The NFL season arrives Sunday amid many...

The NFL season arrives Sunday amid many questions. And we’re talking only about the ones involving broadcasters.

Dennis Milleris back for a second year with Al Michaels and Dan Fouts on ABC’s “Monday Night Football.”. Will this season be any different from the first?

Apparently so.

“I just remember this year thinking more of a depletion process than an augmentation,” Miller said on a conference call with TV writers. “I told myself, ‘You were a little frisky. You probably should be a little more demure. Sort of like bonsai broadcasting. Time to prune back a little.”’

Does he plan on making this a long career?

“I’m looking at Summerall,” he said. “He’s my perimeter buoy.”

That brings up another question: Will this be the last season that Pat Summerall and John Madden are paired?

Fox announced in July 2000 that it would be. But things have changed.

Fox bosses David Hill and Ed Goren thought Summerall, 71, had slipped a notch. So the plan was to celebrate his 50th year in football--he was a rookie with the Chicago Cardinals in 1952--and then he would retire.

But Summerall didn’t go along with that. . At the news conference to announce his retirement, Summerall announced that he wasn’t retiring.

He later told Hill and Goren he’d had a bad 1999 season because he was on medication after undergoing knee replacement surgery.

Then he had a better season in 2000. Now, word is, Hill and Goren won’t determine Summerall’s status until after this season’s Super Bowl, which Summerall and Madden will announce.

If Summerall is demoted, Joe Buck is the favorite to replace him.

What’s up at CBS?

CBS executives believe this season should get off to a better start.

Last year, the NFL season began on Labor Day weekend, a traditionally bad weekend for television viewing. And the Sydney Olympics on NBC offered stiff competition.

Another problem was the set. CBS decided to involve a live audience for “The NFL Today,” but the set was botched by construction delays.

Back to the original set and armed with a few personnel changes, CBS says it is ready for the season to begin.

One change was moving Craig James out of the studio and to the field as a game commentator.

What was the thinking there?

“I think that one of the lessons we learned last year is that during an hour show, there just wasn’t enough time to get in four analysts,” said Sean McManus, CBS Sports president.

“Somebody would pose a question and we would go down the line and by the time we got to the fourth analyst you almost forgot what the question was. I think we have the right team in place now.”

Brace Yourself

Is television ready for Bill Plaschke and T.J. Simers? The Times columnists will begin a regular weekly stint on Fox Sports Net’s 10 p.m. edition of the “Southern California Sports Report” on Sunday.

Todd Donoho will serve as the host of the segment, which will, among other things, have Plaschke and Simers grilling a guest in a hot seat.

They no doubt will take the good-cop bad-cop approach. We’ll let you figure out who the bad cop will be.

When either Plaschke or Simers is not available, sports editor Bill Dwyre will fill in.

Fox Sport Net news director Mark Houska said it has been in the works for years to get Times sportswriters involved in a TV show and finally something worked out.

“It was our idea,” Houska said. “We pursued them.”

Revamping

Today is the 22nd anniversary of ESPN, and the network is using the occasion to relaunch ESPNews. It will have a new look and a new format, featuring a continuous bottom-line kicker, cut-ins to select games, more interactive aspects and a new studio.

Also, the plan is to let viewers know exactly when a particular feature is coming up. This is an area all television could improve on.

The relaunch will take place at 1 p.m. and will include interviews with such newsmakers as Fresno State Coach Pat Hill and Washington Coach Rick Neuheisel.

CNN/SI recently went through some changes as well. Besides news, the network is also carrying events and specialty shows.

“Our core mission is news and storytelling and analysis,” said Steve Robinson, CNN/SI executive vice president. “But in order to gain distribution, which is our major goal right now, we need to diversify our programming.”

Oops Department

Soccer fans watching ESPN2’s early-morning coverage of Saturday’s U.S.-Honduras World Cup qualifying game on DirecTV were deprived of much of the second half. It was preempted by a promotional program.

A DirecTV spokesman said ESPN failed to notify them of the game, but it seems someone at DirecTV should have been paying attention. An ESPN spokesman called it a miscommunication.

Short Waves

Pete Sampras’ four-set victory over Andre Agassi in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open attracted the largest tennis audience ever for a cable network. USA’s coverage of the Wednesday match earned a rating of 4.1 and was seen in 3,422,000 homes. That translates to 4.6 million viewers .... Women’s tennis gets a big boost Saturday when CBS shows the U.S. Open final at 5 p.m., which is 8 p.m. in the East. It will be the first time tennis has been on in prime time on a major network.

For the third consecutive week, Fresno State will be on ESPN or ESPN2. The Bulldogs’ game at Wisconsin will be on ESPN at 9 a.m. Saturday. ESPN presumably was originally more interested in Fresno’s opponents--Colorado, Oregon State and the Badgers. “But suddenly Fresno State is the team to watch,” said an ESPN spokesman.

Recommended viewing: ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” on Sunday provides a behind-the-scenes look at the NFL’s rookie symposium. The Philadelphia Eagles’ Freddie Mitchell is among those interviewed by Andrea Kremer. The show is on at 6:30 a.m. because of “NFL Countdown,” but it will be shown again at 10 a.m. on ESPN2 .... Sunday is a big day for Kremer. She also has two stories on “NFL Countdown.”

In Closing

Tom Arnold is part of the cast on a new Fox Sports Net show, “The Best Damn Sports Show Period,” which is shown at midnight. After a graphic was shown that other night that showed that Sampras has no victories since his marriage to Bridgette Wilson, Arnold, former husband of Roseanne, said, “It just goes to show you, if you’re going to marry an actress, marry an ugly one.”

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Look Who’s Talking

Sports figures to be featured on TV and radio, today through Thursday:

Pete Carroll, Antuan Simmons--”Runnin’ With the Pac,” today, 3:30 p.m., Fox Sports Net

Bob Davie--”The Last Word With Jim Rome,” tonight, 5:30 and 11:30, Fox Sports Net

Lennox Lewis, Felix Trinidad Sr., Julian Letterlough--”Rich Marotta’s Neutral Corner,” tonight, 9:30-midnight, KXTA (1150)

Roger Clemens--”Sports Illustrated: Cover to Cover,” Saturday, 11:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., CNN/SI, 8:30 p.m., CNN

Barry Bonds, Bob Gibson--”Page One,” Saturday, 9:30 a.m., CNN, 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., CNN/SI

Fan Forum--”Irv Kaze,” Saturday, 9-10 p.m., KRLA (870)

Keyshawn Johnson, Freddie Mitchell--”Southern California Sports Report,” Saturday, 10 p.m., Fox Sports Net

Ward Burton--”NASCAR This Morning,” Sunday, 7:30 a.m., Fox Sports Net

Jeff Lacy, Carlos Palomino, Ponchito Bojado, Vernon Forrest--”Ringside With Johnny Ortiz,” Sunday, 8-11 p.m., KSPN (1110)

Kurt Warner--”Beyond the Glory,” Sunday, 8 p.m., Fox Sports Net

Bill Plaschke, T.J. Simers--”Southern California Sports Report,” Sunday, 10 p.m., Fox Sports Net

Muhammad Ali--”SportsCentury,” Monday, 5 and 8 p.m., ESPN Classic

Casey Jacobsen, actor Brecklin Meyer--”Sports Roundtable,” Monday, 10 p.m., Fox Sports Net

Rubin “Hurricane” Carter--”SportsCentury,” Tuesday

Elton Brand--”Up Close,” Tuesday, 2:30 p.m., ESPN, 11:30 p.m., ESPN2

Michael Jordan--”SportsCentury,” Wednesday

Jerry West--”SportsCentury,” Thursday