The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 70

70 THE BOSTON GLOBE TUESDAY, MARCH 31. 19K7 Autrience limitations for Hagler title bout Spar Mewl JACK CRAIG ously by placing a dummy with turned-up red sweater in Knight's seat. It didn't work. Earlier in the season, McGuire and NBC accepted Knight's ground rules for an interview that forbade discussion of John Feinstein's bestseller on Knight. That will teach them.

0 'TO THE BOSTON GLOBE TUESDAY, MARCH 31. 1987 At SporTillow 1 JACK CRAIG 1 10 oi, 1,,, 4 i 1 i All it lence limitations 1 1 vor; 4,... itil db. fri 4 01 0 Ir. goo 4, ei4e, 7,,, 4 AO" At I T- -1- -t lt 1.

.4, 1,,,, .1: vi i 11 0, Nt 1 i Sip .0 yi for Hagler tit out -a, 1 ca INA4t wil-qa 4 ously by placing a dummy with f- "4-, 7 4t At, 4, '4 1 14 1 4. it turned-up red sweater in Knight's AA; 40.41t. 4 oo 4r 1 seat. It didn't work. Earlier in the 7 vl i t.

4i, It 14, 'ItEiSiT season, McGuire and NBC accept- ed Knight's ground rules for an in- 4,6 4- 1 terview that forbade discussion of 4 Al 11 it, 41 i John Feinstein's bestseller on 1 ,0 1 4 Knight. That will teach them. '4. At '41 d' oer 0 't 4 11, 4 1 '1 lte.ort-1 1 vi '), 1 A 4, '414t116'. I "I 1.1.1d IS 4 6- 4-4- 1 4.

liOP 41- 'e .4 't 4 it I 1 I 44 1 It. 1 7 SS I I 1 i 'll''' )roole f''' I I There Is bad news for Yankee, lovers and haters in this area who have picked up their games )n WPIX-TV via cable. After televising 100 games last season. WPIX will carry only 40 this season. as Sports Channel of Long Island.

a pay cable channel. expands from 50 telecasts last' season to 100. 1. 5 3 I. t' There is bad news for Yankee lovers and haters in this area who have picked up their games )n WPIX-TV via cable.

After televising 100 games last season, WPIX will carry only 40 this season, as SportsChannel of I "rlrf tolonft esobla rho nnPi Globe staff photosJim Wilson Sugar Ray Leonard gets the VIP treatment last night as he arrives at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas Sugar Ray Lel inning Fight buildup beg 1 Distribution of games between the two outlets had been in dispute. with the Yankees hoping to divide them evenly. 75 apiece. But SportsChannel's contract allowing it to do 100 games prevailed. Greater Boston cable systems carrying WPIX that now would prefer to pick up another super-station would find the cost prohib- itive if they did so before July.

Su-, perstations are locked in for six months at a time. a Lt r. FERDIE PACHECO His anger was soothed limited coverage to the leaders after PGA commissioner Deane Beman insisted on starting them on the first hole, despite the fact network cameras were placed only on the back nine. Tee-offs were changed after rain on Friday forced some golfers to finish second rounds Saturday morning NBC Sports has forced the resignation of chief publicist Tom Merritt, who was a little too honest with the print media. Television sports executives who stress broadcasting candor toward an increasingly sophisticated audience do not appreciate their own product being covered that way.

II HAGLER Continued from Page 65 used for Hagler-Hearns and Hagler-Duran," said Caudill. This is our new one we used it the first time for Cooney-Holmes in '82." An older ring, now standing inside the Sports Pavilion back of the stadium. was used when the hotel began hosting championship matches in the late 1970s. Caudill said. Between bouts, the rings are stored in a warehouse on the property.

Hotel visitors, who wander through the stadium out of curiosity. often mistake a large blue tarp hanging over the ring area for the ring itself, Caudill said. But the tarp will be raised about 30 feet above the ring as a precaution against rain. Another precaution: Caudilrs crew will be on the clock in case a problem arises. "I'll get to see the fight." said Caudill.

"I'm pretty excited about that." As hammers pounded at ringside, the whole city throbbed in anticipation of the event. It is expected to lure 200,000 visitors and pump millions into the lo HAGLER Continued fron used for Hag Caudill. This time for Coone An older rin vilion back of began hosting 1970 Caudill stored in a war Hotel visitor out of curiosity ing over the rir But the tarp Ni ring as a preca Another pre clock in case a "I'll get to excited about As hammer throbbed in an lure 200.000 a 1 vt .1 1 1 I 2 1 1 1 1 1 a With seven days to go. the line holds against more pay-per-viewing at home for the Marvin Hagler-Ray Leonard fight. The bout is being shown in South Shore communities that have American and Continental cable systems and to the west on Mass.

Cablevision. Newburyport. to the north. also is carrying the fight on pay-per-view. The fact that many closed-circuit seats remain unsold is a factor in limiting home pay-per-view.

The mere possibility of placing the fight on more cable systems undoubtedly is slowing closed-circuit sales. Half of Boston Garden's approximately 14,000 seats were unsold as of yesterday. But if there is a run on closed-circuit tickets by Friday. New England Presentation. which holds TV rights.

could expand pay-per-view. Profit is the only motivation. Home Box Office will show Hagler-Leonard April 10, four nights after the bout. and ABC will carry it On Wide World of Sports" April 18 or 19. Promoter Bob Arum's PR folks had hedged on the HBO coverage, then alter admitting to the deal.

they hinted the fight would not be shown for about two weeks afterward. Dr. Ferdie Pacheco, NBC's boxing expert. is outraged that Leonard is being allowed to fight despite a detached retina, and obtained 15 minutes of air time from the network on Sunday to state his case. But a variety of cautious ophthalmologists were so ambivalent that Pacheco appeared more indifferent than angry on the air.

An NBC official said the program's emphasis was balance but conceded that Arum had demanded to appear on the show and, after being denied. warned against a distorted picture. Arum was shown in two taped appearances last year, calling it "absolute insanity" for Leonard to fight and was shown on tape several months later approving it, after he had been named the promoter. Sunday's Wrestlemania III attracted 10 percent of its potential pay-per-view audience on several cable systems in this area. On the South Shore, American Cablevision had 3,500 signups (6 percent of its total audience) and Continental Cable attracted 4,300 (13 percent).

Warner Cable north and west of Boston had 3,600 (11 percent). Promoter Vince McMahon predicted pay-per-view would top the record $10 million return the Larry Holmes-Gerry Cooney fight did in 1981, when only a fraction of the current systems were available for pay-per-view. If the response in this area is typical, he will be proven correct. WEEI plans to carry CBS Radio's Saturday baseball broadcasts, except network coverage of Red Sox games, on which the Sox' local network has exclusivity During Saturday's 90-minute telecast of TPC golf, CBS gave only With seven days to go. the line holds against more pay-per-view- ing at home for the Marvin Hagler-Ray Leonard fight.

The bout Is being shown in South Shore communities that cable systems and to the west on have American and Continental Cblii Nwb ort ass. aevson. euryp. to the north. also is carrying the fight on pay-per-view.

The fact that many closed-cir- cult seats remain unsold is a fac- tor in limiting home pay-per-view. The mere possibility of placing the doubtedly is slowing closed-circuit fight on more cable systems un- sales. Half of Boston Garden's ap- proximately 14,000 seats were un- In New York, the Yankees', shift from primarily free TV pay cable could endanger public relations for the Yankees because only 25 percent of New York is wired for cable, and not all of that audience receives This in an environment in which the Yankees compete for attention with the champion Mets. The TV war also has put an end to the WPIX-SportsChannel rr combined announcing arrange- ment of the past. Bill White and Phil Rizzuto will be limited to the reduced WPIX schedule this season.

Among those rumored to succeed them on SportsChannel is Hawk Harrelson, but Yankee own-. er George Steinbrenner must is tt Le a- P-' The Final Four doubleheader Saturday attracted an audience 25 percent larger than last year. which encouraged CBS to dare to hope that last night's Oscars on ABC would not slay the Indiana-Syracuse finale Bobby Knight failed to show up for taping Saturday night of Al McGuire's NBC special on the Final Four. but McGuire tried to recover humor cal economy, according to hotel officials. All 60,000 of the city's hotel rooms are booked, and the 20,000 seats for closed-circuit telecasts at six hotels are sold out.

At the press room inside the Sports Pavilion, promoter Bob Arum was bracing for the arrival of 1,000 Journalists. Arum had just arrived himself after completing a three-week, nine-city promotional tour for his closed-circuit exhibitors. The bout already is setting sales records. accord-i ing to Arum. In New York City, Tavern on the Green i restaurant sold out its 1,000 seats at $125 each.

Radio City Music Hall sold 6,000 seats at $60. In the Midwest and South, traditionally unresponsive to major bouts. sales are three times what they have been in the past. Indications are that two million closed-circuit seats will be filled, and 700,000 homes will buy the bout on a pay-per-view basis. Arum said.

By comparison, when Hagler-Hearns took place in 1985, about 700,000 closed-circuit seats were sold, and about 100,000 homes bought it as pay-per-view. If the projections hold up. Hagler's percentage is certain to bring his purse above $20 million. Arum said. If the bout nets $50 million, his purse will reach $29 million, Arum said.

Live tickets are as desirable and scarce as precious jewels. Ringside tickets with a face value of $700 are being offered for $2.500, while the $400 tickets are going for twice their face value. One man reported to the hotel that he bought two tickets for $2,500 each last week; they turned out to be counter-4 felt. Demand for live tickets has been a Arum said. "Today I got a call from Darryl Strawberry," said Arum.

"I said, You can't come to the fight, you're playing He said he wanted three tickets for his cousin's birthday." Strawberry was politely refused, as was New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and actor Burt Young, Arum said. "I don't have any," he said. "It's not a question of being cheap. I'm out of tickets." 0 Leonard arrived at the hotel at 5:30 last night, greeted at the entrance by a costumed Julius Caesar and Roman handmaidens. "I'm home," said Leonard.

"I'm happy to be here. I've come for the biggest jackpot." He will hold an open workout today at the Golden Gloves Gym. Hagler resumed his training yesterday, deeply tsaddened by the death early Sunday morning of his mother-in-law, Anna Washington. Hagler briefly considered returning to Brockton for the funeral before deciding the fight was too close, an associate said. His wife.

Bertha, had asked Hagler to return but agreed that the timing made it impractical. Bertha Washington Hagler is the sixth of Anna Washington's 10 children. Services for Washington are tomorrow morning at Mount Mariah Baptist Church in Brockton. Hagler is scheduled to arrive here at 1 p.m. today.

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1 1 i 1 4 1 1 What they were watching Following are the audience measurements for sports events on local television over the weekend. Each rating point represents one percent of the area's 1.9 million homes: Event Rating Station Day, time Providence-Syracuse 12.4 Ch. 7 p.m. Indiana-UNIX 11.6 Ch. 7 p.m.

Candlepins 8.7 Ch. 5 noon-1 p.m. Candlepin Doubles 8.5 Ch. 5 p.m. Wide World of Sports 6.8 Ch.

5 p.m. (boxing) Celtics-Bulls 6.6 Ch. 56 p.m. PGA 5.5 Ch. 7 p.m.

SportsWorld 4.6 Ch. 4 p.m. Bruins-Chicago 4.1 Ch. 38 p.m. Red Sox-Reds 4.0 Ch.

38 1-4 p.m. PGA 3.6 Ch. 7 p.m. Pro Bowlers Tour 3.1 Ch. 5 p.m.

Figure Skating 2.9 Ch. 7 noon-1 p.m. Women's NCAA basketball 2.9 Ch. 7 p.m. Skiing 2.2 Ch.

5 2-3 p.m. Al McGuire Special 2.1 Ch. 4 p.m. Baseball Special 2.0 Ch. 4 p.m.

Sports Top 40 1.8 Ch. 4 p.m. Big Shot Bowling 1.7 Ch. 68 6-7 p.m. 38 on Sports 1.1 Ch.

38 and it brought a smile to his face. ishermen Cruelest month kind to saltwater WOODS AND SHORE By TONY CHAMBERLAIN April is the cruelest month, so says the poet; a poet. by the way, who lived in Boston before expa triating to England. Here, then, is scholarly evidence that T.S. Eliot was a saltwater fisherman.

In the first blush of balmy weather. he undoubtedly got down his rods, oiled and restrung his reels, started looking over the marine charts planning the first trip of the season. Then he went fishing in a raw easterly and concluded that. indeed. April is a cruel month.

April poet. by triating 1 Here, was a sa my weal oiled an the marl son. TN conduct( 6111111 1 cause 1 I i I son outings have been accounted for by the Quincy Bay Flounder Fleet and other boat-rental operations. Though seaworm is pretty universal bait in Quincy Bay, many of the old veterans have secret chum recipes. and are not short on bragging how well their own concoction works.

What also works Just fine is cat food and niblet corn. Going a little beyond the call of the wild, it seems to me, are the guys who use window sash weights on rope to pound along the bottom to stir up a little activity. That's got to be a step away from dynamiting the fish. My own preferred doormat fishing in April is less social than the Quincy Bay scene. Nearly all the tidal estuaries are worth exploring for flounder, and my own favorite is a broad marsh inlet with several V-shaped channels where the tide runs swiftly.

From two hours before to high water. I put a chunk of seaworm on a small hook, and use a sinker-slide to suspend it Just about a foot above the bottom. In stiller water, you want to lay bait on the bottom, but here the fish are moving in the tide. For over an hour they hit as often as I can get my bait down to them, and rarely is a crab tempted to make the leap for it something that happens too often in bottom fishing. Moving water makes the difference in the estuaries.

But in April. fishing between a couple of marsh hinks is nice simply for it light. We had colds and were chilled to the bone through most of April. It is the fickle season for anglers. the month we are tempted by a majestic afternoon (like Sunday) only to be slatted in the face by freezing rain and screaming winds (as predicted for today).

But that will not stop the first fishing trip. If you can find a day to go offshore, it is the month for cod, and this fishing is done on the biggest boat you can find. Which means one of the large charter trips that generally begin the first weekend of the month. In some larger bays. cod have already moved inshore.

Flounder fishers will encounter them in Quincy BayBoston Harbor this time of year, and one lifelong angler from the South Shore, marine dealer Jack Kent from Duxbury, recalls years of good cod fishing in the Plymouth Bay area as early as February and March. Along about the middle of the month, there will be some nice variety in the appearance of shad coursing upstream in several of the state's rivers, from the North to the Merrimack and, of course, the Connecticut. Like most species that make a spawning run from the salt upriver, the fish newly arrived are the best, which is why anglers start the shad watch so early. It's best to be there before the fish, partly because once the fish arrive there will be a thou-sad anglers on the rocks in front of yott. Vresh shad newly arrived are, like coh'b salmon, better, quicker and fiercer than fish that have been around in brackish water for a while.

Shad will first be encountered on the Merrimack around North Andover, and later in the month in Lawrence where most of the zoo scenes take place. Often overlooked this month is the white perch that begin swarming toward their spawning runs in southern New England sometimes as early as late March. These are best fished in fast-rising or -falling tides, generally in the mouths of streams where they gather. Use light tackle with grass shrimp for these fierce little guys. or get them responding to small streamer flies.

It will not be long before the arrival of pollock and, in more southerly waters, tautog. which begin feeding early over the rocky bottoms and wrecks. These peak in late April, are best fished from Narragansett Bay up into Buzzards (Wing's Neck is especially good), and even up along the rockier bottoms of the South Shore. Lots of people use seaworms for tautog. Green crabs are my pick.

But the real staple of April is of course the winter flounder, flatties. They are rapidly building up this time of year, and there are several approaches. The Quincy Bay area seems to be a favorite spot for party boats loaded with anglers from New Jersey. They come up annually, stay in the motels Just south of the city, and take home a wealth of flounder fillets for a couple of days fishing. There are also liveries where you can rent a small aluminum boat to fish the sheltered waters of the bay.

Countless Cub Scout packs and father Living around Boston. Eliot undoubtedly would have been making a flounder trip in the environs of Quincy Bay, unless he was headed offshore after cod. Very cruel, that offshore stuff this time of year. A part of my winter work one year long ago was as a deckhand on a motor launch that crossed Boston Harbor from Thompson Island twice daily. In the dead of winter, there was no problem with cold because we'd dress like Eskimos and stay huddled by the stove in the cabin until the very last minute before we had to go on deck to tend lines.

But by April the first surge of soft air made us crazy. It happens in New England. We'd lighten our dress and stand outside in the thin sunshine 'marveling at the bow of Pilgrim II cleaving what seemed a new ocean created for a new season of Livin have be of Quinc cod. Very A part a a deckh' Harbor I dead of 1 wi the stov before Butt crazy. II flour dreE seemed I.