NBC Couldn’t Say ‘Yes’ to Guilty Albert

NBC did what it had to do Thursday. It fired Marv Albert, swiftly and cleanly.

No amount of plea-bargaining could have hidden that Albert lied about his innocence, broke the morals clause in his contract, and embarrassed NBC, himself and his profession. He also has become the butt of countless jokes across the country.

Even if his good friend, Dick Ebersol, the president of NBC Sports, who is in Spain for the Ryder Cup, had wanted to continue standing behind Albert, surely Jack Welch, chief executive officer of General Electric, which owns NBC, would have pulled the plug on Albert’s $3-million-a-year job.

For one thing, NBC has sponsors to think about. Also, Albert’s continued employment could have

jeopardized NBC’s relationship with the NBA just as negotiations on a new contract are about to get under way.

NBA Commissioner David Stern couldn’t have been thrilled when he heard about Albert’s postgame entertainment.

This story was tailor-made for talk radio. Jim Rome, referring to Albert as “a sodomite” or simply “Sodom,” said even before Thursday’s guilty plea, “He’s guilty of being a freak.”

Not that Rome is any barometer on how society should think, but in this case he was not far off.

It’s all perplexing to those of us in the media who have known Albert for years. He was easy to like, off and on the air. Seemed like a decent guy.

Now he has become a symbol for weirdness and kinky sex.

NBC gave him last Sunday off from NFL duty to prepare for his trial. Charlie Jones was paired with Randy Cross, Albert’s partner, on Denver-Cincinnati. Joel Meyers, who worked for NBC regularly from 1989-92 and was pegged for spot NFL duty this season, will work with Cross this Sunday on Baltimore-San Diego.

On Oct. 5, Cross will join Jones and Bob Trumpy on Miami-Kansas City. Cross, who was tabbed to work with Albert on NBC’s No. 2 NFL announcing team, is now a commentator without a partner.

LESS PAIN IN SPAIN

This weekend’s Ryder Cup matches are just what NBC needs, some positive attention.

NBC will have 10 1/2 hours of coverage from the Valderrama Golf Club in Sotogrande, Spain, over the weekend, after the USA network provides 10 hours of coverage today, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., delayed.

Saturday’s delayed NBC coverage will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with Sunday being live from 5 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Why so early? Got to finish in time for the NFL pregame show. Warm up the VCR.

Seven sponsors are spending about $9 million on the Ryder Cup, with USA paying NBC $1 million for the rights to today’s matches. NBC paid $4.5 million for the overall rights, and after production costs will make about $3 million, according to Dave Shedloski of Golf Week magazine.

KITE VS. BALLESTEROS, PART II

Ryder Cup captains Tom Kite and Seve Ballesteros won’t be squaring off at Valderrama, but they will be next Tuesday on ESPN at 6 p.m. in the first of a series of five “Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf” segments. This is a modern edition of the popular 1960s series.

Kite and Ballesteros played their match July 22 at Royal Pedrena, Ballesteros’ home course in Santander, Spain. No, we won’t say who won.

ESPN GOES ALL OUT

ESPN will use 30% more equipment to televise Sunday’s Marlboro 500 than it usually does for CART races. One reason is because it’s the final CART race of the season. Another is to showcase the new California Speedway in Fontana.

The television coverage, which is being sent to 188 countries, will be delayed five hours in the United States and shown at 5 p.m. here. It’s believed the later telecast time--prime time in the East--will draw more viewers.

ESPN also avoids going head to head with daytime NFL football, although considering the way the Sunday night games on TNT have going, that might not be a plus. Last Sunday’s game featured the new America’s Team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, beating the Miami Dolphins, and it drew a 10.9 rating, third-highest in the eight seasons TNT has had NFL football.

ESPN’s “Up Close” will originate from the speedway in Fontana today, with drivers Jimmy Vasser and Alex Zanardi joining host Chris Myers. “Up Close” goes on hiatus next week because of the baseball playoffs, which Myers will work as a reporter.

SHORT WAVES

Channel 2’s Jim Hill has been named to Pepperdine’s University Board because of his work in the community. Hill recently became a member of the Los Angeles Urban League’s board of directors, serves on the Honorary Board of Boy Scouts of America and is the official spokesman for the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. . . . Paul Olden, 36, who as a young production assistant at KLAC radio in 1978 asked Tom Lasorda that infamous question about Dave Kingman’s performance, has been named a radio play-by-play announcer for the new Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He announced for the New York Yankees and Jets in recent years, and has been the public-address announcer at recent Super Bowls.

Dodger Spanish-language announcer Jaime Jarrin is one of 10 nominees for the American Sportscasters Assn.’s Hall of Fame. . . . CNN/SI has named Sports Illustrated’s Sonja Steptoe a national correspondent. . . . Following the 5 o’clock Mighty Duck-King exhibition game Saturday night on Channel 9 will be one of the periodic Forum-promoted boxing cards from Caesars Tahoe. This one has Hector “Canonero” Quiroz facing Jaime Ocegueda, a sub for Carlos “Bolillo” Gonzalez of Mexico City, who injured an elbow during sparring. Jorge Paez will work the Spanish-language version of the telecast as a commentator.

IN CLOSING

Actually heard something good on new sports-talk station AM 1150 the other day--Joe McDonnell paired with Doug Krikorian. They were lively, funny, informative and entertaining without being any more crude and disgusting than usual. And isn’t that what sports-talk radio should be?

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What Los Angeles Is Watching

A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for sports programs Sept. 20-22.

SATURDAY

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Event Ch. Rating Share Baseball: Colorado at Dodgers 11 6.0 17 College football: Nebraska at Washington 7 4.0 11 College football: Tennessee at Florida 2 3.8 11 College football: Michigan State at Notre Dame 4 3.6 10 College football: Penn State at Louisville 2 3.4 10 Baseball: Angels at Texas 9 2.4 5

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SUNDAY

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Event Ch. Rating Share Pro football: Cincinnati at Denver 4 13.9 31 Pro football: Oakland at New York Jets 4 8.5 22 Pro football: Minnesota at Green Bay 11 7.5 19 Soccer: Galaxy at San Jose 34 2.6 6 Baseball: Angels at Texas 9 1.9 5 Golf: Senior Comfort Classic 7 1.4 3

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MONDAY

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Event Ch. Rating Share Pro football: Pittsburgh at Jacksonville 7 18.0 29

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Note: Each rating point represents 50,092 L.A. households.