Rosanne’s Goodman Takes To New Stage

For two years, comedian Dennis Miller brought his own brand of ill will and animosity to the ESPY Awards on ESPN. On Monday, John Goodman brings “the smell of fear.”

A standup kind of guy but never really a standup comic, Goodman replaces the rancorous Miller as host of the annual sports awards show. Goodman readily admits he’s more comfortable with a script, whether it’s for a movie or for his co-starring role on “Roseanne.”

“We’ve all known it,” Goodman said of stage fright that grips skit players when they’re asked to wing it. “You’re going to see buckets of flop sweat. I’m a little nervous about doing a comedy monologue, but live and learn.

“I have no idea why they chose me. Because I have a tuxedo and I don’t have to rent one, I guess.”

It sure wasn’t his sports background.

“I was on a football team in high school that managed to win one game over a four-year period,” said Goodman, who grew up in St. Louis. “I’m very proud of that achievement. I was a defensive tackle and offensive guard, and I rode a lot of bench.”

He has, however, remained a lifelong sports fan.

“I’d love to meet Barry Bonds and Steve Young,” he said. “I have a tendency to turn into a babbling idiot when I’m around sports figures. I mean, more of a babbling idiot than usual. It’s always an honor to meet movie stars, but I’m in awe of sports stars, I guess, because they do something I can’t do.”

Marvelous Marv’s debut

NBC will be televising its fifth NBA All-Star Game Sunday. Surprisingly, it will be announcer Marv Albert’s first.

“Originally, it was set up to where we’d switch off. I would do the championship series the first year, and Bob Costas would do the All-Star game,” Albert said. “So, the first year I was supposed to do the All-Star Game, my mother passed away the week before. In subsequent years, we were supposed to switch, but I remained with the championship games, and Dick Enberg did the All-Star game. Now, Dick’s doing golf, and I’m doing both.”

Albert has called three All-Star games on radio. He’ll work at courtside with Matt Goukas and Steve Jones.

Also working his first All-Star weekend, while still playing in the game, will be Charles Barkley of the Phoenix Suns. Barkley will analyze the slam dunk and 3-point shooting contests tonight for TNT.

Right now, TV is just a hobby.

“My original goal was to go into politics after I retire,” Barkley said. “This TV thing might be something … well, I really don’t want to work that hard. And you can steal more money as a politician.”

Albert sees his point.

“I think that kind of parallels the philosophies of Matt Goukas and Steve Jones,” Albert said.

CBS’ “Eye On Sports” will present a 2-hour Lillehammer retrospective tonight, featuring clips from the most memorable Winter Olympic events last February.

Among the features will be a guided tour of what announcer Verne Lundquist calls “the bizarre real-life movie” of Tonya Harding, the stunning downhill triumph of American Tommy Moe, Charles Kuralt’s chronologically backward trip through the career of speed skater Bonnie Blair, and the glorious end of Dan Jansen’s 10-year hunt for gold.