TV MONITOR: Last night's 10:00pm ET 60-minute edition
of FSN's "National Sports Report" led with Astros-Mets,
followed by Bengals RB Corey Dillon being arrested for
allegedly assaulting his wife. "NSR" covered opening day at
the U.S. Open at 8:04 into the broadcast and had 3:26 of
total Open coverage. "NSR" did not report on the Tiger
Woods-Sergio Garcia "Battle at Bighorn." Last night's
11:00pm ET 30-minute edition of CNN/SI's "Sports Tonight"
led with Reds-Braves, followed by MLB's suspension of Braves
and Rockies players for their fight on August 22. "Sports
Tonight" reported on the U.S. Open at 4:36 and had 3:35 of
total Open coverage. "Sports Tonight" reported on the
"Battle at Bighorn" at 8:10. Last night's 11:00pm ET 60-
minute edition of ESPN's "SportsCenter" led with Reds-
Braves, followed by Astros-Mets. "SportsCenter" reported on
the U.S. Open at 16:38 and had 2:47 of total Open coverage.
"SportsCenter" reported on the "Battle at Bighorn" at 7:20.
PRAISE FOR FOX SPECIAL CONTINUES: In N.Y., Bob Raissman
writes that Fox's "Turn Back the Clock" MLB telecast
Saturday "was entertaining" and "informative." Raissman:
"It was pretty amazing how the Foxies chronicled the
evolution of televised baseball in a few hours" (N.Y. DAILY
NEWS, 8/29). Also in N.Y, Richard Sandomir writes that the
"excellent archival work" of the newsreels at breaks between
innings "were nearly undermined" by Fox's Steve Lyons'
"presence as a boor for all eras" (N.Y. TIMES, 8/29).
PEOPLE & PERSONALITIES: While the Drudge Report noted
that "MNF" Producer Don Ohlmeyer and announcer Al Michaels
were seen playing golf with talk radio host Rush Limbaugh
recently in FL, ABC Sports VP/Media Relations Mark Mandel
said, "A lot of people play golf. They're all good friends,
and for people to draw conclusions [about Limbaugh possibly
joining "MNF"] based on something as superficial as that is
ridiculous." In Chicago, Ron Rapoport: "This does not mean
[Dennis] Miller is home free, though. The show's ratings
have dropped since his tenure began" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES,
8/29)....An HBO spokesperson dismissed "rumors" that HBO
"might have replaced" Len Dawson on its "Inside the NFL"
show following the addition of Dan Marino. The spokesperson
says that HBO "has no intentions of replacing Dawson,"
adding that Marino is "simply being added as a fifth co-
host." The spokesperson also noted that Dawson appears in
some of the promos for the show (K.C. STAR, 8/29).
NOTES: In L.A., Grahame Jones wrote that soccer
broadcasters Andres Cantor and Alejandro Gutman "staged a
remarkable coup" when their Miami and S.F.-based company,
Futbol de Primera, won the exclusive U.S. Spanish-language
radio broadcast rights for the 2002 and 2006 World Cups.
The company "defeated much larger and better-financed
competitors for the rights" (L.A. TIMES, 8/27). But in
N.Y., Richard Sandomir writes that the event rights will
"eventually be resold" (N.Y. TIMES, 8/29)....In Akron, Jim
Carney profiled N.Y.-based ASAP Sports, which transcribes
interviews conducted with athletes by the media in the
interview rooms of an event's Media Center. ASAP Sports Dir
of Marketing Jeri Gargano said that the company gets an
average of $6,000 to transcribe interviews during an average
golf tournament (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 8/26)....NBC's 2.1/6
overnight Nielsen rating for Saturday's Game Two of the
Liberty-Comets WNBA Finals was up 24% from '99's Game Two,
which earned a 1.7/4 overnight rating (NBC).
