THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO? ESPN's "Outside The Lines:
Babe Ruth's Larger Than Life Legacy" premieres tonight at
7:30pm ET. In Baltimore, Milton Kent writes that the show
"doesn't do the great Bambino's life the justice it should,"
and says the program has the "feel" of something that was
"thrown-together to try to get the jump on a competitor,
namely, HBO, whose Ruth special airs next month" (Baltimore
SUN, 7/21). In L.A., Larry Stewart reports that ESPN is
"beating HBO to the punch" with its "tightly edited, fast-
moving" documentary (L.A. TIMES, 7/21). In Hartford, Paul
Rosano examined the synergy between ESPN and SportsZone for
"Outside The Lines." With each new segment, SportsZone
"features a five-day series created and coordinated by
Senior Writer Tom Farrey." Around the Ruth special, the
site will "feature more interaction" and go "live with its
content Monday-Friday." Farrey: "You look at ("OTL") in its
totality, it's an opportunity for the viewer to not just
have a good story told to them but also to participate in
the story by going on-line. ... It just rounds out the
viewer's experience" (HARTFORD COURANT, 7/19).
NOTES: NEWSDAY's Steve Zipay reviews ABC's broadcast of
the British Open and writes that there were "too many
commentators" during Sunday's finale, "leading to confusion
about whether Mark O'Meara or Brian Watts was ahead before
each stroke." Lead analyst Curtis Strange "should have been
a primary voice" (NEWSDAY, 7/21)....Business Wire has been
named the official newswire service of the '98 Hampton
Classic Horse Show for the third consecutive year (Business
Wire)....Olympic swimmer Summer Sanders will replace Willow
Bay as host of the NBA's "Inside Stuff" series. Sanders
makes her debut this Saturday (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 7/21)....CBS
Sports has extended its rights to the Army-Navy football
game through 2008. CBS Sports will continue to broadcast
the Army-Navy basketball game as well (CBS Sports).