ESPN'S "SPORTS REPORTERS": Mike Lupica: "Probably the mostwatched show or event involving a sports hero was the whitebronco on a Friday night, during the NBA Finals." Bill Conlin onhis impressions of 1994: "Why us? Why were the sports fans ofthis nation subjected to so much abuse from baseball and hockey,and from boorish, peevish athletes?" ("Sports Reporters," ESPN,12/18).
| IN | OUT |
| Fox | CBS |
| Direct Broadcast TV | Video Rental |
| Figure Skating | Pro Hockey |
TIME'S TOP SPORTS STORIES OF '94: 1) Baseball strike; 2)World Cup's U.S. debut; 3) George Foreman wins Heavyweighttitle; 4) Tonya Harding; 5) Jerry Rice tops NFL touchdownrecord; 6) Andre Agassi wins U.S. Open; 7) Dan Jansen'sOlympic medal; 8) The Rangers win the Stanley Cup; 9) MichaelJordan goes to baseball; 10) Razorbacks win NCAA basketballtitle (TIME, 12/26 issue). NEWSWEEK'S CONVENTIONAL WISDOM: MARTINA NAVRATILOVA's CWarrow is up: "Best tennis player in world gets no endorsements.Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf?" GEORGE FOREMAN's is up: "45-year-old boxing champ is boomer hero. CW will name all of itssons, George, too." TONYA HARDING's is down: "Trash nostalgia:Gillooly, we hardly knew ye. Where have you gone, Sean?"(NEWSWEEK, 12/26 issue). U.S. NEWS: Harrison Rainie writes, "All we needed to knowabout America we learned off the playing field last year. Thejoy of observing and musing about sports gave way to the acridbargainings of commerce" (U.S. NEWS, 12/26).
