Rashad stays in game with new show

With the start of basketball season comes a weekly program on NBA TV called “Tuesday Night With Ahmad,” and while the show is new, its host and executive producer, Ahmad Rashad, is no stranger to the pro basketball world.

For more than 23 years, Rashad’s infectious charm has endeared him to viewers, whether he’s reporting from courtside or serving as studio host at the Olympic Games.

Last week, “Tuesday Night With Ahmad” premiered before the season-opening tipoff in Miami between the defending champion Heat and the Chicago Bulls. Rashad, speaking by telephone from Florida, said he hopes both the half-hour pre-game show and a halftime segment will evolve into a more spontaneous format.

“There will be game wrap-ups, features, interviews with players, anything that’s going on with the league,” Rashad said. “We may even let players come on and talk about their games from the night before.”

His first show’s guest list included Commissioner David Stern, Charles Barkley, Dwyane Wade and Ben Wallace. This week he welcomed NBA executive Stu Jackson and Golden State guard Baron Davis.

“Tuesday Night” will originate most weeks from NBA TV’s headquarters in Secaucus, N.J., but Rashad said, “We’ll take the show on the road during the playoffs or if there is an important game.”

Because he has been involved mostly with the NBA, Rashad’s football stardom gets overlooked, especially his time at Oregon where he was a two-time All-American in 1970-71, when he was known as Bobby Moore.

As the Ducks prepared for Saturday’s Pacific 10 game against USC at the Coliseum, Rashad recalled his Oregon team’s collegiate encounters with the Trojans.

“It was always a thrill to play SC,” he said, “because SC was always the big giant. They had the big shoulder pads and red uniforms and you wanted to prove yourself. I think I got 160 yards against them.

“Oregon wasn’t a football school,” he recalled. “It was a place that allowed an all-around growth process. This was during the Vietnam War and if there was a protest at 3 p.m. and football practice was at 3 p.m., the coach [Jerry Frei] let the players go to the protest.”

Still, with a staff of assistants that included John Robinson, George Seifert, Bruce Snyder and Dick Enright, Oregon had a high-scoring, pro-style offense. Dan Fouts was the quarterback, Russ Francis played tight end and Rashad alternated from tailback to flanker to split-end.

“It was a Marshall Faulk-type position,” he said.

According to the Oregon football media guide, Rashad rushed for 168 yards against USC in 1970 and 145 in 1971. Oregon won both games.

Rashad, who changed his name after converting to Islam, went on to have an All-Pro career in the NFL.

On a recent European promotional trip for NBA TV, Rashad was on a street in Paris when someone shouted, “Go Ducks!”

“I get that all the time” from Oregon fans, he says. “I’m still a big Duck!”

In boxing, there is a one-two combination to tonight’s Evander Holyfield-Fres Oquendo fight in San Antonio. The bout will be available by pay-per-view on both FSN in HD, and on msn.foxsports.com.

The Internet portion will be streamed live and repeated on Saturday.

Sunday’s MLS Cup final between the Houston Dynamo and New England Revolution will be televised by ABC at 12:30 p.m. Dave O’Brien will call the match, with Eric Wynalda and Bruce Arena serving as analysts. Brandi Chastain will be the sideline reporter.

Also on Sunday, ESPN2 will offer delayed coverage of qualifying and eliminations of the NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series Championship at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, starting at 4 p.m.

Radio sports talk show host Gary Miller has been let go by KSPN 710, according to a source. Beginning today with Suzy Shuster, guest hosts will fill Miller’s spot on the 1-4 p.m. show in which he was a co-host with D’Marco Farr, the source said. And the show will be known simply as the “D’Marco Farr Show.”

Larry Stewart contributed to this report.

john.scheibe@latimes.com