No Way NBC Can Ignore Albert Story

Marv Albert is scheduled to begin announcing NFL football for NBC with Randy Cross when the season opens Aug. 31.

Albert has been charged with sodomy and assault against a Virginia woman and as evidence mounts that he is guilty of, at the very least, conduct unbecoming a public figure, NBC simply can’t bury its head and wait for this mess to go away.

Face-saving action is needed, and soon. Albert has embarrassed NBC, there is little question about that.

The story is getting tremendous media attention. On CNN the other night, it was the focal point of consecutive shows, “Burden of Proof” and “Larry King Live.”

Albert, meanwhile, has been careful not to say much. He has simply and categorically denied “all charges,” without claiming he wasn’t with the woman in question on the night in question.

Over the years, Albert has been one of our favorite network sportscasters, both on and off the air. He has

always been pleasant and easy to talk to. He also is a talented sportscaster who is popular with his colleagues. And in these days of corporate coldness, loyalty to a longtime employee is admirable.

But for Dick Ebersol, the president of NBC Sports, to pretend it is business as usual is a mistake.

Maybe accusations by the woman that she was bitten on her back as many as 15 times and forcibly sodomized by Albert don’t require action by NBC.

Maybe the DNA evidence, by itself, isn’t enough, either.

Maybe for Albert to have his name in the little black book of slain dominatrix, Mistress Hilda, doesn’t require action, either, even though Hilda was known to service clients who paid $150 an hour to be whipped and tortured.

But it all adds up to one ugly mess. A suspension, with pay, would not seem to be out of line until the law has taken its course.

THE FIGHT HAS JUST BEGUN

If Century Communication executives think things are bad now, they haven’t seen anything yet. Fox Sports West, in what has become known as the “Battle of the Century,” is encouraging angry Century subscribers to complain to the company about not getting Fox Sports West 2 and thus missing Dodger telecasts.

Well, when college football starts, it is going to get worse. UCLA and USC fans in Century Cable areas who enjoy the replays won’t get them because they will be on Fox Sports West 2. Also, on Oct. 4, when UCLA plays host to Houston and USC plays host to Nevada Las Vegas, those games will be shown live, only on Fox Sports West 2. UCLA fans may be the most outraged because Century serves the communities surrounding their school.

Tonight, Fox Sports West 2 will go on the air from Dodger Stadium at 6:30 to cover the retiring of Tom Lasorda’s jersey. That’s something else Century subscribers won’t get to see.

RECOMMENDED VIEWING

How about a film about the making of a film? That’s what the producers of the “National Geographic Explorer” show have done. A National Geographic crew followed around the NFL Films crew that shot this year’s Super Bowl at the Superdome in New Orleans. The result is an excellent one-hour segment that will be shown on Sunday’s two-hour TBS show, which begins at 4 p.m. The segment also provides a good history of NFL Films, which was formed after Ed Sabol bid $3,000 to film the 1962 NFL championship game.

Steve Sabol, Ed’s son and the president of NFL Films, said, “Every year we’re approached by people from “EXTRA” to E! to VH1 to CBS to do this type of feature on us. But I’ve always turned them down because the Super Bowl is so important and chaotic enough without have another couple of crews there.

“National Geographic was the only crew we would tolerate. They were so good at what they did it didn’t affect anything we did.”

SHORT WAVES

ESPN made a number of announcements and changes Thursday, all of which take effect Aug. 31. The network named Kenny Mayne, who has mainly been ESPN2’s auto racing host, to replace Keith Olbermann as Dan Patrick’s permanent partner on the main edition of “SportsCenter” and named Stuart Scott and Rick Eisen as permanent co-hosts of the 11 p.m. edition. Also, the Sunday night edition of “SportsCenter” will be expanded to 1 1/2 hours, from 8-9:30 p.m., and a new Saturday 7:30 a.m. edition of “SportsCenter” will make its debut. . . . Olbermann plans to call his new show at MSNBC, set to debut Sept. 29, “The Big Show With Keith Olbermann.” Since that’s what the edition of “SportsCenter” that Olbermann and Patrick hosted became known as, ESPN is objecting. But Olbermann says what’s the big deal? A lot of programs are called “The Big Show.” Good point. One is the popular morning show with John Ireland and Steve Mason on XTRA 690, XTRA 1150 and Fox Sports West 2.

Good news for PGA viewers: Leader John Daly tees off today at 8:55 a.m. and TBS comes on the air 10 minutes later. Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and Justin Leonard tee off at 10:07, meaning TBS should get in all of that threesome’s round. . . . The new daytime syndicated show Fred Roggin is going to do with Arthel Neville will make its debut on Channel 4 on Sept. 8 at 10 a.m. Roggin will continue his duties as sports anchor for Channel 4 as well. Neville helped launch “EXTRA” and had her own show, “Extreme Close Up,” on E! . . . CNN’s “NFL Preview” makes its seasonal debut Sunday at 8 a.m. with host Vince Cellini, newcomer Bob Golic and retired NFL coach Ron Meyer.

The Nashville Network (TNN) on Sunday begins showing new episodes of “NASCAR Garage” with Leslie Gudel and Chris McClure. The show airs every Sunday at 8:30 a.m. and again at 8 p.m. that evening. . . . Rookie studio analyst Rob Dibble has been dropped by “Fox Sports News.” . . . Promotions: Fox Sports West has elevated Gary Garcia to vice president of production, Jeff Proctor to executive producer and Mark Shah to coordinating producer. Also, Jack Randall has been named local sales manager and Nancy Caldwell, former executive assistant at the company, has returned as an account executive.

XTRA 1150 has named former Arkansas and San Diego Charger linebacker Billy Ray Smith as its UCLA commentator. Former Bruins Matt Stevens and Mike Martinez will also be involved in the coverage. . . . Mitch Huberman, head of marketing and broadcasting for the Clippers the last 11 years, has left to take a position with the Kings as vice president of new business development. He will oversee the team’s downtown arena project.

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What Los Angeles Is Watching A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for sports programs Aug. 9-10.

SATURDAY

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Event Ch. Rating Share Baseball: Chicago White Sox at Seattle 11 4.0 11 Track & Field: World Championships 4 3.5 9 WNBA Basketball: Sparks at Houston 4 3.2 10 Wide World: Boxing, Phillips-Ward 7 2.9 9 MLS Soccer: Galaxy at D.C. United 5 2.7 7 Golf: PGA Buick Open 2 2.2 7 Harness Racing: Hambletonian 2 1.9 5 Golf: USGA Walker Cup 4 1.4 4

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SUNDAY

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Event Ch. Rating Share Track & Field: World Championships 4 5.7 15 Baseball: Dodgers at Cincinnati 5 4.7 12 Golf: PGA Buick Open 2 3.7 10 Tennis: Acura Classic final 2 2.9 7 Auto Racing: CART Miller 200 7 2.0 6 Golf: USGA Walker Cup 4 1.4 4 Auto Racing: IROC at Brooklyn, Mich. 7 1.2 4

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Note: Each rating point represents 49,424 L.A. households.