A "nasty feud" between ABC's Al Michaels and Sports
Illustrated Managing Editor Mark Mulvoy "exploded publicly this
week," fueled by Michaels' criticism of SI's recent cover story
on "Hot/Not" in Miami featuring Don Shula and Pat Riley.
According to Steve Zipay of NEWSDAY, another "sore point" between
the two is the role of SI's Peter King during halftime on "Monday
Night Football." The two have exchanged shots on NYC sports
radio stations this week. Mulvoy said he didn't appreciate
Michaels' comments on the Miami story and accused him of
"mistreating" King by not promoting his reports. Michaels
responded that recent King reports have included "a lot that I've
seen earlier in the day on CNN Headline News. ... I'm waiting for
something that I haven't heard before." Mulvoy defended King and
listed the stories King has broken on "MNF." Michaels said that
Mulvoy is setting him "up as the heavy" in case ABC's deal with
SI is not renewed. Michaels, on the Riley cover story: "Pat was
personally angered because he was deceived and double-dealt with.
You owe it to someone to tell them where you're going with a
piece" (NEWSDAY, 12/15).
CONFLICT? ABC "could do more" during halftime, writes
Zipay, but with only 12 minutes, "how much more?" Zipay
questions why a magazine such as SI lets its writers work for a
network, raising the potential for "conflicts on who gets
information and when?" (NEWSDAY, 12/15).
