Cbs Confirms Talks With Donahue
CBS officials have confirmed that there have been conversations with UCLA coach Terry Donahue about becoming a college football commentator next season.
Apparently, the ball is now in Donahue’s court. Those close to Donahue say this is a decision he will anguish over.
CBS would like to have a big name in the booth to mark its return to regular-season college football next season, and Donahue, the winningest football coach in Pacific-10 history, would fit the bill.
A source said there were initially talks between Donahue and CBS a year ago about Donahue working last season’s Sun Bowl. The position was eventually filled by Doug Flutie.
CBS will do Big East and SEC football next season. The 1996 CBS schedule also includes a Notre Dame game - Nov. 2 against Navy in Dublin, Ireland.
Pat Haden was CBS’ lead commentator on college football, but went on to TNT after the network lost the sport in 1990.
Gimme some Skins
In 1983, Don Ohlmeyer went to International Management Group (IMG) and its senior vice president, Barry Frank, with an idea he wanted to pitch to the three major networks. His idea was a Skins Game golf event, in which prize money - or “skins,” a golf term - was up for grabs on each hole. Things have worked out pretty well for Ohlmeyer and Frank. The Skins Game, which will be on ABC Saturday and Sunday, traditionally is one of the top two or three highest-rated golf events on television. The announcers for this weekend’s event at Bighorn Golf Club in Palm Desert, Calif., will be Vin Scully and ABC’s Mark Rolfing. Peter Jacobsen, who has announced past Skins Games, is competing in this one.
Low blow
How low can pay-per-view boxing go? Would you believe Butterbean vs. Peter McNeeley? Don’t laugh. The bout, to be held in February in Las Vegas or the Foxwoods Casino in Ledyard, Conn., has been set and will be announced next Tuesday at a news conference in Los Angeles. Said Top Rank’s Dan Goossen: “We’re expecting at least 200,000 buys, maybe 300,000.”
Unbelievable! Top Rank has a more legitimate pay-per-view event next Friday at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Palm Springs - Gabriel Ruelas vs. Azumah Nelson. But Butterbean is on the undercard. Press row will be filled with announcers, with three teams working the card. It will be Al Bernstein and Dave Bontempo on the U.S. telecast, Rich Marotta and Rick Garcia on the international telecast and Jaime Jarrin and Rafael Ruelas on the Spanish-language telecast.
Around the dial
ESPN, which expanded “NFL GameDay” 15 minutes to begin the season, is expanding it another 15 minutes beginning Dec. 3. It will begin at 8:30 a.m., a half-hour earlier than the Fox pregame show and an hour earlier than NBC’s. … The Heisman Trophy Award winner will be announced on ESPN Dec. 9. … Ken Schanzer, who left NBC two years ago to head up the now defunct Baseball Network, is returning to the network as executive vice president. … Larry Farmer has signed a three-year deal with ESPN, will appear on at least five ABC Pac-10 telecasts, and has been invited back by CBS to work the early rounds of the NCAA tournament.