Happy Family Time for Bibbys

As Mike Bibby keeps slicing through the Lakers and keeps making one big shot after another, one thing many people in Los Angeles are probably thinking about, besides how to stop this guy, is how he and his father are getting along.

When the Sacramento King point guard was starring for Arizona and helping the Wildcats defeat his father’s team at USC, the story was these two were estranged.

All the while, Henry Bibby chose not to talk about his relationship with his son. But Wednesday he opened up to Fred Roggin on his KMPC (1540) radio show.

Bibby said the assumption was that he and Mike were estranged, but that was never the case. He said he didn’t want to respond to rumors.

“My son has been in my life the whole time,� Bibby said. “He hasn’t stopped loving me and I haven’t stopped loving him. That’s the bottom line.�

He said they now talk daily, and the relationship is as good as it has ever been.

As for how he would defend his son, the USC coach said he’d start a bigger Laker lineup that would include Devean George instead of Derek Fisher and he’d put Kobe Bryant on him.

“Mike can save up a lot of energy guarding Fisher because he’s not hitting his shots,� Bibby said. “The problem with putting Kobe on Mike is that Kobe would have to expend a lot of energy chasing down Mike.

“You can’t leave him open. He has to be the center of your attention. I’ve never seen a better shooter when he’s open, other than Jerry West.�

Speaking of West, he was on with Chris Myers and Bob Golic on KMPC later Wednesday. He said it’s very different watching the Lakers now. “But I still can’t relax,� he said.

Walton Picks Lakers

An NBA Finals featuring Boston and Los Angeles would be easy for NBC to sell. An NBA Finals featuring Sacramento and New Jersey, which seems more likely, would be harder to sell. The Nets are about as gray as their road uniforms.

Bill Walton, on a conference call with reporters Thursday, thought talk about a Net-King finals was premature.

“Do not count the Lakers out, whatsoever,� he bellowed. “I still think they’re going to win this series. The one thing championships teach you is how hard it is. The Lakers know exactly what they have to do. Sacramento will have to play better.�

Let’s Play Two

Because NBC did not want to preempt its Thursday night prime-time lineup, we get an NBA doubleheader tonight. And if both home teams win, there will be another doubleheader Sunday, beginning at 2:30 p.m.

If there is only one game Sunday, it will begin at 4:30 p.m.

Tonight’s coverage begins from Boston at 4 p.m.

New Host for Finals

NBC announced Thursday that Bob Costas will serve as the main host during the finals, which would begin Wednesday in Sacramento or Los Angeles. To make room for Costas, Hannah Storm was moved to the postgame shows on CNBC.

“We want to go off the same way we came on the air with the NBA 12 years ago--with Marv Albert and Bob Costas,� NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol said.

Ratings Success

Game 5 of the Laker-Sacramento series got a whooping 28.5 rating with a 43 share in Los Angeles. The share means 43% of the people watching television at the time were tuned into the Lakers. The L.A. share for Sunday’s game was a 42.

The series is also doing well nationally. The four games televised by NBC have averaged a 7.4, which is a 9% increase over the same four games NBC televised during the 2000 Western Conference finals between the Lakers and Portland.

Last year’s Western Conference finals between the Lakers and San Antonio lasted only four games, and only three were televised by NBC.

Overall, NBC is averaging a 5.0 with a 12 share through 29 playoff telecasts. At the same juncture last year, the numbers were 4.7/12. Wednesday’s New Jersey-Boston game drew a 7.3/13, but didn’t win the night. The Miss Universe Pageant on CBS drew a 9.1/13.

Saying Goodbye

Ken Venturi, CBS’ lead golf analyst for 35 years, will retire after this weekend’s Kemper Open. No other broadcaster has been a lead network analyst on one sport as long. The only person who comes close is John Madden, who has been a lead analyst on pro football for 21 years.

Venturi’s long run at CBS is amazing. But even more amazing is that he worked as a broadcaster at all.

It’s well known that Walton overcame a speech impediment to go on to become a broadcasting star. It’s not as well known that Venturi did the same thing.

When Venturi, 71, was growing up in San Francisco, he couldn’t talk. He could only stammer.

“I always dreamed one day that I would win the U.S. Open,� said Venturi, who won the Open in 1964. “But I never dreamed that I’d be able to speak. I still stammer. I’m always aware of it.

“The thing was, when I was growing up, everyone thought I was a very cocky young man. The reason was, I gave one-word answers because I was afraid to embarrass myself. They would ask, ‘Who is going to win?’ It was easier to say me than embarrass myself.�

Speech therapists initially told Venturi he’d never be able to even pronounce his own name. But he was able to overcome his speech impediment by learning certain exercises.

Venturi says he plans to move from Florida to the Palm Springs area, where his son Tim and his family live. Venturi’s other son, Matt, lives in the Bay Area. Venturi’s wife, Beau, died of cancer in 1997.

Remembering Mamo

Mamo Wolde, who became a hero in Ethiopia when he won the marathon at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, died last weekend. He suffered from bronchitis and liver problems. His age was believed to be 71.

Wolde spent most the 1990s in prison on charges he murdered a 15-year-old boy in the 1970s while an army officer during a time of widespread killings and atrocities in his country.

Filmmaker Bud Greenspan knew Wolde well. Wolde was featured in a segment of Greenspan’s “Olympiad� series on PBS in the 1970s, and Greenspan has only fond memories of Wolde.

“The Mamo Wolde I knew could never have murdered anyone,� Greenspan said.

Steroid Mania

With Fox beginning its Saturday baseball telecasts this weekend--one of the regional telecasts will be Arizona at the Dodgers with Thom Brennaman and Steve Lyons calling the action--Fox’s Joe Buck took part in a conference call with reporters this week. Of course, the topic of steroids came up.

“We’ve all known it has been sitting out there a for a long time, like a black cloud on the horizon,� Buck said. “You just wondered when it will break.�

HBO’s “Real Sports� addressed the topic in October 2000. In the piece, Gary Sheffield said six or seven players per team were using steroids. But for some reason it has taken Jose Canseco and Ken Caminiti to bring the problem to the forefront.

Caminiti, who talked about steroid use during an interview with Sports Illustrated, spoke for the first time since on Thursday, first appearing on Jim Rome’s radio show, then Dan Patrick’s.

Caminiti told Rome he was simply going to talk about life after baseball in the interview with SI.

“And they turned it into this whole steroid thing,� said Caminiti, who backed away from his assertion that 50% of major league players use steroids. “I never knew the interview was going to go like that. It just got ugly.�