They Will Start Off With a Clubs Flush

Some people might disagree, but poker is not a sport, even though there are winners and losers. And some people might argue that golf is not a sport, because participants sweat only if it’s a hot day.

What can’t be argued is that poker has become a television hit, and golf long has been.

So FSN is planning to combine the two in a show expected to launch this spring. The working title is “Ultimate Golf.”

Gambling and golf go hand in hand, but never quite like this.

“We’re not talking about a $10 Nassau,” said FSN President Bob Thompson, referring to a common match-play bet weekend golfers make.

According to Thompson, participants will put up $500,000 of their own money, ante up at each tee and place bets after each shot. They can fold, call or raise. And heckling from the gallery will be allowed.

That’ll be nice. Facing a 20-foot putt is hard enough without someone yelling, “Show some guts and bet it all.”

Maxed Out

FSN has canceled “I, Max” after a six-month run. It goes off the air at the end of next week. Max Kellerman, who reportedly makes $850,000 a year, will be paid through May 2006, as will sidekick Michael Holley, who makes considerably less.

“It just didn’t attract the audience we hoped it would,” Thompson said. “Economics had nothing to do with it.”

Thompson denied that “Best Damn Sports Show Period” might also be going away. It would be easy to assume such a thing, because the 3 1/2-year-old show was originally two hours, then 1 1/2, and is now one hour with a trimmed-down cast. Chris Rose is off the show and doing other assignments for FSN.

“We are constantly tinkering with the show, trying to improve it, but it is not being canceled,” Thompson said. “Our research showed it was too long to hold an audience. There was a drop-off in the last half-hour.”

Now, with “Best Damn” having been trimmed back and “I, Max” being dropped, there is need for quality filler programming.

Thompson said a daily “Judge Judy”-type sports debate show is being developed. And a new 34-episode weekly poker series begins March 13.

Reality Golf, Real Life

“Big Break III: Ladies Only,” an 11-week reality series that made its debut on the Golf Channel this week, features 10 women golfers trying to earn a spot on the LPGA Tour.

Several are from Southern California, including Danielle Amiee, 29, of Newport Beach, who has quite a story to tell.

Amiee first picked up a golf club when she was 16 and fell in love with the game.

“I hit balls for 10 hours a day for three weeks,” she said. “I was determined to earn a golf scholarship.”

And she did -- to Long Beach State, where she became the No. 1 player on the women’s team. She began playing on the Futures Tour in 2000.

She can’t say how she fared on the show, but she is determined to make it as a pro golfer, one way or another. She seems to have the necessary work ethic.

While still in high school, she worked three jobs, earning money to help pay medical expenses for her boyfriend, who’d been paralyzed in a motorcycle accident.

Her boyfriend eventually died and now she has a new man in her life.

“Now that I have my personal life in order, it allows me to put all my dedication into golf,” she said.

Fatherly Pride

FSN basketball commentator Marques Johnson, who is working Saturday’s UCLA-Arizona game, will get a chance to watch his son Josiah, who plays for UCLA, just like Dad did. But Marques will mostly be watching Josiah sit on the bench. He is a rarely used sub.

Johnson’s oldest son, Kris, 29, who is playing ball in Beirut, was a key player at UCLA. But Johnson says he is just as proud of Josiah.

“He is such a great kid,” Johnson said. “He’s so level-headed, and has the best attitude ever.”

Josiah Johnson is a senior, and his dad said he planned to do postgraduate work, either in law school or UCLA’s film school.

Short Waves

Ralph Lawler calls his 2,000th Clipper game Sunday, when the team plays at Toronto. But the game is only on radio. Lawler’s 1,999th game today at Washington will be televised at 4 p.m. by FSN2.... The Lakers face LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on ABC on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. in the second game of a doubleheader. Halftime of the first game will include an interview with James.

FSN West has added Patrick O’Neal and Priscilla Hojiwala as anchors on the “Southern California Sports Report.” O’Neal has been serving as the host of FSN’s “Totally Football” and “Ultimate Fantasy Football Show.” Hojiwala comes from TVG.... Roger Lodge will be a regular on Jim Rome’s “Rome Is Burning” beginning Monday, when the show begins five-days-a-week programming at 1:30 p.m. on ESPN. Lodge has parted company with KMPC. Apparently, the station made him an offer on a new contract that was as weak as its signal.

The Westminster Kennel Dog Show will be televised on the USA Network on Monday and Tuesday at 8 p.m. NBC’s Lester Holt will serve as the host for the first time. Analyst David Frei will be working his 16th show, and reporter Charlsie Cantey her third. Said Holt: “I’m a big dog person, and when they broached me with the idea, I said, ‘You mean me? I would love to.’ ”

In Closing

CBS and Fox re-upped with the NFL for six years, 2006 to 2011, in November. But don’t hold your breath waiting for Disney to decide what it wants to do about Sunday and Monday night football. The company first has to get its house in order, and its exclusive negotiation period doesn’t end until November. There has been some speculation that “Monday Night Football” might end up on ESPN, and “Sunday Night Football” on ABC. But those are among a number of possibilities.