Esiason’s Game Plan Is Simple as ABC

The St. Louis Rams were a 200-to-1 underdog to win the Super Bowl at the beginning of the season, and some people didn’t even know who the Tennessee Titans were. This isn’t the matchup ABC would have picked, but it doesn’t matter.

It’s the Super Bowl.

It also doesn’t matter if Boomer Esiason isn’t your favorite commentator or that you think a four-hour pregame show is too long.

It’s the Super Bowl, and ABC expects it to be the highest-rated television show of the year.

Esiason, who played in a Super Bowl and is now broadcasting one, said, “Because of the pure nature of a Super Bowl and the excitement that it brings and the aura of the game itself, certainly butterflies are going to be flying for everybody in that stadium.”

Esiason, finishing his second season with ABC and his first working solo with Al Michaels, is approaching the assignment much as he did as a player in 1989 when his Cincinnati Bengals lost to the San Francisco 49ers, 20-16.

“Sam Wyche, our coach at the time, did a great job of basically keeping us all within the realm of what we were doing,” he said. “He said, ‘Enjoy the week, enjoy the hoopla, enjoy the excitement, the adulation. But remember once you step inside the lines, ultimately it is just a football game.’

“My approach this time is, be prepared, know your stuff, go into the game knowing the answers to the test before you get there. That way I will feel comfortable.

“Al does a great job of framing stories. . . . If we continue to build this relationship the way it has gone the last seven or eight weeks, I expect nothing but a really terrific performance from our booth.”

At midseason, the relationship between Michaels and Esiason was strained. Michaels didn’t like Esiason reminding him he never played the game, and Esiason had complaints about Michaels too.

Michaels had been spoiled. Working with Dan Dierdorf and Frank Gifford was easy. Both are laid-back, easygoing guys. Esiason is more headstrong.

But now Michaels has mostly good things to say about working with Esiason. And he hopes ABC stays with a two-man booth.

ABC, however, may go to a third announcer, with Bill Parcells, Jimmy Johnson and Mike Ditka the leading candidates.

Esiason, who has one year left on his contract, is expected back.

BROADCASTING YOUNGSTER

The star of the pregame show could be broadcasting rookie Steve Young, whom ABC hired as a postseason analyst. Young, who worked the ABC wild-card games three weeks ago, is glib, bright, a good communicator and has a sense of humor. But Young, who hasn’t decided if he will retire as a player, is not looking ahead to a broadcasting career.

“I look at this as a one-shot thing,” he said. “When Flip [ABC executive producer John Filippelli] called me, I was in an unusual situation, not playing in the playoffs.

“I always said if I wasn’t going to play in the playoffs, there are two things I want to do: I want to play in the AT&T; golf tournament and I’d be interested in doing some pregame analysis to see what it is like.”

Young says approaching the game as a broadcaster is different from approaching it as a player.

“As a player, you want everything to be the same as it is during the season,” he said. “I remember in 1995 [when Young and the 49ers beat San Diego, 49-26], we had roommates all season and then we didn’t for the Super Bowl [in Miami]. I didn’t like that, so I spent the night before the game in the same room as [teammate and roommate] Brent Jones.”

Jones, an analyst for CBS, said: “It was the darndest thing. I come back to my hotel room and see these security guys. I thought someone had broken into my room. But they were moving my bed down to Steve’s room. They said, ‘Steve Young asked us to do this.’ ”

PREGAME LINEUP

The ABC pregame show begins at 11 a.m. Features include Super Bowl recipes with chef Emeril Lagasse, a “Tale of Two Cities” segment on the teams’ moves from Los Angeles and Houston, and magician David Blaine doing tricks with players.

Young, fittingly, will do a piece on concussions; there will be a Walter Payton tribute; Robin Roberts has a feature on Fritz Pollard, the first black NFL quarterback and coach who played for and coached the Akron Pros in the 1920s, and Chris Berman will offer his top-10 Super Bowl moments. Berman will also interview Phil Collins, who will perform at halftime.

There will be player profiles, Charles Gibson will interview Dick Vermeil and Jeff Fisher, and there will be a “feel-good” feature on Dan and Claire Marino adopting a 2-year-old girl from China. Filippelli said he wants a “feel-good” show that brings out positive emotions.

So don’t expect anything on owners Georgia Frontiere or Bud Adams or Ram linebacker Leonard Little, who was involved in a fatal drunk-driving accident. Or any lines like this one from Jay Leno, on the NFL Experience theme park: “I guess you can kick a field goal, you can catch a pass, even ride in the back of a squad car just like a real NFL player.”

SHORT WAVES

The radio announcers for the Super Bowl will be Howard David and Matt Millen. David may be the best football play-by-play announcer in the business. . . . Recommended viewing: NFL Films’ “Road to the Super Bowl” Saturday at 5 p.m. on Channel 7. . . . It’s Super Bowl weekend, but there are plenty of other sports. Showtime--not pay per view--has the Mike Tyson-Julius Francis fight from Manchester, England, Saturday at 10 p.m.--delayed on the West Coast. CBS opens its 50th year of golf with the Phoenix Open--the AT&T; at Pebble Beach is the next weekend. ABC has the Senior Skins Game from Mauna Lani, Hawaii, with Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Gary Player--the same foursome that competed in the first Skins Game in 1983. NBC has NBA doubleheaders Saturday and Sunday, including the Lakers at Houston on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. . . . The Lakers’ Rick Fox and his brother Aaron will be featured in a segment on “NBA Inside Stuff” Saturday at 10:30 a.m. on Channel 4. . . . ABC has promoted media relations director Mark Mandel to vice president, and NBC has hired Kevin Sullivan, formerly of the Dallas Mavericks, as its vice president of communications. Sullivan replaces Ed Markey, now with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

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What Los Angeles Is Watching

A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for Jan. 22-23.

SATURDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share Pro basketball: Portland at Lakers 4 9.7 18 Pro basketball: Utah at Sacramento 4 4.4 11 Golf: Bob Hope Chrysler Classic 7 2.9 8 Skiing: Jonny Moseley Invitational 4 2.3 7 Skiing: Ford Downhill Series 4 2.0 6 College basketball: Duke at Wake Forest 2 1.5 5 College basketball: Stanford at California 7 1.4 3 College basketball: Connecticut at Georgetown 2 1.2 4 Hockey: Mighty Ducks at San Jose 9 1.0 2 College basketball: Ohio State at St. John’s 2 0.5 1

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Cable Network Rating Share Boxing: Sugar Shane Mosley vs. Willy Wise HBO 1.5 3 College football: Hula Bowl ESPN 1.4 4 Golf: Senior Mastercard Championship ESPN 1.0 2 College football: Senior Bowl TBS 0.7 2 Tennis: Australian Open ESPN2 0.5 1 College basketball: Arizona State at UCLA FSN2 0.3 1 Hockey: Boston at Florida ESPN2 0.3 1 College basketball: Arizona at USC FSN 0.3 0 College basketball: Women, USC at Arizona FSN 0.2 1 Hockey: Ice Dogs at Kansas City FSN2 0.2 0

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SUNDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share Pro football: Tampa Bay at St. Louis 11 25.9 50 Pro football: Tennessee at Jacksonville 2 22.2 50 Golf: Bob Hope Chrysler Classic 7 2.2 5

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Cable Network Rating Share Boxing: Lawrence Clay-Bey vs. Robert Daniels FSN 0.6 1 Hockey: Philadelphia at Pittsburgh ESPN 0.5 1 Horse racing: Santa Anita Today FSN2 0.4 1 Hockey: Colorado at Kings FSN 0.4 1 Golf: Senior Mastercard Championship ESPN 0.2 0

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WEEKDAY RATINGS: MONDAY--Pro basketball, Lakers at Utah, Ch. 9, 6.6/11, TBS, 1.4/2.

Note: Each rating point represents 51,350 L.A. households. Cable ratings reflect the entire market, even though cable is in only 63% of L.A. households.