Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 12, 1994 TAG: 9403120043
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE, N.C. LENGTH: Long
Bonner, a Staunton resident and former Virginia forward, will work his ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament as a TV analyst. It's his fourth in a row for CBS, which begins exclusive game coverage of the 64-team field starting Thursday and Friday with doubleheaders (WDBJ, noon and 8 p.m.) each day.
Bonner's play-by-play partner is Verne Lundquist, one of CBS' higher-profile voices - particularly since he worked the figure skating competition at the Lillehammer Olympics. Does that mean Bonner, who has worked only the first two rounds for CBS in the past, might have a shot at reaching a regional semifinal?
It's doubtful. Billy Packer, Bill Raftery and Al McGuire will get regional assignments. The fourth will go to Clark Kellogg, who will have a CBS studio role next weekend. Kellogg is a rising star at ESPN, although some basketball viewers - including this one - still are trying to figure out why.
"It's just great to be asked back by CBS again," said Bonner, who works ACC telecasts for Raycom/Jefferson Pilot and a partial ESPN schedule. "It means they consider me one of the best eight guys, and that's very satisfying. They must like something I'm doing, or they wouldn't ask me back."
Bonner will work the ACC tournament semifinals today (WSET, 1:30 p.m.) and championship game Sunday afternoon.
Kellogg will team with Pat O'Brien for afternoon studio shows Thursday and Friday, and work with Jim Nantz on Thursday night and on the nine-hour, second-round marathon on March 19.
Nantz and Packer will be the New York studio team Friday night and Sunday, making Packer - who would much rather work a game than the studio - the analyst alongside James Brown for first- and second-round games Thursday and Saturday at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island.
For the regional semifinals and finals, count on the CBS teams being Nantz-Packer, Greg Gumbel-Raftery, Dick Stockton-McGuire and Lundquist-Kellogg. Brown will become the studio host. This is Packer's 20th consecutive NCAA Tournament as an analyst - seven with NBC before he and the tourney moved to CBS.
The network will regionally televise eight first-round and seven second-round games, then four of eight "Sweet 16" games before going to national telecasts for the regional finals and Final Four semifinals and national championship from the Charlotte Coliseum.
CBS also will air the women's Final Four live from the Richmond Coliseum on April 2-3, and the Division II men's title game live from Springfield, Mass., on March 26.
\ THE PICKS: The NCAA fields will be revealed on live telecasts Sunday. The women's tournament, expanded from 48 to 64 teams, will be announced in a 12:30 p.m. show on ESPN. The men's 64-team bracket will be announced at 6:30 p.m. in shows on CBS (30 minutes) and ESPN (one hour).
\ AROUND THE DIAL: Although the networks haven't made final selections on early-season football games, the Virginia-Florida State opener Sept. 3 in Tallahassee will be televised as an ABC regional or as a prime-time cable game on ESPN.
The Metro Conference tournament championship game will not be televised in the Roanoke-Lynchburg market Sunday. ESPN has a split-national 1 p.m. schedule with the Big Eight Conference final and the Metro. The Big Eight is scheduled in most of the nation including Virginia, because local stations can air the Metro telecast from Raycom. However, WSLS (Channel 10), which has trimmed its Metro schedule significantly in recent years, will not pre-empt NBC'S NBA coverage to show the Metro title game.
\ NASCAR LATE NIGHT: ABC Sports' telecast of Sunday afternoon's Winston Cup race will be pre-empted locally by WSET (Channel 13) for the telecast of the ACC tournament championship game. A tape of the NASCAR Purolator 500 coverage from Atlanta will be aired by the Lynchburg station at 12:05 a.m. Monday.
\ ON ICE: The Roanoke Express' postseason broadcast plans do not include the station that has aired most of its regular-season games, WROV (1240 AM). If the Express reaches the 16-team ECHL playoffs, all games will air on Roanoke's WRIS (1410 AM) and Lynchburg's WLNI (105.9 FM), starting with a March 23 home date.
The hockey club cited a potential conflict with Salem Buccaneers baseball on WROV, starting April 7, as the primary reason for its station choice. There's also the possibility that WROV may have Virginia basketball games in the NCAA Tournament or NIT that might preclude a live Express broadcast.
\ AIR RINGSIDE: There obviously aren't enough attractions in boxing, so Dan Duva and other promoters will try anything for a pay-per-view audience. Duva has offered Michael Jordan $15 million to fight for the World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation heavyweight titles against the winner of Evander Holyfield's April 22 defense against Michael Moorer.
Duva even has a date that "wouldn't interfere with Michael's new baseball career" - November 1994. It should be noted that in 1989, Duva talked of pairing offensive lineman Tony Mandarich, then the Green Bay Packers' unsigned No. 1 draftee, against heavyweight champ Mike Tyson. That fight never came off.
He has not yet suggested a Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding flyweight bout.
by CNB