out, and eventually will be backed by an all-rookie NFL studio team of Jim Nantz, Marcus Allen, Brent Jones and George Seifert.

What were Jones and Seifert doing the last time CBS televised an NFL game?

Losing the NFC championship to Dallas, 38-21.

CBS, which outbid NBC for the television rights to the AFC last January, has some catching up to do. Larry Cavolina, coordinating NFL director for CBS, says the network has to basically start from scratch, having sat on the sidelines during the digital revolution.

“It’s a brave new world for those of us dabbling in digital for the first time,” Cavolina says. “There are pieces of equipment, for instance, that allow you to play back four different things on one machine. Four years ago, if you wanted four replays, you had to use four machines. . . .

“We had to basically get back into the business of doing six, seven games a week and reestablish ourselves in the engineering marketplace. We had to purchase [equipment for] state-of-the-art graphics. It was like going to the toy store. We had to find a significant number of mobile units that could handle digital state-of-the-art cameras, digital switching, everything we needed for a brand-new look.”

THE EYE GETS MISTY

Gumbel admits the CBS-NFL reunion is “kind of an emotional thing for me. I’ll probably have to try to calm myself down when we go on Saturday night.”

Simms, too, says he is excited, “coming to a place where football has been gone and now it’s coming back. Just the excitement that everybody has preparing for it to come back on the air, it’s been a thrill for me.”

That atmosphere, Simms said, was a contributing factor in his decision to join CBS rather than Fox, which was also interested in hiring him as an analyst.

“The $11-million signing bonus was good too,” Gumbel quipped.

On paper, the pairing of Gumbel and Simms promises quite a different viewing experience from CBS’ lead announcing team in 1993-94, Pat Summerall and John Madden. Gumbel and Simms are both no-frills, no-nonsense, play-it-straight types--a matter of philosophy, they say, more than personality.

“I think sometimes there is a tendency when someone acquires something--or, in our case, reacquires something--to try to reinvent the wheel,” Gumbel says. “None of us wants to lose sight of the fact that people simply want to sit there and watch football.

“Sure, there are technological advances we’ll be sure to make use of. But we’ll also be sure to stick to the basics.”

Simms: “I just think the biggest thing is, ‘Let’s just don’t mess it up.’ Football is a great game for TV. People love it. That’s proven. That’s why you pay so much money for it. That’s why so many people watch it.

“Let’s just keep it simple. Let the fans at home sit down to watch the game and let them enjoy it.”

RECOMMENDED VIEWING

Fifty years after the death of Babe Ruth, a documentary on the life and legend of baseball’s greatest superstar finally gets it right.

HBO’s “Babe Ruth,” to be shown Sunday at 8 p.m. on the 50th anniversary of Ruth’s death, is an even-handed biography of a flawed hero who “could be loud and abrasive and impossibly immature . . . a perfect fit for [his] times. A man of mighty appetites and unrestrained desires, the Babe was a metaphor for the big, broadening shoulders of America.”

The hourlong documentary makes a good effort at separating myth from reality, discussing, for example, the likelihood that Ruth’s fabled called shot against Charlie Root in the 1932 World Series was just an angry gesture toward the Chicago Cubs’ bench and not really a called shot after all.

As for Ruth’s off-the-field reputation, however, former Yankee Tommy Henrich leaves no doubt. Calling Ruth “a monster off the field,” Henrich duly notes, with emphasis, “Babe Ruth was the only guy that ever lived up to his reputation.”

Another highlight is historian Donald Honig’s physical description of Ruth:

“He had the face of a happy catcher’s mitt.”

CYBER REPLAY

The final round of February’s rained out AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am will be replayed Monday, but won’t be televised, although fans with Internet access can watch the entire round live.

Beginning at 10 a.m., a cybercast of the final round can be viewed on the PGA Tour Web site, https://www.PGATOUR.com, in conjunction with CBS Sportsline (https://www.cbs.sportsline.com), GolfWeb (https://www.golfweb.com) and USA Today Online (https://www.usatoday.com). Tim Herron and Tom Watson are tied for the lead.

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What Los Angeles Is Watching

A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for Aug. 8-9, including sports on cable networks: SATURDAY*--*

Over-the-air Channel Rating Share Pro football: Exhibition, Oakland 2 4.6 10 at Dallas Baseball: Pittsburgh at Dodgers 5 4.1 8 Baseball: Angels at Chicago White Sox 9 3.0 8 Baseball: Atlanta at San Francisco 11 2.8 9 Golf: PGA Buick Open 2 2.0 6 Pro basketball: WNBA, Sparks at New York 4 1.1 4 Soccer: Galaxy at Chicago 7 1.0 3 Golf: Senior British Open 7 0.7 2 Harness racing: Hambletonian 2 0.7 2 Cable Network Rating Share Pro football: Exhibition, San Francisco FSW2 1.9 4 at San Diego Tennis: ATP du Maurier Open ESPN 1.0 3 Golf: Senior PGA Coldwell Banker Classic ESPN 0.8 2 Auto racing: NASCAR Busch North Series ESPN 0.7 2 Auto racing: NASCAR Craftsman Truck 200 TNN 0.6 2

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SUNDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share Golf: PGA Buick Open 2 3.9 10 Baseball: Angels at Chicago White Sox 9 3.6 10 Pro football: NFL Quarterback Challenge 2 3.2 10 Baseball: 25 Years of Unforgettable 4 3.0 9 Plays, Bloopers Auto racing: CART Miller Lite 200 7 1.9 5 Tennis: WTA Toshiba Classic 11 1.1 3 Pro basketball: WNBA, Sparks at Washington 4 1.0 3 Cable Network Rating Share Auto racing: NASCAR Winston Cup ESPN 1.8 5 Baseball: Atlanta at San Francisco ESPN 1.5 3 Soccer: Mexican League 34 1.4 4 Golf: Senior PGA Coldwell Banker Classic ESPN 1.2 3 Tennis: ATP du Maurier Open ESPN 0.8 2 Rodeo: PBR Bud Lite Cup TNN 0.8 2 Baseball: Chicago Cubs at St. Louis WGN 0.8 2 Boxing: Kenny Keene vs. Dominic Carter ESPN2 0.7 1

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Note: Each rating point represents 50,092 L.A. households. Cable ratings reflect the entire market, even though cable is in only 63% of L.A. households.