Biggs Makes Tough Call to Come Clean

The topic was Darryl Strawberry, and the caller to Lee Klein’s Saturday morning show on KXTA-AM (1150) was talking about his own drug addiction.

It’s not something you hear every day on sports talk radio, and this was no ordinary caller. It was Jeff Biggs, a reporter and talk show host for KXTA.

As Biggs laid out his story, Klein was genuinely shocked. Listeners, particularly those who know Biggs, were too.

Biggs, recently married, is mild-mannered and polite. The message on his cell-phone voice mail ends with “God bless.” Sort of an antithesis to loudmouth Arnie Spanier.

People such as Joe McDonnell and Chris Roberts, who have known Biggs for a long time, know about his past. Biggs does not try to keep it a secret. It’s just something he doesn’t talk about often.

He chose to go public with it last weekend because he wanted to let people know that drug addiction can happen to anyone, not just an “idiot,” a tag callers to Klein’s show had put on Strawberry.

Biggs, a San Fernando Valley native, expanded on the story he told on the air during an interview.

He said he started drinking when he was 12 or 13. By the time he graduated from Van Nuys Grant High in 1986, he was pretty heavy into alcohol and marijuana. Then came cocaine, which he says was his downfall.

He dropped out of Valley College, and then dropped out of life. By the time he was 19, he says he was an addict and nothing else.

“Every Monday I would tell myself, ‘That’s it, I can’t do this anymore,’ ” Biggs said. “Then come Friday, it was back to the same thing. I couldn’t stop.

“I can’t tell you why or how I became an addict. I had a pretty rough childhood, my parents got a divorce, I got in with the wrong crowd. But those are just excuses.”

The death of a friend finally forced Biggs to get help. That was 14 years ago. He says he has been sober since.

He found religion six years ago. Barry Minkow, who worked at the same radio station as Biggs, provided the inspiration. Now Biggs and his wife Sasha--they were married in April--regularly attend a nondenominational church. Minkow, you may recall, was the owner of ZZZZ Best carpet cleaning who swindled investors out of $26 million and turned to religion while in prison.

By beating his drug addiction, Biggs was able to work his way up through the radio ranks to where he is today--a versatile, all-around talent for KXTA.

WHAT’S UP WITH USC-UCLA?

Because Nov. 18 is rivalry weekend, ABC does not have to pick its regional games until Monday. So that’s why the USC-UCLA game is in limbo.

ABC, which has Michigan-Ohio State and Florida-Florida State as national telecasts Nov. 18 at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., will go with Oregon-Oregon State as a regional telecast in its 12:30 p.m. slot if that game is to decide the Pacific 10 Conference’s Rose Bowl representative. Otherwise, it will be Washington-Washington State.

Fox Sports Net can’t pick its 3:30 p.m. Pac-10 game of the week until ABC makes its pick.

Fox Sports Net might pick USC-UCLA, or it might go with Washington-Washington State.

This is how Duane Lindberg, Pac-10 assistant commissioner, handicaps what will happen to USC-UCLA:

(1) It will be the Pac-10 game of the week on Fox Sports Net at 3:30 p.m.

(2a) It will be locally televised on Channel 7 at 12:30, which would be bad news for transplanted fans from the Northwest because Oregon-Oregon State or Washington-Washington State would be preempted.

(2b) It will be locally televised on Fox Sports Net 2 at 3:30.

(3) It will not be televised and played at 12:30.

Note: It can’t be the Fox Sports Net syndicated game on Channel 9 at 3:30 because that package ends with Saturday’s Washington State-USC game.

SHORT WAVES

If Bob Knight were to become a game commentator, can you imagine the abuse he’d take at arenas around the country? Apparently Knight can. According to the New York Times, he met last month with CBS executives. The only opening they had was as a game commentator because of Al McGuire’s illness. Knight was hoping for a studio job. But don’t feel too sorry for Knight. Last week he completed a $1.25-million deal with St. Martin’s Press for his autobiography. . . . Al Gore is a guest on the second episode of “NFL Films Presents--Politics and Football,” which will be on ESPN today at 4:30 p.m. and be repeated several times next week on ESPN and ESPN2. Gore was interviewed by Steve Sabol a month ago. . . . “Outside the Lines” on ESPN2 on Sunday at 10 a.m. focuses on the impact of hip-hop music on NBA players and looks at Allen Iverson’s controversial rap single. . . . Cuba Gooding Jr., whose movie “Men of Honor” comes out today, will be Paul Sunderland’s guest on Fox Sports Net’s “Lakers Live” on Sunday at 6 p.m. before the Lakers’ game against the Houston Rockets.

CBS and the National Thoroughbred Racing Assn. (NTRA) have reached an agreement to carry the “NTRA Champions” series, which begins in June and will feature older horses and turf races. The series includes the Charles Whittingham Handicap at Hollywood Park on June 10. . . . Turner Sports has elevated Jim Huber to full-time reporter and essayist for TNT and TBS, which means he will be relinquishing his duties as CNN-SI anchor and host of CNN’s “Pro Golf Weekly” and “Sporting Life With Jim Huber.” . . . Olympic champions Maurice Greene, Rulon Gardner and Gary Hall Jr. will be among those honored on the “Arete Awards” show on ESPN today at 5 p.m. . . . The Hockey Hall of Fame inductions ceremony will be on ESPN2 on Monday at 8 p.m. The Kings’ Bob Miller is among the inductees.

IN CLOSING

Several polls have indicated the public wants Dennis Miller back. In a CNN-SI poll attracting 30,195 voters, 57% wanted Miller, 43% didn’t. Maybe the people who voted for Miller are confused and think he is responsible for the quality of the games on “Monday Night Football.” Couldn’t be any other reason, could it?

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What Los Angeles Is Watching

A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for Nov. 4-5.

SATURDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share College football: Arizona at Washington 7 4.3 11 College football: Stanford at UCLA 9 4.1 8 Golf: Tour Championship 7 4.0 8 Horse racing: Breeders’ Cup 4 3.6 10 Pro basketball: Lakers at Vancouver 9 3.3 9 College football: Virginia Tech at Miami 2 3.0 8 College football: Alabama at Louisiana State 2 1.2 3

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Cable Network Rating Share Boxing: Shane Mosley vs. Antonio Diaz HBO 2.5 4 College football: USC at Arizona State FSN 2.2 4 College football: Clemson at Florida State ESPN 1.9 4 Golf: Senior Tour Championship ESPN 1.5 4 Golf: Tour Championship ESPN2 1.4 4 College football: Michigan State at Ohio State ESPN2 1.0 3 Tennis: ATP Masters Series ESPN 0.7 2 College football: Texas at Texas Tech FSN2 0.6 1 College football: Tennessee at Memphis FSN 0.5 1 Hockey: Kings at New Jersey FSN2 0.3 1

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SUNDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share Pro football: Kansas City at Oakland 2 11.3 24 Pro football: Dallas at Philadelphia 11 5.9 14 Pro football: Miami at Detroit 2 4.8 12 Golf: Tour Championship 7 4.4 10 Figure skating: Skate America: men (tape) 7 2.9 6 Figure skating: Skate America: pairs (tape) 7 1.6 4 Figure skating: Super Teams Challenge (tape) 11 1.1 2 Pro basketball: Clippers at Lakers 9 1.8 3 Distance running: New York City Marathon 4 1.2 3

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Cable Network Rating Share Pro football: Carolina at St. Louis ESPN 8.6 13 Pro basketball: Clippers at Lakers FSN 2.0 5 Golf: Tour Championship ESPN 2.0 5 Auto racing: Checker Auto Parts/Dura Lube 500 TNN 0.7 2 Golf: Senior Tour Championship ESPN 0.2 0 Hockey: Kings at New York Islanders FSN 0.0 0

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WEEKDAY RATINGS: MONDAY: NFL, Minnesota at Green Bay, Ch. 7, 16.1/23. TUESDAY: Lakers at Houston, Ch. 9, 5.4/8. WEDNESDAY: Lakers at San Antonio, Ch. 9, 4.9/8.

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.