Tiger Earns His Ratings Stripes

Golf has its own version of March Madness. It’s Tiger Woods’ march to the Masters.

It doesn’t really matter that the Players Championship on NBC this weekend is considered the fifth major. What matters is how Woods fares.

Woods, who won last weekend at Bay Hill for the third year in a row and is defending champion at the Players Championship this weekend, has tremendous drawing power.

“Everyone on the tour owes money to the Woods factor,” NBC’s Johnny Miller said by phone from Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., Thursday.

Woods means ratings, and ratings mean money.

Last weekend during the final half-hour of the Bay Hill Invitational, where Woods was beating a faltering Phil Mickelson, golf on NBC got a higher national rating than the NCAA tournament on CBS, 6.9 to 6.7.

And in Los Angeles, NBC’s coverage of the final round of the Bay Hill tournament averaged a better rating than UCLA’s double-overtime victory over Cincinnati, 6.0 to 5.6.

NASCAR Tops All

Although Woods helped boost the golf rating Sunday, the highest rated sports event of the weekend was Sunday’s Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 on Fox, with a 5.8 national rating.

The two days of NCAA tournament games Saturday and Sunday on CBS averaged a 5.2, which was also the national rating for the final round of the Bay Hill Classic.

More on Woods

Miller says it’s a different Woods now, a more conservative Woods.

“I think what Tiger plays for now is to put himself in position to win a close match down the stretch,” Miller said.

“[Jack] Nicklaus used to be that way. Whenever Nicklaus and I would have a close match he would say, ‘Thanks for making it so fun.’

“I think that’s the way Tiger is now. He enjoys winning a close match. He has pulled back a little on the rpms. He’s still got all the horsepower, he’s just not using it all.”

No question Woods likes the competition. On USA’s preview show Wednesday night, Woods was asked by Bill Macatee about his celebrity status.

“You can keep it,” he said. “It’s as simple as that. I’ve never liked it. My father has always said, ‘You don’t have to like it, you just have to accept it and understand it.’ I don’t like being recognized, any of that stuff.

“What I like to do is get out there and battle these guys, compete and play. That, to me, is what I love to do.”

Costas Update

Bob Costas, whose contracts with NBC and HBO expire in June, could be headed for ABC and ESPN to work on NBA telecasts. ABC/ESPN reportedly would still allow him to work Olympics for NBC.

But if Costas were to re-up with HBO, that would probably nix a move to ABC/ESPN. HBO probably would not allow Costas to work for another cable network.

Costas’ HBO show, “On the Record,” makes its season debut Thursday at 10:30 p.m. Guests include Bob Knight and John Thompson.

‘Monday Night’ Mess

ABC and the NFL are confident they will be able to implement a provision that will allow the best games to be moved from Sundays to “Monday Night Football” during the last four weeks of the regular season.

But Fox and CBS are resisting. Those networks, which are losing big money on the NFL, aren’t too willing to help out a competing network by giving away top attractions.

NFL executives will meet with Fox brass in Los Angeles next week. The NFL people may want to bring a checkbook.

Who is Dan Bonner?

L.A. viewers may not be familiar with CBS commentator Dan Bonner.

He and Gus Johnson worked Thursday night’s NCAA West Regional semifinal games at San Jose and will work Saturday’s final as well.

Bonner mainly works Atlantic Coast Conference games for regional syndicators. Although he did five ACC games for Fox Sports Net this season with Bob Neal, he’s usually seen in this part of the country only during tournament time. This is the 12th year he has worked the tournament for CBS.

Bonner played at Virginia from 1972 to ’75. “In this era of resume checking, I don’t know if I would use the world ‘played,’” he said. “I didn’t play much.”

He later became Virginia’s women’s coach, until then-athletic director Gene Corrigan encouraged him to try broadcasting instead.

He started out working Virginia radio broadcasts. Now, besides his broadcasting work, he coaches high school girls’ basketball in his hometown of Staunton, Va.

Short Waves

ESPN begins its Indy Racing League season Sunday with coverage of the Yamaha Indy 400 at California Speedway at 12:30 p.m. Saturday’s sports car race will be on Speed Channel at 11 a.m.... Tony Gwynn and Jeff Brantley, who both retired after last season, have been hired as game and studio baseball analysts by ESPN. Also, ESPN announced it is adding a Monday night game and a Wednesday day game to its baseball schedule. ESPN will televise 160 games this season, up from 111 last season.... Channel 13 averaged a 2.1 rating for its first two Dodger exhibition telecasts last weekend. Channel 5’s first exhibition telecast last year got a 1.0.

The Los Angeles Avengers, who begin their Arena Football League season against the New York Dragons on April 19 at Staples Center, will have eight games televised by Fox Sports Net 2, with Bill Macdonald and Artie Gigantino calling the action, and one game televised by the National Network (TNN). NBC’s Arena League deal kicks in next year.

KMPC (1540) will again broadcast Avenger games, with new commentator Bob Golic joining play-by-play announcer Larry Kahn.... Channel 9 and the Galaxy have entered into a multifaceted three-year agreement that calls for the station to carry 10 games this season.... Attention horse racing fans: A new three-hour weekly show, “Santa Anita Now,” makes its debut on Channel 56 Saturday at 1 p.m. Kurt Hoover, Jon White, Bill Seward and Millie Ball will serve as the hosts.

Radio Daze

Minnesota Viking owner Red McCombs, a guest of Chris Myers and Golic on KMPC this week, said L.A. would be his No. 1 choice as a new home for his team if he can’t get a new stadium deal. He also said if he gets the stadium deal, he would support any other team moving to L.A.

A different breed: Robert Smith, the former Viking who mysteriously retired before the 2000 season, told Jim Rome this week that his health is more important than money. When he was a freshman at Ohio State, Smith quit the football team because spring practices were interfering with his studies.

In Closing

Jason Kapono and Matt Barnes were guests on Rome’s Fox Sports Net show this week and Rome asked Kapono, a junior, if he would be leaving UCLA after this school year. While Kapono gave an evasive answer, Barnes gave the thumb sign and said, “Guaranteed, he’s out.”

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What Los Angeles is Watching

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