A Raider Reunion You’d Hate to Miss

CBS dispatched feature reporter Marcus Allen to Nashville this week to interview Tennessee Titan quarterback Steve McNair for Sunday’s “The NFL Today.”

Here’s an idea for next week, provided the Oakland Raiders get past the Miami Dolphins: Have Allen interview Al Davis.

“I wouldn’t have a problem with that,” Allen said from his hotel room in Nashville.

Talk about viewer interest.

Allen and Davis had one of the weirdest, most-publicized feuds in the history of sports. No owner had ever shown so much hatred toward one of his star players as Davis did toward Allen when he was with the Raiders.

It went on for nearly seven years and came to a head on a Monday night in December 1992, when Allen, in a taped interview with ABC’s Al Michaels, said Davis was out to get him and ruin the latter part of his career. Allen said he didn’t know why.

Speculation was that the feud worsened because of Allen’s four-week holdout during training camp in 1992. A couple of untimely fumbles before that didn’t help things either. Whatever, Allen wanted out, and after that season was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Allen and Davis haven’t talked since.

Allen said he has tried a couple of times through intermediaries, namely Davis’ lieutenant, Al LoCasale, and Raider public relations man Mike Taylor.

“I’m willing to put things in the past,” Allen said. “I’m so far past whatever that feud was all about. In the whole scope of things--I have had friends and former teammates who have died--it’s really inconsequential.”

NO RAIDER HATER

Allen says he has no animosity toward the Raiders, although he wouldn’t say that he is rooting for them to go to the Super Bowl.

“I don’t root for teams, I root for players,” he said. “I have a number of friends on the Raiders I root for.”

He named Tim Brown, Rich Gannon and Tyrone Wheatley. Those three were the subjects of a midseason feature he did for “The NFL Today.”

Allen said would never unjustly criticize the Raiders or Davis on the air.

“I would never use the platform I have with CBS in a negative manner to serve my own purpose,” he said. “I’m not that type of person. I’m the type of person who believes in diplomacy. I think, if anything, I bend over backward to be objective about the Raiders.”

A BUMP IN THE ROAD

Allen, as far back as his days at USC, knew broadcasting was probably in his future. And so did others who knew him. Handsome, glib, bright, a good communicator, the marquee value of a Heisman Trophy winner and an all-pro, Allen had it all.

The day he announced his retirement from football in April 1998, CBS announced it had hired him to be part of “The NFL Today” show.

But broadcasting initially didn’t go all that smoothly.

Teamed with only one veteran, Jim Nantz, plus fellow broadcasting rookies George Seifert and Brent Jones, Allen found himself on a losing team.

Fox’s pregame show that season beat CBS’ in the ratings, 3.7 to 2.7, and NBC the previous season had averaged 3.6 with its pregame show.

After the 1998 season, Seifert went back to coaching, and CBS reshuffled, taking Jones and Allen off the show. Jones has since become one of the network’s best game commentators and Allen has become a top feature reporter.

“I know what to ask and how to ask it,” he said.

Allen, known for his self-confidence, said his plan is to work his way back into the studio.

“I enjoy what I’m doing now, I enjoy going out and interviewing people,” he said. “But I think I’m best suited to be in the studio. There’s also more prestige attached to being in the studio.”

Allen continues to hone his skills, and he has friends in the business who are helping him. One is Channel 2’s Jim Hill, the dean of the Los Angeles sports anchors. Allen remembers watching Hill in San Diego as a kid. Hill was doing TV sports while he was still playing for the San Diego Chargers and Green Bay Packers. He came to Channel 2 in 1977.

“Jim is like a big brother to me,” Allen said. “I don’t want to say he was the one who influenced me to get into broadcasting because that isn’t the case, but Jim has helped me a lot with the technical parts of the business.”

SHORT WAVES

The Orange Bowl got a 17.8 national rating, up slightly from the 17.5 for last year’s Sugar Bowl, which was the the national championship game. But the L.A. rating for the Orange Bowl was only 13.2. . . . ESPN Classic has announced it will reshow the Orange Bowl Wednesday at 6 p.m. as an “Instant Classic.” . . . It appears Chris Myers was right on when he reported Sunday on Fox Sports Net’s “NFL This Morning” that Chief President Carl Peterson was pursuing his longtime friend, Dick Vermeil, to replace Gunther Cunningham as the Chiefs’ coach.

Showtime, which televised 22 fights in 2000, kicks off the new year with a world title fight when unbeaten junior lightweight Joel Casamayor faces Roberto Garcia Saturday at 10 p.m., delayed, from Las Vegas. . . . The Pepsi Softball Classic, featuring such players as Mike Piazza, Ken Griffey Jr. and Eric Karros, will be played Sunday at 1 p.m. at Big League Dreams in Cathedral City and will be shown by NBC on Feb. 17. . . . ESPN2 will televise its fourth “NHL Rules” telecast of the season Monday at 4 p.m. when the Pittsburgh Penguins and Mario Lemieux play the Washington Capitals.

Arnold Palmer will talk about golf’s headlines during 2000 on “Golf Talk Live” on Monday at 5 p.m. on The Golf Channel. It repeats at 8 p.m. . . . Fox Sports Net 2 begins its high school basketball coverage Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. with Fairfax at Westchester. . . . KIEV, which carries Irv Kaze’s award-winning talk show, is now KRLA (870). Those call letters were discarded by what is now KSPN (1110).

IN CLOSING

Another thing wrong with college’s bowl games: They’re too long. The Sugar Bowl lasted 3 hours 58 minutes, the Orange Bowl 3:50, and the average of the ABC bowls was nearly 3:45. The NFL playoff games last weekend averaged 3:03.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

What Los Angeles Is Watching

A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for Dec. 30-Jan. 1.

SATURDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share NFL playoffs: St. Louis at New Orleans 7 15.5 37 NFL playoffs: Indianapolis at Miami 7 11.5 30 Pro basketball: Lakers at Clippers 9 5.5 10 Pro basketball: Philadelphia at Sacramento 4 3.8 8 Snowboarding: U.S. Grand Prix 4 1.6 4 Golf: EMC Skills Challenge 4 1.5 4 College basketball: Women, Illinois-Auburn 2 1.0 3 College basketball: Women, Tennessee-Connecticut 2 0.5 1 College basketball: Women, Purdue-Michigan 2 0.4 1

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Cable Network Rating Share Alamo Bowl: Nebraska-Northwestern ESPN 2.7 5 College basketball: UCLA at Purdue FSN 0.4 1 College basketball: Long Beach State at USC FSN2 0.1 0

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SUNDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share NFL playoffs: Tampa Bay at Philadelphia 11 15.1 32 NFL playoffs: Denver at Baltimore 2 12.6 30 CBS Sports Spectacular: Paralympic Games 2 2.1 5 Golf: EMC Skills Challenge 4 1.6 4

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Cable Network Rating Share Independence Bowl: Texas A&M-Mississippi; State ESPN 3.0 6 Silicon Valley Classic: Fresno State-Air Force FSN2 0.4 1 Hockey: Kings at Detroit FSN 0.4 1

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MONDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share Rose Bowl: Purdue-Washington 7 16.8 32 Fiesta Bowl: Notre Dame-Oregon State 7 13.0 20 Citrus Bowl: Michigan-Auburn 7 6.4 12 Gator Bowl: Clemson-Virginia Tech 4 3.2 6 Cotton Bowl: Tennessee-Kansas State 11 2.1 4

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Cable Network Rating Share Outback Bowl: Ohio State-South Carolina ESPN 0.7 1

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WEEKDAY RATINGS: FRIDAY, Dec. 29: Sun Bowl, UCLA-Wisconsin, Ch. 2, 4.1/13. TUESDAY: Sugar Bowl, Miami-Florida, Ch. 7, 10.8/17. WEDNESDAY: Orange Bowl, Florida State-Oklahoma, Ch. 7, 13.2/21.

Note: Each rating point represents 53,542 L.A. households. Cable ratings reflect the entire market, even though cable is in only 63% of L.A. households.