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For city cable subscribers, it sure must have been nice to get a look at the Grey Cup Sunday night on ESPN2. The anticipation for a future menu of college basketball, bodybuilding and "Talk2" host Jim Rome insulting guests left and right must be off the charts.Well, keep that enthusiasm in check for a while longer, because it seems that the network won't appear on the city's lineup until perhaps into the new year.Kathy Roberts, marketing manager for city franchise holder United Artists Cable, said the system's plans to add ESPN2 by the end of this month or early December have been slowed.

Here's a short list of things you saw during ESPN2's Grey Cup telecast last night:Shots of a domed stadium, a halftime rock concert, cheerleaders and current players pressed into service as analysts.And here is a list of things you didn't see, or at least not in great supply:Shots of half-naked men wearing face and body paint, announcers in jackets and ties, the on-screen "chalkboard" and wacky mascots.For a different brand of football from what most people on this side of the border are used to, ESPN2, a different kind of all-sports network, gave us a different kind of telecast that was mostly good.

It appears for now that city residents who don't have tickets to Saturday's CFL playoff game between Baltimore and Toronto at Memorial Stadium may have to wait for highlights on the late news to get any televised pictures of the contest.That's because all CFL playoff games, including Saturday's, will air on ESPN2, which is unavailable on the city's cable system, which is operated by United Artists.Josh Krulewitz, an ESPN2 publicist, said the network would be amenable to allowing United Artists to carry the game telecast on a local access channel, but added that as of yet, ESPN2 officials haven't received a call.

Attention, city cable viewers: Your patience may soon be rewarded.United Artists cable subscribers have been without ESPN2 since the channel opened for business last Oct. 1, and sports fans have clamored (OK, asked nicely) for the new outlet."We've received lots of calls. Lots of calls," said Kathy Roberts, marketing manager for United Artists.Roberts said the company is looking into expanding its channel offering, and ESPN2 is "seriously" being considered."I can tell you that it is on my wish list," Roberts said.

July 7Baltimore at Toronto ... 8July 16Calgary at Baltimore ... 7:30July 22Toronto at Saskatchewan* ... 9:30July 29Las Vegas at Toronto* ... 7:30Aug. 3Calgary at Ottawa* ... 7:30Aug. 10Sacramento at Calgary ... 9:30Aug. 18Edmonton at Sacramento* ... 10:30Aug. 25Calgary at Toronto* ... 7Sept. 2B.C. at Sacramento ... 10:30Sept. 9Calgary at Edmonton ... 9:30Sept. 16Las Vegas at Calgary ... 9:30Sept. 20B.C. at Winnipeg ... 8:30Sept. 30Sacramento at Saskatchewan ... 9:30Oct. 7Las Vegas at Baltimore ... 7:30Oct.

If you hadn't heard of Jim Rome and ESPN2 before, chances are you have now.And, despite the hand-wringing out of Bristol, Conn., in the wake of the Rome-Jim Everett confrontation Wednesday night, ESPN headquarters can't be that upset about the fallout from the incident on the "Talk2" interview show.The scene of new Saints quarterback Everett shoving over a table, then knocking Rome to the floor, played all over the country Wednesday night and yesterday. It was the first look most of the nation has had of either Rome or ESPN2.

Three nights a week, ESPN2 hockey announcers take off their jackets and ties and go cool. They talk "puck." They use words like "grunge box" instead of penalty box. They dress casual by design.It isn't Beavis and Butt-Head meet the NHL. But there is no doubt ESPN2's "NHL Fire on Ice" is playing to the same audience."Surveys show the majority of hockey viewers range in age from 18 to 35," said ESPN senior producer for hockey Mark Quenzel. "I was a little surprised by that. But that's the MTV audience.

It seems that CBS isn't the only network that David Letterman has moved to. From the looks of its debut program on Friday, "SportsNight," ESPN2 is loaded with Lettermans.Only anchor Keith Olbermann does a really good version, but he's not the only one who's trying. And those who aren't trying to be Letterman are attempting to be MTV veejays.Thus went much of the first evening of ESPN2, the all-sports channel aimed at Generation X.Though ESPN2 is supposed to attract a mixed 18 to 34 crowd that is more into sports as entertainment than obsession, the opening sequence likely was better appreciated by the regular ESPN crowd.

Here's the early line on ESPN2: wins, losses, no ties.When the new sports cable channel launches tonight at 7:30, don't strain your eyes looking for guys in ties and blazers.Keith Olbermann, anchor of ESPN2's "SportsNight," was quoted in USA Today as saying: "Anybody who wears a jacket and tie will look like a narc."In fact, if you have to strain your eyes to look at the television, you probably aren't in ESPN2's target demographic anyway. ESPN2 is seeking a young audience, men and women 18 to 34, who aren't sports nuts in the same way ESPN's viewers are."

ESPN will be giving its shadow network ESPN2 every chance to succeed when it kicks off Oct. 1, which is a month earlier than previously planned.Keith Olbermann, in the minds of many the chief reason for staying up until midnight to watch "SportsCenter," will be taking over host duties on "SportsNight." The show will be on in prime time (8-11 p.m.) Thursday through Monday, and it's an assignment right up Olbermann's alley."This is the sixth time I have been aboard for the start up of something, and that's always exciting," said the 34-year-old quip-a-minute master of the impromptu remark.