This Kind of Censorship Doesn’t Fly

Dennis Miller, on his HBO show the other night, told his fans that whenever he says “golly” on “Monday Night Football,” it’s code for a nasty word, one he can get away with saying on HBO.

Another nasty word raised its ugly head in sports broadcasting this week, and this one doesn’t need a code. The word is “censorship.”

The Atlanta Braves, owned by Time Warner, told their announcers, who work for Time Warner-owned TBS, they were no longer welcome on team charter flights. They missed one to Montreal on Monday before the team wisely called off the ban.

The ban was issued after TBS had pointed out how the Braves might have been cheating. On Saturday’s telecast, it was shown how the Braves sometimes increase the size of the catcher’s box, allowing catchers to line up wide of the plate in hopes of widening the strike zone.

Making announcers take commercial flights instead of team charters isn’t exactly severe punishment, but the point is, the Braves were out of line.

And credit another Time Warner employee, CNN-SI’s Vince Cellini, for having the guts to rip them.

“I gotta get a timeout,” he said on Tuesday’s “Sports Tonight” show. “I mean, kicking the Braves’ announcers off Monday’s chartered flight is beyond absurd. I never thought the acerbic Skip Caray could ever be a sympathetic figure, but Braves’ President Stan Kasten made it happen.

“Hey, Stan, in case you didn’t notice, a trip to Shea Stadium is on tap for Thursday--you know, John Rocker joins the ‘Fight Club.’ The last thing the Braves needed was another public relations gaffe--but old Stan served one up. . . . How petty, how small.”

Another case of censorship occurred in the WNBA, of all places.

The Washington Post reported that, before the Sparks played the Washington Mystics on ESPN Tuesday night at Washington, ESPN was told by the Mystics that the network would not be allowed to interview Chamique Holdsclaw if there were questions about her feud with Coach Nancy Darsch.

Holdsclaw, after being benched for missing a defensive assignment, said the Mystics will never be a great team with Darsch. Holdsclaw told ESPN she had been instructed not to speak on the subject, which of course drew more attention to it than if Holdsclaw had been allowed to do the interview.

MOVE OVER, RUSH

If in its search for new talent for “Monday Night Football,” ABC was looking for a Rush Limbaugh-type, an outspoken conservative not overly concerned about political correctness, the network might have missed the boat. Fred Dryer fits the bill.

Dryer, the former New York Giant and Los Angeles Ram all-pro defensive end who gave up a promising football commentating career with CBS to pursue a successful acting career in the early 1980s, was incredibly outspoken as an in-studio guest of Joe McDonnell and Doug Krikorian on KABC (790) Sunday night.

The topic was violence in sports, and Dryer went in several directions.

He defended Rocker, saying he agrees with what the relief pitcher had told Sports Illustrated about the people who ride the No. 7 train in New York.

“The problem was, Rocker didn’t articulate what he had to say very well, and he should have stood up and answered the media’s questions afterward,” Dryer said.

He blamed leniency by police and the actions of special interest groups for the decaying of society.

“Race relations are worse now than they’ve ever been,” he said.

He called Jesse Jackson “a racist who never misses a photo op.”

Although a nonsmoker, he said it shouldn’t be illegal to smoke in restaurants and bars.

A strong advocate of the death penalty, he said looters who do not obey police should be shot.

A week ago, Jim Rome dared one of the vandals from the Staples Center incident to call in, and one called KXTA (1150) later in the day and essentially said, “What’s the big deal? They let us stand out there and no one got arrested.”

Rome, along with everyone else, has been slamming the vandals, and Laker Executive Vice President Jerry West, one of Rome’s guests Thursday, said, “They’re not Laker fans, they’re criminals.”

SHORT WAVES

Another of Rome’s guests Thursday was Jason Sehorn, the New York Giant cornerback from USC. He was in studio to promote the MET-Rx celebrity charity softball game he is co-hosting Saturday at USC’s Dedeaux Field at 1 p.m. Among the many celebrities will be Chris Myers, Pat O’Brien and Sehorn’s fiance, actress Angie Harmon of “Law and Order.” Sehorn told Rome that he is now 100% healthy and his priority is football, but listening to Sehorn, it’s clear that television work is in his future.

Fox Sports Net in Los Angeles, which lost a general manager when Kitty Cohen resigned last September, is losing two other popular and respected female executives. Head of sales Lisa Laky’s last day is today, and head of publicity Renee Hawkins is leaving next Friday. Laky was promoted to head of sales after Mike Kincaid went to Channel 9 three years ago, and she and Kincaid were responsible for sales increasing more than 100 fold since 1988. Laky is likely to end up working for her old boss, John Severino, at Channel 2. Hawkins, recently engaged, is moving to Portland, Ore.

Bob Wagner, head of advertising and broadcasting for the Angels and Mighty Ducks, is leaving that position for a similar one with NHRA, which this week announced a new, elaborate five-year deal with ESPN. Drag racing has become a ratings winner for ESPN, and Wagner, who started out in sales and marketing with the Angels in 1984, said the offer from NHRA, headquartered in Glendora, was too good to pass up.

IN CLOSING

Miller, the ABC newcomer who in his stand-up routine has advocated bringing back beheadings, hangings and firing squads, was recently asked about his position on the death penalty. “I favor it, but only when journalists are involved,” he said.

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What Los Angeles Is Watching

A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for June 24-25:

SATURDAY

*--*

Over-the-air Channel Rating Share U.S. Olympic trials: Diving 4 3.5 9 Track and field: Nike Prefontaine Classic 2 1.5 4 Golf: FedEx St. Jude Classic 7 1.3 3 ‘Soccer: MLS, Galaxy at Kansas City 9 1.3 3 Golf: LPGA McDonald’s Classic 2 0.3 1

*--*

SATURDAY

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Cable Network Rating Share Boxing: Shane Mosley-Oscar De La Hoya (tape) HBO 3.2 7 Baseball: Minnesota at Angels FSN 1.2 2 Drag racing: NHRA Sears Craftsman qualifying ESPN2 1.1 3 Boxing: Mike Tyson-Lou Savarese SHO 1.1 2 Tennis: Eastbourne, England, tournament ESPN 0.9 3 Auto racing: CART G.I. Joe’s 200 qualifying ESPN2 0.9 2 Golf: Senior Cadillac NFL Classic ESPN 0.8 2 U.S. Olympic trials: Marathon, rowing PAX 0.6 1 Soccer: MLS, Chicago at San Jose ESPN2 0.6 1 Horse racing: Hollywood Park Today FSN2 0.6 1 Hockey: NHL draft ESPN2 0.4 1 Prep football: Cal/Tex Shrine Game FSN2 0.4 1 Baseball: Pittsburgh at New York Mets FX 0.3 1

*--*

SUNDAY

*--*

Over-the-air Channel Rating Share U.S. Olympic trials: Diving 4 4.6 13 Baseball: Dodgers at St. Louis 5 3.6 10 Pro basketball: WNBA, Sparks at New York 4 3.0 8 Golf: FedEx St. Jude Classic 7 2.1 6 Track and field: Oregon Classic 2 1.9 5 NFL Europe: World Bowl, Rhein-Scotland 11 1.6 5 Golf: LPGA McDonald’s Classic 2 1.4 3

*--*

SUNDAY

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Cable Network Rating Share Baseball: Colorado at Arizona ESPN 1.2 3 Auto racing: NASCAR Save Mart/Kragen 350 ESPN 1.1 3 Auto racing: CART Portland 200 ESPN2 1.0 2 Drag racing: NHRA Sears Craftsman Nationals ESPN2 0.9 2 Soccer: Women’s Gold Cup, U.S.-Costa Rica ESPN2 0.5 1 Golf: Senior Cadillac NFL Classic ESPN 0.4 1

*--*

WEEKDAY RATINGS: FRIDAY, June 23: Amateur boxing, Toughman, FX, 1.3/2. MONDAY: Baseball, San Diego at Dodgers, FSN2, 1.5/3. Tennis, Wimbledon, TNT, 1.2/3. TUESDAY: Baseball, San Diego at Dodgers, Ch. 5, 3.4/6; Angels at Seattle, Ch. 9, 2.1/3. Tennis, Wimbledon, TNT, 1.4/4.

Note: Each rating point represents 51,350 L.A. households. Cable ratings reflect the entire market, even though cable is in only 63% of L.A. households.