Holtz Can Get His Irish Up On Cbs

Former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz will get a chance to second-guess his successor on national television as a full-time studio analyst for CBS Sports.

CBS announced Tuesday that it will televise two Notre Dame road games during Bob Davie’s first season as head coach. Davie had been an assistant at Notre Dame, where Holtz coached for 11 seasons before retiring.

The network also said it was expanding its coverage by one game to 25 games over 13 weekends, and adding a new half-hour pregame show, “College Football Today.”

Holtz, who made his debut with CBS during last season’s bowl games, will work with Jim Nantz, who will be the host of the pregame, halftime and postgame shows. Former NFL running back Craig James will also work as a studio analyst.

The former coach will get a chance to critique his old team when Notre Dame plays at Pittsburgh on Oct. 11 and at LSU on Nov. 15. NBC has exclusive rights to Notre Dame home games.

Last year, Nantz was lead broadcaster on games. The lead broadcasting team this year is expected to be Sean McDonough and Terry Donahue, who worked with Nantz in 1996.

Coverage begins Sept. 13 with regional coverage featuring Arizona State at Miami, South Carolina at Georgia and Illinois at Louisville.

On Sept. 20, a national doubleheader will feature Fiesta Bowl champion Penn State at Louisville, then Tennessee and quarterback Peyton Manning at national champion Florida.

Miami will be on at least three more times during the season. The Hurricanes travel to Boston College on Oct. 18 for the first part of a national doubleheader. An SEC matchup with Florida at Auburn will follow.

Other key games include LSU at Alabama on Nov. 8 and Florida State at Florida on Nov. 22.

CBS’ bowl coverage will include the Sun Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and the national championship Orange Bowl on Friday, Jan. 2, at 8 p.m.

Baseball gets boost

Interleague baseball, which boosted attendance 35 percent, was also a hit on television.

The Nielsen ratings released Tuesday showed an increase of more than 19 percent compared with the same week last year. The ratings were for the period of June 12-18 when interleague play began. Cable ratings rose 16 percent for the same period.

Former Redskin joins Fox

Trevor Matich, who became more noted for his long quotes than his long snaps as a member of the Washington Redskins, announced his retirement Tuesday to become an analyst for the Fox television network.

“I haven’t slept for three weeks worrying about it,” the 35-year-old long snapper said. “But I’m looking at maybe one more year with the Redskins versus the rest of my professional life.”

A first-round draft pick by the Patriots in 1985, Matich started only 22 games as an offensive lineman during his 12 seasons with New England, Detroit, Indianapolis, the Jets and Washington.

He didn’t try long snapping until his season with the Jets in 1990, and he became one of the few in the league who could perform the function without looking between his legs at the punter or kicker.

But Matich was more known by fans for his well-honed ability to turn a phrase, which made him a favorite locker room staple for reporters and a frequent guest on local radio and television shows.

Two years ago, when Gus Frerotte became the team’s starting quarterback, it was Matich who proclaimed it “the age of Forrest Gump,” before quickly pointing out that “of course, Gus has an IQ higher than Forrest Gump.”

Although he had off-season surgery on his shoulder and elbow, Matich said injuries played no part in his decision. His retirement leaves the Redskins without anyone on the roster with NFL long-snapping experience.