Madden Envisions Raiders-Vikings II

CBS and Fox gave new meaning to cross-promoting this week.

CBS conducted a conference call with reporters to promote Sunday’s AFC championship game between the Baltimore Ravens and Oakland Raiders, and Fox did the same for its NFC title game between the Minnesota Vikings and the New York Giants.

However, on the CBS call, Phil Simms got questions about the Giants, his former team, and on the Fox call, which featured John Madden and Howie Long, questions about the Raiders dominated.

Simms didn’t have much to say about the Giants--”I know more about the Raiders than I do the Giants”--but Madden didn’t shy away from talking about the team he used to coach. Madden’s Raiders defeated the Vikings in the 1977 Super Bowl at the Rose Bowl.

“I can see it coming,” he said. “I am not good at predicting, so I’m not trying to. The first Super Bowl we won was Super Bowl XI. We played Minnesota. I kind of see that coming again, a Raider-versus- Minnesota Super Bowl.”

Madden is glad to see the Raiders back in Oakland and doing well.

“Oakland needed the Raiders again,” he said. “When they left, it was a big loss and when they came back, it wasn’t the same. It took awhile to get to this position, and this is where they belong--the Raiders belong in games like this.”

SHAQ WILL YAK

Joe McDonnell and Doug Krikorian got Shaquille O’Neal to agree to come into the ESPN Radio studios on

La Cienega and take calls from listeners next Thursday, 4:30-6 p.m., on KSPN (1110).

Wonder if Kobe Bryant will be one of the callers.

Krikorian this week came up with a different theory on why it appears Phil Jackson has lost control of the Lakers.

“He’s in a new love affair with Jeanie Buss,” Krikorian said, “and that’s where his mind is.”

O’Neal will also be featured on “NBA Inside Stuff” on Channel 4 Saturday at 10:30 a.m. He’ll be talking about a music video he did with Aaron Carter, “That’s How I Beat Shaq.” This doesn’t seem a good time for O’Neal to be talking about his music career.

LEVITY FROM LAVIN

When the story broke this week that UCLA Athletic Director Peter Dalis had talked with Rick Pitino, UCLA Coach Steve Lavin told Fox Sports Net “Regional Report” anchor Todd Donoho:

“From a trivia standpoint, I’d be the first coach in school history to begin his career as an interim coach and finish as an interim coach. If Rick is coming at some point in the future, I guess I’m on an interim basis. . . . You have to be able to laugh at the situation, the absurdity and insanity of it, or else you end up in a padded cell and straitjacket.”

TV JOB FOR PITINO?

The day he quit the Celtics, Pitino was quoted in a Boston newspaper as saying he had spoken with CBS Sports President Sean McManus about working the NCAA tournament as a commentator.

McManus was in Pasadena that day to meet with television writers from around the country and said that he’d had a message from Pitino but had not talked with him. McManus, however, said he planned to talk to Pitino, as well as sidelined Utah Coach Rick Majerus, about their interest in working the tournament.

SOME PUBLICITY STUNT

XFL founder Vince McMahon, NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol and XFL broadcast consultant Mike Weisman were in Pasadena on Wednesday to meet with the TV writers.

The day before in the Bay Area, a two-ton blimp with the XFL insignia on it had broken loose, drifted pilotless about three miles over the East Bay for about 45 minutes and crashed into a restaurant in Oakland.

“No, that wasn’t a publicity stunt,” McMahon said. “Fortunately, no one was hurt.”

An XFL spokesman said the blimp was scheduled to fly over the AFC championship game Sunday.

SHARING ANNOUNCERS

Also in Pasadena on Wednesday, NBC announced it was borrowing Jim McKay from ABC for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Ebersol said he had talked earlier with McKay about doing the same thing for the Sydney Olympics, but McKay said no. “It was too darn far away,” McKay said.

Host Bob Costas sees a trend. “For the 2028 Olympics, maybe they’ll bring me back to work with host Matt Vasgersian.”

Vasgersian was in Pasadena later to promote the XFL--he and Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura will call the XFL games for NBC--and said, “How can my name possibly be mentioned with those other two?”

Indeed, the Olympics are a far cry from “Toughman,” which Vasgersian now does for FX.

ESPN’s Dan Patrick also sees a trend. On his radio show, he said, “Hey, maybe I can do the NBA finals with Ahmad Rashad.” Rob Dibble, Patrick’s radio partner, said, “Maybe the Playboy Channel needs me.”

SHORT WAVES

Craig Fertig and Super Dave Osborne will work with play-by-play announcer Geoff Nathanson on XFL broadcasts on KLSX-FM (97.1) when they begin Feb. 4. Certainly, Osborne will be funnier than Dennis Miller. . . . Dick Enberg, who did UCLA games, delayed at 11 p.m., for Channel 5 in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, will be back at Pauley Pavilion working Saturday’s

1 p.m. game with Villanova for CBS with Clark Kellogg. “It’s really not the same,” Enberg said, “because I’ll be down on the floor. I used to do those Channel 5 telecasts from high up in the arena.”

The starters for the NHL All-Star game will be announced Saturday on ABC during halftime of the Virginia-Duke basketball game. ABC will televise the NHL All-Star game Feb. 4. . . . Fox Sports Net 2 will have two attractive high school basketball games Monday and Tuesday, tape-delayed at 7:30 p.m. Monday it is Dominguez against Clovis West. Dominguez is led by 7-foot Tyson Chandler. The Tuesday telecast has Inglewood facing Redondo, which is led by UCLA-bound shooting guard Dijon Thompson. Both games will be played Monday as part of a tournament at Loyola Marymount.

IN CLOSING

NBC, in covering the XFL, will have microphones everywhere. There will be a four-second delay for someone to hit the bleep button. Who will that person be? “Maybe we’ll hire Howard Stern’s censor,” Weisman said.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

What Los Angeles Is Watching

A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for Jan. 6-7:

SATURDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share NFL playoffs: Miami at Oakland 2 16.6 39 NFL playoffs: New Orleans at Minnesota 11 13.0 33 Golf: Match Play Championship 7 1.1 2

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Cable Network Rating Share College basketball: Washington State at UCLA FSN 0.4 1 Hockey: Calgary at Kings FSN 0.4 1 College basketball: Washington at USC FSN2 0.1 0

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SUNDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share NFL playoffs: Philadelphia at N.Y. Giants 11 16.7 35 NFL playoffs: Baltimore at Tennessee 2 14.8 35 Pro basketball: Clippers at Lakers 9 3.2 5 Golf: Match Play Championship 7 1.1 2

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Cable Network Rating Share Pro basketball: Clippers at Lakers FSN 2.4 14 Hockey: Colorado at Detroit ESPN 0.6 1 College basketball: Women, USC at Washington FSN2 0.2 0 College basketball: Women, UConn at La. Tech ESPN2 0.2 0 Horse racing: Santa Anita Live FSN2 0.2 0 Horse racing: San Pasqual Handicap FSN 0.1 0

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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.