Who’s On First? Abc-TV
It’s too late to change their TV plans, but Al Michaels and Bob Costas might have solved the problem of who pays for dinner. Since ABC and NBC are splitting the World Series, maybe they should split the checks, too.
Tonight at 4 from Atlanta, ABC begins this unique partnership when Michaels, Tim McCarver and Jim Palmer work Game 1. With Costas, Bob Uecker and Joe Morgan in the booth, NBC has Games 2 and 3. ABC then takes over for Games 4 and 5, NBC for 6 and ABC for 7, if needed.
Think it’s a headache for viewers? What about Michaels and Costas?
“What I’m going to do, what I plan to do, is go out to the ballpark as if I was doing the game, go to the batting cage, to the dugout, but then go back to the hotel and watch,” Costas said.
He might also want to consider what he’s going to do for dinner.
On NBC’s telecast of the final game of the American League playoffs Tuesday night, Costas commiserated with his ABC counterparts, who had to fly to Seattle for a Game 7 that was never played. Then he joked that he might get Michaels to spring for dinner.
The two crews had dinner together, but Costas paid.”We were only allowed a limited number of items on the menu, and when Bob picked up the check, he put it right back down,” Uecker said.That’s because McCarver had ordered a $100 bottle of wine.”I remember when Tim just ordered wine by the color,” Uecker said.
This scheduling mess is a result of the baseball strike and the two networks’ decision last June to dissolve The Baseball Network, and its un-popular playoff regionalization system, after only two of its six seasons.
“Our philosophy has always been that this is a tapestry, only we’re not weaving the entire tapestry this time,” Michaels said. “The other crew is tremendously professional and they’re friends of ours. We’ll be very in tune with the story lines they deal with because when we come back for the fourth and fifth games, we have to know where they’ve been or where they didn’t have time to go.”
Costas said he hoped to learn from watching the Michaels crew.
“They’re all very good, and I hope they’ll watch us, too,” Costas said. “From my standpoint, I’m maybe more concerned, and Al is more concerned, than the analysts, because they’re analyzing the play they’re seeing in front of them at the moment. I have to be careful not to repeat a historical fact or something like that.”
The networks are sharing 17 cameras and 13 tape machines, two of the “Super Slo-Mo” variety.
Karl Ravech will anchor ESPN’s “SportsCenter” from Atlanta this weekend and next, and Chris Berman will take over during the three games in Cleveland. Peter Gammons and Dave Campbell also will be on duty.