Mike Mania

Remember a time, not so long ago, when wearing a live, concealed
microphone while doing your job meant that you were either an
anchorman or an FBI informant? When the only athlete who audibled
during a game was the quarterback? When potty-mouthed jocks were,
to paraphrase W.C. Fields, obscene and not heard?

Those days are over. Today everyone in sports, at the behest of
the networks, is going Donnie Brasco. First base coaches wear
mikes. Jerry Bailey, who rode Red Bullet to victory in last May's
Preakness Stakes, was miked during the race. (Red Bullet wasn't.)
On XFL telecasts NBC uses 26 mikes, for players, referees,
coaches and, regrettably, Jesse Ventura. At last weekend's NBA
All-Star weekend festivities, it seemed as if more players wanted
to be, like, miked than be like Mike.

Finally, if next week you find yourself hearing voices while
watching the Canadian Tour Myrtle Beach Open on the Golf Channel,
do not fear. You're not insane. Rather, you're experiencing the
network's newest gimmick, the miking of players. (Four among the
132-man field will be wired for sound.) We repeat: You're not
mentally disturbed, though the fact that you're watching the
Myrtle Beach Open might call into question this diagnosis.

"The first lesson in novel writing," says John Gonzalez, NBC's
coordinating director of XFL broadcasts, "is show, don't tell.
Let the viewer experience it firsthand. We're trying to take
advantage of the access that we've been afforded." As anyone who
witnessed the profanity-smeared pregame introductions during last
month's Super Bowl on CBS can attest, viewers don't always
welcome what the broadcasters have been afforded. Thus NBC
protects the audience for the mike-heavy XFL games by using a
five-second delay. The network employs Jackie Singer, a senior at
Arizona State, as its censor. She sits in a room near the
production truck and, says Gonzalez, "her entire job is to listen
for profanity. If she hears it, she presses a button. We already
have a nickname for her: the Finger."

The jury is still out on miking. Yes, it was exciting to watch
Bailey, moments after having shared his Preakness game plan with
the ABC commentators, pull off the upset just as he'd called
it--and then speak with the commentators again seconds after Red
Bullet had crossed the finish line. That was good storytelling.
What remains to be seen is whether networks can exercise
discretion with their Orwellian toy.

--J.W.

On XFL telecasts NBC uses 26 mikes, for players, referees,
coaches and, regrettably, Jesse Ventura.