TV Supports No-Play Policy

This weekend will be like no other since the advent of televised sports.

There will be no live sports events to watch, except for the CART German 500 auto race on ESPN Saturday at 4:30 a.m.

No college football, no pro football, no baseball.

No complaints, either. At least from the networks.

Fox Sports chairman David Hill said Thursday his network was in full support of the actions taken by NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and baseball Commissioner Bud Selig.

“The enormity of the tragedy of Tuesday’s wicked and cowardly terrorist act is fully permeating the nation’s consciousness, and their decisions to postpone games allows all sports fans, as Commissioner Tagliabue put it, ‘to pause, grieve and reflect,”’ Hill said.

CBS Sports President Sean McManus said: “We fully respect and support the decision of the NFL during this very difficult time.”

An ESPN spokesman said: “We fully support the decisions of our partners and we have and will continue to react accordingly and make whatever programming adjustments necessary.”

ESPN will still have “College GameDay” and “NFL Sunday Countdown” programs Saturday and Sunday, but mostly it will fill with “SportsCenter” shows that will look at this week’s tragedy from a sports perspective.

ESPN2 will go into the ESPN archives and carry such shows as NFL Films programs, “SportsCentury” and “2-Minute Drill.”

The major networks will leave it up to their affiliates, but presumably news reports will continue to dominate television fare.

More Support

ABC’s Al Michaels, for one, was relieved by Tagliabue’s decision to call off this weekend’s games, including the Minnesota-Baltimore game he was supposed to announce Monday night.

“It was the only decision to make,” he said from his home in Brentwood on Thursday morning. “This was the signature event of our lifetime. There will be an appropriate time for us to return to normalcy, but the time to play football games is not now. Perhaps next week but not now.

“Before the resumption of play, the leagues must have a handle on the national psyche.

“The argument that we can’t show the terrorists that they won is absurd. They won this week. Do you think they care if we play games or not? They don’t even know what the NFL is. It’s just a pimple to them.”

Michaels, who said he initially heard the games would be played this weekend, was in no mood to announce football.

“The only emotions I am feeling at this time are depression, nausea and anger,” he said. “If we would have had to do the game, it would have been a bare-bones telecast.”

Michaels excused himself to do an interview with Tony Kornheiser on ESPN Radio, where he also talked about the 1989 World Series, which he called for ABC.

Former baseball commissioner Fay Vincent, an earlier guest on Kornheiser’s show Thursday, decided that Series should continue 10 days after the Loma Prieta earthquake.

At the time, there was speculation that ABC had put pressure on Vincent to continue the Series.

“That was absurd,” Michaels said. “I know for a fact that no one at ABC, not [division president] Dennis Swanson or anyone else, put any pressure on Fay Vincent.”

Apparently, that was the case this week as well. Those who run sports knew what had to be done and television willingly went along.

The lost weekend will cost television-as well as the leagues-millions of dollars in lost revenue, but at a time like this profit margins don’t seem all that important.

Tragedy Hits Home

Among those aboard American Airlines Flight 11, the first to hit the World Trade Center, was Tom Pecorelli, 31, of Topanga.

Pecorelli was a freelance sports cameraman who regularly worked on Fox Sports Net’s “National Sports Report.”

Pecorelli had flown to Boston for a friend’s wedding. His wife, Kia Pavloff, did not make the trip because she is pregnant.

Pecorelli started out in sports television as a sportscaster in Fort Myers, Fla., before deciding he preferred working on the other side of the camera.

“Everyone is in a somber mood around here,” said anchor Chris Myers, who also used to work with Pecorelli on “Goin’ Deep.”

“Tom was well liked by everyone. We all looked forward to having him around.”

Pecorelli, as a freelancer, had no insurance. Co-workers have set up a memorial fund. For information, contact Bruce Brar at Washington Mutual Bank, 22001 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills, 91346. News Corp., Fox Sport Net’s parent company, has donated $100,000.

Channel 7’s Curt Sandoval, a close friend, did a nice feature on Pecorelli on Thursday night.

Recommended Viewing

There may be no games to watch this weekend, but there are some sports programs.

One is “Beyond the Glory” on Fox Sports Net. The show, featuring the 1999 Women’s World Cup champion U.S. soccer team, was originally scheduled to be shown for the first time Sunday at 8 p.m. Now it also will be shown Saturday at 10 a.m. and 8 p.m., with replays Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 9 p.m.

The show dissects the stories of the most of the players on the team, including Michelle Akers, Brandi Chastain and Mia Hamm. It follows the team through its 15 years together, concluding with its triumph over China in the 1999 World Cup final.

Another show of note is HBO’s latest edition of “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel.” It was on for the first time Thursday night and will be repeated a number of times, including tonight at 6 and Sunday at 11 a.m.

The lead story is about how a high school football coach in Memphis peddled a star player to the highest bidder.

The coach, Lynn Lang, has been fired and the NCAA is investigating allegations that he sought $200,000 from an Alabama booster for delivering Albert Means, a 350-pound defensive tackle, to the Crimson Tide. Lang reportedly got $115,000.

Means played in seven games for Alabama last season.

Because of the allegations, he has transferred to Memphis.

ESPN Classic offers an original “SportsCentury” show on Ray Lewis tonight at 5 and 8 p.m.