Could This Be the Big Game?

The Dodgers are done, USC is fading, UCLA has the weekend off and the Kings and Mighty Ducks are just getting started.

Sunday’s pro football lineup isn’t much, unless you want to see the Oakland Raiders beat up on the Dallas Cowboys. There is a good college game on ABC Saturday--No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 5 Texas at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas--but otherwise the pickings are slim. Fresno State also has the weekend off.

The biggest sports event on television this weekend may be a high school football game. That’s right. This is a REALLY BIG high school game, as big as they come.

Long Beach Poly and Concord De La Salle are considered by many the two best teams in the nation. They meet Saturday night at 7:30 at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach, and the game, which was 31/2 years in the making, will be televised live on Fox Sports Net 2. And it can be seen nationally on DirecTV’s channel 653.

Game producer Micah King, who produced the USC-Stanford telecast last Saturday, said that despite current budgetary restraints Fox Sports Net 2 will use four cameras, one more than usual, to cover the Poly-De La Salle game and the crowd.

And sideline reporter Frank Martin will be equipped with a special wireless microphone that will give him more flexibility than usual. He should have plenty of people to talk to.

A number of well-known Poly graduates, including Gene Washington and Mark Carrier, are expected to attend the game.

The game announcers will be Jim Watson and Mike Lamb. John Jackson is Watson’s regular partner on high school football, but Jackson is contractually committed to work Fox Sports Net’s coverage of the USC-Washington game Saturday at Seattle.

No doubt he’d rather be in Long Beach.

John Hefner, the coordinating producer of Fox Sport Net 2’s high school football coverage, said his network does not pay rights fees for prep sports, but ARCO and its parent company, BP, are donating $1,000 to each school’s athletic fund.

Bottom Line

There are cutbacks everywhere during these troubled times, and sports television is no exception. Fox Sports has dropped Sportvision’s “1st and 10” technology. No more yellow line.

Fox will save about $25,000 a game, but viewers will be cheated.

“I certainly appreciate the economic pressure that everybody is under, but this is not a good decision,” Sportvision CEO Bill Squadron said.

“Fox could pay for a whole season of ‘1st and 10’ with 15 seconds of one Super Bowl commercial.”

The technology will remain on ABC and ESPN. CBS uses another company for its first-and-10 marker.

Another Cutback

Michelle Bonner, the only female sportscaster on an over-the-air Los Angeles station, has been dumped by Channel 13.

According to KNX reporter Ron Fineman’s “On the Record” Web site, Channel 13 has scrapped the traditional sports segment in favor of one minute of sports highlights, voiced by a news anchor.

Weekend sports anchor Gerard Moncure is being retained.

The elimination of a weeknight sports anchor is nothing new for smaller stations. The thinking is that fans can get sports news from ESPN or Fox Sports Net.

Bonner, reached Thursday, said, “Don’t feel sorry for me. I’m doing fine. I’m getting paid through February and I already got some other things lined up.”

Money Players

The New York Times reported this week that key members of the Baltimore Ravens were paid $8,000 for their roles in the “Hard Knocks” series on HBO.

An HBO spokesman said it was a non-story, that NFL Films, which produced the series, routinely pays players and coaches for their time.

“NFL Films is not a news-gathering organization,” the spokesman said. “They make films to make money. And besides, $8,000 to those guys isn’t a lot of money.”

Reportedly getting $8,000 were Shannon Sharpe, Tony Siragusa, Ray Lewis and Rod Woodson. Rookies Todd Heap and Reggie Waddell got $2,000 each, according to the newspaper.

NBC’s New Cast

Pat Croce has a new world to conquer--sports television.

The former athletic trainer who became a minority owner and president of the Philadelphia 76ers is one of the new members of NBC’s NBA pregame show.

The others are Jayson Williams, the former New Jersey Net whose career was cut short when he shattered his right leg on April 1, 1999, and Mike Fratello. Ahmad Rashad and Hannah Storm will be the co-hosts.

“I am psyched,” Croce said. “I get to do something a little different.

“I can give you a trainer’s perspective, I can give you a previous owner’s perspective and, most important, I can give you a fan’s advocate perspective.”

Gone are P.J. Carlesimo, who according to executive producer David Neal is under consideration for a game commentating job, and Kevin Johnson, who chose not to return because of his involvement with urban development projects in his hometown of Sacramento.

Recommended Viewing

“Rites of Autumn,” one of the most ambitious sports television projects, ranking with Ken Burns’ PBS “Baseball” documentary, begins a 10-week run on ESPN today at 5 p.m.

Each one-hour segment will also re-air on ESPN2 at various times.

The series, produced by Don Sperling and Wayne Chesler of Pearl Entertainment and narrated by Burt Reynolds, covers a lot of ground, dating to college football’s earliest days.

Short Waves

If you missed Bernard Hopkins’ victory over Felix Trinidad, HBO is showing the fight Saturday at 10 p.m. ... The Kings’ opener Thursday night could be seen in high-definition television on Mark Cuban’s new channel, HDNet, available on DirecTV, Channel 199, and the Kings’ game at Dallas Tuesday will also be on the new channel. Up to 65 NHL games will be on the HDNet this season. ... The Ducks’ game at Pittsburgh on Saturday isn’t being televised locally but will be part of DirecTV’s Center Ice package.

What’s up with cable companies inserting local commercials during play? Time Warner did it during a Dodger-Giant game last week, and Adelphia did it last Sunday during a Giant-Padre game on ESPN. ... The Golf Channel has come up with a good idea for its “Golf Academy Live” program. It has recruited a 40-handicapper to take lessons from pro Jim McLean to see if he can break 100. It’s something all hackers can identify with.

In Closing

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, on with Sporting News radio’s Jay Mariotti and Jim Litke on Thursday, said he can’t force anyone to pitch to Bonds. “The position of commissioner has a lot of power, but I don’t think I want to tell Jim Tracy or Bob Daly what they should or shouldn’t do. I think they will pitch to him.”

Said Jim Rome: “The Dodgers will pitch to Bonds or there will be a riot at PacBell Park. I’m serious.”