Punch-drunk media notes
Last week, Time magazine ran a story with the headline: "Will the De La Hoya-Mayweather Fight Save Boxing?"
This week, Sports Illustrated came out with its cover piece previewing the bout with the headline: "The Fight To Save Boxing."
Someone, save us from ourselves. Yes, the two magazines are printed by the same company. Maybe all it took was a week for one periodical to convince the other that it needed to remove the question mark.
Perhaps you've caught wind of this bout in Vegas. It's already set a record for live-gate ticket sales ($19 million), and it could be one of the highest grossing fights in history, nearing the $100 million mark (with $25 million to De La Hoya and at least $10 million to Mayweather, depending on the pay-per-view buys) but maybe not reaching the record $112 million that the 2002 Mike Tyson-Lennox Lewis bout drew. HBO expects some one million purchases of the pay-per-view event at $54.95, which would still fall short of the nearly two million buys from the 1997 Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield fight.
To date, the largest fight for De La Hoya in number of buyers (1.4 million) and total gross ($71 million) was his 1999 battle with Felix Trinidad.
Anyway, to follow up our Daily News media column about Harold Lederman, here are more body blows disguised as media notes:
==Internet rumors have spilled into the mainstream media that HBO is ready to drop the crumugenly Larry Merchant soon after Saturday's broadcast of the De La Hoya-Mayweather and replace him with the boistrious Max Kellerman. The 76-year-old Merchant, who has been at HBO for 29 years, has not yet renewed his contract (which expires at the end of June), and talks are still going on, HBO sources say. Merchant is still scheduled to do the May 19 Jermain Taylor-Cory Spinks fight for HBO.
After Merchant, unofficial judge Lederman has the next longest tenure in HBO on-air boxing talent.
Lederman had been juding pro fights since 1967 and knew Ross Greenburg, HBO's executive producer who was then doing the boxing telecasts. Lederman explains how they hooked up:
"One day at home, I was watching a fight, and what the commentators were saying and what i was watching were two different things. The next Monday, I called Ross and said, 'You oughta get a judge on the telecast to say what's going on. Commentators don’t go to seminars on judging, so little things like rule changes or other subtlies may not be known to them.' Ross thought it wasn't a bad idea, and two weeks later, he asked me to come on the telecast for Pinklon Thomas and Trevor Berbick.
"Thomas, at that time, was the WBC heavyweight champion and a 7-to-1 favorite to beat Berbick. Many thought he'd win in a first-round knockout and it'd be over. Little did we know that Berbeck hired Eddie Futch to train him -- just for that fight. Berbeck ended up winning a 12-round decision, and everyone liked what I had to say. I told Eddie later that I owe my whole TV career to him. Berbick, of course, in his first defense lost to Mike Tyson, and that started Tyson's run."
On that first Lederman broadcast, Barry Tompkins did the blow-by-blow, Merchant was the analyst and Sugar Ray Leonard was the guest analyst.
== The final episode of the “De La Hoya/Mayweather 24/7” documentary / preview series which HBO debuted Thursday, will reair today (9:30 a.m., 9:30 p.m.) and Saturday (11:30 a.m.). The four episodes will also reair in sequence tonight at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 10 a.m. leading into the 6 p.m. pay-per-view coverage from the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas.
==While many wonder if De La Hoya-Mayweather will save boxing, maybe the real thing to investigate is whether Ultimate Fighting Championship should be ruled the new kind of pugilism. UFC televised events have outdrawn boxing events by 73 percent so far this year (including the UFC 70 event last month that had 2.8 million viewers versus HBO’s Ricky Hatton- Juan Urango last January that had 1.5 million). Last year, the most watched UFC fight (Tito Ortiz-Ken Shamrock) outdrew boxing’s biggest fight (Winky Wright-Jermain Taylor) by 800,000 viewers.
Read more if you're able to see how many fingers we're holding up ...
==A must read:
The essence of this fake, but in many ways true, story:
"Tonight we've got a veritable Cherry Orchard of highlights to pick from as we Chekhov our top plays," Berman said during Tuesday night's broadcast of SportsCenter in a display of tortured literary puns and obscure references the likes of which viewers have come to dread. "We'll check in on the fading fortunes of Uncle I-Vanya Rodriguez, the tragic circumstances that brought pitcher Dennis Dove-stoyevsky into the big leagues, and find out if the tempestuous relationship between Kurt and Kyle Busch make them the new Brothers NASCAR-amazov, so stay tuned."
ESPN management confirmed that viewers have taken to flooding their offices with thousands of confused phone calls immediately after every broadcast.
==Unfortunately, the NFL Draft was witnessed by some 38 million viewers last weekend, making it the sixth year in a row it has increased eyeballs on the TV screen. ESPN and ESPN2, with Chris Berman at the controls, had 36 million of them (the NFL Network had the other two mil. ESPN reports that last week’s coverage actually was a 6.5 percent ratings drop from the all-time best in 2006. ESPN.com generated some 175 million page views over the two days, up 35 percent from last year. SI.com’s draft coverage was a 125 percent increase from a year ago.
==The Sporting News Radio’s Los Angeles affiliate at 1540/The Ticket officially flipped over to Korean language programming this week – and, perhaps, Arnie Spanier has never sounded better. The 1540 website has also vanished, leaving the only place locally to hear Spanier, Tony Bruno, Dave Smith or the rest of the lineup is on the TSN’s website. How far it's fallen since ... last year?
==ABC says its 12-week series “Saturday Night Football” featuring the top teams in college football has locked in USC at Nebraska (Sept. 15) and Notre Dame at UCLA (Oct. 6), and will also have Tennessee-Cal as the Sept 1 opener. Games from Sept. 29 to Nov. 24 (aside from Notre Dame-UCLA) will be picked on a six- to 12-day advance basis. Last year’s Notre Dame-USC game had a 9.0 rating and 14.6 million viewers, and the Michigan-Ohio State contest did a 13.0 rating and 21 million viewers.
==The Golf Channel, which has the second round of the PGA’s Wachovia Championship today (noon to 3 p.m.) as well as this weekend’s Champions Tour FedEx Kinko’s Classic, has had to shelve its acclaimed AimPoint technology showing viewers how putts will break on a green because it hasn’t been able to convince its network partners that it’s worth investing the time and energy into doing it regularly. The Golf Channel was able to use the graphic that shows how a putt will break from putter to hole, like a yellow first-and-10 line, on the PGA’s Mercedes and Bob Hope Classic in January -- but those were events that it carried exclusively. Since then, the Golf Channel usually does the Thursday-Friday rounds of a PGA event and CBS or NBC takes over for the weekend, meaning the Golf Channel essentially rents the producers, technicians and cameramen for their coverage. A story in the
== For more background on the history of the Kentucky Derby, excluding how to mix your own mint julep, check out this current story on the Smithsonian Magazine's online May edition.
ESPN and ESPN2 have a combined 23 hours of Kentucky Derby programming this week, including today’s Kentucky Oaks (ESPN2, 2 p.m.). ESPN Radio has a live call for the first time with Brent Musburger, Jerry Bailey, Hank Goldberg, Jeannie Edwards and Bob Valvano.
That won't be heard locally since KSPN-AM (710) will be in the Angels-White Sox game. The game from Angels Stadium (12:30 p.m., Channel 11) has Matt Vasgersian and Eric Karros calling the Fox regional telecast that goes to 23 percent of the country. Former Kennedy High star Jon Garland is slated to pitch for the White Sox against John Lackey.
== Frankly, this creeps us out that the NBA has done a deal with a 3D online world known as Second Life, deciding it's beneficial somehow to please the six million "residents" by giving them some access to an "NBA Headquarters." As David Stern announced this thing earlier in the week through a virtual news conference, we were virtually -- no, literally -- confused by the whole concept. For one, people can actually purchase NBA jerseys and merchandise for their computer identity. They can go to a virtual NBA arena to watch a virtual NBA game. OK, the more we get into this, the more stupid is sounds, and we're just going to put it down and back away. You want more info, go to the Second Life website, or find out more on NBA.com.
==Didn't get to hear Thursday's Dan Patrick show on ESPN Radio because the Angels' game on KSPN pre-empted it, but Patrick spent Wednesdays' show heading off rumors that Keith Olbermann had been suspended by the network (again) because he wasn't doing the 11 a.m.-to-noon window with him, having missed a couple of days to devote to his MSNBC "Countdown" show. "He's not on suspension, at least not yet," Patrick said. "I don't know where his priorities are. Maybe he's seeing another radio host like Jim Rome behind my back. Maybe this is his way of getting me jealous."
==The Golf Channel announced plans to launch an eight-episode reality series in July called “Fore Inventors Only,” where those who fancy themselves as forward thinkers in golf technology and gagetry can audition their concepts. Vince Cellini hosts the show that had more than 1,000 people audition for the 120 spots in the contest. Not only will the concepts be field tested, but business models will be taken into consideration in a contest that viewers casts votes in a live final show. The prize is having the product sold at a major golf retailer and having it marketed on the Golf Channel.
Maybe not as appealing as the "Natalie Gulbis Show," especially as we await the May 23 episode when they'll get into her 2007 calendar shoot.
==Of all the self-congratulating Sports Emmy Awards distributed earlier this week in New York, both NBC and ABC claimed Al Michaels as a winner for its network since he won “Outstanding Sports Personality - Play-by-Play.” Since there is no network distinction with the award, ABC/ESPN included him in its list of 10 winners (including ESPN.com) because he did the NBA for ABC last year before leaving the network in a rather uncomfortable deal. NBC, likewise, counted him in its list of nine winners because he did the NFL on its network last fall. Same goes for Cris Collinsworth, named "Outstanding Sports Personality -- Studio Analyst," is counted on both NBC and HBO.
==The NCAA crams all of its winter sports highlights into a program called “CBS Sports Presents Championships of the NCAA” that airs Saturday at 10 a.m., highlighting the titles in fencing, ice hockey, indoor track and field, rifle, skiing, swimming and diving, and wrestling. Including is a story of John and Robert Dohring, junior twins from Occidental College, who finished first and second in the one- and three-meter diving finals at the Division III championships. Seth Davis hosts the show.
==PGATour.com will have a live camera covering more than 35 hours at the par 3 17 th hole at Quail Hollow for online users to view the specialized coverage of the Wachovia Championship. Viewers can interact with Brian Katrek, Bill Kratzert and Jim Huber during the broadcast with e-mails or instant messages.
==ESPN and ESPN2 blasts off its new morning lineup on Monday, including the former "Cold Pizza" crew moving from New York to Bristol, Conn., for something called "First Take" from 7-to-9 a.m.), preceeded by a simulcast of "Mike & Mike in the Morning" radio show (3-to-7 a.m.). Both are on HD. “I apologize in advance to the audience that will now be subjected to Golic in even greater focus," said Mike Greenberg.
==NBA TV will carry the Euroleague Basketball Final Four from Athens, Greece starting with today's semifinals (9 a.m.) through Sunday's finals (11:30 a.m.). Rick Kamla will do play-by-play, while Tim Capstraw will serve as the analyst. CSKA Moscow, with former NBA player Trajan Langdon, will face Unicaja (Spain) in the first matchup. In the second game, Panathinaikos (Greece), with Tony Delk and Mike Batiste, faces Tau Ceramica (Spain).
==For those locked in to the Chicago Rush-Dallas Desperados Arena Football League game on Friday, May 11, need to know now it's been moved to Monday, May 14 at 5:30 p.m. so that ESPN2 can televise it. This is part of a new flex scheduling format that allows ESPN to work with the AFL to ensure the best possible match-ups for the national television audience. In this case, the defending champion Rush (7-1) and Desperados (8-1) are the league's two hottest teams. So the previously scheduled game between the New York Dragons and Philadelphia Soul will no longer be televised on May 14, but ESPN will return to Philadelphia when the Soul plays host the New Orleans VooDoo on May 21. Barring any more flexing.
==And finally, it's already interesting to hear an ESPNEWS anchor curse over a highlight (see this link to Danyelle Sargent, but give it time to download; the payoff is at the end). Or, to see if ESPN SportsCenter anchor Scott Van Pelt didn't drop an S-bomb during this highlight.
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