NBA’s Spacey Idea Tailored for NBC

The fast-paced action may be fantastic, but the NBA’s slow-paced playoff schedule isn’t.

They may play one game a week in the NFL, but in the NBA they often play back-to-back games, or three games in four days. Never five in 13, until now.

It seemed as if weeks separated Games 1 and 2 of the Laker- Sacramento series. And Game 3 isn’t until Sunday. Eight days to play three games--that’s not good. It’s hard to maintain a daily buzz.

Why such a schedule?

“It’s done to get more games on NBC,” NBA Commissioner David Stern said. “It’s also done so we can earn more money--in case there were any doubts about that.”

At least Stern gets points for honesty.

Miami Heat Coach Pat Riley summed up how the coaches like the schedule when he said, “We are subject to the gods of television, but to stretch it out over two weeks is absolutely insane.”

Defenders of the schedule include Dick Ebersol, NBC Sports chairman, and Mark Lazarus, Turner Sports president.

“The ratings don’t seem to bear out that it’s the fans who are complaining,” Ebersol said. “It’s the media and coaches.”

Said Lazarus: “People are criticizing this as drawn out, but you get to see every game. Some people complain you can’t see every game in the NCAA tournament.”

It hasn’t been a great season for Stern.

Regular-season ratings for NBA telecasts were down nationally and locally, although playoff ratings have so far shown a slight increase.

Earlier, Stern took heat when he tried to mandate that coaches wear microphones.

Stern was shot down there, but he hasn’t given up.

“We’ll look back and laugh at this issue in five years as NASCAR puts cameras in every car and the XFL puts whatever, wherever,” he said. “I don’t think tape delays or sound bites from the huddle will be a a major threat to democracy.”

EMMY AWARDS

The Sports Emmys were presented Wednesday night in New York, and it was a big night for the Buck family and the Fox family. Fox’s Joe Buck won for play-by-play announcer for the first time and presented his father, Jack, with a lifetime achievement award.

Fox topped all networks with 13 Emmys. John Madden won a 13th, Terry Bradshaw, nominated 11 times, was finally a winner, and James Brown won his second in a row.

Fox’s baseball package earned seven Emmys, including outstanding live sports special for the All-Star game and outstanding live sports series for its regular-season work. Fox’s lead baseball producer is Michael Weisman.

HBO’s “Real Sports” won an Emmy for outstanding sports journalism, and ESPN’s outstanding “SportsCentury” series was also honored.

NBC producer Rob Hyland, who turned 25 Thursday, won two Emmys, one for his work on the Ironman Triathlon and another for a feature on a blind woman sprinter. Hyland, who attended Harvard-Westlake in North Hollywood, is the son of Bob Hyland, former general manager of Channel 2. He’s also the grandson of the Bob Hyland who ran St. Louis’ KMOX for 40 years and hired, among many other, both Bucks.

SHORT WAVES

Ed Goren, the popular executive producer of Fox Sports since its inception in 1994, has been promoted to president of the division. . . . NBC said goodbye to longtime publicist Jennifer Arnold. . . . ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC are providing extensive coverage of the NASCAR events in Fontana this weekend and KMPC (1540) announced it will provide live radio coverage of Sunday’s NAPA Auto Parts 500. . . . Saturday night’s Lennox Lewis-Michael Grant fight is a $44.95 TVKO event. The undercard starts at 6 p.m. . . . So the Senior PGA Tour has made a deal with CNBC. What’s next, “Wall Street Week With Lou Rukeyser” moving to the Golf Channel? . . . ESPN got an NHL first-round-record 1.37 national rating for Game 7 of the San Jose-St. Louis playoff series, but only an 0.4 L.A. rating. . . . SportsPrize.com announced that David Kenin, a former president of CBS Sports, has joined the company as chairman and CEO. Others on the board include Weisman, Boomer Esiason, James Worthy and Steve Hartman of XTRA (690) and Channel 2.

RADIO DAZE

The One-on-One network’s Jay Mariotti, heard mornings on KMPC, has been off the air because his wife has breast cancer. Dennis Eckersley pinch-hit Thursday and will be back today, and Will and Sean McDonough will fill in next week. . . . Former agent Dennis Gilbert begins a run on KXTA (1150) as the resident baseball expert Sunday, 9-10 a.m. Gilbert knows baseball inside and out. . . . KFWB’s Eric Tracy and wife Kathleen became parents of JoyAnne Tracy, born Friday. . . . Close call: With the Angels trailing the Toronto Blue Jays, 12-1, in a game last week, announcer Daron Sutton vowed that if the Angels won he would walk from his home in Newport Beach to Edison Field on July 4, a distance of 18 miles. Sutton was saved. The Angels lost, 12-11. . . . Michael Lockert, who attended Pasadena Muir High and Cal State Los Angeles and has done some fill-in work at KXTA, spent the last two months of the East Coast Hockey League season doing play-by-play for the Huntington (W.Va.) Blizzard. By all indications, he is the first African American to do hockey play-by-play.

IN CLOSING

ABC plans to resurrect “Wide World of Sports,” which was canceled in 1997 after 37 years. ABC also wants to resurrect the “magic” in the “Monday Night Football” booth with a Howard Cosell-type. That presents quite a challenge. Cosell was unique in the 1970s because he was the only person who was obnoxious on the air. All you have to do these days is turn on talk radio to hear someone being obnoxious.

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What Los Angeles Is Watching

A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for April 22-23.

SATURDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share NBA playoffs: Seattle at Utah 4 7.3 18 NBA playoffs: Phoenix at San Antonio 4 5.8 15 NBA playoffs: Detroit at Miami 4 4.9 14 Baseball: Dodgers at Cincinnati 5 3.2 9 Baseball: Angels at Tampa Bay 9 2.3 6 Auto racing: IRL Las Vegas 300 7 1.9 5 Soccer: Mexican League, Cruz Azul-Atlante 52 1.3 3 Golf: Greater Greensboro Classic 2 1.1 3 Tennis: WTA Family Circle Cup 11 1.1 3

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Cable Network Rating Share NBA playoffs: Philadelphia at Charlotte TNT 3.1 6 Boxing: Andrew Golota vs. Maurice Pierre SHO 0.7 1 NHL playoffs: Ottawa at Toronto ESPN 0.6 1 Horse racing: Lone Star Derby ESPN2 0.5 1 Horse racing: Santa Anita Live FSN2 0.5 1 Senior golf: Las Vegas Classic ESPN 0.4 1 Tennis: Monte Carlo Open ESPN 0.1 0

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SUNDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share NBA playoffs: Sacramento at Lakers 4 13.8 25 NBA playoffs: Minnesota at Portland 4 8.1 23 NBA playoffs: Toronto at New York 4 6.4 18 Baseball: Dodgers at Cincinnati 5 3.5 10 Gymnastics: Women’s NCAA Championships 2 1.9 5 Soccer: Pachuca vs. Guadalajara 52 1.8 5 Golf: Greater Greensboro Classic 2 1.6 5 Tennis: WTA Family Circle Cup 11 1.3 4 NHL playoffs: St. Louis at San Jose 7 0.4 1

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Cable Network Rating Share NBA playoffs: Milwaukee at Indiana TNT 1.5 3 Horse racing: Santa Barbara Handicap FSN 0.3 1 Baseball: Pittsburgh at Atlanta TBS 0.2 1 Senior golf: Las Vegas Classic ESPN 0.2 1

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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.