All the President’s Men Worth Viewing

Footballed out?

The Presidents Cup from the Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia may be just the thing. It’s real golf competition, not a made-for-TV event.

It’s a Down Under version of the Ryder Cup. In the Ryder Cup a nine-man U.S. team plays a European team. In this one, it’s a U.S. team, captained by Jack Nicklaus, facing a team from non-European countries, captained by Peter Thomson.

This is the third Presidents Cup and the first outside the U.S. The U.S. won the first two in 1994 and ’96. Both were held at Lake Manassas, Va.

Tiger Woods, Mark O’Meara, Fred Couples, Phil Mickelson and David Duval head this year’s U.S. team. Among the opponents are Greg Norman, Steve Elkington and Craig Parry of Australia, Ernie Els of South Africa, Nick Price of Zimbabwe and Vijay Singh of Fiji.

It’s a CBS production, although the first round, played Thursday (Friday in Australia) was carried live by ESPN. The first half of the second round will be on ESPN today at 1 p.m.

Eight hours of delayed weekend coverage on CBS begins at 10 a.m. Saturday with the second half of the second round, and at 1 p.m. The final round will be played Sunday, 12 singles matches.

Also, highlights will be on ESPN2 on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. and on ESPN at 10:30 p.m.

The 19-hour time difference and the unusual format make things a bit confusing.

The first two rounds include foursomes play, in which the two-man teams play alternate shots, and four-ball, or better-ball, in which the two-man teams use the best score.

With Jim Nantz staying in New York to host “NFL Today,” Bill Macatee will be CBS’ main main in Australia, supported by Ken Venturi, Gary McCord and the rest of the CBS golf crew.

“I hear it’s pretty cold back in L.A.,” Macatee said by phone on Thursday. “Well, it’s supposed to get up to 110 here. But it’s beautiful here and the players really like the course.”

RECOMMENDED VIEWING

Something else a little different this weekend: E! Entertainment offers a two-hour hard look at stunt motorcyclist Evel Knievel Sunday at 8 p.m. It’s an in-depth, balanced, well-produced and fascinating show.

Complex people with mixtures of ego and insecurity that push them to the brink of sanity make interesting topics, and Bobby “Evel” Knievel of Butte, Mont., fits that description.

Knievel was given the name “Evil” by the police in Butte. He later changed the spelling.

Dozens of candid interviews amid some incredible footage are included in the show. Among those interviewed are daughter Tracey Knievel McCloud, son Robbie, former wife Linda, brother Nic, former publicist Shelly Saltman, whom Knievel hammered with a baseball bat, and Evel himself.

Says McCloud, “He didn’t separate that character when he came home--he lived Evel Knievel.”

Says Linda, “He had no respect for me because I let him run all over me.”

These days, Knievel is suffering from hepatitis C as the result of a transfusion during hip-replacement surgery and is in need of a liver transplant.

Knievel says he would live his life all over again the same way, but Robbie, also a stunt rider, says his father recently confided in him that he would do things different.

SHORT WAVES

Steve Mason will soon leave KXTA (1150) for WNEW in New York, along with producer Eric Ehnstrom. Station management is unsure what it will do with the morning show, although John Ireland figures to remain at the station in some capacity. Ireland, who also works for Channel 9, did a nice job filling in on UCLA basketball play-by-play for Chris Roberts last Saturday with Darrick Martin. . . . Look for Steve Edwards and Eric Tracy to get a tryout at KXTA. . . . Is it KXTA, XTRA Sports 1150, or AM 1150? For now, we’re calling it KXTA.

Sean Salisbury, who works for ESPN and XTRA (690) and flies back and forth from San Diego to Bristol, Conn., will get a second week trying out for Chris Myers’ old spot on “Up Close” next week, taping the shows in Los Angeles. Salisbury has also been hired by ESPN radio as a weekend host. “I haven’t figured out exactly when I’m going to sleep,” Salisbury said. . . . Others in the hunt for the “Up Close” job are Mark Schwarz, Andrea Kremer, Jimmy Roberts and Gary Miller. A permanent host will be chosen in January.

Myers opened strong on Fox Sports News Wednesday with an interview with Karl Malone. Nice to hear someone other than Vic “The Brick” Jacobs talk with Malone. Thursday night, Myers interviewed Randall Cunningham. If he continues to do well, Fox may start spelling his name correctly in newspaper ads. . . . Recommended listening for those in eastern L.A. County is the “Morning Muscle Crew,” with K.J. Sala and David Achord on Rancho Cucamonga’s KMSL (1510). Today, about 8:20 a.m., their guests will be Glenn and Trevor Hoffman.

Keith Olbermann is scheduled to start on Fox Sports News Jan. 5. . . . CNN/Sports Illustrated, the 24-hour sports news network, celebrates its second anniversary Saturday. DirecTV recently began carrying the service on Channel 205. . . . Archie Moore will be featured in a segment on ESPN2’s boxing show today at 5 p.m. and there will be a 2 1/2-hour retrospective on the ESPN Classic network tonight at 6 and Sunday at 9 a.m. . . . Among the segments on “NBA Inside Stuff” on Channel 4 Saturday at 10:30 a.m. will be one on a tour Bill Sharman and some other NBA legends are doing to honor America’s military.

IN CLOSING

ABC’s “Monday Night Football” at Tampa, Fla., had Boomer Esiason in the booth, Chris “Boomer” Berman doing the halftime show and pitcher David “Boomer” Wells being interviewed on the sideline. What next, Al “Boomer” Michaels?

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What Los Angeles Is Watching

A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for Dec. 5-6, including sports on cable networks: SATURDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating College football: Tennessee vs. Mississippi State 7 7.9 College football: Texas A&M; vs. Kansas State 7 5.8 College football: Army vs. Navy 2 3.2 Golf: Office Depot Father-Son Challenge 4 1.9 College football: Air Force vs. Brigham Young 7 1.5 College basketball: Oklahoma State vs. UCLA 9 1.5 College basketball: Michigan State vs. Connecticut 2 1.3 Boxing: Carlos Gerena vs. Manual Chavez 34 1.2 College basketball: Kansas vs. Pepperdine 9 1.1

Over-the-air Share College football: Tennessee vs. Mississippi State 15 College football: Texas A&M; vs. Kansas State 16 College football: Army vs. Navy 9 Golf: Office Depot Father-Son Challenge 5 College football: Air Force vs. Brigham Young 4 College basketball: Oklahoma State vs. UCLA 3 College basketball: Michigan State vs. Connecticut 4 Boxing: Carlos Gerena vs. Manual Chavez 4 College basketball: Kansas vs. Pepperdine 3

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Cable Network Rating Share College football: UCLA at Miami ESPN 7.7 22 Golf: PGA-LPGA JCPenney Classic ESPN 3.3 10 Hockey: Detroit at Kings FSW 1.0 2 College basketball: Temple at Indiana ESPN 0.8 2 Boxing: Nana Yaw Konadu vs. Johnny Tapia HBO 0.7 2 College basketball: North Carolina State at Duke ESPN 0.6 1 Prep football: Los Alamitos vs. Mater Dei FSW2 0.6 1 Golf: Sun City Million Dollar Classic FSW 0.5 2 College basketball: Rhode Island at California FSW 0.2 0 College basketball: Arkansas at Oklahoma ESPN 0.1 0

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SUNDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share Pro football: Kansas City at Denver 2 14.9 35 Pro football: San Francisco at Carolina 11 8.3 21 Pro football: New England at Pittsburgh 2 6.4 16 Figure skating: World Team Challenge 11 2.3 6 College football: Bowl selection show 7 1.3 3 Hockey: Mighty Ducks at San Jose 9 1.2 2 College basketball: Stanford vs. Maryland 7 1.1 3

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Cable Network Rating Share Pro football: Chicago at Minnesota ESPN 6.2 11 Auto racing: NASCAR Winter Heat Southwest Tour TNN 0.8 2 Baseball: Tour of Japan, MLB All-Stars vs. Japan FSW 0.4 1 College soccer: Women, Florida-North Carolina ESPN 0.3 1 College basketball: Women, Washington-Illinois ESPN2 0.3 1 Rodeo: National finals at Las Vegas ESPN2 0.3 0 College basketball: Women, Duke-Tennessee ESPN 0.2 1

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WEEKDAY RATINGS: Monday--Pro football: Green Bay at Tampa Bay, Ch. 7, 15.7, 25.

Note: Each rating point represents 50,092 L.A. households. Cable ratings reflect the entire market, even though cable is in only 63% of L.A. households.