TUBE TALK: Busy weekend for local basketball

By JOHN MAFFEI | Friday, February 29, 2008 11:04 AM PST ∞

College basketball and prep basketball will have to coexist this weekend.

With the San Diego State and University of San Diego men's basketball teams both playing at home Saturday, the CIF San Diego Section boys and girls championships ---- to be played at Cox Arena ---- must contend with the Aztecs and Toreros.

A 7 p.m. tipoff for the Aztecs-Colorado State game Saturday means the CIF will play six title games today, beginning at 9:30 a.m. and finishing with the boys Division I title game at 9 p.m.

There are four prep games Saturday, starting at 8:30 a.m. The last game starts at 1:45 p.m. to accommodate the Aztecs.

Because of the odd prep schedule and a conflict with USD, Channel 4 will televise just four games today ---- the Division III girls game between Mount Miguel and Cathedral Catholic at 1:30 p.m.; the Division III boys game between La Jolla and University City at 3:30 p.m.; the Division I girls game between Poway and Bonita Vista at 7 p.m.; and the Division I boys game between El Camino and San Diego at 9 p.m.

Since Channel 4 will carry Saturday's Pepperdine-USD game at 6 p.m., there will be no TV of the day's four prep title contests.

"With our commitment to USD, it's just not possible for us to carry those Saturday prep games," said Dennis Morgigno, the Channel 4 station manager. "We just don't have the personnel to do multiple games from different sites on the same day.

"So we'll do the best we can on Friday."

John Kentera of XX Sports 1090 will be the analyst for all four games, working with Steve Quis on the boys games and Paula Bott on the girls.

Kentera will have a particularly busy weekend.

He has been in Arizona for his radio show this week, but will be at Cox Arena all day Friday. He'll fly back to Arizona early Saturday morning to call the Padres-Mariners game on 1090 with Jerry Coleman. He'll join Andy Masur on the radio Monday to call the Loyola Marymount-USD men's basketball game on 1090.

"I love working the prep games, but getting the chance to work with Jerry Coleman on an entire game broadcast is a lifetime opportunity," Kentera said. "As a kid, I'd listen to him on a little transistor radio I had hidden under my pillow.

"My grandfather used to come into my room and make sure I was covered up. I'd pretend I was sleeping, and he'd turn off the radio.

"He'd leave the room, and I'd turn the radio back on. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to working with Jerry."

With Masur calling USD games and Ted Leitner working San Diego State men's basketball games on KOGO (600), the Padres' spring radio crew will be somewhat flexible. Mark Grant is scheduled to work some games with Coleman, and other partners may be added.

With Padres spring games generally at 12:05 p.m. on weekdays, Kentera will work a 7-10 p.m. shift Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of next week instead of his regular noon-3 p.m. slot. His last High School Scoreboard Show of the season airs a week from tonight at 10.

The new deal

Channel 4 and the CIF San Diego Section have signed a new three-year contract that will keep the CIF football and basketball championships on Channel 4.

CIF commissioner Dennis Ackerman said the package was offered to other San Diego stations, "but Channel 4 was a clear-cut choice." Channel 4's Morgigno said he is 90 percent sure the station will continue to do a prep football game of the week.

"The cost of televising the high school games is as expensive as a Padres telecast," Morgigno said. "I refuse to do anything halfway, so we send top-notch crews to the high school games, the same crews that work the Padres. I won't cut the quality of the telecasts. So it costs an arm and leg to do those games.

"We have gotten some tremendous positive feedback from the prep telecasts, and our ratings for some games and for the playoffs and championship games are strong. But we need some community support to keep this going. We need some advertisers to step up and sponsor this venture.

"Honestly, we're not even looking to make a profit on the high school games. All we want to do is break even, but last year we lost a ton of money.

"Without advertisers to offset the costs, I don't know how long we can keep doing this."

Salisbury's out

Former Orange Glen High, USC and NFL quarterback Sean Salisbury has left ESPN after 12 seasons as an NFL analyst.

Salisbury's contract had expired, and he's being replaced by Cris Carter, who's moving to ESPN after HBO dropped its popular "Inside the NFL" show.

In a statement, Salisbury said he had "grown as much as I can at ESPN" and decided to expand his horizons. He hopes for opportunities in TV, radio, the Internet, publishing, movies and public speaking.

"My resume speaks for itself as a football analyst," Salisbury said in the statement. "I believe I can talk all sports with the best of them."

Salisbury has often been criticized for being outspoken and even boorish. Last month, he called John Clayton, with whom he spars on the air, the "cryptkeeper." In reality, Clayton and Salisbury are friends and their act is just that ---- an act.

A top-flight announcer and a tremendous public speaker, Salisbury will be just fine in his job search.

Around the bases

< The first of ESPN's nine spring training baseball games airs this morning at 10 when the Dodgers meet the Braves in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

< ESPN's "Baseball Tonight" makes its 2008 debut on March 18. Karl Ravech returns for his 14th year as host, working with Orestes Destrade, Peter Gammons, Orel Hershiser, John Kruk, Tim Kurkjian, Buster Olney, Eduardo Perez, Fernando Vina and Eric Young.

< UCLA, ranked No. 3 in the nation by Baseball America, and USC both will get some national exposure Saturday, when the Bruins play Bethune-Cookman and the Trojans meet Southern University in the Urban Invitational Baseball Tournament. ESPN2 has both games, with UCLA at 5 p.m. and USC at 8 p.m.

< XTRA Sports 1360 will carry tonight's San Diego State baseball game between the No. 22 Aztecs and No. 5 Missouri at 6 p.m. There will be no Aztecs baseball broadcast Saturday.

< Starting Monday and running every weeknight through the baseball season, XTRA Sports 1360 will air its baseball show, "XTRA Innings." Craig Elsten hosts along with respected agent Barry Axelrod.

< Channel 4's "Postgame Show" airs at 10 each night with extensive coverage from the Padres' spring training headquarters in Peoria, Ariz.

Football is back

ESPN2 has made a major commitment to the Arena Football League, carrying 29 games ---- 18 during the regular season and 11 in the playoffs.

The season kicks off Saturday when Dallas faces Georgia at 10 a.m.

Bob Wischusen, Dave Pasch and Joe Tessitore will be play-by-play men, with Shaun King, Marcellus Wiley and Ray Bentley serving as analysts in the network's three-man booths.

The season runs through late June.

The Olympics are coming

With the 2008 Beijing Olympics just about five months away, NBC will preview some of the gymnastics stars who are expected to compete in the Games when it airs the Tyson American Cup at 10 a.m. Sunday.

The event includes 2007 all-around world champion Shawn Johnson, 2004 Olympics all-around gold medalist Paul Hamm, Jonathan Horton and Nastia Liukin.

NBC's Olympics announcers ---- Al Trautwig, Tim Daggett, Elfi Schlegel and Andrea Joyce ---- will call the event from New York's Madison Square Garden.

Tiger power

When Tiger Woods is playing for the championship on the final day of a golf event, TV numbers soar.

That was confirmed again Sunday when Woods rolled to the title in the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship.

The final-day rating on NBC was 3.5 with a 7 share of the audience. That's up 67 percent from last year, when Woods was eliminated early.

Around the dial

< The Palomar College women's basketball team's Southern California Regional playoff game against Mt. San Jacinto will air live at 7 p.m. Saturday on KKSM (1320).

< ESPN will continue to televise Big 12 Conference football games through a two-year agreement with Fox Sports Net. Under the agreement, ESPN will carry seven games a season, with contests on Thursdays and Saturdays. Two games this season have been set: West Virginia-Colorado (Sept. 18) and Texas-Texas A&M (Nov. 27).

< ABC has a pair of NBA games Sunday, featuring two of the league's best players. At 10 a.m., the Bulls play LeBron James and the Cavaliers. At 12:30 p.m., Kobe Bryant's Lakers host Dallas.

< The Golf Channel will air "Top 10 Rounds of All-Time" at 7 p.m. Wednesday, counting down the most memorable rounds in golf history. The episode will feature highlights from Johnny Miller's 63 at Oakmont in the 1973 U.S. Open, Jack Nicklaus' final-round 65 at the 1986 Masters and Annika Sorenstam's 59 in Phoenix in 2000.

< Last Saturday's Memphis-Tennessee game on ESPN, featuring the No. 1 and No. 2 men's basketball teams, pulled a 3.8 rating, the network's highest-rated men's game since Kentucky-Duke in 1998.

< TNT NBA analyst Charles Barkley has agreed to a multiyear contract extension with the network.

John Maffei's TV/Radio Column appears every Friday. He can be reached at (760) 740-3547 or jmaffei@nctimes.com. Comment at sports.nctimes.com.

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