Hey, Baltimore: You've got a pretty good football team. Don't nitpick or go looking for holes. Just sit back, relax and enjoy them.
That's the message from ESPN analyst Paul Maguire, who will call Sunday night's Ravens-Jaguars dustup with Mike Patrick and Joe Theismann. Maguire, a former linebacker and punter, has gotten a bit, shall we say, perturbed with those fans and writers who try to pick apart what isn't perfect.
"I get upset with writers and fans who just go around asking, `Well, who have they beaten?' Who have they beaten? This is the National Football League," said Maguire. "Be happy they're successful. People like to tear things apart, but here's a team that's busted their hump to get to this point."
While no one will confuse Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Cincinnati with Super Bowl contenders, they play in the best repository of football talent anywhere. And while the Jaguars are, by Maguire's reckoning, a pretty banged-up team with a makeshift offensive line, they did go 14-2 last season.
"Still, they [the Jaguars] can't run the ball, and they can't stop anyone from running. That plays right into Baltimore's hands," said Maguire. "Look, they [the Ravens] are not a dominant team, but they've got enough weapons and they will surprise some people."
Just a reminder: Local cable subscribers should be able to see ESPN's telecast of Sunday's game on both Channel 2 and ESPN. We say, should, because someone at TCI, the city's cable carrier, mistakenly blocked ESPN's signal during the Ravens-Miami telecast last month, causing more than a little confusion among the football-viewing populace. Channel 2 will air a pre-game show at 8 p.m., with the kickoff on both channels coming at 8:30.
Conversations with Peter
Let's face it: Last night's taped interview between Orioles principal owner Peter Angelos and Steve Melewski of WBAL (1090 AM) was a potential minefield for Melewski.
On the one hand, he had to pursue potentially difficult topics like the re-signing of Mike Mussina and Cal Ripken, the Albert Belle situation, the revamped lineup and so on. On the other, Melewski had to be mindful of Angelos' volatility and how the perception of hostility on his part might impact the station's relationship with the club in the future.
For the most part, Melewski maneuvered the minefield well. While there were some follow-up opportunities that were missed and he seemed at times a little too deferential to Angelos, Melewski was aggressive, particularly on the Mussina front.
Boxing viewers in
As a public service, we're going to let you in on a little inside secret about NASCAR: The racers don't stop when television breaks for a commercial. Indeed, things keep happening around the track while those ads for headache powders and detergent are running and you're in the kitchen making a sandwich.
Well, to make sure you don't miss anything, (and to make sure your eyeballs don't miss the ads), Turner has developed a strategy called "No Brakes Coverage" for Sunday's Winston Cup race from Charlotte, where, during scheduled commercial breaks, a box will appear in a portion of the screen with the race running in it, while the spots run.
"At a time when the television landscape is changing and flipping is rampant, we're looking for innovative ways to deliver not only something for our audience, but does it in a way that helps our sponsors," said Turner Sports President Mark Lazarus. "The bar has got to be raised in getting viewership. This is our first step in doing that."
Turner and its NASCAR partner NBC will deliver the races in that manner, save for local breaks, in preparation for when they take over half of NASCAR's schedule next year. Lazerus said Turner will consider airing the new women's professional soccer league telecasts next spring in a similar fashion.
Sunday's race gets under way at 1:05 p.m. on TBS; that is, after a pre-race show at 12:35. Allen Bestwick will call the race, and will be flanked by Buddy Baker and Dick Berggren doing color.
Venturi's venture
CBS announced yesterday that Ken Venturi will return next year to do six golf telecasts, extending his run of 33 years, the longest tenure as lead analyst in sports television history.
Venturi will work two majors, the Masters and the PGA Championship, and four regular tour events, including the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
Olympic roundup
Local ratings for the Summer Olympics are back, and they don't look particularly good for a city, namely Baltimore, that has aspirations to play host to the Games in 12 years.
The prime-time Olympic telecasts on Channel 11 averaged a 14.1 rating and 24 share of the audience, which won every night, as expected, but was down 29 percent from 1996. That's also to be expected, given the increased competition for viewership from then to now and the fact that the 1996 Games were held in the United States.
