Place an Ad Calendars Classified Forums Sports Weather

sptimes.com Text-only News sections Arts & Entertainment AP The Wire Business Citrus County Columnists Floridian Hernando County Hillsborough Letters Movies Neighborhood Times News Update North Pinellas North of Tampa Obituaries Opinion Pasco County South Pinellas Sports State Tampa Bay TV Times World & Nation  Find your local news section Weekly sections Brandon Times City Times Homes Outdoors Perspective Personal Tech Taste Travel Weekend Xpress Special Sections Arena football Buccaneers College football Devil Rays Lightning Police reports Schools Seniority Subscriber Services Subscribe Renew Help Advertise Place an ad In print Online Market Info Join Us Internships Scholarships Times Jobs Contact us

NBA gives ESPN chance at innovation

ESPN president George Bodenheimer calls it his 23-year-old network's "signature moment."

Lofty praise for getting the NBA on its air, considering the declining interest in the sport and ratings. Since registering a 5.0 national rating in 1994-95 and 1995-96, the NBA has watched that slip every year to an all-time low of 2.9 last season. And the NBA Finals is an even uglier picture -- since an 18.7 rating in 1998 for Michael Jordan's last title, the championship has averaged 6.8-million fewer viewers a season.

But give ESPN/ESPN2/ABC credit. It is not deterred, covering 90 games this season plus the playoffs. It can now boast having all four major sports. And instead of going the safe route and bringing over NBC's experienced announcing team, ESPN is bring new faces to the coverage.

Marv Albert (now on TNT) is out -- Brad Nessler, who has never called an NBA game but is super on college games, is in.

Ahmad Rashad, Peter Vescey and Jim Gray are out -- Tim Hardaway, Sean Elliott, David Aldridge, Michele Tafoya and Sal Masekela are in.

Bob Costas is out -- Stuart Scott and Kevin Frazier are in.

ESPN is putting its touch on coverage with music, graphics it says are as cutting edge as its magazine design, and new technologies. A "Free Flight" camera will hover over the court, moving in three directions, like the Sky Cam on NFL broadcasts on ESPN. An "Above the Rim" camera promises more detailed super slo-mo on dunks. And by Jan. 1, ESPN hopes to debut a "Floor Cam," which will look up at the players from a lens imbedded in the playing surface.

Will it make the NBA worth watching? Probably, for a while. After that, all ESPN can hope for is the action on the floor to match the efforts of the network.

Picks to click

1. The ESPN College Gameday crew will be in Tallahassee for Florida State's meeting with Notre Dame. The first Gameday road trip was in 1993 -- to Indiana for FSU-Notre Dame. After Gameday, hop over to Channel 28 at noon for potentially the week's best football game.

2. If it goes that far, the World Series finale on Fox Sunday night is a must-see. Though on pace to be the lowest-rated Series, it has been entertaining and there are few things better than a Game 7.

3. With the Bucs-Panthers game (with Dick Stockton, Troy Aikman and Cris Collinsworth) promising to be a snoozer, find a local sports bar or tune in to DirectTV to watch Dallas' Emmitt Smith try to break the NFL's all-time rushing record against Seattle. A nice touch by Fox to use Pat Summerall, whose signature voice called so many of Emmitt's great performances in the mid to late 90s. Hopefully he'll remember his name if he does break the record.

4. Viewers think Max Kellerman is either a highly informed, strongly opinionated, entertaining host, or an arrogant know-it-all. If you think he's the former, catch his show -- Around the Horn -- debuting Monday and airing every day at 5 p.m. Kellerman, ESPN2's Friday Night Fights studio analyst, will play moderator as four columnists debate issues.

5. On HBO's Real Sports Tuesday, former NFL defensive lineman Esera Tuaolo reveals that he's gay, a secret he kept during his playing days out of fear for his safety.

Sterling Sharpe, an ESPN analyst and former teammate of Tuaolo's in Green Bay, confirms that was probably a good idea. According to a transcript of the show, Sharpe says Tuaolo "would have been eaten alive" and "would have been hated for it" had he admitted to being gay during his playing career.

In an interview with HBO correspondent Bernard Goldberg, Sharpe adds, "Had he come out on a Monday, with Wednesday, Thursday, Friday practices, he'd have never gotten to the other team."

Goldberg: "His own guys would cheap-shot him?"

Sharpe: "He would have never gotten to the game on Sunday."

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright