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Broadcasts have somber tone this weekend

By SHARON GINN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 21, 2001

While the games go on, life as usual in the sports world does not. Not even the networks, which have paid exorbitant rights fees to put NFL, college and baseball games on the air, are mustering much enthusiasm.

The CBS Sports communications staff, for example, is in no mood to promote its weekend programming. All but one member of the department lost a friend, or friends, when the World Trade Center collapsed. The one staffer who didn't know any of the missing is married to a doctor who is helping identify those pulled from the wreckage.

At ABC, even the spectacle of Monday Night Football will be reduced to simply a game.

"We always thought Monday Night Football should be more than just a football game -- it should be entertainment," said Mark Mandel, the vice president of media relations for ABC Sports. "But we're absolutely going to pull back from that."

Across the board this weekend, goofy pregame banter will be all but banned, while the Star Spangled Banner will be must-see TV. All four network sports divisions are based in Manhattan, so expect the somber-yet-patriotic tone of their coverage to continue for the foreseeable future.

"We're going day to day," Mandel said. "Week to week."

NFL Films is preparing a 60-second piece on last week's terrorist attacks that will air before all its weekend games. Each game also will begin with a special rendition of America the Beautiful.

CBS on Thursday still planned to broadcast NFL Today from its outdoor studio in midtown Manhattan, but that could change as the network struggles to set the right tone. On the usually lighthearted Fox NFL Sunday, reporter Pam Oliver will look at the Jets' and Giants' efforts to assist the search and rescue efforts in lower Manhattan. Fox's game broadcasts will feature numerous news clips from the past two weeks.

"We're going to focus in on the firemen and police," said Gary Lang, Fox Sports vice president for special projects. The clips will be "more in the tone of moving forward and getting back to normal. Inspirational -- why we love America."

Expect similar messages from college football and NASCAR broadcasts. Saturday's Notre Dame-Michigan State game on NBC will feature both school bands playing Amazing Grace together at halftime.

TAKING A BREAK: Longtime sports anchor Fred Hickman, who left CNN last week, plans to stay in broadcasting but will first spend time with his family. He left the network after it decided to drop Sports Tonight. The show now airs only on the less widely available CNN/SI.

"Things are changing throughout the company, which is not to say that's a bad thing, but it's not the same as it used to be," Hickman said. "I've had a good run and it's time to move on."

FINE TUNING: ESPN's revamped Professional Bowlers Association coverage begins at 8 p.m. Tuesday with the Peoria Open and continues on the next five Tuesday nights. Sunday afternoon coverage begins Nov. 11. ... Mike Nabors, who covered North Florida for Fox Sports Net's Florida Sports Report, now is the Central Florida reporter, replacing Sage Steele. Sue Ann Robak replaced Nabors.

- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.

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