ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 20, 1996 TAG: 9604220093
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: ON THE AIR
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
The last time Baltimore picked in the NFL Draft, the Colts chose Stanford quarterback John Elway. Mel Kiper Jr. remembers that draft for another reason than the selection by his hometown team. It was the last draft the talent scout and analyst didn't work for ESPN.
That was 1983, the year before the Colts bolted for Indianapolis. Fred Gaudelli remembers that year for different reasons. Now ESPN's executive producer of its live draft coverage that spans two networks, a projected 17 hours and a cast that inches closer each year to ``Ben Hur,'' Gaudelli recalls that current host Chris Berman ``was in a bar in New Jersey somewhere.''
Gaudelli was a stage manager then, working with Sal Marchiano on the interview segments. George Grande and Paul Zimmerman were the host and analyst, respectively. Besides Berman in a watering hole, Bob Ley was stationed at ESPN's Bristol, Conn., headquarters. Elway already had said he wouldn't play for the Colts. Also a baseball prospect, Elway was quoted as saying in a New York tabloid headline that day, ``I'LL PLAY FOR THE YANKEES.''
Obviously, what goes around comes around in the NFL, too. When the draft begins today at noon with a seven-hour show on ESPN before switching to ESPN2, the Baltimore Ravens may provide the most intrigue. The former Cleveland Browns may pick controversial Nebraska back Lawrence Phillips.
The question is, after the bitter move from Ohio, does Art Modell's franchise need more potential controversy? That's one of the questions Kiper, opinionated as ever, will answer in two days of draft coverage. And once Phillips is selected - it will be early - Kiper says the intrigue turns to new Miami coach Jimmy Johnson, who ``is going to do something. During his time in Dallas, he was the master'' of draft day.
``Do you take Phillips?'' Kiper wondered aloud this week. ``It's a great year for running backs. You could trade down and still get Eddie George, Tim Biakabutuka, Leeland McElroy or even Karim Abdul-Jabbar.''
It's why people watch, Kiper said. ESPN will have reporters at eight clubs' headquarters as well as studio setups in New York and Bristol. ``It's a huge challenge, being live 17 hours from 10 cities,'' Gaudelli said. ``We're a lot better at it than we used to be. The main thing is making sure we're not surprised about anything.''
GREEN FLAG: Martinsville Speedway is getting a track-record $550,000 for telecast rights to Sunday's Goody's 500 (1 p.m., ESPN), and this Winston Cup stop is somewhat different for both the track and the cable network.
The Martinsville spring race rarely has been televised live, as it will be Sunday. Now that ESPN has a second network, ESPN2, the NFL Draft switches channel locations at race time. ESPN also likes visiting Martinsville, because the .526-mile oval is the shortest track on the Winston Cup circuit.
``It's typically a track where NASCAR allows us some experimentation with what we can do around the cars [for audio and video],'' said ESPN racing publicist Dave Nagle. ``Because of the slower speeds, we can do some things that won't get [in] the way aerodynamically as they would at other tracks.''
So, look for some different camera angles during the Goody's telecast. One thing that likely won't be different is the burgeoning audience. ESPN's Winston Cup show ratings are up 14 percent in 1996 from a comparable date last year, up 26 percent from the end of last year, and up 53 percent since the end of the 1994 season.
NEW SEASON: The NBA playoffs open Thursday night, and hoopheads will have plenty of opportunity for using their remote controls. Turner Sports will have overlapping doubleheaders on TNT and TBS during the eight first-round series. Among Turner's cable dates and Saturday doubleheaders and Sunday tripleheaders on NBC, viewers will have access to 20 games in the first five days of the playoffs.
TNT will televise at least 30 playoffs games, with TBS having up to 10. NBC has primarily weekend coverage up to the NBA Finals, which will air in prime time. NBC, depending on the length of series, will air a minimum of 22 and a maximum of 35 playoff games. The first-round air times on TNT and TBS won't conflict to enhance viewers' opportunity to switch between games.
TOUR TIME: WSLS (Channel 10), which has ``Spirit of Virginia'' title sponsorship and a riders' bonus check riding on the Roanoke-ending Stage 5 of the Tour DuPont on May 5, begins its comprehensive coverage of America's premier cycling event today with a half-hour special at 9 a.m. The show re-airs next Saturday at noon.
News anchor John Carlin, a cycling aficionado, hosts the show, which WSLS produced for Tour organizer Medalist Sports, as well as the station. The WSLS special will air on about a dozen stations with Tour stops. Channel 10 also produced a Carlin-hosted one-hour show, ``The Tour DuPont, from A to Z.'' It is airing on some area cable systems' access and message channels during the next two weeks.
``It's kind of a coup for us to get production of the preview show,'' Carlin said. ``We're really pleased we were able to get that.''
WSLS sports reporter Justin Ditmore will spend almost two weeks on the road with the Tour, beginning with an April 30 preview during WSLS newscasts on the race's eve from Wilmington, Del. The Tour ends May 12 in Marietta, Ga. Channel 10 also will have live coverage of Stages 5-6, the latter from Salem to Blacksburg on May 6. More on those shows in future weeks.
AROUND THE DIAL: ESPN has another of its Emmy-winning series, ``Outside the Lines'' on Monday at 7:30 p.m. The one-hour ``Sports Inc.'' examines how athletes are turning their on-field success into financial security. A prime example is Arnold Palmer, who earned $14 million in 1995, although he hasn't won a golf title in years. ... ``Soul of the Game,'' a Home Box Office Pictures film that plays seven times on HBO in the next month, is worth a look. The film, previewed on the cover of Spectator in today's edition of this newspaper, deals with the Negro Leagues and the breaking of baseball's color barrier by Jackie Robinson. The film debuts tonight at 8 on HBO. ... Nielsen ratings for last weekend's two Masters golf shows on CBS were up 2 percent, but the final-round crash of Greg Norman didn't draw a large audience. The Sunday rating was down 6 percent from 1995.
LENGTH: Long : 105 linesby CNB