TV MONITOR: Last night's 10:00pm ET 60-minute edition
of FSN's "National Sports Report" and the 11:00pm ET 60-
minute edition of ESPN's "SportsCenter" both led with
Avalanche G Patrick Roy setting an NHL record by winning his
448th game. "NSR" followed with reactions to the Mets
winning the NLCS and had 7:43 of total MLB coverage.
"SportsCenter" followed with Blues-Red Wings and had 4:01 of
total MLB coverage. Last night's 11:00pm ET 30-minute
edition of CNN/SI's "Sports Tonight" was pre-empted due to
analysis of the presidential debate in MO (THE DAILY).
MEDIA AT FAULT? ESPN's Ric Bucher, on the media's early
reporting of Heat C Alonzo Mourning's kidney condition: "As
a result of the delay in getting the results back on the
tests on Alonzo, there was a lot of speculation and innuendo
about exactly what caused this. ... The problem is, there's
no mea culpa given, there's no explanation or apology
provided, and it's one of the reasons why I believe that the
public becomes a little skeptical with what we do and why
players have a problem with it. If we're going to improve
those relationships, we need to be a little more judicious
on how quickly we [report items]. Sometimes saying nothing
is better than reporting inaccuracies" ("NBA Today," 10/17).
NFL: USA TODAY'S Rudy Martzke writes that the Westwood
One/CBS Radio job "has showcased a different" Boomer Esiason
from the one last year on ABC's "MNF." Martzke: "Esiason is
showing off his solid knowledge of the game, meshing easily
with his partners [Howard David and Matt Millen] and trading
one-liners with them" (USA TODAY, 10/18)....In Cincinnati,
John Fay calls CBS' "NFL Today" pregame show "infinitely
better" than it was two years ago. Fay: "That said, there
is no reason to watch 'Today' instead of Fox's 'NFL
Sunday.'" Meanwhile, Fay also writes that Dennis Miller is
"growing nicely" into his role on "MNF". Fay: "He's staying
away from the obvious football stuff and the scripted lines.
Instead, he's firing wacky things off the top of his head."
Fay adds, "Overall, 'MNF' is better this year than it was
last year" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 10/18)....Former Van Halen
singer Sammy Hagar will perform a song from his latest album
during CBS Sports' "NFL Today" on Sunday (AP, 10/18).
NOTE: ABC News Producer David Fitzpatrick was "fired"
Friday for producing a story for HBO's "Real Sports" without
seeking ABC News' approval (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 10/18).
