You Heard It There First, Even If It’s Untrue

It’s the nightmare of any sports producer or sportscaster who is up against a deadline. A source calls in with a report, there is a rush to get it on the air, and then it is learned the report is bogus.

It happened to KFMB, Channel 8, in San Diego on Wednesday night. Someone identifying himself as Bill Devaney, the Chargers’ director of player personnel, called the CBS affiliate and asked for either of the station’s sports anchors, Ted Leitner or Hank Bauer, who with Leitner does the Chargers’ radio broadcasts.

Producer Coby Ginsberg said he’d take the call. The caller, according to Ginsberg, said, “It’s Bill Devaney and I just want to let you know that we’re going to fire Mike Riley tonight and we’re going to appoint [offensive line coach] Joe Bugel as interim coach.”

The call came in about 5:35. Leitner went on the air with the report at 5:40.

All hell broke loose shortly after that, and Leitner retracted the story about 35 minutes later.

In the meantime, every call Lee Hamilton took on his talk show at radio station XTRA (690) was about Riley’s firing. After Hamilton reported Leitner’s retraction, he said, “Nice credibility.”

The next day, Hamilton, reached by phone, took another shot at Leitner, a longtime rival.

“It’s up to him to check it out before going on the air,” Hamilton said. “It’s his responsibility.

“We got a call the same day that Todd Marinovich had been arrested on a drug charge. We didn’t go on the air with it until an hour later, after we had checked it out.”

Ginsberg on Thursday referred all calls to news director Fred D’Ambrosi.

“In hindsight, we should have waited until 6:30 to air the report, after we had a chance to get to Charger camp and check it out,” D’Ambrosi said. “And we should have gotten a number and called our source back. We made some mistakes, and we apologize to our viewers.”

Late Wednesday, Ginsberg told the San Diego Union-Tribune he realized he had been duped after talking with the real Devaney.

“I apologized to him,” Ginsberg said. “We all make mistakes. I made a big one.”

Ginsberg said he hadn’t tried to confirm the story because Leitner was only minutes from air time and he was certain the caller had been Devaney.

“I know him, I know his voice. He was very knowledgeable,” Ginsberg said. “He knew what he was talking about.”

Devaney claimed someone had pulled a fast one.

“Why would I call up and say that?” Devaney told the Union-Tribune. “I know my days are numbered over there, but this is. . . . I would never do that, especially to Mike Riley. You’ve got to be kidding me.

“This isn’t the Chargers’ fault. This is all KFMB’s fault. This makes me look like an idiot.”

Meanwhile, Vic “the Brick” Jacobs of KXTA (1150) reported Thursday that USC had scheduled a news conference to announce the hiring of Pete Carroll. No news conference was scheduled.

MISTAKES HAPPEN

It was almost seven years ago to the day, Dec. 12, 1993, that Channel 2 made a mistake something like the one made by Channel 8.

Bobby Hurley, then a rookie for the Sacramento Kings, was seriously injured in a traffic accident after a game in Sacramento against the Clippers.

Acting on a bad tip, Channel 2’s Jim Hill reported Donald Sterling was also involved in the accident. Sterling, from his home in Beverly Hills, had to call in to set the record straight.

Later, there were conflicting reports about what exactly a hospital spokesman had said. It was a miscommunication of the worst kind.

Such mistakes are reminders that broadcasters should proceed with caution at all times.

THE BOAT WILL BE ROCKIN’

With NFL games on Saturday and Sunday this weekend, Fox tries something different with its pregame show. The crew is taking to the high seas.

On both days, “Fox NFL Sunday” will originate from the USS Harry S. Truman, this country’s newest and most sophisticated nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, which will be patrolling the Mediterranean Sea.

The idea came from Secretary of Defense William Cohen, who got to know Terry Bradshaw last year during a holiday tour.

“It will be a reminder that many thousands of our servicemen and women serve far from home during the holidays,” Cohen said.

Saturday’s pregame show begins at 8:30 a.m., before the Washington-Pittsburgh game, and Sunday’s show begins at the usual time of 9 a.m. Part of Sunday’s show will be Howie Long’s “Tough Guy” awards.

SHORT WAVES

KLSX-FM (97.1) has made a deal to carry the Xtreme of the XFL, which opens the first weekend in February. Geoff Nathanson will handle the play-by-play with a commentator to be named later. Word is, no governors have applied. . . . ESPN will televise the Jimmy V Classic, featuring No. 4 Tennessee against No. 14 Virginia, and No. 2 Michigan State against No. 10 Seton Hall, Tuesday at 4 p.m. Between basketball games, ESPN will carry Jim Valvano’s “Don’t give up!” speech, which he delivered at the 1993 ESPY Awards two months before his death.

Fox Sports Net will televise the Pete Newell Challenge from Oakland on Thursday at 6 p.m. Top-ranked Duke and No. 3 Stanford play in the first basketball game, with host California and Georgia playing in the second. Between games, Fox Sports Net will show a taped interview with John Wooden as part of a Wooden Award preview. . . . The Hyundai Team Matches, one of the made-for-TV golf events so prevalent at this time of year, will be on ABC Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. from Pelican Hill in Newport Coast. Competing will be four two-person teams from each of the major tours--PGA, LPGA and Senior PGA.

IN CLOSING

Dan Patrick, on his ESPN radio show on the new KSPN (1110), came up with a great idea pertaining to the Alex Rodriguez deal. “The Rangers should have allowed the fans to participate in the negotiations,” Patrick said. “Gather 60,000 of them and ask for a show of hands and see how many were willing to pay a 10% increase in ticket prices to sign Rodriguez.”

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What Los Angeles Is Watching

A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for Dec. 9-10.

SATURDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share Figure skating: World Professional Championships 4 4.0 10 Golf: EMC World Cup 4 2.0 5 Golf: Father-Son Challenge 4 1.9 5 College basketball: Arizona at Connecticut 2 1.8 5 College basketball: Seton Hall at Illinois 2 1.3 3

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Cable Network Rating Share Boxing: Felix Trinidad vs. Fernando Vargas (tape) HBO 2.1 5 College football: Heisman Trophy presentation ESPN 1.6 3 Prep football: Loyola vs. Long Beach Poly FSN2 0.8 1 College basketball: Kentucky at Georgia Tech ESPN 0.6 2 College football: Delta State vs. Bloomsburg ESPN 0.6 1 Boxing: Fabrice Tiozzo vs. Virgil Hill SHO 0.3 1 College basketball: Hawaii at UCLA FSN 0.2 0 College basketball: Michigan at Duke ESPN 0.2 0 Pro basketball: Clippers at Minnesota FSN2 0.2 1

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SUNDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share Pro football: Minnesota at St. Louis 11 14.2 31 Pro football: Tampa Bay at Miami 11 11.0 27 Figure skating: World Professional Championships 4 3.6 9 Figure skating: ISU Cup of Russia 7 3.0 7 Golf: EMC World Cup 4 3.0 7 Pro football: Seattle at Denver 2 2.7 6 Hockey: Dallas at Mighty Ducks 9 0.8 1 Skiing: Celebrity Ski Challenge 2 0.5 1

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Cable Network Rating Share Pro football: New York Jets at Oakland ESPN 9.6 16 Pro basketball: Detroit at Lakers FSN 1.9 3 Horse racing: Hollywood Park Today FSN2 0.6 1 Hockey: Kings at Vancouver FSN2 0.4 1 College soccer: Connecticut vs. Creighton ESPN 0.1 0

*--*

WEEKDAY RATINGS: MONDAY: NFL, Buffalo at Indianapolis, Ch. 7, 12.6/19.

Note: Each rating point represents 53,542 L.A. households. Cable ratings reflect the entire market, even though cable is in only 63% of L.A. households.