NFL Keeping an Eye on ESPN

ESPN couldn’t buy the kind of publicity it has been getting for “Playmakers” from, of all people, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue.

Tagliabue doesn’t like much about the dramatic series that exaggerates the seamier side of professional football. But he keeps talking about it.

As a guest on HBO’s “Inside the NFL” on Wednesday night, he explained why he complained to Michael Eisner, the head of Disney, ESPN’s parent company.

“My concern was that this show was one-dimensional and traded in racial stereotypes and I didn’t think that was either appropriate for ESPN or right for our players,” Tagliabue told interviewer Bob Costas.

And Eisner’s response?

“He said that his people had told him there were things that had gone on 20 years ago, shows that had been out there, and this was not a heck of a lot different,” Tagliabue said. “I said basically that I think society’s expectations as to the standards that athletes meet are higher today than they were 20 years ago.”

Costas asked Tagliabue if ESPN continues with the show, would it jeopardize ESPN’s standing with the NFL the next time the NFL TV contract comes up?

“Certainly,” Tagliabue said. “I think we would take it into account to the extent we could, but we don’t view ourselves as the ultimate censor. I don’t view myself as a 14th century pope in terms of what people have access to. I made my views known. I hope they consider them. If they don’t, it will be their editorial judgment. Life will go on.”

An ESPN spokesman reiterated Thursday what the network has been saying all along, that no decision has been made about whether the series will be brought back, and that it believes viewers understand the difference between a dramatic series and a documentary.

Time to Make Peace

Cox and Fox’s cable networks this week reached an agreement, entering into a new six-year carriage deal.

So isn’t it time for Cox and ESPN to stop all the bickering and name calling and reach an agreement?

Cox’s carriage deal with ESPN expires at the end of March, and ESPN and Cox have been battling for several months, with Cox threatening to drop ESPN channels because of a proposed rate hike.

Something for Cox to consider is a new Beta Research survey, conducted by phone in August and September, that showed ESPN and Fox Sports Net ranked first and second, respectively, in perceived value, and ESPN2 ranked fifth.

College Football

All the confusion, hopefully, will be over when ABC televises the “BCS Bowl Selection Show” on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. USC Coach Pete Carroll is scheduled to make an appearance via satellite.... After that show, at 3 p.m. on ESPN, the remainder of the bowl lineups will be announced.

Keith Jackson has the week off, so Tim Brant and Dan Fouts will announce Saturday’s USC-Oregon State game for ABC.... After USC-Oregon State, at 5 p.m., CBS will televise an important game -- Louisiana State vs. Georgia in the Southeastern Conference championship. Verne Lundquist and Todd Blackledge will announce.

Said Blackledge in a phone interview: “Provided USC wins, I think it will be hard for LSU to overtake the Trojans [in the BCS standings] -- unless something bizarre happens.” Blackledge also said he’d like to see a four-team playoff after the bowl games, but cautions, “We’re naive if we think we can preserve the whole bowl experience we have now if we add a playoff. It will diminish the importance of the bowls.”

Wooden Classic

Channel 9, which will televise the second of the two Wooden Classic games from the Arrowhead Pond on Saturday, is very involved in the tournament and all its festivities. The station and tournament organizers contribute to Special Olympics.

CBS will televise the first game, UCLA vs. No. 9 Kentucky, at 10:30 a.m., with Jim Nantz and Billy Packer announcing.

Packer said Coach Ben Howland is a good fit for UCLA but warns Bruin fans not to expect too much this season. “We’ll see two seasons from now,” he said.

After UCLA-Kentucky, Channel 9 will televise No. 1-ranked Kansas vs. No. 21 Stanford at about 1 p.m., with Bob Neal and James Worthy announcing.

“It’s the first time KCAL has televised a game featuring a No. 1-ranked team -- other than the Lakers, of course,” Channel 9 director of communications Mike Nelson said.

Laker Fever

Channel 9, which usually delays Laker road telecasts until 6 p.m. to get a higher rating, televised Wednesday night’s Laker game at San Antonio live at 5:30. Did the earlier start result in a lower rating? Hardly. The station got a 7.9, its highest Laker rating of the season.

The rating was also the highest for a December Channel 9 Laker telecast since 1997, when a game against the Chicago Bulls in Michael Jordan’s and Phil Jackson’s final seasons there drew an 8.3.

A Grand Opening

Usually, presidents call the winning team after a Super Bowl. CBS announced Thursday that President Bush will help kick off Super Bowl Week by taking part in a special “Houston Salute” on the Monday night before the Feb. 1 game. Bush will be among sports figures and dignitaries participating.

CBS’ Nantz, who is from Houston and calls Bush a friend, said he called the president three years ago when Houston was first awarded the game and suggested a special “opening ceremony.”

Short Waves

NBC will present taped coverage of last month’s Ironman triathlon in two segments Saturday -- one at 2 p.m. and the other at 8 p.m., marking the first prime-time telecast of the event. Channel 7 sportscaster Curt Sandoval, 39, probably won’t be part of the telecast but was among the competitors. He finished in 12 hours 31 minutes 38 seconds, placing 1,147th among 1,671 competitors.

ABC offers a two-hour review of the year in sports Sunday at 12:30 p.m. Justin Timberlake will be the program’s host, and Jim McKay will narrate some of the segments, including the naming of the “Wide World of Sports” athlete of the year. For a “thrill of victory” segment, Al Michaels will recall the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” Olympic hockey victory.... Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year will be announced Sunday at 1:30 p.m. on Fox.... The announcement of the PGA Tour player of the year Monday will be made on the 3 p.m. edition of ESPN’s “SportsCenter.”

The Jimmy V Classic, featuring Illinois vs. Providence followed by Arizona vs. Texas, will be televised from the tournament’s new home, Madison Square Garden, by ESPN on Tuesday at 4 p.m. Between games, Jim Valvano’s famous speech that he made two months before his death in 1993 will be shown again. A portion of the proceeds from the tournament benefit the V Foundation for Cancer Research.

HBO announced Thursday that George Foreman, after 12 years, is stepping down as a boxing commentator at the end of the year. He will work only one fight in 2004. Foreman won’t be missed much. He offered little insight.... ABC announced that Brad Nessler, Sean Elliott, Dan Majerle and Jim Gray will make up its No. 2 NBA announcing team.

In Closing

Channel 2 was planning to show the 3-9 Oakland Raiders against the 4-8 Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at 10 a.m. But good sense eventually prevailed. The 10 a.m. game is now Indianapolis at Tennessee.