ESPN's Dick Schaap talks to Bob Wolfley of the
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL and discusses his son Jeremy's
interview of Bobby Knight on ESPN Tuesday night. Schaap, on
Jeremy: "I just thought he did so well. He was probing
without being antagonistic." Regarding Knight's comment
that Jeremy had a "long way to go to be as good as your
dad," Dick Schaap said, "That was the dumbest thing he said.
I thought it was wrong on two counts. One, because Jeremy
did a better interview than I could have done. And two, if
anyone had said anything like that to Bob's son, Patrick, he
would have gone through the ceiling" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL
SENTINEL, 9/15). In Baltimore, Milton Kent gives "kudos" to
Schaap for "conducting a tough, but fair-minded interview"
(Baltimore SUN, 9/15). In N.Y., Bob Raissman notes that
ESPN "had already been embarrassed by Roy Firestone's one-
on-one with Knight" in May, where Firestone "transformed
Knight into a sympathetic figure." Schaap: "I was conscious
of that and what Bob was able to achieve in the (Firestone)
interview, which was a level of sympathy that probably
wasn't warranted" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 9/15). In Chicago, John
Jackson: "Knight met a worthy adversary in bulldog
interviewer [Schaap]." Schaap said after the interview,
Knight refused to shake his hand (SUN-TIMES, 9/15).
OHLMEYER PLEASED WITH PROGRESS: "MNF" Exec Producer Don
Ohlmeyer tells the WASHINGTON POST: "I'm pretty pleased with
where we are right now. It continues to be a work in
progress, but we're farther along than I thought we'd be."
On criticism that Dennis Miller's jokes are too scripted:
"I'd say 85 percent of what he does in the course of the
night is right off the top of his head. I think it's a bum
rap. It's unfair to say it's cheating." Ohlmeyer, on "MNF"
showing an early season ratings drop: "Other games at other
networks are off, too. They want to make ratings a function
of Dennis Miller. That's bull" (WASHINGTON POST, 9/15). In
N.Y., Phil Mushnick writes that Monday's Patriots-Jets game
was "the saddest" in "MNF"'s 30-year history. Mushnick: "It
had the look and sound of a Vince McMahon crotch-chop
production." Noting Miller's "better woody" joke early in
the broadcast and ABC's halftime show of the "most violent
hits," Mushnick writes, "ABC's Monday Night Football folks
are just the latest to take their cue from the WWF" (N.Y.
POST, 9/15). Asked about the "better woody" joke, ABC
Sports VP/Media Relations Mark Mandel said, "That's part of
why we brought Dennis' humorous voice to the telecast. That
was a funny joke, that's all" (USA TODAY, 9/15). WDIV-NBC
sports anchor Bernie Smilovitz, on Miller: "ABC's making the
ultimate mistake: They're trying to turn him into an
analyst. He's not an analyst. He's a comedian. ... So let
him be a comedian" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 9/15). In Palm
Beach, Charles Elmore says Miller should "let it all hang
out or hang it up. ... Miller Lite: It's in better taste
maybe, but unfulfilling" (P.B. POST, 9/15).
