In the topsy-turvy world of network television, you just never know where your next great idea or hire is going to come from. At Fox, for instance, the best addition to its football crew, pre-game show analyst Cris Collinsworth, came straight from the head of one of its chief competitors.
When NBC was forced to fold up its NFL shop, Collinsworth, the mainstay of its pre-game show, was wavering between coming to CBS for its New York-based, AFC-centered show or going to Fox's NFC-oriented program, which originates from Los Angeles, and told his agent he thought he would go to CBS.
However, Collinsworth, a former Pro Bowl receiver with Cincinnati, said NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol advised him to take the offer from Fox.
"He [Ebersol] said, 'If you have a chance to go to Fox, go. [Fox executive producer Ed] Goren and [president David] Hill are the smartest, most visionary guys out there. It's a great show. Don't even think about it.' Once I heard that, I took the offer. Ebersol's the guy who put me over the top," said Collinsworth.
Though Fox's show has been accused of being over the top by a number of writers (this one included), Collinsworth, the 1997 Sports Emmy winner as best studio analyst, has provided a sensible center to the show, which features Howie Long and Terry Bradshaw, even if he sits on the far right of the set.
"Fox has a very definite attitude and approach, and I like it. I mean, how much real new information are we really going to lay on you at that point?" said Collinsworth. "We just say we'll give you a little information and we'll entertain you. That's a pretty rare attitude in the industry in terms of what I'm used to."
The Fox show has been the ratings leader for some time now, so those wily network guys must know a heck of a lot more than us dopey critics, eh?
By the way, Collinsworth will sit down Sunday (Ch. 45, noon) with former Giants general manager (and Baltimore native) George Young, who heads the NFL's on-field operations, to chat about officiating and the return of instant replay.
Having a Blast
It's been quite a while since anyone around here has been able to say they saw a Blast game on television, but the latest incarnation of the indoor soccer team returns to the airwaves tonight on Home Team Sports, when the team plays host to the Cleveland Crunch.
