Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
By SHARON GINN
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 9, 2001
How low can they go?
We're talking of course, about the XFL's ratings -- as well as its, ahem, standards. Proving that NBC and league founder Vince McMahon will do anything to boost ratings that seem to bottom out every week, this week's episode (er, game) is being billed in a news release as the one in which "NBC cameras visit cheerleaders' locker room."
Oh, and the unbeaten Orlando Rage plays the Las Vegas (Everybody Hate Us) Outlaws.
Saturday night's game garnered a paltry 2.4 rating (advertisers were told to expect an average of 4.5) for a Week 5 matchup billed as a showdown between so-called analyst Jesse Ventura and New York Hitmen coach Rusty Tillman. Controversy involving Minnesota's governor didn't work, so now it's time for some old-fashioned, Porky's-style voyeurism.
The news release promises a "sneak peek" inside the Rage cheerleaders' locker room. What we really want is a sneak peek inside the minds of the powers that be at NBC Sports. The network had a two-year commitment, but how long will it be before it announces it's dropping the XFL from its Saturday night schedule for next season?
CLASSIC MADNESS: You can watch live basketball all weekend, sure, but here's a way to guarantee your viewing pleasure. No, it's not the XFL. For nine hours Saturday beginning at noon, ESPN Classic will air some of the greatest NCAA Tournament games, wrapping it up with the 1992 Kentucky-Duke East Region final that many consider the best college game ever. The schedule, in order: Princeton vs. Georgetown (1989 East Region, second round), noon; UCLA vs. Missouri (1995 West Region, second round), 2; N.C. State vs. Houston (1993 title game), 3:30; Connecticut vs. Clemson (1990 East Region semifinal), 5; Kentucky vs. Duke, 7.
WHERE'S ROME?: Loyal Jim Rome fans aren't happy that Rome's nationally syndicated show, which normally airs from noon to 3 on WDAE-AM 620, will be pre-empted most of March because of the station's deal to air Rays spring training games. With WDAE set to air about 15 games on weekdays, Rome will appear live only a handful of times between now and opening day. The show instead is airing at 7 p.m., replacing Dan Patrick's syndicated show.
"I'm getting a ton of calls, but there's nothing I can do," program director Brad James said. "It's only for a month. Sit back and enjoy the ballgame."
The growth of Rome's show may have leveled off; it actually saw a slight decline in listeners in the final quarter of 2000 among males 25-54, WDAE's target audience. Meanwhile, James said the ratings for morning host Chris Thomas (10-noon) and afternoon host Steve Duemig (3-7) rose significantly, with Thomas' show drawing 7.5 percent of the target audience and Duemig's show 6.0. Rome had a 2.9.
NOT EVERYONE LIKES IT: Dan Davis, former Boston College broadcaster who does news reports for Tony Kornheiser on ESPN Radio, on Thursday's show blasted Tampa Bay area sports talk. He said he spent time in Tampa last week and got tired of the "wonderfully creative Johnson jokes."
"They have a collection of juvenile delinquents and major-market castoffs hosting talk shows there," Davis said. Kornheiser's show airs nationally.
FINE TUNING: Worth staying up for: HBO's On the Record with Bob Costas (11 p.m. Wednesdays) has Bobby Knight and McMahon next week. ... ABC begins five straight weeks of NHL coverage at 3 p.m. Saturday with regional action (Detroit-St. Louis). The network also will air the playoffs and Games 3-7 of the Stanley Cup final.
- Staff writer Jim Ross contributed to this report.