HOT CORNER

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What: “Lost Treasures of NFL Films: Vol. 18, the Press Box”

Where: ESPN Classic, Friday, 4 and 11 p.m.

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Ray Didinger, a former Philadelphia Bulletin sportswriter who works for NFL Films, had a good idea. After going through some of NFL Films’ “Lost Treasures” footage, he realized how greatly media coverage of the NFL has changed over the last 30 years. This show, written and directed by Didinger, is the result.

One problem: The reporters interviewed almost all are from Philadelphia or New York. They include Dave Anderson of the New York Times, Bill Lyon of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Bob Drury and Steve Serby of the New York Post, Peter King of Sports Illustrated and Sal Paolantonio of ESPN.

It’s as though there were no veteran NFL reporters anywhere but on the East Coast.

One from the West Coast is Bob Oates, who has been covering professional football since 1939. His beats for the old L.A. Examiner included the minor league Hollywood Bears and L.A. Bulldogs. He has been covering the NFL since the Rams moved to L.A. in 1946. He was full time with The Times from 1968-95, still writes a weekly NFL column for latimes.com, and is as sharp as ever.

But for some reason, NFL Films snubbed Oates, who could have offered insights no other reporter could.

Otherwise, it’s a pretty good show, highlighted by typical high quality NFL Films footage and a segment on Elinor Kaine, one of the first women to cover the NFL. Not only was Kaine banned from locker rooms, she was banned from press boxes.

At the end of the one-hour show is a segment on Pittsburgh announcer Myron Cope. It’s an interesting piece, but doesn’t seem to fit in with the theme of the show.

A better use of the time would have been to include interviews with reporters from someplace other than New York or Philadelphia.

-- Larry Stewart