Failure to Watch Tape a Knightmare

For Roy Firestone, the daze followed the Knight.

“I’ve been in a fog the past three days,” Firestone said Thursday, growing tired of the same question over and over after his live interview with Bob Knight on ESPN on Tuesday.

How could you have not watched the video showing Knight choking Neil Reed?

“I’ve been kicking myself,” Firestone said. “I messed up. I learned you can’t assume anything.”

Firestone assumed that he and Knight would watch it for the first time together during the interview. Knight told Firestone beforehand that he had not seen it, which turned out to be a lie.

Firestone said he somehow managed to avoid seeing the tape for three or four days after it came out, then purposely didn’t watch it, hoping to remain objective and not form any preconceived ideas.

That plan blew up in his face minutes before he went on the air Tuesday. An Indiana spokesman, Christopher Simpson, saw a freeze frame from the tape on a monitor and told ESPN it could not use the tape because Knight had not been told that it would be used.

ESPN, fearing Knight might walk and leave the network with dead air time, caved and agreed not to use it. That was contrary to Firestone’s earlier claim the session with Knight would be “no holds barred.”

Then Knight, knowing the answer, asked Firestone on the air if he had seen the tape. Firestone said he had not, that he had only seen freeze frames.

It was the low point in an interview with a number of low points.

Another came when Firestone asked Knight about John Wooden’s comment that he wouldn’t want a loved one coached by Knight. Knight dismissed the comment by saying, “If Pete Newell had said it, it would have bothered me.”

Knight is among the few within the coaching fraternity who do not revere Wooden. One reason is his belief that Newell, a close friend, was overshadowed by Wooden’s success.

For his part, Firestone did a decent job of questioning, a better job than Knight did answering. Most of Firestone’s questions were direct.

“I’m proud of the interview, I think it is one of the best I’ve ever done, especially under the circumstances,” Firestone said. “But I’m also embarrassed about the issue over the video.”

The other problem with the interview was that ESPN allowed Knight to dictate that his buddy Digger Phelps be brought in from the bullpen halfway through. Firestone is the one who convinced Knight to do the interview. Phelps shouldn’t have been involved.

MONDAY NIGHT MYSTERY

One source said Rush Limbaugh is in, another said he’s out of the “Monday Night Football” picture. A new name in the fray is Dan Fouts, who would move up from the ABC college ranks. But would a team of Al Michaels, Sterling Sharpe and Fouts provide the “something different” ABC is looking for? An announcement may still be a couple of weeks away.

SHORT WAVES

Let’s hope there are no rainouts this weekend at the Kemper Open on CBS, forcing a Monday final round. Last weekend, the Memorial got pushed over to Monday, and CBS showed the final round live at 11 a.m. PDT to most of the nation. But Channel 2, once again deciding soap opera fans rate over sports fans, delayed the coverage to 1 p.m. without any advance warning. Calls to the Channel 2 sports department Sunday night were fruitless. The station had no idea what it was going to do the next day. . . . On a more positive note, Saturday at noon, preceding the Kemper Open coverage on Channel 2, will be a one-hour special, “Golf Digest’s 50 Greatest Golfers.” The hosts are Bill Macatee and Gary McCord.

A lot has been made of the rivalry between Fox Sports Net’s news show and ESPN’s long-running “SportsCenter.” Meanwhile, CNN’s “Sports Tonight” celebrated its 20th anniversary Thursday. The hosts are Fred Hickman, the famous Allen Iverson booster, and Vince Cellini. For the first 17 years, it was Nick Charles, now a senior correspondent for CNN-SI, and Hickman. . . . Showtime’s “Heavy Hitters Month” took one on the chin Wednesday when Evander Holyfield had to pull out of his June 10 fight because of an injured hand. But Showtime still has three good heavyweight fights this month, beginning with Somoan David Tua facing Obed Sullivan on Saturday at 10 p.m., a delay of three hours. Andrew Golota fights on Showtime on June 16, Mike Tyson on June 24. CBS, in its first collaboration with Viacom since the recent merger, will show the fights on tape in July. Showtime is owned by Viacom. . . . Pro Beach Hockey, a souped-up version of roller hockey played on a portable rink on a beach, begins a run of 26 shows on ESPN on Monday at noon. The games, shown on tape, take place near the Huntington Beach pier over three consecutive weekends, including this weekend and next.

PAX TV, the newest broadcast television network that reaches 80% of the country--it’s on over-the-air stations in some areas but only on cable and satellite in Los Angeles--will offer U.S. Olympic trials coverage every Saturday night, 9-11, beginning this weekend and concluding Sept. 2. The events that kick off the series will be women’s triathlon, whitewater canoeing and archery. The archery segment will include a feature on actress and archer Geena Davis.

There is no TV or radio of USC and UCLA in their separate super-regional baseball series this weekend, but audio play-by-play can be picked up on www.usctrojans.com and www.uclabruins.com. . . . Sports award shows are nothing new. The Victor Awards, which will be held at the Las Vegas Hilton on July 8 and shown live on Fox Sports Net, have been around for 34 years. But the first to involve athletes from around the world, the Laureus World Sports Show, will be shown on TNT on Tuesday at 8 p.m. It was taped May 25 in Monte Carlo. Jeff Bridges, Ashley Judd and Dylan McDermott are the hosts.

IN CLOSING

The sports-talk team of Joe McDonnell and Doug Krikorian has finally been reunited. They begin a weekly Sunday night show, 9 to midnight, this weekend on KABC (790). At least these two have been around the L.A. sports scene for a while, unlike most of the imports at competing stations.

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What Los Angeles Is Watching

A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for May 27-28:

SATURDAY

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Over the air Channel Rating Share NBA playoffs: Indiana at New York 4 8.7 25 Golf: PGA Memorial Tournament 2 3.5 10 Baseball: Philadelphia at Dodgers 5 2.7 5 Baseball: Boston at New York Yankees 11 1.8 6 Baseball: Angels at Kansas City 9 1.8 4

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Cable Network Rating Share Stanley Cup finals: Colorado at Dallas ESPN 1.4 3 Auto racing: CART Bosch Grand Prix ESPN 0.6 2 Soccer: MLS, Dallas at Washington ESPN2 0.6 1 Baseball: New York Mets at St. Louis FX 0.5 1 NFL Europe: Berlin at Rhein FSN 0.3 1 Track and field: Pac-10 championships (tape) FSN2 0.2 1 Golf: Senior PGA Boone Valley Classic ESPN 0.2 1 Arena football: Avengers at San Jose FSN2 0.2 0

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SUNDAY

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Over the air Channel Rating Share NBA playoffs: Lakers at Portland 4 17.7 40 Auto racing: Indianapolis 500 7 3.2 8 Baseball: Angels at Kansas City 9 1.2 3

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Cable Network Rating Share Baseball: Boston at New York Yankees ESPN 1.2 3 Baseball: Philadelphia at Dodgers FSN2 1.0 2 Auto racing: NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 TBS 0.8 2 Softball: College World Series, UCLA-Southern Miss. ESPN 0.4 1 Golf: Senior PGA Boone Valley Classic ESPN 0.2 1

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WEEKDAY RATINGS: FRIDAY, May 26: Lakers-Portland, Ch. 4, 20.1/36. MONDAY: NBA, Indiana-New York, Ch. 4, 9.5/22, WNBA, New York-Houston, Ch. 4, 4.1/10, PGA Memorial, Ch. 2, 3.2/8, New York Mets-Dodgers, Ch. 5, 3.2/7, Angels-Cleveland, Ch. 9, 2.4/6, Softball College World Series, UCLA-Oklahoma, ESPN, 1.4/3. TUESDAY: Portland-Lakers, Ch. 4, 25.1/39, New York Mets-Dodgers, Ch. 5, 3.3/5, Angels-Cleveland, Ch. 9, 2.0/4.

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.