Here's another

[bocelts@scsn.net (R. Bentz Kirby)]

http://www.boston.com:80/globe/spt/cgi-bin/retrieve.cgi?%2Fglobe%2Fbgc%2F138%2Fspt%2F002

SporTView: NBC will deliver
               envelopes to viewers

               By Howard Manly, 05/18/97

               The NBA draft lottery - to be aired on NBC at halftime
               of Game 7 between the Miami Heat and New York
               Knicks today - means more to the Celtics and their fans
               this year than it has in some time.

               Rest assured that, unlike Fox and its disappearing
               coverage of the NHL lottery last week, NBC will show
               the proceedings from the NBA entertainment center in
               Secaucus, N.J., beginning approximately at 4:30 p.m.

               NBC is not allowed to televise the actual drawing of the
               Ping-Pong balls - a procedure that resembles
               Massachusetts lottery drawings - but will show the
               opening of 13 envelopes by NBA deputy commissioner
               Russ Granik. The team whose logo is in the last envelope
               will pick first in the NBA draft, which will be held June

               25 at the Charlotte Coliseum in North Carolina.

               Channel 4's Bob Lobel and Scott Wahle had a solid
               report on Friday's newscast about the lottery and the
               Celtics' chances of winning. Wahle interviewed a Boston
               University math professor who confirmed that the Celtics
               have about a 36 percent chance of getting the top pick.

               Greg Gumbel will host the draft lottery for NBC,
               returning to New York this morning from Houston,
               where he called the play-by-play action for yesterday's
               Rockets-Sonics game.

               Knicks and knocks

               Given the suspensions and subsequent legal
               maneuverings surrounding the New York Knicks and
               their supposed rough play, TNT had a responsibility to
               show evidence that they are bullies.

               But the cable station's Friday night telecast of
               Heat-Knicks Game 6 revealed that no team has a
               monopoly on rough play during the NBA playoffs.
               Uncontested layups are unheard of. Rebounding is only
               for the strong. And simply running down the court could
               mean receiving an elbow to the head.

               TNT did an excellent job showing away-from-the-play
               fouls not called by the referees - infractions committed
by
               both the Heat and Knicks. Miami forward Isaac Austin,
               for instance, elbowed Buck Williams in the mouth. No
               call. The most flagrant foul occurred during the fourth
               quarter, when Alonzo Mourning literally ran over Knick
               guard Chris Childs. No call.

               The problem with showing all these uncalled fouls was
               that TNT announcers Verne Lundquist and Doc Rivers
               were of two minds about them. On the one hand, Rivers
               said, referees should let the players play. Frequent foul

               calling ``disrupts the rhythm of the game.''

               Still, Rivers was quick to add that the referees indeed
               were missing calls.

               When the fight erupted during Wednesday night's game,
               Lundquist and Rivers were all over the incident,
revealing
               their balancing act.

               Said Lundquist, ``P.J. Brown is not distinguishing
himself
               and the citizenship award he was given earlier this
year.''

               Said Rivers, ``Charlie Ward is just boxing out,
basically.
               That's ugly. I'm never a guy who says you should fight,
               but you get thrown like that, Charlie Ward has to defend
               himself.''

               Horses knock off Tiger

               ABC pulled the plug on the 18th hole of the Byron
               Nelson Classic yesterday, opting to give viewers full
               coverage of the Preakness instead of showing Tiger
               Woods maintaining his slim lead.

               ABC spokesman Mark Mandel said that the golf
               tournament ran over its allotted time and ABC already
               had committed to covering the Preakness at 4:30 p.m.
               ``If this had happened on Sunday during the final round
               of the tournament, then we would have probably made a
               different decision,'' Mandel said. ``But given that it
was
               Saturday during the third round, we decided to cover
               another major sporting event.''

               Woods's appearance in the tournament was the first time
               he has played since his incredible Masters victory.

               ``Obviously, we recognize Tiger's huge appeal,'' said
               Mandel. ``But we also realize the huge appeal the
               Preakness has across the country.''

               No Stern warnings

               ESPN had an interesting interview with NBA
               commissioner David Stern on ``Up Close'' Friday. One
               topic was Dennis Rodman. When asked if Rodman was
               an embarrassment to the league, Stern said no, and that
               the league wasn't worried about Rodman's tumultuous
               behavior. ``I'm more interested in extending Rodman's
               career,'' Stern said. When told that Rodman wrote in his
               book that he wanted to lock Stern in a room, naked, and
               paint lipstick on him, the commissioner remained unfazed.

               ``Rodman remains popular among the kids,'' Stern said.
               ``He is an anti-authority symbol to them. That is his
call.
               Whatever works for Dennis. I'm not going to spend time
               worrying about what he does.'' ... NBC's Hannah Storm
               gets the nod to call play-by-play for Women's National
               Basketball Association games on NBC, working with
               Hall of Famer Ann Meyers as her analyst. ``The WNBA
               will be the most promoted, most visible women's sports
               league in history,'' said Dick Ebersol, president of NBC
               Sports. ``We feel it deserves one of NBC's best sports
               talents, so the choice of Storm was an easy one.'' The
               WNBA Game of the Week series begins June 21, when
               Rebecca Lobo and the New York Liberty play Lisa
               Leslie and the Los Angeles Sparks. NBC will air 10
               WNBA games during the league's first season and will
               have the championship game Aug. 30. Storm has been
               host of NBA pregame shows on NBC and also
               anchored halftime and postgame reports ... ESPN will
               pick up the 51st College World Series starting May 30
               from Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha. The 48 teams and
               eight brackets will be announced tomorrow at 3 p.m.
               during ``NCAA Baseball: The Road to the Omaha.'' The
               first-string commentators are Mike Patrick and Joe
               Morgan. ESPN has covered the Series for the last 18
               years.

               This story ran on page d7 of the Boston Globe on
05/18/97.
               © Copyright 1997 Globe Newspaper Company.