Weisman, Ebersol Reunited

NBC made an Olympic production hire this week that on the surface may not have appeared to be big news.

It was announced that Michael Weisman, as executive consultant, would be working alongside Dick Ebersol, NBC Sports chairman, and David Neal, executive vice president, at the Salt Lake Winter Olympics.

For Weisman to return to NBC, where he spent 18 years before being fired by Ebersol in 1989, isn’t quite tantamount to what is commonplace in boxing. It doesn’t rank up there with Bob Arum and Don King burying the hatchet and working together on a major promotion, or Arum and Oscar De La Hoya patching up their differences and getting back together.

But the pairing of Weisman and Ebersol is not something anyone in sports television could have foreseen.

Ebersol fired Weisman shortly after he became the head of NBC Sports. Ebersol told Weisman he wanted to replace him with his own man, Terry O’Neil, as executive producer, the No. 2 position in the department.

“The way I looked at it, I was let go through no fault of my own,” Weisman says now. “I was disappointed and hurt.”

But Weisman never publicly criticized Ebersol or anyone else at NBC. He went on to do quite well. He is now Fox’s coordinating producer of baseball, but he is nonexclusive to Fox. On his own, he creates and/or produces entertainment and sports specials, such as the Par-3 Challenge, a made-for-TV golf event.

O’Neil, meanwhile, left NBC in 1993 after the network asked him to take a salary cut.

“I hardly know Mike, but I’m pleased for him,” O’Neil said. “I think it’s terrific that they asked him back. I know he was very popular when he was at NBC.”

Two years ago, Weisman invited Ebersol to lunch, and the two have had a good relationship since.

“I’m flattered and pleased Dick asked me to work with him and David Neal on the Olympics,” Weisman said. “I’m living proof you can go home again.”

Ebersol said: “Michael is one of the most talented producers of the modern sports era. David and I sought him out to have another experienced set of eyes and ears in the control room.”

Having Weisman on board for the Games that begin Feb. 8 is a plus in a lot of ways. Now if only Weisman, who lives in Brentwood, could convince NBC to show the coverage live on the West Coast.

NBA Deal Update

It has been pretty much established that the NBA and AOL Time Warner are on the verge of a deal to jointly own a new cable channel, AOL Sports. It would carry games, up to four nights a week, beginning next season.

But even though AOL Time Warner is the parent company of Turner Broadcasting, meaning TNT and TBS could also be involved, a source said Thursday not to count out the Disney entry of ESPN and ABC.

The source said a deal should be in place next week. The goal is to get it done before Christmas.

Getting Clipped

Tonight’s game between the Lakers and Clippers at Staples Center may be the most intriguing these two teams have played.

But it’s available only on cable and satellite TV.

If the Clippers hadn’t broken off negotiations with Channel 9 and made a new deal, that over-the-air station also would be televising the game.

But the Clipper brass got cocky and is without an over-the-air station at a time when they need and deserve wider television coverage.

Smash-Mouth Radio

Jay Mohr will be back on Jim Rome’s Fox Sports Net show tonight, and the name Bill Polian just might come up.

Mohr and the Colt president got into it on an Indianapolis radio show Wednesday after Mohr claimed the Colts made Edgerrin James practice for three weeks with a torn knee ligament.

Polian accused Mohr of lying because he mistakenly thought Drew Rosenhaus was James’ agent when it’s actually Leigh Steinberg.

The word “lied” set Mohr off. “You’re crazy, you’re insane,” he said on the air. “No wonder the Colts are doing so poorly. You are an absolute madman. And everybody listening to the radio knows the general manager of their favorite team is a madman.”

Polian, on his own show later in the day, suggested the team might sue Mohr.

A Killer Sport

If you’ve never seen a women’s college volleyball match, you’re missing out. As with women’s tennis, women’s volleyball is as good if not better than the men’s game.

It’s too bad television gives women’s college volleyball short shrift. The sport could easily get better ratings than women’s basketball if television got behind it, promoted it and gave it good time slots.

Thursday night’s playoff semifinal match between Long Beach State and Arizona will be shown by ESPN2 at 8 a.m. today. The other semifinal also will be delayed, with ESPN showing it today at noon.

Why bother?

At least Saturday’s championship match at San Diego State will be on ESPN2 live. But the teams are required to play at noon, which could hurt the live gate.

Short Waves

Fox sideline reporter Pam Oliver and Chicago reporter Mike Adamle took some heat from the NFL for violating league rules by reporting they heard Bear defensive players criticizing the team’s offensive coordinator during Sunday’s game against Green Bay. But weren’t they simply doing their job?

If NBC ends up losing the NBA to ABC, it will have lost baseball, pro football and pro basketball in the last six years. But NBC has Tiger Woods this weekend. The Williams World Challenge, with Woods the headliner, will be televised from Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks at noon Saturday and Sunday. Today’s round will be on TNT at 1 p.m. ... Recommended viewing: The Kings’ Ian Laperriere, known for his antics off the ice, will be featured in a segment on Fox Sports Net’s “Break the Ice” pregame show Saturday night at 7. The segment will be a takeoff on E! Entertainment’s “True Hollywood Story.”

A surprising development at Fox Sports Net was the departure of Mark Houska, the executive producer of the regional sports reports. Houska came to the network 10 years ago, when it was Prime Ticket. Steve Simpson, general manger of Fox Sports Net in Los Angeles, said the split was amicable. Change seems to be the norm at Fox Sports Net these days. The “National Sports Report” is expected to bite the dust sometime early next year. All the emphasis is being placed on regional shows such as the “Southern California Sports Report.” Replacing Houska for now are Rick Jaffe and Milt Weiss.

The new “Chris Myers and Bob Golic Show” on KMPC (1540) got off to a good start last week. The always entertaining Charles Barkley was among a long list of impressive guests. Al Michaels called in. And the Dodgers’ Paul Lo Duca had this to say about the Dodgers possibly trading Gary Sheffield: “We cannot win without Gary Sheffield. Maybe they [team executives] are looking for something as a fairy tale, to get some players for him.”

In Closing

Lo Duca also was a guest on KSPN (1110) with Joe McDonnell and Doug Krikorian this week. Of The Times’ T.J. Simers, Lo Duca said, “I like T.J. You can’t take him seriously. You just have to rip him back.”

Lo Duca obliged, saying, “If you were to check his high school yearbook, you’d probably find that he played the flute in the band.”