In N.Y., Bob Raissman wrote that "it's time" for Turner
Sports "to make up their minds" and decide if they will
carry a monthly boxing card. Raissman noted that TNT's
airing of two trial cards on September 22 and February 17
were "highly entertaining" and they pulled in a 2.1 rating
and a 1.9 rating, respectively (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 2/21).
...The TV show around Univ. of Houston coach Clyde Drexler
was canceled "after he failed for a third time" to show up
for the live broadcast. Drexler cited the Sunday night
taping of the show: "Sunday is a sacred day. To leave my
house at 10:30 [p.m.] ... it took every bit of energy I had"
(WASHINGTON POST, 2/21)....In Chicago, Ed Sherman writes
that the Bulls local ratings are down "more than" 30%, as
last Wednesday's game against the Bucks pulled a 4.4 rating
on Fox Sports Chicago compared to last year's season average
of 8.9. Fox Sports Chicago VP & GM Jim Corno "expects" the
numbers for the season to stay in the range of 4.5 to 5
(CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 2/21)....In Cincinnati, John Fay reports
that Fox Sports Ohio showed 25 minutes of the press
conference featuring Roger Clemens' arrival with the Yankees
rather than the start of the Univ. of MI-Bowling Green game.
Fox Sports Ohio GM Steve Liverani, on FSN's request that
affils take a national feed when there's breaking news: "A
half hour seems a little excessive to me. We had a game
with a lot of regional interest versus something that was
very much specific to New York" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER,
2/22)....In N.Y., Phil Mushnick reported that "there's
hardly a story in sports" that ESPN "doesn't credit an ESPN
reporter for breaking." Mushnick: "Lifting someone else's
work from the wires or newspapers, then being the first to
report the story on national TV, does not constitute a
scoop." Mushnick notes that news organizations "have become
hip to ESPN's act" and "refrain from crediting ESPN with
scoops" because ESPN "has made it difficult to separate
truth from self-promotion" (N.Y. POST, 2/21).
