Comebacks Becoming Old Hat for Albert

There will never be closure for Marv Albert, not completely. But his hiring by NBC this week takes him another step away from the stigma that probably will always be there.

“I can now at least go a couple of days without thinking about it,” Albert said in a phone interview from his home in New York on Thursday.

Albert was fired by NBC about 21 months ago, after pleading guilty to misdemeanor assault charges, a case that made his sex life public and made him fodder for crude jokes on late-night television and just about everywhere else.

Just how embarrassing was it?

“I’d never want to test it to see if there could be anything worse,” he said.

Albert said so much of what happened was surreal, as if it were happening to somebody else. He admits he did things that were wrong, but, declining to go into details, said many untruths came out.

“So many of the allegations were made up,” he said.

“I’ve had three different comeback situations, first with the Madison Square Garden network [he works on its nightly “Sports Desk” news show], then with Turner and now NBC, and with each there has been a news conference and/or conference call and the stories mention [the case] as a point of reference,” he said. “I know it has to be done, but, and I know this sounds corny, I’d prefer to just look ahead.”

What Albert has to look ahead to is a full slate of NBA games next season. He will be in the second year of a five-year contract with Turner Broadcasting, and will do a full season of weeknight games for TNT and TBS, then will do weekend games for NBC when it begins showing them regularly in January.

Reportedly, Albert, with three sources of income, will make $2 million to $2.5 million, which is about what he was making before. For now, he will be NBC’s No. 3 or 4 play-by-play announcer. He doesn’t know who his partner will be, but Bill Walton, who worked with Albert on TNT telecasts during the playoffs, is one possibility. Mike Fratello, “the czar of the Telestrator,” as Albert tabbed him when they worked together at NBC before, is another. Fratello was fired as coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers after last season.

“I had dinner with Mike about a week-and-a-half ago,” Albert said. “He’s still exploring his options.”

Albert’s comeback has happened faster than most thought it would, Albert among them. He has fared much better than others in his field who made public missteps, such as Ben Wright, Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder and Tom Brookshier.

Since he is under contract to Turner, Albert couldn’t have signed with NBC without Turner Sports president Harvey Schiller’s approval.

Another key person was Albert’s longtime friend Bob Costas. Even though Albert may eventually move back into his old spot as the No. 1 play-by-play man on the NBA, a role Costas inherited, Costas encouraged his NBC boss, Dick Ebersol, to bring Albert back.

“I let Dick know that I was not an obstacle, that I thought bringing Marv back was the right thing to do,” Costas said Thursday.

Costas, particularly this season when he worked alone with Doug Collins rather than with Collins and Isiah Thomas, showed he was a more than adequate replacement. But he’s no Marv Albert when it comes to basketball, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Costas were to step aside after one more NBA season.

“Marv is our signature guy on the NBA,” Costas said.

WACKY WALTON

Although Albert wouldn’t mind being reunited with Fratello, he’d also love to work with Walton, who regularly joined him this season on MSG’s “Sports Desk” as a regular NBA contributor.

“He always has something to say, which is great,” Albert said of Walton.

Walton first went after the New York Knicks’ Larry Johnson on “Sports Desk,” calling him “a sad human being” and “a disgrace.” Walton repeated those comments on the post-, post-game show on CNBC after a game in the finals and caused quite a stir.

Johnson shot back, “Isn’t that the same Bill Walton who was smoking pot at UCLA and was a hippie?”

Said Walton, “When you’re a nerdy-looking guy with a big nose and a speech impediment, you’ve heard a lot worse than that.”

NEW LATE-NIGHT ACT

Nice to see good guy Tim Ryan back on tennis, doing updates and the late-night highlight show for NBC at Wimbledon. Jay Leno fans might not like the highlight segments, since “The Tonight Show” gets pushed back, but tennis fans appreciate them. Tonight’s 11:35 highlight show, the final one, will be a half-hour instead of 15 minutes.

Besides doing tennis and Olympic sports for NBC, Ryan also does football for Fox. He worked for CBS for 21 years and when he said goodbye at a staff meeting before the 1998 NCAA tournament, his colleagues gave him a standing ovation.

SHORT WAVES

The backlog at Wimbledon is actually a plus for NBC, giving the network plenty of action this weekend, provided there isn’t more rain. NBC will have four hours of coverage Saturday and six on Sunday. . . . Southlander Paul Sunderland gets a different assignment this weekend, anchoring NBC’s update desk in New York. . . . Before HBO signs off from Wimbledon for a final time after 25 years of weekday coverage tonight at 8, it will have a seven-minute tribute. . . . The Sparks’ Lisa Leslie will be featured in a WNBA special on NBC Saturday at 10 a.m. . . . NBC also has golf this weekend, showing the final two rounds of the 54-hole American Century Celebrity Championship at Edgewood in Lake Tahoe. Today’s opening round will be on the Golf Channel, delayed at 3 p.m. In the field is John Elway, who will also appear on tape on “The Last Word” tonight at 6:30 on Fox Sports West. Elway talks about his possible involvement with an expansion NFL team in Los Angeles. “It would have to be a heck of an opportunity for me to uproot from Denver and move to L.A.,” he tells Jim Rome.

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What Los Angeles Is Watching

A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for June 26-27, including sports on cable networks:

SATURDAY

*--*

Over-the-air Channel Rating Share Tennis: Wimbledon 4 4.6 17 Baseball: Dodgers at San Francisco 11 4.3 14 Golf: Buick Classic 7 2.4 9 Golf: Senior Players Championship 7 1.6 5 Pro basketball: WNBA, Phoenix at Detroit 4 1.7 6 Bowling: AC-Delco at Lakewood 2 1.4 5 Horse racing: Affirmed Handicap 2 0.8 2 Golf: LPGA Championship 2 0.7 2

*--*

****

*--*

Cable Network Rating Share Baseball: Oakland at Angels FSW 1.3 3 Women’s World Cup: Australia vs. China ESPN 1.1 4 Prep football: CalTex Shrine Game FSW2 0.7 3 Baseball: New York Mets at Atlanta TBS 0.6 2 Women’s World Cup: Japan vs. Norway ESPN2 0.6 1 Women’s World Cup: Canada vs. Russia ESPN 0.5 2 Women’s World Cup: Ghana vs. Sweden ESPN2 0.4 1 Track and field: U.S. Championships ESPN 0.4 1 Baseball: St. Louis at Arizona FX 0.2 0 Hockey: NHL Draft ESPN2 0.2 1

*--*

****

SUNDAY

*--*

Over-the-air Channel Rating Share Tennis: Wimbledon (no matches) 4 3.5 10 Golf: Buick Classic 7 3.1 9 Golf: Senior Players Championship 7 3.0 8 NFL Europe World Bowl: Frankfurt-Barcelona 11 2.1 6 Soccer: Galaxy at Tampa Bay 34 1.6 5 Horse racing: Hollywood Gold Cup 11 1.9 5 Horse racing: Triple Bend Breeders’ Cup ‘Cap 2 1.7 5 Track and field: U.S. Championships 2 1.2 4 Soccer: Mexico vs. Uruguay 52 0.9 12 Golf: LPGA Championship 2 0.8 2

*--*

****

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Cable Network Rating Share Baseball: Dodgers at San Francisco ESPN 3.6 7 Women’s World Cup: U.S. vs. North Korea ESPN2 2.4 6 Auto racing: NASCAR Save Mart/Kragen 350 ESPN 1.7 4 Auto racing: CART Grand Prix of Cleveland ESPN 1.5 5 Women’s World Cup: Brazil vs. Germany ESPN2 1.0 3 Horse racing: Hollywood Park Today FSW2 0.8 2 Baseball: New York Mets at Atlanta TBS 0.6 2 Women’s World Cup: Denmark vs. Nigeria ESPN2 0.5 1 Women’s World Cup: Italy vs. Mexico ESPN2 0.3 1

*--*

WEEKDAY RATINGS: Tuesday--Dodgers at San Diego, Channel 5, 5.4/9.

Note: Each rating point represents 51,350 L.A. households. Cable ratings reflect the entire market, even though cable is in only 63% of L.A. households.