IT'S TIME TO CROWN THE NFL CHAMPIONS IN THE BOOTH

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, January 16, 1993                   TAG: 9301160048
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Long
IT'S TIME TO CROWN THE NFL CHAMPIONS IN THE BOOTH
The NFL will crown its conference champions Sunday, but who's been the best upstairs this season? Here are some thoughts on the NFL talking heads:
\ Best team: 1. Al Michaels, Dan Dierdorf, Frank Gifford (ABC); 2. Dick Enberg, Bob Trumpy (NBC); 3. Pat Summerall, John Madden (CBS); 4. Mike Patrick, Joe Theismann (ESPN); 5. Dick Stockton, Randy Cross (CBS).
\ Best play-by-play: 1. Michaels, 2. Enberg, 3. Marv Albert (NBC), 4. Summerall, 5. Patrick.
\ Best analyst: 1. Dierdorf, 2. Trumpy, 3. Madden, 4. Paul Maguire (NBC), 5. Cross.
\ Rookie of the year: Matt Millen (CBS).
\ Best new team: Tom Hammond, Cris Collinsworth (NBC).
\ Rising stars: 1. Cross, 2. Collinsworth, 3. Millen.
\ Most improved: Frank Gifford (ABC), with tougher commentary.
\ Worst decision: NBC, breaking up wit-and-wisdom team of Albert and Maguire to pair Bill Parcells with Albert. By midseason, Parcells was into his say-little, coaching job-seeking mode.
\ Best studio show: 1. NFL GameDay (ESPN), edging NFL Live (NBC).
\ Best studio host: Bob Costas (NBC).
\ Best studio analyst: Terry Bradshaw (CBS), by a hair over Kevin Kiley (TNT).
\ Analyst who belongs on pregame show: Joe Namath (NBC).
\ Best studio reporter: Will McDonough (NBC).
\ Inconsistent: 1. Dan Fouts (CBS), 2. Todd Christensen (NBC), 3. Theismann.
\ Underrated: 1. Patrick, 2. Stockton, 3. Pat Haden (TNT), 4. James Brown (CBS).
\ Overrated: 1. Parcells, 2. Fouts, 3. O.J. Simpson (NBC).
\ Players with great TV potential: 1. Boomer Esiason, 2. Howie Long, 3. Mike Singletary, 4. Bob Golic.
\ IN THE RING: George Foreman knocked out Joe Frazier at Kingston, Jamaica, on Home Box Office's first boxing telecast 20 years ago, the first of 105 title fights and 148 bouts on the cable network. The geriatric contender in the heavyweight division moves from an HBO analyst seat to inside the ropes again tonight at 10 against Pierre Coetzer in Reno, Nev.
It could be ugly, but boxing is such a sad state of affairs that it needs Foreman's paunchy panache.
Foreman hasn't fought since a 10-round survival of Alex Stewart in April and next week, actor-producer and ex-boxer Tony Danza - of "Taxi" and "Who's The Boss" fame - will pitch a sitcom pilot starring Foreman to ABC Entertainment executives. If Foreman loses - and he wanted to fight another South African who packs less punch than Coetzer - maybe the comedy of his geriatric comeback will end.
The undercard telecast opener for Foreman-Coetzer is another heavyweight bout between Tommy Morrison and Carl "The Truth" Williams. What Time Warner - which owns HBO and TVKO, the pay-per-view boxing channel - desires is a Foreman-Morrison matchup in mid-April on PPV.
That would be billed as the Once Great Hope against the Not-So-Great White Hope.
Besides a certain comeback by former heavyweight champ Evander Holyfield, probably in June or July, the biggest news in the heavyweight division is Lennox Lewis' signing a four-bout deal with Time Warner (three on HBO and one on TVKO). Lewis, the WBC heavyweight champion, is likely to fight Stewart in April.
\ REAL SCREAM: Dick Vitale is ESPN's No. 1 college basketball analyst, and when ABC begins televising games next Sunday, he'll be screaming at even more viewers.
Vitale, who works Sunday's Virginia-Duke telecast (5 p.m., ESPN), still doesn't understand that the game's the thing. The Indiana-Michigan game Tuesday night on ESPN was as well-played and well-coached as any game could be. However, Vitale's shrieking analysis ruined the telecast.
When his expertise was needed at the end when the Hoosiers were called for a lane violation during a free throw, Vitale had no answers, and ESPN had no replay. Vitale knows the game, and if he ever learns that his presence is not why viewers tune in, maybe more of them would listen to him.
At CBS, lead play-by-play man Jim Nantz is now referring to TV timeouts as "official time outs." The only time officials call timeout is to check a potential injury or to clear up a clock controversy.
Nantz, who will work Iowa-Duke today (4 p.m., WDBJ) with Billy Packer, otherwise calls a good game. Let's be honest, Jim, those are timeouts for CBS to pay the bills. Viewers aren't that dumb.
\ AROUND THE DIAL: Finally, CBS will air today a one-hour taped telecast of Virginia's 2-0 NCAA championship soccer victory over San Diego (2 p.m., WDBJ) from November. . . . ESPN has announced seven of its 10 Thursday night college football telecasts for next season. Virginia-Georgia Tech is on for the second time in three years, and Brigham Young-San Diego State (Nov. 11) gets a third straight Thursday show. That's because the last two meetings produced 52-52 and 45-38 scores. . . . Four former UVa football stars, including offensive lineman David Ware of Roanoke, will play in today's Hula Bowl on NBC (3 p.m., WSLS). . . . With David Letterman moving to CBS, will NBC sportscaster Marv Albert be replaced as Dave's most-frequent guest by Verne Lundquist?
\ BEST FOR LAST: The early favorite for best sportscasting line of 1993 belongs to ESPN's NFL studio host Chris Berman. After the Houston Oilers blew a 35-3 lead to Buffalo in the AFC wild card round, Berman said, "That's the worst oil disaster since the Exxon Valdez."
Keywords:
FOOTBALL

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB