First network TV game for Larry Bird (2/25/1979)

Indiana State began the 1978-79 college basketball season unranked and did not appear on the original NBC TV schedule. But as the Sycamores remained unbeaten and star player Larry Bird emerged as the consensus national player of the year, attention started increasing on the team and its talented forward. Eventually, NBC decided to add a late-season Indiana State game to the schedule so it could showcase Bird before the NCAA tournament.

Many fans were at least aware of Bird. The Boston Celtics selected him in the first round of 1978 NBA draft, but he still had eligibility left and returned to school for his senior season. Sports Illustrated put Bird on the cover of its college hoop preview his junior year and profiled the team in an article early in 1979. But the sport received relatively limited coverage in the pre-ESPN era and Bird's teams had never qualified for the NCAA tournament, so most fans had still not seen him play.

NBC sent Jim Simpson and Al McGuire to Terre Haute to call the Sunday 2/25/1979 contest against Wichita State. And Bird put on a brilliant 49 point performance as Indiana State went to 26-0.



Despite the NBC coverage, not all parts of the nation got a chance to see Bird that day. For one thing, NBC did a regional telecast of a South Carolina game in the same timeslot (although the network did send the Indiana State game to most of the country). Also, some NBC affiliates pre-empted the network games for local programming.

Earlier in the season, Indiana State had become the focus of an on-air debate between McGuire and co-analyst Billy Packer. McGuire believed the undefeated Sycamores deserved to move up to #1 in the polls while Packer was rather vocal in his disagreement. This drew such ire among Indiana State fans that Packer actually received death threats. NBC played it safe and avoided assigning him to the 2/25 Indiana State game. Packer instead worked the game in Louisville which opened the NBC doubleheader that afternoon.

Indiana State ascended to #1 in the polls the next day and backed up the ranking by advancing all the way to the national championship game. NBC did send Packer (with Simpson) to call the Indiana State games for the first two weekends of the NCAA tournament. For the Final Four, Packer joined McGuire and Dick Enberg. The Bird vs. Magic championship game against Michigan State remains the highest rated college basketball game of all time.

Looking back at how relatively few schools NBC tended to select for its featured Sunday telecasts, it is quite interesting to note that NBC put its spotlight on a 1979 Missouri Valley regular season game! And while this remains the signature event in Sycamore regular season history, I find it ironic that the memorable moments section of the official Indiana State basketball record book lists the wrong date for this game.

Season 3 of Feherty show on Golf Channel

The new season of the entertaining Feherty show debuts Monday 2/25 at 10 pm ET on Golf Channel with special guest Jack Nicklaus. The unique show hosted by CBS golf analyst David Feherty is well worth a season series recording on the DVR.

Other interview subjects for season 3 include Phil Mickelson, Colin Montgomerie, plus many with a connection to broadcasting including Jim Nantz, Paul Azinger, and Bob Knight. My favorite past episodes featured others who also had a TV background such as Ken Venturi. Johnny Miller, and Lee Trevino.

Here is a preview of the Nicklaus show:

History of #1 analyst demotions

<UPDATE 6/9/2016: Added the demotions of Harold Reynolds and Tom Verducci as co-#1 Fox MLB analysts.>

<UPDATE 9/16/2013: Added the demotion of Clark Kellogg as lead CBS college basketball analyst.>

CBS analyst Phil Simms received many unfavorable reviews for his recent Super Bowl 47 broadcast performance and some critics have even suggested that CBS might (or should) demote him from the lead NFL analyst position.

Simms has been the #1 NFL analyst at CBS for 15 seasons. He started there in 1998 working alongside Greg Gumbel and has been paired with Jim Nantz since 2004. For the three years prior to his CBS stint, he was one of two analysts on the #1 crew for NBC.

The post-Super Bowl speculation regarding CBS and Simms got me wondering about the historical frequency of such a move. So I decided to research cases where a TV network actually demoted its #1 analyst. Specifically, I looked at situations where CBS, NBC, ABC or Fox covered a sport using multiple announcer teams and I focused on the NFL, NBA, MLB, college basketball and college football.

For the purposes of this post, I am defining demotion as a case where the former "A" team analyst returns to the same network the following season on a lower tier broadcast crew.

Based on this research, no lead analyst with the longevity of Simms has ever been demoted to a lower tier crew on the same network. I only found 7 instances where a network demoted a #1 analyst who had been in that position for at least 5 years. In two of those cases, the "demoted" analyst actually moved into a play-by-play position. And in four of those cases, the network made the move to fit a newly hired broadcaster onto the "A" team.

Here is a closer look at those seven demotions ordered by longest tenure:

Tony Kubek (14 years as lead NBC MLB analyst)



Kubek had been the top analyst for the NBC baseball Game of the Week from 1969-1982 working first with Curt Gowdy and later with Joe Garagiola. In 1983, NBC hired Vin Scully as its lead play-by-play voice and Vin wanted no part of a three-man booth. So NBC decided to shift Garagiola into the lead analyst role alongside Scully and demoted Kubek to the "B" team where he worked with Bob Costas. Kubek remained in the #2 analyst role at NBC for 7 years. I believe this ranks as the most controversial lead analyst demotion of all time. On the plus side, Bob and Tony meshed so well together and I still consider them my favorite national baseball telecast tandem.

Bob Griese (12 years as lead ABC college football analyst)

ABC had used Griese as the top analyst for its NCAA games starting in 1987 where he worked with Keith Jackson. Griese remained in that role through the 1998 season. In 1999, ABC shuffled its broadcast crews and went without a true #1 team after Jackson switched to primarily covering west coast games. Griese remained on one of the crews which ABC treated as essentially co-#1. However, the network used Gary Danielson as the analyst for the BCS championship game that year.

Merlin Olsen (10 years as lead NBC NFL analyst)

Olsen had been in the #1 role at NBC from 1979-1988 working alongside Dick Enberg. In 1989, NBC brought in Bill Walsh as its new top analyst and demoted Olsen to the #2 slot. Merlin remained at NBC for only one season before taking an analyst position with CBS.

Bud Wilkinson (10 years as lead ABC college football analyst)

Wilkinson had served as the lead analyst on the ABC NCAA package from 1966 to 1975. He worked first with Chris Schenkel and later with Keith Jackson. In 1976, ABC demoted Wilkinson after it hired recently retired coach Ara Parseghian as lead analyst. Wilkinson remained with ABC for one season calling lower tier games.

Tom Brookshier (6.5 years as lead CBS NFL analyst)

Brookshier had been the lead CBS analyst since midway through the 1974 season when the network moved Pat Summerall into the top play-by-play role. That duo formed the #1 CBS team through the 1980 season. In 1981, CBS elevated John Madden into the lead analyst spot and shifted Brookshier to a play-by-play position on a lower tier crew. Brookshier remained with CBS for 6 more seasons after the demotion.

Don Drysdale (5 years as lead ABC MLB analyst)

Drysdale had been the top analyst on ABC Monday Night Baseball from 1978-1982. In 1983, ABC hired recently retired manager Earl Weaver as the new lead analyst. Drysdale stayed with ABC for 4 more seasons and became the play-by-play announcer on the "B" team.

Clark Kellogg (5 years as lead CBS college basketball analyst)

Kellogg was the #1 analyst on NCAA basketball for CBS 2008-09 through 2012-13. In September 2013, CBS promoted Greg Anthony to lead analyst. Kellogg became the lead studio analyst, but continued to serve as a game analyst on a lower tier crew.


Many cases involving a change to #1 analyst position featured an announcer retiring or moving to another network. Most of the long tenured lead analysts such as Billy Packer, Al McGuire, John Madden, and Tim McCarver were never demoted.

For completeness, here is a summary of the other cases when a network demoted its top analyst:

NFL

  Kyle Rote (3 years)

• #1 for NBC from 1968-1970
• demoted in 1971 for Al DeRogatis
• remained with NBC in #2 analyst role for 3 years

  John Brodie (1 year)

• #1 for NBC in 1977 
• partially demoted in 1978 when NBC essentially used co-#1 crews of Brodie (paired with Curt Gowdy) and Merlin Olsen (paired with Dick Enberg)  
• fully demoted in 1979 when NBC made Enberg and Olsen #1
• remained with NBC in analyst role through 1984

  Bob Trumpy (3 years)

• #1 for NBC from 1992-1994
• demoted in 1995 for the duo of Paul Maguire and Phil Simms
• remained with NBC in analyst role for 3 years

MLB

  Sandy Koufax (2 years)

• co-#1 for NBC from 1967-1968 (Koufax and Pee Wee Reese were on a 3-man "A" crew)
• demoted in 1969 for Tony Kubek
• remained with NBC as "B" team analyst for 4 years

  Bob Uecker (2 years)

• #1 for ABC from 1976-1977
• demoted in 1978 for Don Drysdale
• remained with ABC as "B" team analyst for 5 years

 Harold Reynolds and Tom Verducci (2 years)

• co-#1 for Fox from 2014-2015
• both demoted in 2016 for John Smoltz
• each remained with Fox in a lower-tier game analyst role

NBA

  Tom Heinsohn (4 years)

• #1 for CBS from 1983-84 to 1986-87
• demoted in 1987-88 season for Billy Cunningham
• remained with CBS in analyst role for 3 years

  Matt Guokas (4 years)

• #1 for NBC from 1993-94 to 1996-97
• demoted in 1997-98 season for Doug Collins and Isiah Thomas
• remained with NBC in analyst role for 4 years

  Hubie Brown (2 years)

• #1 for ABC from 2005-05 to 2005-06
• demoted in 2006-07 for Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy
• has remained with ABC in #2 analyst role ever since

college football

  Ara Parseghian (1 year)

• #1 for ABC in 1976
• partially demoted in 1977 when ABC hired Frank Broyles - ABC essentially treated both Broyles and Parseghian as #1 analysts by alternating which of them was paired with Keith Jackson each telecast
• fully demoted in 1981 when ABC made Broyles the sole #1 analyst 
• remained with ABC as an analyst that year before moving to CBS in 1982

  Pat Haden (2 years)

• #1 for CBS from 1982-1984
• demoted in 1985 for Ara Parseghian
• remained with CBS as an analyst for 5 more years (and was reinstated as the #1 analyst in 1987)

The NBC false claim - and opening night of 1980 Winter Olympics on ABC

NBC recently issued a press release claiming that its planned coverage of the 2014 Sochi Olympics would feature the first ever prime time event coverage before the opening ceremony. However, this NBC claim is false. In 1980, ABC opened its Winter Olympics coverage in prime time on Tues 2/12 from 9:30 - 11 pm ET, one night before the opening ceremony on Wed 2/13. (For completeness, ABC did the same thing in 1984 for the Sarajevo games.)

<Update 2/25/2013: ABC also provided prime time coverage the night before the opening ceremony in 1976 for the Innsbruck games (per a blog comment which I have verified).>

I watched the Olympics on ABC that opening Tuesday in 1980 and recall the oddity of televised event coverage prior to the opening ceremony. I also found multiple newspaper archives which supported my memory. Today, I was involved in some Twitter exchanges which helped proved this claim false - Fang's Bites provided a nice summary.

I also just found video proof which further supplements this research. This ABC promo clip runs down the ABC prime time schedules including the Olympics coverage for both 2/12 and 2/13:



The ABC coverage that first night included Al Michaels and Ken Dryden calling parts of the USA-Sweden hockey game from Lake Placid. That game took place 33 years ago tomorrow.

The 1975 Howard Cosell Saturday night variety show on ABC

In the fall of 1975, ABC and executive producer Roone Arledge took a bold step by creating a prime time variety series and installing sportscaster Howard Cosell as the host. With this show, ABC hoped to recapture the magic of the classic Ed Sullivan Show.

At the time, Cosell was one of the most recognizable personalities in the media industry. In 1970, ABC launched Monday Night Football and inserted Cosell into the broadcast booth. This package revolutionized the way TV networks treated prime time and Cosell was a key factor in its success. He was a polarizing figure who was never afraid to voice strong opinions. While many viewers despised the controversial Cosell, they would tune in to hear what Howard might have to say, and that worked well for Arledge.

Cosell had also branched into the entertainment arena via guest appearances on TV sitcoms such as The Odd Couple and in movies like Woody Allen's Bananas. He was frequently cast as himself in these roles.

Arledge felt that he could capitalize on the notoriety of Cosell and use the new variety show to boost ABC's entertainment ratings. This promotional clip provides insight into the ambitious expectations ABC had for the show. It also illustrates the pomposity of the one-and-only Cosell.



Cosell had many connections and believed this would enable the variety show to attract the top names in entertainment. Howard actually thought he could convince The Beatles to reunite on his opening show. He approached John Lennon with this idea, but Lennon turned him down.

ABC titled the 60-minute show Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell and debuted it on 9/20/1975. ABC televised this series live (but showed it on tape delay on the west coast to fit it into the prime time schedule). It originated each Saturday night at 8 pm ET from the Ed Sullivan Theater in Manhattan.

Leading up to the premiere, ABC heavily promoted the show both on the network and with large ads in major newspapers. ABC specifically hyped the live entertainment angle as most other variety shows of the era were taped and edited for later airing. ABC would also cross-promote the variety show on the Monday NFL games and have Cosell plug the upcoming football game during the Saturday show.

A September issue of People magazine previewed the new show and questioned whether it would succeed.

ABC booked the shows with a mix of Hollywood stars, musicians, comedians, circus performers, and sports celebrities. The series utilized a regular comedy trio of Bill Murray, Brian Doyle-Murray, and Christopher Guest which ABC billed as the Prime Time Players.

Cosell was so nervous before the opening show that he wanted cue cards for backup despite the fact that he was legendary for doing his daily radio commentaries without notes or a script. That initial episode included Frank Sinatra, John Denver, Paul Anka, Shirley Bassey, Jimmy Connors, and the cast of The Wiz. It also featured two live remotes. one from London (just after 1 AM local time) with The Bay City Rollers rock band and another from Las Vegas of a Siegfried and Roy illusion act with lions. Media reviews for the debut were mediocre at best.

On the second show, Cosell conducted live interviews with Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier a few days before their epic boxing match in Manila.

The live nature of the show led to some problems. On the 10/25 show, an Evel Knievel segment ran long so the producers determined that singing group Labelle would only have time for one song rather than the two they were promised. Upon learning this, the group refused to take the stage which forced Cosell to fill time roaming the audience.

Unfortunately for ABC, this series flopped in the ratings and received many negative reviews from newspaper critics. In the 10/9 Chicago Tribune, columnist Gary Deeb claimed to have information from "inside sources at ABC" that the cancellation of the show was a "foregone conclusion". At that point, ABC had only aired three episodes. On 11/26, just over two months into the run, ABC officially cancelled the show, but announced that it would stay on the air through mid-January. Overall, ABC produced 15 live episodes and three reruns over 18 weeks.

Don Mischer who directed the variety show recently did an interview looking back at his experience with Cosell and Arledge. He commented on the haphazard nature of booking live entertainment such as the night Arledge contacted Lionel Hampton about an hour before air time and slotted him into the show.

That same season, NBC launched a late night live series on 10/11/1975 called NBC's Saturday Night which aired at 11:30 pm ET. Unlike the ABC show, the NBC version proved successful and remains on TV. NBC termed their comedy team the Not Ready for Prime Time Players as a takeoff on the name ABC used. NBC would eventually adopt the name Saturday Night Live for its show.

On 4/13/1985, Cosell hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live on NBC. In the opening monologue, he reflected back on his ABC variety show in typical Cosell style.



Here is a chronology of Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell on ABC with select guests by episode:

9/20/1975 - mentioned above
9/27 - John Wayne, Redd Foxx, Barbara Walters, Linda Ronstadt, Harry Blacksone Jr., The Eagles
10/4 - Alan King, Charo, Yogi Berra, Billy Martin, The Bay City Rollers
10/11 - Bill Cosby, Barry Manilow, Andy Griffith, Joe Frazier, Roberta Flack, The Rockettes
10/18 - Johnny Cash, Gabe Kaplan, Muhammad Ali, Evel Knievel, Ronee Blakley
10/25 - Soupy Sales (in Sea World), Evel Knievel, Kate Smith, Steve Landesberg, Chinese Acrobats of Taiwan
11/1 - Lee Majors, O.J. Simpson, George Burns, Walter Matthau, Joan Sutherland, Steve Landesberg, Rene Simard, The Rockettes
11/8 - Billy Crystal, Roy Clark, Ted Kennedy, Gwen Verdon, Chita Rivera, Esther Satterfield
11/15 - Andy Williams, Norm Crosby, Marilyn Michaels, Mark Wilson, Linda Hopkins
11/22 - Lionel Hampton, Tony Bennett, Lynn Anderson, John Byner, Ed Bluestone, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Argentinian Gauchos
11/29 - Bob Hope, Rita Moreno, Doug Kershaw, Billy Eckstine
12/6 - Ben Vereen, Rodney Dangerfield, Olga Korbut, Billy Crystal, Roberta Peters
12/13 - Steve Allen, Robert Merrill, Esther Satterfield, Fred Travalena, Paul Anka, Chuck Mangione
12/20 - rerun
12/27 - rerun
1/3/1976 - rerun
1/10 - Milton Berle, Martin Mull, Charley Pride, Melissa Manchester, The Lockers
1/17 - Billy Crystal, Elayne Boozler, Ed Bluestone, The Bay City Rollers, The Movies

************

This post is part of a Classic TV Variety Show Blogathon. Check out the great content on the other participating classic TV blogs.

The infamous Tom Brookshier "Evidently" interview after Super Bowl 6

Here is a clip of the postgame interviews conducted by Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier from the CBS telecast of Super Bowl 6 on 1/16/1972 after the Cowboys defeated the Dolphins 24-3.

This postgame show is best remembered for the extremely awkward interview that Brookshier conducted with Cowboys running back Duane Thomas who had not been talking to the media. The exchange starts at the 6:59 mark. After some rambling, Brookshier asked a rather inane question and Thomas uttered the classic one-word response of "Evidently". After a round of laughter, the clearly nervous Brookshier then redirected a different form of the question to Jim Brown before coming back to ask Thomas another question. Eventually Brown stepped in to speak on behalf of Thomas and essentially brought the interview to a conclusion. The entire sequence was quite bizarre and it haunted Brookshier for years.



The televised locker room interview scene looks quite amateurish compared to what one would see today. During the interviews, you can see many other media members milling around in close proximity. Multiple times you can see someone obstructing the camera shot of the interview. And Thomas and Brown both exit and walk right in front of Brookshier while he is still speaking. It was also interesting to hear both Summerall and Brookshier refer to the location as the "dressing room".

The 9:47 mark of the video has the original footage of the Ray Scott call of the touchdown run by Thomas. Scott and Summerall were the announcers on the CBS telecast.

The 1968 UCLA-Houston "Game of the Century"

This Sunday marks the 45th anniversary of the "Game of the Century" between UCLA and Houston at the Astrodome. That game on Saturday 1/20/1968 was the first prime time national telecast of a college basketball game. And it was almost certainly the most significant telecast in the history of the sport. To illustrate the state of college basketball on TV at the time, consider that the Final Four was not yet on network TV.

Houston coach Guy Lewis had the idea to schedule it at the Astrodome making this the first ever college hoop game played in a dome. The court was set up in the middle of the stadium meaning all fans were quite a distance from the action. The 4:00 minute mark on this documentary provides a great visual of the court position. The floor was imported from the Los Angeles Sports Arena. The event drew a record 52,693 fans.

Heading into the game, UCLA was ranked #1 and Houston #2. Both were unbeaten. UCLA featured Lew Alcindor and Lucius Allen, and was coached by John Wooden. Mike Warren (later of Hill Street Blues fame) also started for the Bruins. Houston was led by Elvin Hayes and Don Chaney. Behind 39 points by Hayes, the Cougars defeated the eventual national champion Bruins 71-69 and ended their 47-game winning streak.

ABC showed some interest in televising the game in the afternoon on Wide World of Sports. But Eddie Einhorn acquired the television rights and decided to syndicate the game in prime time on his TVS network. Einhorn lined up 150 stations in 49 states throughout the country. Some of these stations signed up on the day of the game.

Dick Enberg was the play-by-play announcer for the 9 pm ET telecast. At the time, Enberg was the UCLA broadcaster. The analyst was retired NBA star Bob Pettit. In his book Oh My!, Enberg labelled this game "the most important sports event I've ever called".

Interest in the game kept growing to the point that Einhorn was actually fielding phone calls while the game was in progress from companies wanting to buy TV ads. He handwrote ad scripts on the fly and handed them to Enberg to read on the air during timeouts.

Here is a clip of the surviving footage from the historic TVS telecast (end of 1st half and entire 2nd half). It also contains snippets from some of the commercials. The video quality is quite decent considering the time period.



The telecast of this landmark game increased interest in college basketball and helped make it more than a regional sport. It also led to some additional nationally syndicated college basketball games on TVS and eventually on the Chesley network which owned the ACC rights. By the next season, Enberg became the lead announcer for TVS and called a number of subsequent national games that Einhorn produced, many of which featured UCLA.

The 1973 ACC Super Sunday college basketball telecast

40 years ago today, one of the most significant events in college sports TV history took place - the first Super Sunday college basketball TV game. On Sunday 1/14/1973, the ACC and the regional Chesley network produced a national telecast of the NC State at Maryland game on the day of Super Bowl 7.

At the time, college basketball was primarily a regional sport and schools almost never played on Sundays. However, the ACC and TV rightsholder C.D. Chesley decided to schedule this matchup on Sunday, line up 145 stations throughout the country (with help from the Hughes Sports Network), and syndicate this game nationally.

The idea was to provide a sports viewing option to lead fans into the Super Bowl pregame programming. The basketball game started at noon ET so it would end well before the Dolphins and Redskins kicked off at 3:30 pm ET. Chesley originally considered televising this game nationally on Saturday 1/13, but believed he could clear more stations for a Sunday telecast.

The game spotlighted the top two teams in the ACC. Maryland was ranked #2 and featured Tom McMillen, Len Elmore, and John Lucas. NC State was ranked #3 and led by David Thompson and Tom Burleson. All five of these players would become first round NBA draft picks.

Ray Scott and Billy Packer were the announcers for this historic telecast. Even though Jim Thacker was the primary play-by-play announcer on the regional Chesley network, the ACC felt that the unique national stage for this game required a more recognized announcer such as Scott to be the lead voice. Scott of course was a high-profile NFL broadcaster who had called three Super Bowls for CBS. Chesley did include Thacker on the telecast for sideline features.

This game also put Packer in front of a nationwide audience for the first time. The first national network TV deal for the sport was still three years away, but this telecast helped position Packer for the analyst role on that package.

The event worked out perfectly for Chesley as NC State won a thrilling contest 87-85 behind 37 points from Thompson who burst onto the national scene that afternoon. An estimated 25 million TV viewers watched the game, exceeding Chesley's expectations.

A year later, the ACC and Chesley again televised a game nationally on Super Bowl Sunday between the same two schools. That Maryland at NC State game on 1/13/1974 started at 1 pm ET with Thacker and Packer on the call. Scott broadcast the Super Bowl on CBS later that day.

The ACC has a long history of Super Bowl Sunday telecasts and it all started in 1973.

NBCSN four-part series on Business of the NFL

NBC Sports Network is launching a four-part series on the Business of the NFL which chronicles the business decisions throughout its history which led to the explosive growth of the league. Part 1 of the Star Spangled Sundays series documents how the NFL used television to significantly boost the popularity of pro football and overtake baseball as the #1 sport in the United States. This initial 60-minute episode Rise of a Colossus debuts on Tues 1/8 at 10 pm ET with multiple replays scheduled.

The interview subjects include the following from a TV perspective: Bob Costas, Al Michaels, Don Ohlmeyer, David Hill, and Steve Bornstein.

The subsequent episodes in this series (subtitled Brand NFL, Labor Pains, and Super Sunday) will premiere each Tuesday in January on NBCSN.

Best of 2012 - Classic Sports TV and Media blog

I started the Classic Sports TV and Media blog on 12/30/2011, so yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of this site. For the benefit of newer readers, I decided to summarize some highlights from the first year of the blog. So here are my choices for the top 12 entries from this blog in 2012 (in chronological order of posting):

1. recalling the day in 1982 when CBS pulled an analyst out of the stands to call an NCAA tournament game (with video)
2. analyzing the myth about 3 consecutive buzzer beaters during the first weekend of the 1981 NCAA tournament
3. a detailed three-part series on the history of the TV coverage of the NCAA tournament from 1969-present
4. looking back at the Rick Barry "watermelon grin" comment during the 1981 NBA Finals (with video)
5. remembering the classic New York Mets broadcast team of Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy, and Ralph Kiner (with video)
6. a complete history of US TV coverage of the Ryder Cup from 1959-present
7. a summary of how ABC and Keith Jackson handled conflicts between the baseball playoffs and college football
8. recalling the magic of the ABC Monday Night Football Halftime Highlights narrated by Howard Cosell (with video)
9. exploring the baffling myth about 1969 Alabama - Ole Miss being the first prime time college football regular season telecast
10. introducing the first pairing of Pat Summerall and John Madden in 1979 (with video)
11. providing a look at the first ESPN college basketball telecast in 1979 which was also the TV debut of Dick Vitale (with video)
12. documenting the first game that Dick Enberg and Billy Packer called together in 1974

Thanks for reading and following. I have more content planned for 2013.

The first game called by Dick Enberg and Billy Packer

38 years ago tomorrow, Dick Enberg and Billy Packer called their first game together, a matchup of UCLA at Maryland. At the time, college basketball was very much a regional sport with a minimal national TV presence. Enberg was the primary play-by-play announcer for the TVS network founded by Eddie Einhorn. Packer worked as the main analyst for ACC games on the Chesley network produced by C.D. Chesley.

The game took place on Saturday 12/28/1974 at 9 pm ET and was syndicated to much of the nation. This telecast was the first joint production between TVS (which had rights to several conferences including the Pac-8 which included UCLA) and Chesley (which had rights to the ACC and therefore Maryland).

Packer's book Hoops: Confessions of a College Basketball Analyst provides a lot of detail on the first Enberg/Packer telecast. However, Packer incorrectly describes it as "a 1975 Super Bowl Sunday game". These teams did not play on 1/12/1975 (or any other Super Bowl Sunday for that matter) and there was no national college basketball telecast on this date either. The game actually took place two weeks earlier on a Saturday night.

According to Packer's book, the question of whether this telecast would feature TVS or Chesley announcers was still undecided until the morning of the game. Eventually, Einhorn and Chesley came to a compromise agreement. Enberg opened the telecast and called play-by-play for the first half. Jim Thacker (who was Packer's regular broadcast partner on the ACC games) handled play-by-play for the second half. Packer was the analyst throughout. Thacker did sideline features while Enberg was calling the game and vice versa. Packer said that he met Enberg that morning for the first time.

In his book Oh My!, Enberg also mentions this game and raves about how impressed he was with Packer's basketball knowledge and insights on that first telecast.

Enberg and Packer became a regular tandem during the 1975-76 season when NBC in conjunction with TVS put together a weekly package of national games. NBC first hired Enberg to broadcast this package and actually considered having him call the games solo. According to Enberg's book, he had been so impressed with Packer from the 1974 game that he recommended NBC sign Packer to be the analyst. Two seasons later, the network added Al McGuire to the mix to form a legendary broadcast trio.

CBS special on NCAA tournament - 75 Years: Behind the Mic

To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the NCAA tournament, CBS has an interesting array of special programming planned. The celebration kicks off when CBS airs 75 Years: Behind the Mic on Sat 12/29 at 2 pm ET. This show is hosted by Greg Gumbel and features many announcers who have called the tournament over the years including Dick Enberg, Gary Bender, Jim Nantz, and Bill Raftery. It also contains a special segment on the 1992 Duke-Kentucky regional final with Verne Lundquist and Len Elmore who called that memorable contest.

CBS Sports Network will also replay this episode multiple times.

UPDATE: This show also includes a nice tribute to the great Al McGuire. Props to CBS for incorporating some original NBC tournament footage into the mix. And while Billy Packer does not appear, the other announcers discuss his contributions to this event.

ESPNU presents SEC Storied documentary on Sam Bowie

The next episode of the ESPN Films series SEC Storied chronicles Kentucky basketball player Sam Bowie and his injury plagued career. Bowie is best remembered for being drafted #2 by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1984 NBA draft, one slot ahead of Michael Jordan.

The documentary Going Big debuts on Thu 12/20 at 9 pm ET on ESPNU with many re-airings scheduled. For DVR purposes, note that the premiere episode follows a live basketball game so plan accordingly. You can also catch replays of earlier installments of SEC Storied including:

• Herschel Walker (legendary Georgia running back)
• 40 Minutes of Hell (Arkansas basketball coach Nolan Richardson)
• Croom (Mississippi State football coach Sylvester Croom)

Here is a preview clip. (Note: I'm not exactly sure what Jack Ramsay means when he says that Portland should have packaged Clyde Drexler and the pick to get a center and then drafted Jordan. It sure sounds like he is double counting the draft pick.)

Original NBC footage of The Immaculate Reception

With the 40th anniversary of The Immaculate Reception approaching, here is a look at the original NBC call of that controversial Franco Harris touchdown from the 12/23/1972 divisional playoff game between the Steelers and Raiders. The network rebroadcast this footage during the 1997 playoffs on the 25-year mark of the long-debated play.

Curt Gowdy and Al DeRogatis were the announcers that day although only Gowdy appears on this clip. I suspect that NBC had already dispatched DeRogatis from the booth to prepare for postgame interviews.

NFLN documentary on The Immaculate Reception

The final edition of the NFL Network series A Football Life focuses on the controversial Franco Harris touchdown near the end of the 1972 Steelers-Raiders divisional playoff game which came to be known as The Immaculate Reception. The special even includes a former director of the CIA performing a frame-by-frame analysis of the play. NFLN is premiering the documentary on Wed 12/19 at 8 pm ET with many replays scheduled.

This episode includes commentary from many players from that game. However, a striking note from the press release confirms that John Madden who coached the Raiders in that game declined the chance to be a modern interview subject.

Madden refused to be interviewed for the special because the play still draws so much emotion from him forty years later.

The preview clip on the NFL Films blog does contain a 1980s interview with Madden.

During a Monday Night Football game in 2002, on the 30th anniversary of the play, Madden did talk about it with Al Michaels, but sounded uncomfortable during the discussion.

Documentary on 1963 Mississippi State vs Loyola (Chi) game

One Night in March, a documentary which chronicles the 1963 Mississippi State basketball team and its participation in the NCAA tournament  That all-white squad, defying a state injunction against integrated competition, snuck out of Starkville and headed to East Lansing to face eventual tournament champion Loyola (Chi) which started 4 black players. Mike DeCourcy of the Sporting News ranked this as the greatest moment in NCAA tournament history. This 34-minute film which was produced in 2002 recently became available for free online viewing.



This Saturday, the two schools meet on the basketball court in Chicago to commemorate the Game of Change nearly 50 years after this significant moment in civil rights history.

NFL Network documentary on Marcus Allen

The latest installment of the NFLN series A Football Life profiles Hall of Fame running back Marcus Allen. The one-hour documentary premieres on Wed 12/12 at 8 pm ET and will be replayed multiple times. Broadcaster Al Michaels is among the many interview subjects. The NFL Films site contains a preview clip.

The episode includes footage from an interview that Michaels conducted with Allen which aired during halftime of a 1992 ABC Monday Night Football game. During that interview, Allen spoke out in quite strong terms about his acrimonious relationship with Raiders owner Al Davis.

ESPN 30 for 30 Bo Jackson documentary

The next edition of the fabulous ESPN 30 for 30 series chronicles the legendary Bo Jackson who achieved success in both MLB and the NFL. Jackson actually played both pro sports from 1987-1990 before a severe hip injury cut short his athletic career. His fame also exploded via the "Bo Knows" Nike advertising campaign.

The ESPN Films production is titled You Don't Know Bo and premieres Sat 12/8 at 9 pm ET with multiple replays scheduled. The ESPN site has a trailer for this film.

The 1979 debut of Dick Vitale as an ESPN college basketball analyst

<UPDATED 12/5/2019 to accurately label this telecast as one of the first on ESPN>

This week marks the 33rd anniversary of one of the first college basketball games televised by ESPN. On 12/5/1979, the 3-month old cable network aired a game between Wisconsin and DePaul at 9 pm ET. The analyst for this contest was Dick Vitale who ESPN had recently hired for $150 a game. Vitale was making his television debut after being fired as head coach of the Detroit Pistons in November. Joe Boyle who had a background as a hockey announcer handled the play-by-play that evening. Here is the opening to that inaugural telecast with both broadcasters in 3-piece suits:



Right off the bat, Vitale exhibits his trademarked motormouth style by talking essentially non-stop from the 0:47 mark to the 2:24 mark. Notice the facial expressions of Boyle while Vitale rambles on before finally turning things back to his broadcast partner. I counted 10 times that Vitale used some variation of his classic phrase "we talk about" during this intro.

ESPN eventually paired Vitale on a regular basis with former NBC broadcaster Jim Simpson and this duo called many college hoop contests during the early years of the fledgling network. Vitale went on to work with many other play-by-play partners on ESPN including Tim Brando, Mike Patrick, Brad Nessler, and Dan Shulman.

Ironically, this historic telecast was the only college basketball game that Boyle ever called for ESPN. Contrastingly, the analyst ESPN assigned to this event remains in the same role 33 years later. In a book published in 2006, Vitale reflected back on that first telecast and stated that he had never seen Boyle since that night.

NFL Network documentary on Barry Sanders

The next edition of the must-see NFL Network documentary series A Football Life profiles the career and life of Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders. one of the most electrifying talents to ever take the field. The NFL Films site has a preview clip. This 60-minute episode debuts on Wed 12/5 at 8 pm ET on NFLN with several re-airings planned.

Upcoming schedule for this series:

• December 12 – Marcus Allen
• December 19 – The Immaculate Reception

NBCSN documentary on Earl Campbell

The NBC Sports Network is presenting a documentary which profiles Hall of Fame running back Earl Campbell. After an outstanding career at the University of Texas, the "Tyler Rose" burst onto the NFL scene with the Houston Oilers in 1978. I still vividly recall his dominating performance in a Monday Night Football game that season against Miami.

The one-hour documentary titled Still Standing: The Earl Campbell Story premieres on Tue 12/4 at 11pm ET. Note that NBCSN  has a live college basketball game leading into this time slot, so plan accordingly if setting your DVR (or record one of the many scheduled re-airings).

The list of interview subjects includes longtime ESPN broadcaster Ron Franklin who was the radio play-by-play voice of the Oilers when Campbell played there.