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Aikman lands job in Fox's booth

By SHARON GINN

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 13, 2001

Fox officials spent months waiting for the right person to come along for their No. 2 analyst spot. They found him this week when he retired after being cut from the Dallas Cowboys.

Troy Aikman will become Fox's newest analyst next week, replacing Matt Millen, now president of the Detroit Lions. A "major announcement" is scheduled for Monday. Aikman will be teamed with announcer Dick Stockton.

But there's a catch. Mindful of Boomer Esiason's struggles when he was hired for Monday Night Football, Fox Sports president Ed Goren will add a third person to the booth to help the broadcasting rookie. Aikman's former teammate Daryl Johnston, now on the No. 3 team at CBS, is expected to join Aikman and Stockton.

Johnston still has a negotiating period to fulfill with CBS, but Fox is likely to offer more money. And while the folks at ABC would love to have the option to change its MNF lineups late in the season to get better matchups, there was no real chance of that this season. News reports last week said NFL owners recently discussed allowing MNF to take the best matchups for the season's final two weeks. Some reports suggested the schedule was being delayed to help make that happen.

The delay had to do with MNF: Officials at the NFL's three networks were told it was because the Philadelphia Phillies were balking at changing their schedule to allow the Eagles to play at Veterans Stadium on a Monday in September.

PAPA IN THE BOX: Jim Rome and his wife, Janet, had a baby boy, Jake, last week. Janet's labor prompted Rome to leave the air in the middle of his April 2 radio show; he is expected to return Monday. His annual "Smack Off," traditionally held on Good Friday, has been postponed and is tentatively scheduled for May 4. Rome also has taken a break from his Fox Sports Net show, The Last Word, which will debut a new set when Rome returns Monday.

COMINGS, GOINGS: Ch. 10's new sports director, John Nugent, started with the station Monday. Before arriving in Tampa, Nugent was sports director at WYOU-TV in Scranton, Pa., for more than 14 years.

Sage Steele, the former Ch. 28 sportscaster hired last year to cover central Florida for Fox Sports Net and its new Regional Sports Report, has left to play a larger role at Comcast Sports Net in Washington, D.C. She will be an anchor and reporter.

RATINGS: After days of glitches at Nielsen, CBS finally got its ratings for Sunday's final round of the Masters. Tiger Woods' victory earned the network a 13.3 rating and 30 share, an increase of 33 percent from last season. That's the second-best Masters rating ever, behind only Woods' record-setting final round in 1997 (14.1). And though NBC has taken well-deserved flak lately for its sinking XFL ratings, ABC isn't faring any better with its Saturday afternoon regional hockey coverage. Last Saturday's average rating, in the final weekend of the regular season, was a 1.3 in the 49 metered markets. One ratings point equals about 1.022-million homes.

FINE TUNING: HBO's Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel features an interview with Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip and his brother, Fox analyst Darrell. The April edition features much talk about Dale Earnhardt and premieres Monday at 10 p.m. ... Dick Vitale, who signed a contract to remain with ESPN and ABC Sports through the 2005-06 season, picks Duke to repeat as NCAA champion next season. He has Florida at No. 2. ... Fox Sports Net's Beyond the Glory profiles Bill Buckner on Sunday at 8 p.m. ... Sunshine begins its weekly Tampa Bay Storm Report on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

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