Spotlight Moves to Basketball

Now that the Winter Olympics are behind us, college basketball takes center stage. There are games galore over the final nine days of the regular season.

Championship Week begins on ESPN and ESPN2 on Saturday, with the two networks televising 56 college basketball games through March 10.

ESPN and ESPN2 will be involved in covering 27 of the 30 postseason conference tournaments, including the Big West tournament championship game at the Anaheim Convention Center.

One tournament that isn’t on ESPN is the Pacific 10 tournament at Staples Center, which begins with the quarterfinals Thursday.

Fox Sports Net will televise the first two rounds, and CBS will televise the title game.

“We’re very excited about carrying such a major postseason event,” Fox Sports Net executive producer Bill Borson said.

Fox Sports Net will go on the air at 1 p.m. Thursday and except for a half-hour news break at 6 will be on the air nonstop from Staples Center until 11 p.m.

Kevin Frazier and Sean Elliott will co-host the studio show Thursday, and they’ll be joined by Bill Walton for the semifinals the next day. Commentators Marques Johnson and Dan Belluomini also will be a part of the show when they’re not working games.

Steve Physioc and Barry Tompkins will handle the play-by-play, with Bill Macdonald and the Bay Area’s Leila Feinstein serving as sideline reporters.

KXTA (1150) will offer radio coverage.

A Perfect Fit

Elliott, in his first full season as a television commentator for the San Antonio Spurs--he works with Joel Meyers for Fox Sports Net in Texas--is a good choice to work the Pac-10 tournaments. And not just because he has picked up broadcasting so quickly.

Elliott was selected the most outstanding player in the 1989 Pac-10 tournament at the Forum. He led Arizona to a 73-51 victory over Stanford in the title game.

The tournament was held in 1990, but this will be the first since.

Elliott also will be among 10 former coaches and players who will be inducted into the Pac-10 Hall of Fame during the tournament. Others include John Wooden, Bill Sharman, Pete Newell and Byron Scott.

Although it’s assumed that Elliott’s playing days are over--he came back to play for the Spurs on March 14, 2000, after undergoing a kidney transplant on Aug. 16, 1999--he says he has not officially retired.

“I wanted to take this season off and see how broadcasting would go,” he said.

It apparently is going pretty well.

Back on Hot Seat

Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson, who took some heat this week for a tirade against members of the media, may take some more with the airing of “Outside the Lines” by ESPN today at 5 p.m.

The topic is the graduation rate among black male basketball players, and Arkansas is among 36 Division I schools that have a 0% graduation rate.

“I think the responsibility doesn’t necessarily rely all on the coach,” Richardson says in an interview taped before the latest turmoil. “The important thing is, who’s in control here? Are the parents in control? The kids are in control of their life some. Where do you stop putting the blame on the coach, the institution?”

Marathon Task

After 16 years on Channel 13, the 17th Los Angeles Marathon will be televised by Channel 9 Sunday, beginning at 8:30 a.m.

Phil Olsman, who produced the the television coverage of the first races, has returned as the producer.With the switch in stations, there are some changes. Channel 9 sportscaster Alan Massengale will anchor the coverage, which will run only three hours rather than 5 or 5 1/2 hours.

Tompkins and Larry Rawson will no longer be involved, but Toni Reavis and Katherine Switzer are back.

Crazy World

You’ve probably heard about the boxing show Fox is planning for March 13. In the featured bout, Amy Fisher will square off against Tonya Harding.

Yes, this is for real, and the late-night talk show hosts are already zeroing in.

“I smell an Emmy here,” Jay Leno said Wednesday night.

From Conan O’Brien: “After Mike Tyson’s antics, they’re trying to bring dignity to the sport of boxing.”

The bouts will be three two-minute rounds. The producers apparently haven’t quite filled out the card.

And then there’s this: “Toughwoman,” an offshoot of “Toughman,” is coming to pay-per-view March 9. The asking price is $19.95.

“Toughman” is free on FX.

Short Waves

Oscar De La Hoya will be at ESPN Zone in Anaheim tonight, serving as the co-host of “Ringside With Johnny Ortiz” on KSPN (1110) from 8-10.

Are you ready for tennis on pay-per-view? The two semifinal matches at the Siebel Open at San Jose on Saturday will be shown on pay-per-view channels by In Demand 2 from 7-11 p.m., with a suggested price of $9.95.

Bill Weir has said he plans to leave Channel 7 to pursue other interests. Although his contract doesn’t expire until September, he may be leaving fairly soon. Word is Chris Myers is one candidate to replace him. Another is Leslie Gudel, a Southern California native who is a sports reporter for ABC and a former anchor at what is now Fox Sports Net.... ESPN announced this week there will be two versions of the Bob Knight movie, “A Season on the Brink,” March 10. A unedited version, with all the bad language, will run on ESPN, while a tamer, edited version will run on ESPN2.... With Michael Jordan out after knee surgery, NBC has dropped two Washington Wizard games that were added after he announced he was coming out of retirement. Instead of Washington-Orlando Sunday, it will be Indiana-Sacramento. On March 10, Washington-Boston will be replaced by Toronto-Orlando.

The Angels have hired Jose Mota as a Spanish-language announcer. He’ll work alongside Ivan Lara on XPRS (1090). Mota, who does games for Fox in both English and Spanish, also applied for one of the two Angel openings on the English side.... Dodger flagship station KXTA and sister station KLAC (570), the Angels’ flagship, are both carrying spring training games in the noon-to-3 p.m. slot, with the Dodger broadcasts from Florida delayed.... Fox Sports Net 2, which is getting some incredible ratings for its “Santa Anita Live” program, will televise Saturday’s Santa Anita Handicap as part of a one-hour special from 4 to 5 p.m.

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