Michaels Right on the Mark With Cosell-Like Comments

I’ve never thought Al Michaels had to take the second chair to anyone, not even Pat Summerall or Dick Enberg, as a pro football play-by-play announcer.

Last Monday night, Michaels was practically Cosellian. I mean that as a compliment.

He told it like it is with Al Davis, which prompted a complaint from the Raiders to ABC and the NFL.

That reminded me of Jack Ramsay’s blunt assessment of the Clippers recently on ESPN, offending General Manager Elgin Baylor.

Tell me, with what are the Raiders and Clippers taking issue?

Neither can claim slander. Truth is a defense.

But I’m not surprised if they’re confused.

If you don’t believe the broadcast media’s role in sports is vague, consider that Keith Jackson will be ABC’s play-by-play announcer for the Rose Bowl between Washington State and Michigan.

Don’t get me wrong. I like Jackson. It’s almost as entertaining to listen to him call a college football game as it is to listen to Roy Firestone imitate him.

I don’t even mind that Jackson is a Washington State alum.

But I have to wonder if there’s a conflict of interest when I read in the New York Times that Jackson is a fund-raiser for Washington State, currently working on a project to transform a cattle barn into an alumni center.

How detached can he be as a journalist?

Jackson provided insight in the Times article when he said announcing games isn’t journalism, that it can’t be considered as such because of the partnership created when networks buy broadcast rights from the people they’re covering.

After much deliberation, I’ve decided to save my outrage for Saddam Hussein.

Besides, I trust Jackson will be objective.

During this season’s Washington State-UCLA game, the only problem he had was in referring to Ryan Leaf as Drew Bledsoe. Not once after a Cougar miscue did Jackson exclaim “Uh-oh” instead of “Fuuuum-ble.”

But even if he is biased, he probably will be balanced by his partner in the booth. Bob Griese is the father of Michigan quarterback Brian Griese.

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The eyes of Texas are on Northwestern Coach Gary Barnett. . . .

But some apparently also wandered over to the UCLA sideline during the 66-3 massacre of the Longhorns. . . .

The Austin American-Statesman lists Bob Toledo as a possible candidate to replace John Mackovic. . . .

Longhorn fans would embrace Toledo because they presume he dislikes Texas A&M; as much as they do. . . .

As you will be reminded almost daily if UCLA meets Texas A&M; in the Cotton Bowl, Toledo took the fall for the Aggies’ 23-20 loss to Notre Dame in that game in 1994. . . .

Coach R.C. Slocum fired Toledo as the Aggies’ offensive coordinator. . . .

The rest of the story, Terry Donahue says, is that Slocum recommended Toledo as UCLA’s offensive coordinator. . . .

Although Toledo recently received a contract extension and substantial raise from UCLA, the American-Statesman believes Texas could lure him to Austin. . . .

“Football at UCLA will never be as big as it could be at Texas,” John Maher writes. . . .

He obviously has been speaking to Bob Trumpy. . . .

Even with stricter alliance guidelines, bowls can’t be trusted to do what’s best for college football. . . .

Kansas State’s 10-1 record is testament to the remarkable turnaround accomplished there by Coach Bill Snyder. . . .

But have Fiesta Bowl officials, who reportedly favor Kansas State over UCLA, noticed that three of the Wildcats’ victims were Northern Illinois, Ohio and Bowling Green? . . .

Nothing against Mike Tirico, but the Skins Game seemed to have more gravity when Vin Scully was in the broadcast tower. . . .

Scully, who turned 70 Saturday, might also have worked his last national radio broadcast from the World Series. . . .

USA Today reported recently that ESPN wants Jon Miller to take over but that Miller said he wouldn’t do it unless Scully was offered the job first. . . .

Nice story. . . .

But ESPN officials say it’s not true. They say nobody has been offered the job. . . .

Track & Field News female athlete of the year: Marion Jones of Thousand Oaks. . . .

I don’t care how old he is, I wouldn’t send a U.S. doubles team into the Davis Cup without John McEnroe.

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While wondering if Jerry Jones has considered firing his general manager, I was thinking: The Cardinals would be NFC East contenders if they had called on Jake Plummer sooner, nobody can say now that the 49ers haven’t played anybody, Buddy Ryan was right about Kevin Gilbride.