Davie an Expert on This Topic

Bob Davie, in his first season with ESPN as a college football commentator, is just learning the television business. One thing he has learned, though, is not to talk about himself. The way he sees it, he’s there to call the game.

“It bothers me when I see analysts who make the game more about themselves than the teams on the field,” he said.

On Christmas Day, Davie, along with play-by-play announcer Mark Jones and good friend and fellow commentator Mike Gottfried, will be working the Las Vegas Bowl, UCLA against New Mexico.

In this case, Davie concedes, he may have to talk a little about himself. What happened to him at Notre Dame is very similar to what happened to Bob Toledo at UCLA.

In December 2001, on the Monday after Notre Dame’s last regular-season game, Davie was fired. Earlier this month, on the Monday after UCLA’s last regular-season game, Toledo was fired.

Davie and Toledo coached together at Texas A&M; under R.C. Slocum for five years. Davie was the defensive coordinator, Toledo the offensive coordinator.

Their relationship has been an interesting one. It became somewhat acrimonious after Toledo was fired by Slocum after a 24-21 loss to Notre Dame in the 1994 Cotton Bowl.

“It was a difficult situation,” Davie said. “Our defense was nicknamed ‘The Wrecking Crew,’ and it got a lot of attention. I think Bob had a hard time accepting that and he said some things after he was let go.”

Davie also recalled a quote attributed to Toledo after Davie had been named head coach at Notre Dame in 1996.

“There was a quote in the Los Angeles Times that somebody sent to me,” Davie said. “Bob said something like, ‘Bob Davie always thought he was an expert on everything. Now we’ll see how much of an expert he is.’ ”

A check revealed this quote from Toledo about Davie: “You know, he’s never been a head coach before. Like anything else you do for the first time, there’s going to be trial and error. When you’re an assistant, you think you’ve got all the answers. Then you become a head coach and you find it’s not the same.”

Davie said that he had seen Toledo at various functions and never mentioned the quote, adding that they had always been cordial to each other.

“I like Bob, he’s a nice man,” Davie said. “As far as I’m concerned, we’ve always had a good relationship.”

He said he had not talked to Toledo since Toledo’s firing.

“Once things settle down, I may give him a call,” Davie said.

Certainly, he can empathize with him.

“It’s difficult,” Davie said. “For eight years, I was down on that field with Notre Dame [three as an assistant, five as the head coach]. And then suddenly, I’m not down there.”

Davie said his ESPN job has helped ease the pain. He was hired not long after going to Bristol, Conn., for an audition in May.

“This job has let me focus on the games I’m announcing rather than Notre Dame’s games,” he said. “I know there are former coaches who say they don’t pay any attention after they’re gone. But you can’t help but pay attention.”

What has also helped is a positive attitude.

“Yes, you’re hurt, but I figured out early on that it was in my best interest to quickly get over it,” Davie said. “There’s no reason to be jealous, no reason to be bitter. You find out if you worry about things you can’t control, it affects your mood, and that’s no good for anybody. You have to stay positive and move on.

“I had my opportunity, and I’m proud of what I did. We won the [American Football Coaches Assn.’s] Academic Achievement Award my last year and we had a 100% graduation rate my last year. But we went 5-6 and I got fired.”

Big-Time Treatment

Although Davie believes New Mexico’s multi-look defense could give UCLA problems and make things interesting, nobody is calling the Las Vegas Bowl a big game. So why does ESPN have a three-man announcing team assigned to it?

Davie said he had been assigned the game all along and that he lobbied to be paired with Gottfried after they’d worked together in the studio last month.

“We asked to work a game together, and this is the one we got,” Davie said.

He and Gottfried have been friends since Davie was a tight end at Youngstown State and Gottfried was the offensive coordinator.

“It should be fun,” Davie said.

The one negative is being away from home on Christmas. Davie, 47, who still lives in South Bend, Ind., has a daughter who is a freshman at Illinois and a son who is a freshman in high school.

“We’ll celebrate Christmas on Dec. 26,” Davie said.

NBA on ABC

Christmas Day isn’t usually regarded as a big day for sports viewing. But besides UCLA’s bowl game appearance, which may or may not interest you, the day marks the return of the NBA to ABC.

Detroit at Orlando will play on ESPN at 11 a.m., before the Las Vegas Bowl, and then ABC has an NBA doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. The Boston Celtics and New Jersey Nets will play in the first game, then Sacramento will play the Lakers in the 5:30 nightcap from Staples Center.

It has been 30 years since the NBA was on ABC. Keith Jackson and Chris Schenkel did the play-by-play then and Bill Russell was the lead commentator. ABC used four cameras then. The network will have 21 at Staples Center on Christmas Day.

Bill Walton, who will work the Laker game with Brad Nessler, was still at UCLA when ABC last televised the NBA. In those days, Walton stuttered and rarely talked. These days, having conquered that problem, he rarely shuts up.

So what would have been the odds 30 years ago of Walton’s being where he is today?

“About the same as me becoming Richard Nixon’s press secretary,” Walton said.

Wrong Decision

CBS’ Billy Packer was in Los Angeles on Tuesday to film a commercial. His flight home to Charlotte, N.C., wasn’t leaving until 11:50 p.m., so he could have attended the UCLA-Northern Arizona game that night but decided against it.

“I didn’t think it would be much of a game,” Packer said. “Then after arriving in Charlotte, my cab driver says he’s a UCLA grad and that the Bruins lost. I was stunned.”

In Closing

In Bryant Gumbel’s HBO interview with Martha Burk about her campaign to have a woman admitted as a member at Augusta National, Gumbel doesn’t mention that he is a member of Burning Tree, an all-male club in the Washington area.

“We were aware of Bryant’s affiliation with Burning Tree,” HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg said. “Bryant delivered a solid and objective piece, asking all the relevant questions.”

An HBO spokesman said Gumbel, off the air, told Burk about his affiliation and both agreed it was a different situation. Burning Tree, for one thing, does not conduct a public event, as Augusta does with the Masters.