Cbs Seems To Have Made Amends

Finally, Jim Nantz and the rest of CBS Sports’ college football crew can look back, so long as they don’t have to look back too far. It’s just that with a game like Florida-Tennessee looming this weekend, it’s hard to look anywhere but forward.

CBS got its first full college football season underway on Sept. 7, with UCLA at Tennessee, a telecast that most critics agree wiped out the ugly memory of the Fiesta Bowl fiasco last Jan. 2.

“I really thought it was important for our prime-time season opener that we were clicking on all cylinders so we could show people we were back in football, and back in a classy fashion,” Nantz said.

In the Fiesta Bowl, almost everything went wrong for CBS. The spotters made mistakes, the production was herky-jerky, rookie analyst Terry Donahue seemed lost, and Nantz could inject little excitement into the Nebraska blowout.

But two weeks ago, CBS was better from top to bottom, including a much improved performance by Donahue.

“It was a clean broadcast, a compelling game, and I think that eased a lot of the second-guessing,” Nantz said. “Now I relish the chance to get back into a regular, week-to-week setup. We haven’t enjoyed that since we had the NFL, and that was the fall of ‘93.

“I’ve been trying to warn people that we would hit our stride midseason, and I’m sure that will be the case. But I’ve got to tell you, we made strides well beyond what we expected on the Sept. 7 game. It was where I hoped we would be in mid-October.”

Florida-Tennessee begins CBS’ regular schedule of Saturday afternoon games, and the network couldn’t ask for a bigger one. It not only pits the No. 4-ranked team against the No. 2-ranked team, but they are Southeastern Conference rivals from the same division as well. And the teams feature two of the biggest names in the sport, quarterbacks Danny Wuerffel of Florida and Peyton Manning of Tennessee.

“You almost wish this game was later in the year, to be honest,” Nantz said. “There’s just too much to lose here… . I can’t imagine that the loser will end up having the Heisman Trophy winner. I can’t imagine any way the loser will battle its way back into the national championship race, or even into the SEC championship game.

“Can you imagine them playing the second week in November?”

Out takes

Fox is so thrilled with its experimental three-man baseball booth that it could find its way into postseason. That was the general idea, after all.

Fox put rookie analyst Bob Brenley in the booth with Joe Buck and Tim McCarver for a San Diego-Cincinnati game last Saturday, and those three will work Los Angeles at San Diego again Saturday.

Fox Sports coordinating producer John Filippelli said Brenley probably would return to his original partner, Thom Brennaman, for the final week of the season.

“Then we’ve got some games in the division series, and when that’s over with, the feeling now, based on what happened over the weekend, is the three of them will be reunited for the National League Championship Series and World Series,” Filippelli said.

Filippelli calls Brenley his “rookie of the year” announcer. There’s no doubt he is one of the best newcomers of the season, and at least with him in the booth, McCarver can’t talk all the time.

The game did provide viewers with some pretty good examples of the different styles of McCarver and Brenley, a pair of former major-league catchers.

When Reds pitcher Dave Burba fielded a bunt, stumbled and threw the ball into right field, Brenley said: “Well, one thing I know about Dave Burba. You saw a real great example of his athleticism right there. It’s almost non-existent.”

When Tony Gwynn got a second strike on him, McCarver said: “One of the successes of Gwynn - we talked about how adept he is with two strikes. There is nobody, well at least I’ve never seen anybody, who has a controlled inside-out swing with two strikes like Tony Gwynn.”

“What does that mean?” McCarver asked himself before anyone else could.

“It means he drags the barrel of the bat through the strike zone and is more prone with two strikes to hit the ball the other way. He forgets about, as the players say, put the head out.”

Gwynn struck out looking, so feel free to jump in there at any time, Bob Brenley.