Vermeil Appears to Be Odd Man Out

Dick Vermeil, you just won the Super Bowl, what are you going to do now?

Going back to broadcasting, you say?

That’s fine, but there may not be a job for you.

Must be. Television is always looking for marquee value, and who has more marquee value than the coach of the Super Bowl winner?

Would you believe Mike Ditka?

It doesn’t matter that Ditka’s New Orleans Saints didn’t do quite as well as Vermeil’s St. Louis Rams. Or that Ditka was fired in disgrace and Vermeil retired in glory. Or that Ditka has four years of network experience and Vermeil has 14--five at CBS, nine at ABC.

This was a bad year for Vermeil to come out. On the broadcasting meter that measures coaches’ value, Vermeil ranks No. 4. Besides Ditka, Jimmy Johnson and Bill Parcells also rank ahead of Vermeil.

CBS got their man. It was announced Thursday that Ditka would join Jim Nantz, Craig James, Randy Cross and Jerry Glanville on “The NFL Today.”

The only other opening of any significance is possibly in ABC’s “Monday Night Football” booth. ABC might add a third announcer. It will be either Parcells or Johnson--or no one now that Ditka is out of the picture. Nothing is definite.

“Any time there is a prominent coach or player who retires from the NFL, the press automatically speculates they might come to ‘Monday Night Football,’ ” ABC spokesman Mark Mandel said. “If we complied with very rumor, we’d have 11 in the booth.”

ABC, which employed Vermeil as a college football analyst, likes him a lot. But the brass there has made it clear it is not interested in Vermeil for “Monday Night Football.”

Vermeil has Creative Artists Agency, the powerful Beverly Hills talent agency, trying to find him broadcasting work. Vermeil, at best, might get a college commentating job.

THE DITKA DEAL

Sean McManus, CBS Sports president, said Thursday that Ditka has always been No. 1 on his network’s list. He said shortly after CBS reacquired the NFL in December 1997 he inquired about the possibility of Ditka leaving the Saints and coming back to television.

Ditka wasn’t ready to quit coaching at the time. He is now. “I’m done with coaching, thank you very much,” he said.

He said he wasn’t sure how much in demand his services as a broadcaster were, but he liked the CBS offer, which reportedly included a $450,000-a-year salary, because it was studio work.

“That’s what I do best,” he said. “I’m not a great game analyst. This is where I wanted to be--CBS is a perfect match for me.”

Terry Ewert, CBS Sports executive producer, worked with Ditka when both were at NBC and is as high on him as McManus. Ewert said the details of Ditka’s role on “The NFL Today” will be worked out later.

Don’t expect to see a different Ditka than the one on NBC, although he said he will work harder at this job.

“I can only be who I am,” he said. “Some people like that person, some people don’t. I can’t be all things to all people. But I hope the people who don’t like me will at least see that what I say makes sense.”

Ditka offered a little insight Thursday when the subject of Tom Landry came up.

“Within a span of a few months, I lost my father, Walter Payton and Tom Landry, three people who, along with my high school coach and George Halas, had more impact on my life than anyone else,” he said. “Tom Landry gave me a second chance as a player and a first chance as a coach.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have the temperament he had and couldn’t handle myself like he did.”

LAKERS BACK ON NBC

The Lakers make another one of their almost weekly appearances on NBC on Sunday, when they play host to Houston in a 2:30 game. The No. 1 NBC team of Bob Costas and Doug Collins again draws the Lakers.

The Laker-Rocket game is the third of an NBC tripleheader that begins with the half-hour “NBA Showtime” at 9 a.m. The Rockets will get big play on NBC all day. An NBC producer and cameraman, given almost total access, spent a week with the team. Their report will be shown in three parts, beginning on “NBA Showtime” and continuing through the halftime periods of the first two games.

RECOMMENDED VIEWING

Roy Firestone previews the baseball season in a one-hour special edition of “Up Close” on ESPN today at 4 p.m., with a replay Tuesday at 9 p.m.

Although the special includes plenty of baseball talk, Firestone typically delves into areas away from baseball. Rafael Palmeiro talks about his native Cuba and the freedoms we enjoy in this country, even defending John Rocker’s right to freedom of speech. Mark McGwire talks about the pressures he felt last season and the pressures Ken Griffey Jr. will feel this season. Alex Rodriguez talks about how he has never known his father, who left when he was very young.

SHORT WAVES

The Mighty Ducks’ Paul Kariya, interviewed by Fox Sports News’ Chris Myers for the weekly Fox Chat segment Wednesday night, was pretty outspoken about the suspension of Boston’s Marty McSorley, even though he considers McSorley a friend. “I think it is an appropriate punishment,” Kariya said, adding that McSorley should not come back next season if he is going to act in such a manner. . . . For those who can’t get enough of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, TNT offers its annual special Saturday at 8 p.m. Also check out CNNSI.com. Model Audrey Quock does a live chat session today at 5 p.m. . . . Also Saturday is the live Oscar De La Hoya-Derrell Coley fight on HBO at 6 p.m., with Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant and George Foreman calling the action. The undercard fight, a scheduled 10-rounder between the always entertaining Arturo Gatti and Joey Gamache, should be a good one.

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What Los Angeles Is Watching

A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for Feb. 19-20.

SATURDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share Golf: Nissan Open 2 3.9 11 Pro basketball: Indiana at New York 4 3.8 11 Skiing: Bumps and Jumps 4 2.7 9 Auto racing: NASCAR Busch Grand National 2 2.6 8 Auto racing: Winston Cup Twin 125s 2 2.4 8 College basketball: Utah at New Mexico 7 1.5 4 College basketball: UCLA at Arizona 7 1.3 4

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Cable Network Rating Share Boxing: Erik Morales-Marco Barrera HBO 2.5 6 Goodwill Games (nighttime) TNT 1.1 2 Hockey: Kings at Buffalo FSN 1.1 2 Horse racing: Fountain of Youth Stakes ESPN 0.6 2 Yachting: America’s Cup, Race One ESPN2 0.6 1 Auto racing: Winston Cup Happy Hour ESPN 0.4 1 College basketball: California at Stanford FSN 0.4 1 Goodwill Games (daytime) TNT 0.4 1 Tennis: Kroger St. Jude, first semifinal FSN 0.4 1 College basketball: USC at Arizona State FSN2 0.3 1 Golf: Senior GTE Classic ESPN 0.3 1 Tennis: Kroger St. Jude, second semifinal FSN 0.3 0 College basketball: Pepperdine at Loyola FSN2 0.2 0 College basketball: Women, Arizona at UCLA FSN 0.1 0

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SUNDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share Pro basketball: Lakers at Philadelphia 4 10.3 20 Pro basketball: Portland at Sacramento 4 5.6 13 Golf: Nissan Open 2 5.4 12 Auto racing: NASCAR Daytona 500 2 4.9 13 Soccer: Gold Cup, Costa Rica vs. Trinidad-Tobago 34 2.3 5 College basketball: Temple at Cincinnati 7 1.8 5 Soccer: Mexican League, Toros Neza-Guadalajara 52 1.4 4 Soccer: Mexican League, Santos-UA de Ge 52 1.3 3

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Cable Network Rating Share Hockey: Philadelphia vs. N.Y. Rangers ESPN 0.8 1 Goodwill Games (daytime) TNT 0.5 1 Goodwill Games (nighttime) TNT 0.4 1 Bowling: PBA National Championship ESPN 0.4 1 College basketball: Texas Christian at Fresno State ESPN 0.2 0

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WEEKDAY RATINGS: TUESDAY--Lakers at New Jersey, Ch. 9, 5.9/9. WEDNESDAY--Lakers at Cleveland, Ch. 9, 5.7/8.

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.