Is Coach K Feeling OK Now? Yes He Is

One place Mike Krzyzewski never figured he would be the first weekend in April was at the Final Four in Seattle.

Since temporarily stepping down as Duke’s coach on Jan. 22, Krzyzewski hadn’t even left Durham, N.C., where he lives, until two weeks ago, when he went by car to Williamsburg, Va., a three-hour ride.

He went there to watch the second of his three daughters, Lindy, a senior in high school, win a national cheerleading competition.

He not only survived the drive without experiencing any severe pain relating to his surgery for a bulging disk in his lower back, but was able to sit for most of 10 hours of competition.

After that, he sought his doctor’s approval to fly to Seattle and got it.

Saturday, he will work alongside Pat O’Brien and Quinn Buckner on CBS’ pregame show, which begins at 2 p.m. He will also be a part of Monday’s 5 p.m. pregame show, which follows a half-hour Channel 2 special.

CBS had called after the regular season to see if Krzyzewski would be interested in television work.

Krzyzewski initially said no, that he couldn’t interrupt his daily therapy.

The trip to Williamsburg changed his mind.

“I’m as excited about going to this Final Four as I am when I’m taking my teams to a Final Four,” he said on the phone from Durham. “I feel great, and it’ll be great to be back and be a part of college basketball again.”

He said that until recently, the pain in his left leg was even worse than in his lower back, causing him sleepless nights at home. Being sleepless in Seattle wasn’t his idea of a good time.

But if he’s sleepless now, it’ll be from excitement, not pain.

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Missing out: Roy Hamilton was a freshman guard when UCLA went to the Final Four in 1976 and lost to Indiana in the semifinals. As a starter, he helped the Bruins make it to the West Regional semifinal in 1978 (losing to Arkansas) and the regional final in ’79 (losing to DePaul).

Hamilton is now one of CBS’ top sports producers. He headed the crew that included George Raveling as the commentator during the first two rounds of the tournament and was in Oakland last week to produce a feature on the Bruins’ Tyus Edney.

He has worked every Final Four for CBS in one capacity or another since 1983.

So what happens this year? He has been assigned to produce coverage of Sunday’s McDonald’s All-American high school game in St. Louis.

“My heart will be in Seattle,” Hamilton said.

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This will be the fifth Final Four for the announcing team of Jim Nantz and Billy Packer. Nantz was elevated to the No. 1 play-by-play role when Brent Musburger was fired at the 1990 Final Four. Musburger worked the 1990 championship game in Denver the day after he was fired.

Of UCLA Coach Jim Harrick, Nantz said, “I think he is now vindicated, whether he wins the championship or not. He’s been to the tournament seven times in seven years.

“I see no reason why people would be back on Jim Harrick’s back if he doesn’t win it all.”

Nantz obviously doesn’t know UCLA fans.

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Party crasher: Guess who’s coming to CBS’ Final Four party? It’s Michael Jordan, who has been more prominent on NBC these days.

Doritos bought time for a 15-minute Jordan special between Saturday’s semifinals long before his comeback.

Jordan’s first game back got a 10.9 rating on NBC, the NBA’s sixth-highest regular-season rating ever, and his 55-point effort Tuesday night in New York got a 5.1 rating on TNT, a record for Turner Broadcasting.

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TV-Radio Notes

Recommended viewing: “Hardwood Dreams,” an excellent one-hour documentary about the ups and downs of Inglewood Morningside High’s 1992-93 basketball team, then the defending state champion, will be televised by Fox on Sunday at 7 p.m. It’s similar to “Hoop Dreams,” but producers Michael Tollin and Brian Robbins say they were unaware of that project when they made their film. . . . “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel” makes its debut on HBO Sunday at 10 p.m. The show includes three outstanding segments, one by Sonja Steptoe on the baseball strike, another by Jim Lampley on Dennis Rodman and a third by Frank Deford on the Masters and the rigid, conservative way it is run.

Fox’s hockey coverage begins Sunday, and the regional telecast in this area is San Jose at the Mighty Ducks at 3 p.m. The announcers will be Kenny Albert, son of Marv, and Gary Green, former coach of the Washington Capitals who is now a commentator in Canada. Dave Maloney, former New York Ranger defenseman, is the studio analyst, and James Brown is the studio host.

George Raveling, after a successful stint with CBS, is now serving as Prime Sports’ studio analyst for its “Press Box” shows for the Final Four. . . . Prime Sports will feature Dave Taylor on its Kings’ pregame show Monday night at 7. Taylor is having his jersey retired that night. Problem is, the Taylor ceremony is going up against the NCAA championship game. . . . The USA network’s early-round Masters coverage, which begins Thursday, has been expanded from two to 2 1/2 hours each day, running from 1-3:30 p.m. . . . Bud Greenspan’s “Lillehammer ‘94: 16 Days of Glory,” has been nominated for five Emmy awards. . . . The excellent show on baseball broadcasting, “Voices of the Game,” first shown Christmas Day, will be repeated by ESPN next Thursday at 6 p.m.

Boxing beat: Tonight’s four-fight pay-per-view card at The Pond of Anaheim, featuring Humberto (Chiquita) Gonzalez against Jesus Zuniga, is a good one. . . . Showtime offers a two-fight card from Jean, Nev., Saturday, delayed, at 10:15 p.m. Virgil Hill fights Crawford Ashley, and Ricardo Lopez takes on Andy Tabanas.

XTRA broke ground this week in Rosarito Beach in Baja California for the construction of seven new towers, which will increase the station’s power to 77,000 watts, most of any AM station in North America. Said Lee Hamilton: “Instead of opening my show by saying from Baja to the Canadian Rockies, I can say from Antarctica to the Arctic Circle.”

NBC has signed John McEnroe to a multiyear deal to continue serving as a commentator on Wimbledon and the French Open. . . . Ann Liguori, on her interview show on the Golf Channel, asked Pete Sampras, “Would you watch golf over tennis on TV?” Said Sampras: “Absolutely. I prefer watching golf and NBA basketball.”