SI VIEW THE WEEK IN TV SPORTS
Saturday 3/15
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
NCAA Tournament
Is it a fair field that includes Fairfield (11-18) or an unfair
one that requires the best player in the tournament, Wake Forest
center Tim Duncan, to travel cross-continent to Tucson for a
first-round meeting with Big Continent, 7'3", 345-pound St.
Mary's center Brad Millard? If the University of North
Carolina-Charlotte is the name of one tournament team, then how
is the College of Charleston Southern California the name of
four? Can UCLA, which began the year on the verge of
insurrection, pull off a resurrection under coach Steve Lavin?
March along to the madness as the field trims itself from 32
teams to eight in four days.
CBS, 12 PM, SAT & SUN; 7:30 PM, THURS & FRI
HORSE RACING
Florida Derby
The horse is a force, a source reports. Though he never went to
the post as a 2-year-old, Pulpit (above) has won all three of
his races this winter, including the Fountain of Youth Stakes,
by an average of more than five lengths. Heading into the
Florida Derby (telecast as a segment of Wide World of Sports),
the 3-year-old chestnut colt is generating so much buzz that the
Daily Racing Form has launched a page 2 column called "Pulpit
Watch" (head shot included). An entry last week reported that
rumors of Pulpit's retirement because of a leg injury were
erroneous. Straight from the horse's mouth.
ABC, 4:30 PM
Sunday 3/16
DOCUMENTARIES
Sports on the Silver Screen
Hollywood owes some of its most memorable lines--"Win one for
the Gipper," Ronald Reagan (right) as the dying George Gipp
gasped to Pat O'Brien, who plays his coach, Knute Rockne, in
1940's Knute Rockne-All American--characters (Rocky Balboa) and
films (Field of Dreams) to the sports-movie genre. This
84-minute program pays homage to just about all of them while
providing behind-the-scenes tidbits and celebrity interviews
(review, page 18).
HBO, 8 PM
Tuesday 3/18
PRO BASKETBALL
Sonics at Bulls
In six months Seattle forward Shawn Kemp has gone from coach
George Karl's doghouse to Penthouse. Kemp, who irked Karl by
holding out for 22 days during training camp in October, is
profiled in the April issue of the magazine and is hailed as
"the most likely successor to [Michael] Jordan's crown when His
Airness abdicates." The Reign Man or whoever turns out to be
Air's heir may have to wait a while to ascend the throne, as
Jordan proved by scorching the Sonics for a game-high 45 points
in Chicago's 91-84 win in Seattle on Feb. 2.
TNT, 8 PM
Thursday 3/20
FIGURE SKATING
World Championships
(Men's and Pairs competitions)
Defending U.S. and world men's champion Todd Eldredge (right) is
the son of a Chatham, Mass., commercial fisherman. As a lad Todd
would often accompany his father, John, as he went off in search
of cod and haddock, but ultimately, says his mother, Ruth, "Todd
preferred water in its frozen state." Eldredge will have to be
solid in Lausanne, Switzerland, to withstand the challenge of
the 1994 and '95 world champion, Elvis Stojko of Canada. Two
weeks ago Stojko nailed the first quad-triple combination jump
in skating history to defeat Eldredge at the Champions Series
Finals.
ABC, 8 PM
Friday 3/21
BOXING
Montell Griffin vs. Roy Jones Jr.
Muhammad Ali vs. George Foreman
The Friday-night fights return. Classic Sports delivers a low
blow to HBO--and trumps Donald Trump--by replaying the epic 1974
Rumble in the Jungle in Zaire opposite light heavyweight
champion Jones's title defense against the highly regarded
Griffin (26-0), from Trump's Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. The
Ali-Foreman heavyweight battle, the subject of the
Oscar-nominated documentary film When We Were Kings, introduced
a worldwide audience to the confounding rope-a-dope tactic and
confirmed Ali's status as The Greatest. The flashy Jones (34-0)
recently learned that he may belatedly receive a gold medal from
the '88 Olympics because of evidence that officials were bribed
to vote against him in a bout he seemingly won easily; here he
receives another lesson in ring injustice.
HBO, 9:30 PM
CLASSIC SPORTS, 10 PM
All times Eastern. Schedules are subject to change.
COLOR PHOTO: CHUCK SOLOMON [Jockey riding horse Pulpit]
B/W PHOTO: WISCONSIN CENTER FOR FILM AND THEATER RESEARCH [Pat O'Brien and Ronald Reagan in movie Knute Rockne-All American]
COLOR PHOTO: BILL FRAKES [Todd Eldredge skating]
THE ! ZAPPER
Daniella Deutscher, who plays Julie Connor, the only girl on the
Deering High boys' basketball team in NBC's teen sitcom Hang
Time (Saturday, 10:30 a.m.), understands the difference between
a layup and a close-up. "I started all four years on the girls'
varsity" at Olympia (Wash.) High, says the 5' 8" Deutscher. In
this week's episode Julie, pondering whether playing with the
boys compromises her femininity, gets sage advice from track
star Florence Griffith-Joyner. What--was Dennis Rodman busy?
