TV NETWORK NEWS: In N.Y., Phil Mushnick, on NBC's
coverage of the Ryder Cup. Mushnick: "Already, NBC has
assumed its low-brow Olympic posture in banging the drums
for its Ryder Cup coverage. Promos literally have included
shouts of 'USA, USA!' and Tiger Woods has been pre-emptively
cast in the role of Kerri Strug" (N.Y. POST, 9/19)....In St.
Pete, Phil Gulick wrote that CBS Sports President Sean
McManus "revealed the possibility of more bowling coverage"
on CBS. McManus: "If we can't break even on boxing, or make
a small profit, we'll probably replace it next year (1999)
with a lot of bowling hours" (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 9/18).
RSN NEWS: Dei Lynam has signed on as a reporter/anchor
for Comcast SportsNet in Philadelphia which debuts October 1
(PHILA. DAILY NEWS, 9/19). Comcast Sports Net also signed a
one-year deal with the Eagles for programming on Sundays and
Mondays. Comcast will air 3 1/2 hours of Eagles programming
each week (PHILA. INQUIRER, 9/19)....Fox Sports News named
Van Earl Wright to its prime-time anchor team. Wright will
begin at Fox next week (Fox Sports Net)....In N.Y., Richard
Sandomir: "Between 110 and 120 layoffs have occurred at
Rainbow Sports because of the merger of SportsChannel and
MSG Network, the shutdown of NewSport, the delayed start of
American Sports Classics and cuts in sports advertising
sales. About 25 percent have landed jobs at Rainbow's
nonsports networks and at Cablevision" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/19).
GENERAL: Last Saturday's Oscar De La Hoya-Hector
Camacho PPV fight was bought in 650,000 TV households,
making it the third best non-heavyweight fight ever. It
will be replayed tonight on HBO (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 9/19).
...Matt Guokas will be an analyst for SportsChannel Ohio's
42 Cavs games this season (SportsChannel).
