Super Bowl Host No Bryant Gumbel, and That’s Just Fine

His last name is the same and he also works for a television network, but there are few other similarities between Greg Gumbel and his younger brother, Bryant.

The last thing you would expect from Greg Gumbel would be a harsh memo criticizing colleagues. The Gumbel who works for CBS Sports is never in the middle of any kind of controversy, for that matter.

Greg Gumbel is well-liked among his colleagues.

He says he gets along fine with Bryant, the host of NBC’s “Today” show, but admits that they are not much alike.

“We’re very different,” he said. “For one thing, he invites more controversy than I do. And he’s a lot more introverted than I am. I’m more outgoing and fun-loving.”

Reminded that Bryant, when he was a sportscaster at KNBC in the mid-1970s, was fairly easy-going and fun-loving, Greg said: “He changed when he switched from sports to news. Now he takes everything so seriously.

“Did you see that he had Richard Nixon on ‘Today’? I mean, why? Give me a break.”

Although they may think differently, Greg, who was Bryant’s guest on “Today” on Dec. 31, said he sees and talks with his brother quite often.

“I just got off the phone with him,” Greg said.

They both have homes in New York, and their second homes--Greg’s in Simsbury, Conn., near Hartford, and Bryant’s in Upstate New York--are only about an hour apart.

Their mother, Rhea, and two sisters live in the Chicago area. Once a Sports Illustrated story, in National Enquirer fashion, portrayed Rhea as living in poverty.

“Yeah, they conveniently left out the picture of her in her fur coat,” Greg said.

Greg Gumbel is also different from Brent Musburger, his predecessor on CBS’ “NFL Today.”

Musburger was clearly the star of the show. He wanted it that way.

Gumbel is more of a team player. He would just as soon step back and let others bask in the spotlight.

“I’m the nuts-and-bolts guy,” he said. “It’s my job to keep the show going in the right direction.”

If there is a star, it’s Terry Bradshaw.

“He gets most of the ink,” Gumbel said. “Is it deserved? Absolutely. We’re not in competition.”

But Gumbel, whether he likes it or not, will be thrust into the spotlight Sunday. He is the host of CBS’ 2 1/2-hour “Super Bowl Today,” which begins at 12:30 p.m., PST.

“No question, this is my biggest assignment,” Gumbel said. “I’ve never worked anything of this magnitude, anything that will draw as big an audience.”

The highest-rated sports event of the year is the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl pregame show is usually not too far behind.

These are busy days for Gumbel. He was in Buffalo earlier this week to do a feature on linebacker Carlton Bailey before heading for Minneapolis to prepare for “Super Bowl Today.”

He and John Madden also will serve as the co-hosts of CBS Radio’s pregame show, which begins at 2:45 p.m. For 15 minutes, Gumbel will be switching between TV and radio.

Next weekend, he will be in Ann Arbor, Mich., to work the Michigan-Ohio State basketball game Feb. 2.

Then it’s back to New York for one day before heading for Albertville, France, where he will serve as the co-host of the Winter Olympic morning show with Harry Smith.

Gumbel, who also does the Philadelphia 76ers’ local telecasts, recently was offered the main sportscasting job at KCBS in Los Angeles.

“They just weren’t offering enough to make it worthwhile to pull up stakes,” Gumbel said. “It’s a radically different world out there. The big money just isn’t there.”

But Gumbel has no complaints. The way things are going, the day may come when he is no longer referred to as Bryant Gumbel’s brother.

CBS will fill the 2 1/2-hour pregame show with a little bit of everything. “Super Bowl Today” will open with a music video featuring Prince, who is from Minneapolis.

There will be the predictable pieces--lots of game analysis--and unpredictable ones--Pat O’Brien ice fishing on a nearby lake.

The show will have a definite Winter Olympic flavor, because CBS will be televising next month’s Games from Albertville, France:

--Tim McCarver and Paula Zahn, the prime-time co-hosts for the Games, will file a live report from the international broadcast center in Moutiers, France.

--The 25-minute halftime show, a salute to winter sports, is entitled “Winter Magic.” Singer Gloria Estefan, figure skaters Dorothy Hamill and Brian Boitano, and 1980 Olympic hockey team captain Mike Eruzione will take part.

Recommended viewing: Of all the Super Bowl-related programming on television this weekend, the one show not to miss is NFL Films’ “Road to the Super Bowl” on Channel 2 Saturday at 6 p.m.

Always an outstanding feature, this one may be the best. It is captivating viewing from the opening montage through the divisional championship games.

“This film always presents a unique challenge,” said Steve Sabol, NFL Films’ president. “It’s a lot like the opera--our audience knows the plot. We have to sing it well.”

TV-Radio Notes

Channel 2 will carry a syndicated Super Bowl preview show, with Dan Dierdorf as host, Saturday at 7 p.m., after “Road to the Super Bowl.” . . . At 8 p.m. TNT will show “Super Bowl Saturday Night,” an NFL production, with Burt Reynolds as host. This is an awards/entertainment show, with Paul Tagliabue, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Joe Montana, Warren Moon, Gale Sayers and Franco Harris among the presenters. Guests include Tony Bennett, Huey Lewis and the News, Karyn White, hip-hop group Boyz II Men, rap group Another Bad Creation, country-and-western singer Clint Black and comedian Martin Mull. Jeffrey Osborne will sing a new song, “The Heart of a Hero,” along with 50 NFL players. The lineup, for some reason, includes Jim Everett and Eric Dickerson.

ESPN will have a 90-minute edition of “NFL GameDay” at 9 a.m. Sunday. At 10:30, it will show “Super Bowl Matchup.” . . . At various times throughout the weekend, NFL Films-produced highlights of the previous Super Bowls will be on ESPN. . . . At 3 p.m. Saturday, ESPN will show a replay of NFL Films’ Dream Bowl II, a mythical game between the 1989 San Francisco 49ers and the 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers.

CBS will use 15 cameras to cover the Super Bowl. The most ever used was 22. “We have everything we need,” said producer Bob Stenner of Sherman Oaks. “You can have too many cameras. If you’re working with cameras you don’t usually have, you can work yourself into a trap.” . . . CBS will have two blimp cameras in the Metrodome. But these helium-filled blimps are only 25 feet long and 10 feet wide and are unmanned. The cameras are operated by remote control. The “blimps” will be stationed over the two end zones. . . . An estimated 14 million will listen to Jack Buck and Hank Stram announce the Super Bowl on CBS Radio. At least, that’s how many listened to the broadcast of last year’s Super Bowl. CBS Radio’s Helene Blieberg said the breakdown was 54% listened in their car, 38% in or around their home and 8% elsewhere, such as in the workplace.

ABC’s Mark Mandell said his network will have its own versions of the ‘Skins and Bills this weekend. “There will be lots of Skins and bills in the $450,000 Skins Game,” he said. The golf event, with Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Chi Chi Rodriguez and Lee Trevino will be shown on ABC Saturday at 3:30 p.m. and Sunday at 12:30 p.m. Vin Scully and Mark Rolfing report. . . . Ed Arnold’s half-hour Winter Olympics special, “All for Albertville: California’s Olympic Hopefuls,” will be televised by Channel 5 Monday at 7 p.m. . . . Boxing promoter Dan Goossen, who has a show featuring the Ruelas brothers, Gabriel and Rafael, in separate bouts on the USA network next Thursday, is getting into the pay-per-view business. His first PPV fight will be Ray (Boom Boom) Mancini vs. Greg Haugen in Reno on April 3.

Jim Lampley, dumped by Channel 2 as a news anchorman this week and reportedly being asked to return to sports, said Thursday he’s not sure what he is going to do. “You’ll have to talk to my agent,” he said. Art Kaminsky, his agent, merely said: “We’re in discussions (with Channel 2).” . . . Howard Cosell, 73, who does a daily commentary, “Speaking of Sports,” and a weekly half-hour interview program, “Speaking of Everything,” for ABC Radio, said he will retire at the end of the month. Comparing himself to Walter Cronkite, no less, Cosell said: “Cronkite’s retired, so I guess I can retire, too.”