LEE CORSO NOT FUNNY? FOOTBALL AD CAMPAIGNS COME UNDER FIRE

     "Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised at the lack of taste
shown by TNT in the billboard ads for its NFL telecasts.
....Almost as bothersome is a series of ESPN ads for its college
football telecasts," notes a report in SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
"Scorecard."  The TNT campaign has a photo of a "battered" player
with an oxygen mask with the tagline: "Shortness of breath.
Nausea.  Disorientation.  Memory loss.  The fun begins at 8pm
Sunday night."  The ads were eventually pulled, but "Scorecard"
notes it is another case where "violence sells."  ESPN's ads with
Lee Corso, Chris Fowler and Craig James surrounding "Lester" a
college football player taking a test are also criticized: "For a
network that has shown sensitivity in dealing with issues that
arise off the field, making light of the pressures put on college
athletes is just not very funny" (SI, 10/16).