TUBE TALK: Another Aztecs' misfire: Addition of Ello to football broadcasts doesn't solve problem

By JOHN MAFFEI - Staff Writer | Friday, July 18, 2008 12:16 AM PDT ∞

Having two play-by-play men in the booth didn't work last season, when San Diego State paired Ted Leitner and Lee Hamilton for the radio broadcasts of its football games.

Leitner and Hamilton are two of the best play-by-play men in the business, but they didn't work well together. While Hamilton grew into the color analyst role, he had a hard time on the air dealing with the fact he wasn't the lead man.

So Hamilton is out.

But instead of finding a bona-fide color analyst, officials at Clear Channel Communications and San Diego State apparently are determined to go with two play-by-play men again.

Multiple sources have confirmed that Chris Ello will join Leitner on Aztecs broadcasts on KOGO (600) this fall.

Ello fits two major criteria. He's a former San Diego State athlete, and he works for Clear Channel, serving as the midday host on XTRA Sports 1360.

But he played baseball at SDSU, not football. I imagine he went to Aztecs football games as a student, but I'm not sure if he knows if footballs are pumped or stuffed.

It seems to be the same old thing when San Diego State looks for a football analyst. Not that the Aztecs had a wealth of options.

Mark Halda, the No. 1 choice and a man who has worked well with Leitner, is back in coaching at Palomar College and wasn't available.

John Kentera is a top-notch color analyst and tireless worker, but he's employed by XX Sports Radio 1090.

Mike Costa, the third wheel on 1360's morning show with Dave Palet and Jeff Dotseth, has played football, but instead of working in the booth with Leitner, he'll roam the sidelines on Aztecs broadcasts.

There are many other candidates, but no one was satisfactory to both Clear Channel and San Diego State.

Tom Nettles ---- who was a star receiver for the Aztecs, played in the Canadian Football League, worked with Leitner in the 1970s and worked for the Golf Channel ---- is back in town. But he was never considered. Nettles would have been a great choice, because he knows the game and works hard.

Part of the problem with Ello is his work ethic. There are days when his radio talk show is great because he works at it, prepares. When he gets a good guest, he asks good questions.

But there are days when he gets lazy, reads lists and puts his audience to sleep.

Ello did a great job for many years as the voice of the San Diego Gulls minor-league hockey team. I've worked with Ello, and know he's capable of good work.

But he'll need to immerse himself in this job ---- go to practice, learn names, offenses, defenses and opponents.

Ello is likable, but there's more to working a radio broadcast than being a cool guy and knowing the secret handshake.  For this to work with Leitner, Ello needs to give his best effort.

Local notes

< Troy Hirsch, who has worked news and sports at KNSD 7/39 in San Diego, will be the sports director when Fox switches affiliates in San Diego from Channel 6 to Channel 5. Hirsch joins a news staff that will include Kathleen Bade, Susan Lennon, Arthel Neville and Chrissy Russo. The new Fox 5 launches Aug. 1.

< Meanwhile, Channel 6 will keep its news team when it relaunches as a CW affiliate. C.S. Keys will continue as sports director.

< Hamilton was the runner-up for the Boise State football radio job, and is exploring other opportunities.

< In an effort to boost ratings, 1360 will carry a national college football schedule on Saturdays in the fall as well as NFL games on Sunday.

< On Aug. 1, XX Sports 1090 will move from its La Jolla studios to a more spacious building on Mira Mesa Boulevard.

Horses for courses

< ESPN2 has coverage of the San Diego Handicap from the Del Mar Racetrack at 4 p.m. Saturday. The only other national telecast from Del Mar is Aug. 24, when ESPN2 has the Pacific Classic, Pat O'Brien Handicap, the Rancho Bernardo Handicap and the Del Mar Mile.

< TVG will broadcast live from Del Mar every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The programming includes exclusive airings of several of the meet's premier races.

< CBS has the Virginia Derby at 2 p.m. Saturday. The race is part of the Grand Slam of Grass.

Tee it up

TNT is the destination for coverage of the British Open for Friday's second round and early Saturday and Sunday mornings.

ABC, which will be at the Open for the 49th straight year, has the main coverage of the third and final rounds.

TNT's second-round coverage from the Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England, runs from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday's coverage starts at 4 a.m., while Sunday's coverage begins at 3 a.m.

Ernie Johnson is TNT's host. He'll work with course reporters Bill Kratzert and Jim Huber. Ian Baker-Finch, who won the 1991 British Open at Royal Birkdale, will work alongside Johnson as the lead analyst.

ABC's coverage begins at 6 a.m. Saturday and 5 a.m. Sunday.

Mike Tirico anchors ABC's coverage, working with 2008 Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger and five-time Open champion Tom Watson.

Peter Alliss and Terry Gannon serve as hole announcers. Andy North, Judy Rankin and Kratzert are the course reporters.

Ratings game

< Tuesday's major league baseball All-Star Game on Fox posted a 9.3 rating with a 16 share of the audience and was seen by 14.5 million viewers, making it the most-watched All-Star Game since 2002. The rating was up 16 percent from last year. In New York, the game drew a national-high 17.1 rating with a 28 share.

< ESPN's telecast of Monday's Home Run Derby from Yankee Stadium averaged a 6.4 rating with 6.184 million households, making it the most-viewed derby in history. The previous best was 5.718 million households in 1999.

< After 10 days, 20.8 million viewers have tuned into some portion of the Versus coverage of the Tour de France, making it the most-watched Tour in network history. The ratings for live morning coverage are flat at .3, but Versus officials said the station's late-night race encores have shown an increase in viewership, as has the station's performance among men ages 18-34.

NFL notes

< The NFL Network is devoting 400 hours to preseason games and scrimmages in August, carrying 54 of the 65 preseason games. Only eight of the 54, however, will be live, starting with the Eagles-Steelers and Bills-Redskins on Aug. 8. The Cowboys-Chargers are featured Aug. 9.

< All four Chargers preseason games will be televised ---- matchups with the Cowboys (Aug. 8 on the NFL Network and Channel 8), Rams (Aug. 16 on Channel 8), Seahawks (Aug. 25 on ESPN) and 49ers (Aug. 29 on Channel 8).

Baseball notes

< Fox will carry Saturday's Padres-Cardinals game at 12:55 p.m., with Matt Vasgersian and Mark Grace calling the action. The game will go to 18 percent of the country, including San Diego, St. Louis and Chicago. Vasgersian, the TV voice of the Padres, doesn't have to leave town, so he'll call Friday night's Padres game as well as Sunday's.

< Saturday's main game on Fox, going to 71 percent of the country, is Red Sox-Angels. Thom Brennaman, Eric Karros and Ken Rosenthal will work that game, which is going to Boston, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco among other cities.

< On Fox's pregame show, which airs at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Rosenthal will discuss the latest trade rumors, including where sluggers Mark Teixeira and Matt Holliday might be headed.

Around the dial

< The U.S. Olympic boxing trials will air Sunday at 9 a.m. on MSNBC.

< ESPN2 has 68 hours of coverage from the U.S. Open Series, starting with Saturday's WTA Bank of the West Classic and running through the Pilot Penn in late August.

< The ESPYs, hosted by Justin Timberlake, will air Sunday at 6 p.m. on ESPN. That means the ESPN's Sunday night baseball game ---- Red Sox-Angels ---- starts at 3 p.m.

< If you're looking for something different on TV Sunday, CBS will air a taping of the Maloof Money Cup skateboard championships at noon.

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