TV COMMENTARY: A new challenge: ESPN's Sutcliffe faces a daunting foe in colon cancer

By JOHN MAFFEI - Staff Writer | Friday, June 6, 2008 12:11 AM PDT ∞

Rick Sutcliffe has been in some battles in his life.

As a young pitcher, he and Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda went toe-to-toe.

In 1984, his Cy Young Award season, Sutcliffe faced the Padres in the National League Championship Series, pitching on a national stage with a trip to the World Series on the line.

During an 18-year career that included two postseason appearances and three All-Star Games, Sutcliffe went against nearly every big-name hitter in the game.

Now, nearly 14 years after he threw his last professional pitch, Sutcliffe is waging a different kind of battle, this time against colon cancer.

The 51-year-old Sutcliffe ---- who worked for the Padres and Channel 4 and is currently one of ESPN's lead baseball analysts ---- was diagnosed with cancer after a routine test during a physical in February. The gravity of the situation didn't hit him until much later.

"I did my doctor a favor and came back from spring training with the Cubs to San Diego to have a physical," Sutcliffe said "They ran a colonoscopy and found a polyp. No big problem, so I went to Tampa to call a spring game for ESPN. The nurse called and sounded nervous. She told me to come home.

"I told her I had a busy schedule. I was going to Japan (to call the opening series between the Red Sox and A's) and I'd see her in three weeks. She said, 'Mr. Sutcliffe, you don't understand. You need to come home now.' "

Doctors ran further tests during what Sutcliffe called "the longest 36 hours of my life." Any cancer is bad, but Sutcliffe's was caught in Stage I, which means with treatment and surgery it's 100 percent curable.

Sutcliffe went through chemotherapy sessions and did physical therapy five days a week.

"That was tough, really tough," Sutcliffe said. "But I got some great advice. My agent, Barry Axelrod, had gone through back surgery and told me to set goals, to attack this thing like I was on the mound facing a tough hitter with the game on the line.

"That was good for me, because at first I thought, 'I'm 50 years old, I've lived a great life, if God takes me, it has been a helluva ride.' I've lived a great life. The ones who are being cheated are the children with this disease ---- the 6-to-11-year-olds."

Sutcliffe was back working last week, calling the Dodgers-Cubs game for ESPN. On Wednesday night, he was in Boston for the Rays-Red Sox game ---- his final assignment before his surgery, which is scheduled for June 16.

"I had a few dates circled on my calendar," Sutcliffe said. "One was that Cubs game. Another was the Red Sox game, and another was June 5 ---- the day my daughter Shelby graduates from Harvard Medical School. How lucky am I? I get to work a Cubs game in Wrigley Field. Then I work a Red Sox game in Fenway and get to attend my daughter's graduation. Honestly, things could have been tougher.

"The surgery will take me out for about a month. But my goal is to work the All-Star Game in Yankee Stadium on July 15. I'm not the first person with cancer. Nearly every family in the country has been touched by it. If I can't work the All-Star Game, I'll be disappointed, but I'll set another goal.

"My prognosis is good, and I'll keep fighting it just like I did when I was pitching."

EliteXC fallout

There was good and bad news for CBS, which last Saturday debuted "EliteXC," the first of a series of Saturday night broadcasts of mixed martial arts events.

Saturday's bouts were generally trashed as being second-rate, there was far too little action ---- a little over 2 minutes out of the first 70 ---- and the main event didn't air until about 10:30 p.m.

Ratings were down, even for a Saturday night. But the event drew a huge audience in the male 18-35 target group. So look for at least three more "EliteXC" events.

Triple Crown Saturday

-- ESPN will offer five hours of coverage Saturday leading into ABC's two-hour broadcast of Saturday's Belmont Stakes, featuring Big Brown's attempt to become the first Triple Crown winner in 30 years.

ESPN has race-related programming from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. ABC's race coverage starts at 2 p.m.

Joe Tessitore and Brent Musburger host the race coverage with analysts Jerry Bailey and Randy Moss, as well as reporters Jeannine Edwards, Rece Davis, Jay Privman, Steve Cyphers, Tom Rinaldi and Caton Bredar.

-- ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 plan nine hours of coverage from the 2008 Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita on Oct. 24-25.

U.S. Open talks

-- Golf fans get a warmup event for next week's U.S. Open when HBO presents "Back Nine at Cherry Hills: The Legends of the 1960 U.S. Open" at 10 p.m. Wednesday.

The 60-minute show chronicles three of golf's legendary players ---- Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus ---- battling down to the wire at the Cherry Hills Country Club, marking an unforgettable finish to the Open.

Honestly, I don't think this special lives up to HBO's standards, which are high. Still, it's an excellent historical piece and a must-see event for ardent golf fans.

-- Coverage of the U.S. Open from Torrey Pines begins Thursday. ESPN has two hours in the morning starting at 10 a.m., with NBC picking up the coverage at noon. Both networks have coverage Friday, with NBC taking over Saturday and Sunday.

College baseball

ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will have as many as 16 games from NCAA super regional sites.

There are four games today, six on Saturday, four on Sunday and two games, if necessary, on Monday.

The ESPN networks will employ "whip-around" coverage, focusing at one site but whipping around to other sites to keep viewers up to date.

Big soccer weekend

The ESPN stations will carry six matches from the 2008 European Championship soccer matches this weekend.

ESPN Classic has two matches Saturday, with two on ESPN2 on Sunday and Monday.

Ten of the 16 teams in the event are ranked among the top 15 in the world by FIFA. The title match is set for June 29 at Vienna, Austria. It will be carried by ABC.

In addition, the U.S. men's national team plays Argentina at 4:30 p.m. Sunday in a match that will be carried on ESPN Classic. It's the last friendly for the U.S. team before its 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.

Ratings game

ABC and the NBA got their wish with the Lakers and Celtics meeting in the NBA finals.

Last year's NBA finals on ABC between the Cavaliers and Spurs posted an all-time low rating of 6.2. ABC officials believe Lakers-Celtics will break its record rating of 11.5 for the 2004 Lakers-Pistons series.

The all-time NBA finals record is 18.7 in 1998 for the Bulls-Jazz series on NBC.

Around the dial

-- A new "One on One with Jane Mitchell," featuring Padres pinch-hitter Tony Clark, debuts tonight after the Padres postgame show on Channel 4. Clark grew up in San Diego, playing at Valhalla and Christian high schools before joining the basketball team at San Diego State.

-- Former "Sports Illustrated" writer Josh Elliot will team with Hannah Storm when ESPN debuts its new live 6-9 a.m. weekday "SportsCenter" shows in August.

-- The critically acclaimed "Inside the NFL" moves from HBO to Showtime for the 2008 season. The show will air at 9 p.m. Wednesday starting Sept. 10.

-- The Chargers have added KLAC (570 AM) to their radio network for the 2008 season. KLAC is the flagship station of the Los Angeles Lakers, L.A. Kings, L.A. Avengers and UCLA. Josh Lewin and Hank Bauer will continue to call the action.

-- NASCAR Sprint Cup action moves to TNT for its summer run. First up is the Pocono 500 live at 11 a.m. Sunday. TNT plans a 90-minute pre-race show with host Marc Fein and analysts Kyle Petty and Larry McReynolds.

-- FSN Prime Ticket, which isn't available in most of San Diego, will have a replay of last week's CIF state track and field championships at 10 this morning and 5 p.m. Sunday.

-- Mike Greenberg, Mike Golic and Mike Ditka will call the second game of ESPN's NFL season-opening Monday night doubleheader. The 7:15 p.m. game, matching the Broncos and Raiders, is slated for Sept. 8. The first game of the doubleheader pits the Vikings and Packers.

-- "Saturday Football on ABC" kicks off its third season on Aug. 30 with Alabama facing Clemson. The Sept. 6 game is Miami-Florida.

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