Bob Miller Sure Outranks Other Miller

When Vin Scully, Chick Hearn and Bob Miller got together earlier this month to tape a segment of “Sports Roundtable” for Fox Sports Net 2, it was one of the highlights of the year in sports broadcasting.

Three L.A. icons, together at last.

Different styles, different skills, but a common thread. They are the best at what they do.

So whom would you name as L.A. broadcaster of the year?

The nod here goes to Miller for two reasons. One, because he recently was inducted into hockey’s Hall of Fame. Two, because of a point Scully made on “Sports Roundtable.”

“Chick and I have gotten to where we’re at on the wings of championship teams,” Scully said. “Not to put pressure, or the knock, on the Kings, but Bob got there the hard way.”

Exactly.

Some of the other bests--and worsts--from 2000:

BEST COMMENTATOR--Miller’s partner on King telecasts, Jim Fox, ranks high, but our commentator of the year is Hearn’s Laker sidekick, Stu Lantz. He not only provides insightful and informative comments but also complements Hearn so well.

As for Hearn, maybe his wife, Marge, said it best the other day. “He may make some mistakes, but he’s still better than anyone else,” she said.

Considering his age, Hearn is amazing. Hearn celebrated his birthday Nov. 27. So how old is he?

“I’m 83, and we’re about the same age,” Marge said.

WORST COMMENTATOR--ABC’s Dennis Miller. Sorry, he’s just not that funny, and he lacks credibility when he tries to analyze football.

BEST SPORTS ANCHOR--While Channel 4’s Fred Roggin keeps on ticking and Channel 9’s Alan Massengale recently won a Golden Mike for best sports segment, Channel 7’s Bill Weir continues to make inroads. Weir can be really funny, but his “Monday Night Live” needs an overhaul. Too corny.

WORST SPORTS ANCHOR--Let’s just say that Ed Arnold is missed, although he can be seen weeknights at 7 and 10:30 on Orange County’s Channel 50. He and Ann Pulice are the co-hosts of “Real Orange.”

MOST IN DEMAND--Bill Walton, besides working Clipper telecasts for Fox Sports Net 2 and NBA games for NBC, has gotten permission from NBC to work the NCAA tournament for CBS.

MOST VERSATILE--Paul Sunderland, who also qualifies for a nice guy award, has done volleyball and basketball commentary, anchoring, sideline reporting and this season NBC will use him as an NBA play-by-play announcer.

HARDEST WORKER--One possibility is Lisa Guerrero, who is in the middle of a seven-week stretch without a day off. Besides her regular reporting duties for Fox Sports Net, covering the Lakers, Clippers, UCLA and USC, last week she filled in for vacationing Rick Garcia at Channel 11. On Christmas Day, she anchored four “Regional Sports Report” shows, then traveled to Purdue to do an in-depth report on Steve Lavin. Next week she’ll go to Tampa, Fla., to tape a special NFL edition of “Toughman” for FX, “Tough Bowl I,” which will be televised Jan. 26. Her next day off will be in late January.

BEST RADIO TALK SHOW HOST--Lee Hamilton edges Jim Rome, although Rome ranked No. 73--the highest of any broadcaster--on the Sporting News’ list of the top 100 most influential people in sports. Competition in this category will be stiffer in 2001 because of ESPN Radio on the new KSPN (1110).

WORST RADIO TALK SHOW HOST--It’s a tie. Sorry, not enough space to name them all.

EXECUTIVE BRANCH

BEST EXECUTIVE--Fox Sports bosses David Hill and Ed Goren share the honor. Fox stays out in front of the others with innovations and ideas, such as televising its NFL pregame show from a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and showing a baseball game in various stages of television’s development.

WORST EXECUTIVE--Dick Ebersol, the head of NBC Sports, wins hands down. Delayed Olympic telecasts were one thing, trying to convince the public he was doing them a favor was another. NBC should have offered the Olympics live on cable, then packaged them for the casual fans on the main network.

GOOD MOVES

CBS wrested Dick Enberg away from NBC, then paired him with Dan Dierdorf. Interesting how Dierdorf used to take a lot of heat when he was in the “Monday Night Football” hot seat. Just ask Dennis Miller how that seat feels.

ABC put Dan Fouts in the “Monday Night Football” booth.

Turner Sports hired Charles Barkley.

CNN-SI interviewed Neil Reed, the player who said Indiana Coach Bob Knight choked him during a practice, then later got the footage that proved it and brought down Knight.

Jay Leno’s producers surprised Olympic gold-medal winning Greco-Roman wrestler Rulon Gardner. They had him talk via a two-way hookup to all the folks back home in Afton, Wyo., who had gathered in the small town’s high school gym.

BAD MOVES

NBC showed a Visa ad saluting Stacy Dragila on her gold-medal victory in the pole vault at the Sydney Olympics before showing the event.

CBS used dubbed bird calls on golf. CBS got caught when bird lovers heard birds in places outside their natural habitats.

ABC should have assigned Bob Griese to the Rose Bowl instead of the Orange Bowl. The last time Purdue played in the Rose Bowl was 1967, when Griese was the Boilermakers’ quarterback. Did ABC forget how well things went with Griese in the Rose Bowl booth three years ago? Griese’s emotions flowed as his son, Brian, the Michigan quarterback, became the game’s most valuable player.

A SPECIAL SPECIAL

Some of the most amazing athletes featured on television this year can be seen Sunday at 1 p.m. on CBS’ “Sports Spectacular.” The Paralympic Games are featured in a two-hour special produced by https://www.wemedia.com, the Internet site that web-cast the Paralympic Games live from Sydney in October. Maybe the most amazing athlete is Chinese swimmer Baoren Gong, the defending champion in the 100-meter breaststroke who has no arms. Gong lost his title by .03 of a second because he had to touch with his head.

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What Los Angeles Is Watching

A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for Dec. 23-25.

SATURDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share Pro football: San Francisco at Denver 11 8.9 25 Pro football: Jacksonville at New York Giants 2 8.4 23 College basketball: North Carolina at UCLA 2 2.1 6 Golf: Wendy’s 3-Tour Challenge (tape) 7 1.3 3 Tennis: Smash Hits (tape) 4 1.0 3 Skiing: U.S. Freestyle Grand National (tape) 4 0.7 2 Hockey: Mighty Ducks at St. Louis 9 0.5 1

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Cable Network Rating Share Pro football: Buffalo at Seattle ESPN 4.6 10 College basketball: Illinois at Texas ESPN2 0.3 1 Pro basketball: Vancouver at Clippers FSN2 0.0 0

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SUNDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share Pro football: Carolina at Oakland 11 12.1 29 Pro football: St. Louis at New Orleans 11 11.7 31 Pro football: New York Jets at Baltimore 2 3.9 10 Figure skating: NHK Trophy (tape) 7 1.8 4 Golf: Wendy’s 3-Tour Challenge 7 1.6 4 Skiing: Bumps and Jumps (tape) 2 1.5 4 Skiing: Ford Downhill Series (tape) 4 1.3 3

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Cable Network Rating Share College football: Oahu Bowl, Virginia-Georgia ESPN 1.8 4

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MONDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share Pro basketball: Portland at Lakers 4 8.8 25 Pro basketball: Orlando at Indiana 4 3.5 10 College football: Aloha Bowl, Arizona St.-BC 7 3.3 10 College football: Blue-Gray All-Star Game 7 1.8 6

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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.