The Kingston Whig-Standard from Kingston, Ontario, Canada • 24

24 SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 3 1994 Get ready for some Foxball! Thanks to the House That AJ Bundy Built NR marketing will own a different look and sound in an effort to pow the stagiant audience That will be reflected in Fax's sensoiyoveHoad promotions 1 Cincinnati Bangab rookie Dan Wllklruon the first payer taken In the NFL diraft this year makes a point during a practice In Cincinnati reported $32 million million a season Madden and Goren a 10-time Emmy winner who signed with Fox three days after Madden are finding new comfort zones on the fourth network "Sometimes change is good" Madden said don't stay the same You have to get better This is good for Fox something In the 49ers-Broncos game Madden had his shtick intact After an admitted initial bout of nervousness -during a pre-game rehearsal he and Summerali appeared drawn and pale the coach was unleashed By the second quarter Madden uncorked his first to orchestrate a replay he used his vaunted Telestrator to draw mock earphones over a picture of Long and swimming patterns on a fish tank behind Johnson and by the time the 49ets had put the game away Madden had turned unknown offensive lineman Kevin Farkas into a celebrity TO HEAR "I like to hear stories about those Madden said in the production trailer afterward him getting thrown out of school for chewing snuff about transferring from Liberty to Appalachian State They're people too Good football players not always about Jerry Rice Steve Young and John Besides Madden-Summerall Fox will give young voices with great bloodlines their national NFL broadcasting debuts At 25 Joe Buck will be the youngest network NFL play-by-play announcer Being the son of a legendary broadcaster Jack Buck helped the same could be said for Kenny Albert NBC veteran Marv 26-year-old son Lonnie Lardner a great niece of famed sportswriter and author Ring Lardner Sr is another Fox reporter Other NFL types behind the mikes include 11 -time Bengals Pro Bowl tackle Anthony Munoz former Oilers and Falcons head coach Jerry Glanville and Ron Pitts a seven-year NFL veteran and son of former Green Bay great Elijah Pitts "Ibis is like a ballclub that can look down for IViple-A kids ready to step up" Goren says trying to create a Fox image This is a great adventure and I know who's going to emerge but we've got some future stars" By Sheldon Spencer SAN FRANCISCO The New York Times The National Foot ball television sales pitch is new and improved But the game itself is sacred the onetime Iell-0 maker-cum-football peddler repeats for anyone within earshot of Candlestick Park is pure Itfe a sacred trust" said TYacy Dolgin a boyish marketing executive for Fax Broadcasting Company the new kid on the NFLfc turf "It's our objective to turn on new viewers to the game while at the same time not turn off the football audience who already watches But we're going to promote every game like it's the Super BowL" Last December Fox chairman Rupert Murdoch used a $158 billion US bid to snag four years of NFL broadcasting rights from CBS annulling a 38-year marriage and altering an American ritual in the process Murdoch the lOth-richest person in America according to Forbes Magazine wanted to purchase "event television" in creating Fbx Sports For now basketball baseball boxing are mere sideshows in his eyes "The Olympics major sports this is the daddy of them all football" the Australian tycoon said during a recent interview "And that is true whether it's the NFL here soccer in Britain or Australian rules Football has always been No 1" Foxball the offspring of this odd coupling promises to change the way you watch your Cowboys Giants Lions and Bears in National Football Conference games Thanks to the House That A1 Bundy Built NFL marketing will own a different look and sound in an effort "to grow" the stagnant gamefe audience That will be reflected in sensory-overload promotions DOLBY STEREO Come tomorrow when Fox debuts its regular-season coverage with a doubleheader: No other network will bring you the crack of a Cowboys sternum in Dolby stereo No other network will show you Howie Long chasing fellow NFL retiree Terry Bradshaw around a 20-yard indoor field while a celebrity guest like Billy Crystal cheers from across the studio "Being nice to people is Fox is counting on its Next Action Hero to spout opinions and spar with resident good boy Terry Bradshaw another one of the many CBS refugees in the new talent pool Long and the ex-Steelers quarterback are expected not only to talk football strategy but demonstrate it On the state-of-the-art Fox NFL Sunday set there is a mock 20-yard-long artificial turf football field to accommodate some impromptu recreation talking about getting high' school kids to come in and run plays in said Fox Sports president David Hill But Long and Bradshaw just might recreate old Raiders-Steel-ers battles just as well Next to the field is something called The Coach's Comer which NFL mastermind-in-exile Jimmy Johnson will also call a temporary home John- son who won the past two Super Bowls before parting ways with the Cowboys last spring is expected to join Long Bradshaw and "traffic James Brown on the Fox NFL Sunday panel every week 's a lively group to say the Long said all seem to gel pretty well I've seen certain situations that LF on-air talent is not comfortable if no chemistry not going to want to watch" Another innovation is the Skybox in which guest celebrities will watch the NFL games and proceedings from a loft in the Fox studio and engage in repartee with Brown Long Bradshaw and Johnson A demonstrated sports fen and quick wit like Crystal would be an ideal Skybox guest Fox officials figure But these things must be negotiated SUCCESSFUL FORMULA When it comes to actual game broadcasts between MaddenV flop sweat and arid delivery Fox knows it has a successful formula Fiddling with excitable Joe Fbotball analysis method "would be like putting frosting on the former Raiders coach says The blustery blubbery and popular Madden was the first major on-camera talent to abandon CBS for Fox after considering possibilities at NBC and ABC His new boss will pay him a Foxball the offspring of this odd coupling promises to change the way you watch your Cowboys Giants Uons and Bears in National Football Conference games No other network will have the $8 Million Sound Effect John Madden going "Boom!" in your living room this season The look of the Dallas-Pittsburgh featured game will not vary that much from the last game CBS aired the Dallas -San Francisco NFC Championship last January Why? With Madden longtime broadcast partner Pat Summerali executive producer Ed Goren and other Tiffany Network defectors running its football shows Fox Sports is in some ways reconstituted CBS But Fox needs that to appeal to a traditional football audience It fears has a low gimmick tolerance in game presentation Murdoch hopes this odd twopronged approach will spur his seven-year-old growth and perhaps anchor a successful bid for the world TV rights to the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games LARGE SPENDING CAMPAIGN Selling America on the Fax-NFL marriage is the first goal and the job of network marketing executive Dolgin who 10 years ago watched gelatin wiggle as a General Foods bigwig "We have mounted the largest-spending campaign the largest ever done to promote anything" Dolgin said before the Broncos-49ers preseason game Aug 12 Faxfe unofficial NFL debut appeal to young men teens kids women It's the greatest game in the world and going to tell them about it in unique ways" The dapper Murdoch a Rex Harrison lookalike in a pin-striped suit and with Henry demeanor knows the best sales pitch in the world is worthless without a quality product year going to be judged most of all on how we handle he said "This is a landmark thing for everybody For us and our Fox needs the NFL for credibility as it gains new affiliates and offers coverage to 98 per cent of the country The NFL which is commemorating its 75th year with a barrel of rule changes to inject scoring and excitement needs Fox's young core audience to assure viability Here is how Fox plans to seduce the NFL fan from NBC which owns RYPIEN: Cleveland quarterback Ont and Calgary-born quarterback Mark Rypien of the Cleveland Browns As well running back Tun Tindale of London is on the Bills' five-man developmental squad for the season There are a trio of familiar Canadian names that will not be in NFL lineups: former Queenb Golden Gaels star Mike Schad of Belleville Tyrone Williams of Toronto and Mo Elewonibi of Kamloops BC Wiliams a wide receiver who was drafted by Phoenix Cardinals in 1992 was waived by the Dallas Cowboys early 49ers out of Sanders sweepstakes Canadians make their mark in NFL marked to be the next Schwarzenegger in Hollywood as soon as he finds a script to his pleasing "I'm sure I'm being a picky son-of-a-bleep but got a wife and three kids got to think about I'm not interested in doing a shimmering moonlight through the Venetian blinds sweaty bodies type of movie I just want to blow stuff Long said without a trace of irony Ask him who was the better boss Raiders' control freak A1 Davis or his current employer Murdoch? "A1 paid a hell of a lot Long said What's life like beinga walking billboard for Fox? been nicer to more people the last four months than I have been in my entire life" he said do well it only helps I think Mayes stimulated alot of American college coaches to start scouting in Mayes from North Battleford Sask starred at Washington State University before moving on to play with the New Orleans Saints in 1986 He rushed for 1353 yards and eight touchdowns in his rookie season and spent three more seasons with the Saints before retiring A fallout of Mayes's success may have occurred at the training camp this year where five Canadians attended That group included Christie Phiiion Tindale Elewonibi and linebacker Glen Young of Scarborough who spent last year on the Los Angeles developmental squad "That was just a coincidence that we had so many Canadians" said Dwight Adams the director of player personnel for the Bills not scouting in Canada All of those players with the exception of Tindale played their university fbotball in the United States It was just a coincidence" the smaller-market American Football Conference ABC ESPN and the remote control THE BROADCASTERS Murdoch is Mz Fox Broadcasting But Long embodies what Foxball is and longs to be The 13-year former star defensive lineman is a rookie fulltime analyst for the hour-long Los Angeles-based studio pregame show Fox NFL Sunday Long is big brash unpredictable articulate At 6-foot-5 266 pounds he strides through Candlestick Park's walkways and mezzanines in milk chocolate brown oxfords and a midnight blue three-piece suit People envy or admire him the types of reactions that have Long ear in this summer was picked up by the Chicago Bears but was a last-day cut Schad a 30-year-old offensive lineman is on the injured reserve list of the Cleveland Browns with a tom left bicep He will not play this season but depending on the terms of his contract could receive his full salary Elewonibi was released In training camp by Washington Redskins and picked up on waivers by the Bills who released the offensive lineman when they cut down to 60 players University of Western Ontario coach Larry Haylor agrees with Christie that it's just a matter of time before more Canadian names start popping up on NFL rosters is no reason why athletically Canadians cannot compete it's a matter of Haylor said "There are more Canadians that we are recruiting and losing to American schools "Anumber of Canadians have always gone south but when you see people like Steve Christie and Reuben Mayes received offers that would pay him between $3 million and $4 million a year New Orleans was no longer in the running but at least two teams -Atlanta and Miami-were still awaiting a decision by Sanders Sanders played for Atlanta before becoming a free agent and it's been reported he will give the Falcons a chance to match offers in a bid to retain him Sanders also Cincinnati Reds outfielder used his free time during the baseball strike to visit prospective NFL employers He made the 49ers the first stop on his free agent tour watching the Aug 12 exhibition against Denver with Policy from a stadium box SANTA CLARA Calif The Associated Press The San Francisco 49ers pulled out of the bidding for free agent cor-nerback Deion Sanders saying salary cap constraints made it impossible to match or beat competing offers "Perhaps when the whole process started there might have been a glimmer of hope based on what we then thought would be the market" 49ers president Carmen Policy said yesterday "Rut after seeing the numbers that have been put on the table already we are just a third world nation trying to compete with the industrial super powers So out of it" The two-sport star reportedly has United Way Golf Tournament By Dave Rashford The Canadian Press The Canadians are coming the Canadians are coming and they're not carrying hockey sticks Eight Canadians are on NFL rosters with the season set to open tomorrow and kicker Steve Christie of the Buffalo Bills figures there will be more in future years pretty obvious that every year Canada is producing mure players who are suitable to the NFL said Christie who was born in Hamilton and grew up in Oakville Ont school football players in Canada are getting better and better That means more Canadians are getting football scholarships getting the proper training to play in the NFL I think it's great because everybody down here expects Canada to produce hockey Joining Christie in the NFL this season are defensive tackle Ed Phiiion of Essex Ont with Buffalo guard Bill Hitchcock of Kirkland Que and the Seattle Seahawks guard Ian Beckles of Montreal and Tampa Bay Buccaneers Philadelphia Eagles field goal kicker Eddie Murray of Halifax Eagles' punter Mitch Berger of North Delta BC San Francisco 49ers punter Klaus Wilmsmeyer of Mississauga Would like to acknowledge and thank the following for their contribution to the success of our Golf Tournament held on Friday August 26 at Rivendell Golf Course The Agencies we serve will benefit from your generosity STJOHN'S 1994 ANGLICAN HOCKEY REGISTRATION Algonquin Travel Ambassador Hotel Bagot Leather Goods The Bay Bank Of Montreal Blackburn Financial Camera Kingston Canada Life Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Canadian Shop Country Catering Centra G8S CFMK (CFFX 960) CFMK (963 Country FM) Chocolate Carousel Cocamo Cbles Books Kingston Community Credit Union Cornerstone Country Wide Kitchen Cunningham A Poupore Downtown Workout Drake International Empire Financial Group The Emporium Eskerod Signs Fancy That Fianselly Hair Frosty Muggins General Wolfe Hotel Gencarelli's Hair Styling Services Heritage Screencraft Hillebrand Estates Winery Howard Kingston A Islands Boatline KB Homes Kelly Services Kingston Dodge Chrysler Kingston Symphony MacKinnon Linda Manley Insurance Mexicali Rosa's Mike Mundell Surf A Turf Restaurant Money Matters Mortgage Merchant Lasalle Lifestyles Patterson Concrete Products Ltd Precision Mazda Preston Schiedel Photography Rivendell Golf Course Roots Rose A Crown Sax Bar A Restaurant Schnitzel Haus Sweeney Photography Tel Route Communications Toronto Dominion Bank ToucanKirkpatrick's The Whig Standard Whiskey Willy Boutique WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 7TH 6:00 7:30 pm ST JOHN'S ANGLICAN CHURCH Church Street ONLY THOSE BOYS WHO PLAY FOR ST SHOULD REGISTER FEES MUST BE PAID AT THIS TIME 4.