Questionable Move by Patrick

Dan Patrick drew mostly rave reviews when he was the anchor on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.” And not for just putting up with Keith Olbermann.

Since he began doing a daily show for ESPN Radio in September 1999, he has drawn more rave reviews, in this space and elsewhere, particularly for his interviewing skills.

Patrick, who is heard on KSPN (1110) in Los Angeles, always seems to get his guests to open up. On the national level, he and Jim Rome may be the best interviewers in sports-talk radio.

Jose Canseco was a guest on Patrick’s show Tuesday, a day after announcing that he was retiring from baseball at 37. Canseco had been playing for the Chicago White Sox’s triple-A club in Charlotte, N.C.

Canseco told Patrick he was going to write a tell-all book. Canseco said he was going to name players who use steroids and players who have had extramarital affairs.

Canseco also said he had heard from Alex Rodriguez and other players that he had been blackballed from baseball.

Patrick probed further, but Canseco kept saying, “It will all be in the book.”

The interview then took an unusual turn, particularly considering Patrick’s journalistic savvy. We’re not talking about Arnie Spanier here.

Patrick, going beyond the role of an objective interviewer, began trying to talk Canseco out of writing the book. Regular partner Rob Dibble, a former baseball player, supported Patrick’s stand, as did frequent guest host Sean Salisbury, a former football player.

“Why write this?” Patrick asked. “Why write that story?”

Canseco said he wanted to write the truth, something generally respected by journalists.

“Why hurt those people if they didn’t hurt you?” Patrick asked.

Patrick even offered to be a sounding board, telling Canseco he would read the book before it was published, then tell Canseco what he thought.

“I was trying to interject my opinion, my emotion,” Patrick said later, off the air by phone. “This was live, unscripted radio. I was also trying to find out how serious he was about writing the book, as well as let him know what this tell-all book would do to him if he ever wanted to get back into baseball.

“If I’m guilty of having a conscious, then lock me up.”

Patrick said his style is to bond with the people he interviews.

“I use that to my advantage,” he said. “If they trust me, they’ll usually open up. If you think I stepped out of bounds by offering to be a sounding board, then OK, I’m guilty. But I’ll always stand by the way I conduct an interview.”

On Wednesday, Canseco was a guest of Chris Myers and Bob Golic on KMPC (1540), and said many of the same things he said to Patrick. Myers said he pointed out the repercussions of writing such a book but didn’t try to talk Canseco out of it.

“That’s not my place,” Myers said. “Maybe off the air, but not on the air.”

Where’s Marv?

Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference finals between the Lakers and Sacramento Kings will be on NBC Saturday at 3:30 p.m., immediately following the Preakness.

The announcers will be Mike Breen, Steve “Snapper” Jones and Bill Walton.

Marv Albert will take the day off to attend the wedding of his oldest daughter, Jackie.

Albert will then work with P.J. Carlesimo on Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals between Boston and New Jersey at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.

NBC will have its NBA pregame show Saturday at 1:30 p.m., before the Preakness.

On Sunday, NBC will have a special one-hour pregame show at 1:30 to preview the draft lottery, which will be televised at halftime of the Celtic-Net game.

The final game of the Laker-San Antonio series Tuesday night on Fox Sports Net got a 13.2 rating, believed to be the highest for a Laker cable telecast.

Where’s Stuart?

ESPN’s Stuart Scott has been off the air since suffering an eye injury while doing a first-hand report on the New York Jets’ mini-camp April 3. He was hit in the eye by a ball while trying to catch a pass.

Scott was among the ESPN announcers playing in Salisbury’s recent charity golf tournament in Del Mar and said the eye is slowly getting back to normal. Part of the cornea had to be reattached and he still has some vision problems.

An ESPN spokesman said there is no timetable for Scott’s return.

Speaking of Salisbury, word is, the former USC quarterback who lives near ESPN in Bristol, Conn., will soon become a regular on Patrick’s show, along with Dibble. Salisbury’s duties with ESPN and ESPN2 will not change.

Oops Department

If you were watching the end of Game 5 of the San Jose-Colorado NHL series Saturday, the Sharks were leading, 4-3, with 20.5 seconds left when ABC suddenly switched to Detroit-St. Louis, which had already ended.

The Sharks scored an empty-net goal before ABC switched back with 2.5 seconds left. An ABC spokesman said it was simply a switching mistake.

Golf, Anyone?

Pam Shriver, who in the 1980s was ranked No. 1 as a doubles tennis player and among the top singles players, will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame this summer. Now a tennis commentator for ESPN, she is regarded as one of the best in the business.

Shriver will be honored Monday at the third Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission Celebrity Golf and Tennis Classic at Riviera Country Club. She will play in the tennis part of the event.

“It’ll be hard for me to resist going out on the golf course,” she said. “The last time I played Riviera, I shot a 75.”

Short Waves

Todd Donoho, whose contract with Fox Sports Net is not being renewed, will be leaving the regional sports network July 1. He might end up back at Channel 7, where he once worked, although in a reduced role. “He could have a role on ‘Monday Night Live,’ but probably not as the main host,” said Channel 7’s general manager, Arnie Kleiner. Bill Weir, who has been serving as the host of “Monday Night Live,” is leaving the station.... Beginning Monday and lasting as long as the Lakers remain in the NBA playoffs, Donoho will co-host a 1-3 p.m. show on KSPN with Dave Stone.

Fox Sports Net has hired Caroline Hughes, hostess of a popular morning show on the ABC affiliate in El Paso, Texas, as a reporter and anchor for the “Southern California Sports Report.” Hughes used to be on the production staff for Fox Sports Net’s “Goin’ Deep” and started her career at Channel 9.... Fox Sports Net’s Paul Sunderland returned to work Thursday after taking some time off after the death of his mother, Beryl Barone, 83, Monday. Barone, who lived in Malibu the last 40 years, died within a week after learning she had acute leukemia.

Kevin Frazier, a mainstay at Fox Sports Net in recent years, is said to be leaving the network. His contract expires July 1, and he could be headed for ESPN.... James Brown reported on the Sporting News radio network (KMPC in L.A.) that Cris Carter would retire from the Minnesota Vikings and join HBO’s “Inside the NFL.” An HBO spokesman did not deny the report.

Radio shows: An excellent golf show, “Tee It Up,” is on KXTA (1150) Saturdays 7-8 a.m. On the show are golf historian Kevin Smith, golf instructor Bob Cisco, former caddie Evan Green, and Al Gottfried, a sales account executive for the station. The show is produced by Gottfried’s 22-year-old son Adam, who has his own production company, called Fourteenth Colony Productions.... Karch Kiraly and Sinjin Smith will co-host a new weekly show, “The AVP Hour,” on KMPC Thursdays, 7-8 p.m., beginning next week.