Columnist Tim Graham: New conference network prompts changes at UNLV

Tim Graham

Wednesday, May 5, 1999 | 11:55 a.m.

Tim Graham's media notebook appears Wednesday. His page 1 column appears Thursday. Reach him at tim@lasvegassun.com or 259-4078.

The Mountain West Conference regional television deal still hasn't been finalized, but that hasn't stopped UNLV from preparing for the network to come together.

"It's getting late in the game and we need to move forward," UNLV athletic director Charlie Cavagnaro said. "I would like to have had (the network deal) done two months ago, but I'm hoping it gets done in the next two weeks."

With the new network eventually taking over all production, there is less work for UNLV. As a result, broadcast manager Tony Cordasco has been let go and his position phased out. Cordasco's role also included TV advertising sales.

Cordasco, however, likely will remain the Rebels' football play-by-play voice. The UNLV grad has broadcast Rebel football and basketball games in some capacity since 1988. He was hired as broadcast manager three years ago.

Also in the works is a transfer of the sports marketing department from under the Thomas & Mack Center umbrella, where it started three years ago, to the athletic department. That means the T&M no longer will be in control of UNLV broadcasts as in the past.

Because the new regional network pays each of the eight Mountain West schools a guaranteed rights fee -- directly to the athletic department -- the T&M's help was no longer needed in that area.

The transition of sports marketing also allows it to incorporate fund-raising plans and Olympic sports into UNLV's strategy, while maintaining the ticketing and promotions plans previously handled under the T&M.

The regional network currently is known as the Blue & White Network, a Salt Lake City-based company that has syndicated Brigham Young broadcasts nationwide for 15 years. The network's name is expected to be changed, but not to Mountain West Sports Network as originally planned.

ESPN, the conference's national TV rights holder, objected to that name. ESPN claimed it would devalue its seven-year, $48 million investment by leading viewers to believe there was no better place to watch Mountain West games.

Delays in the regional network's creation also have stemmed from the definition of sponsorships between it and ESPN.

"Any time you mesh a national package with a local and a regional package, you'll have to work things out, mainly over sales," Cavagnaro said. "It's all about stating who can sell what to whom, where and at what time.

"ESPN bought the right to be involved in this process, and it just took a while to get it moving forward."

In a related note, UNLV has decided to retain its radio broadcast rights.

"In the initial stages there was conversation to pool everyone's radio," Cavagnaro said. "That idea was abandoned. I don't foresee any major changes from that standpoint. Radio will be business as usual."

UNLV could have sold its rights to an independent production company, but Cavagnaro claimed it is too late to pull off such a deal. Besides, about 80 percent of radio advertising already has been sold, according to a university source.

Cordasco won't be the only member of the Rebel broadcast crew coming back. Football analyst Hunkie Cooper is expected to return, as is the basketball tandem of Ken Korach and Glen Gondrezick.

* NO SPORTS, NO COMMENT: KVBC Channel 3's daring decision to drop sports from its weeknight newscasts could turn news director Mike George into a genius or be his Waterloo.

Either way, George has chosen to refrain from explaining the station's line of thinking. He did not return calls for the original story that appeared in Friday's Sun, and when reached Tuesday for another chance to go on the record, he shied away.

"There's been a lot that's been played out in the newspaper right now, so I really don't want to get into it anymore," George said. "I'm not going to comment."

Channel 3 will retain sports director Andrew Smith, who will cover major sports stories (e.g. UNLV, boxing, National Finals Rodeo) for the general newscast and anchor weekend segments once the change is made, likely in August.

Gone, however, will be backup Brian Lippai and sports producer Rick Strasser when their contracts run out.

* MAYNE ATTRACTION: The John Robinson Celebrity Invitational golf outing last weekend turned into quite a media event. The tournament field featured several prominent sportscasters, and national talk syndicator Sports Fan Radio Network broadcast live Saturday outside the No. 2 tee box.

ESPN "SportsCenter" anchor Kenny Mayne, a former UNLV quarterback, was the star of the show, garnering more attention than Fox Sports NFL analysts John Madden and Ronnie Lott.

At the ensuing auction fund-raiser, Madded helped pad Robinson's war chest by driving home with a few items in his famous touring bus, the Madden Cruiser.

The event brought in $101,000.

* STATIC: The Las Vegas Coyotes of Roller Hockey International officially named Tim Neverett their play-by-play announcer on Tuesday. ... ESPN sued Major League Baseball on Tuesday to prevent the league from terminating its $40 million-a-year contract at the end of the year. The deal is supposed to last three more years. MLB is upset because ESPN wants to move three September games to ESPN2 -- available in 11.7 million fewer homes -- to accommodate Sunday night NFL games. ESPN's deal with the NFL is worth $4.8 billion. ... Ratings are down 18 percent for the Stanley Cup playoffs on Fox. In two weekends of regional broadcasts, the network has drawn a paltry 1.8 overnight rating, down from 2.2 last year. ... HBO Sports has started production of "Fists of Freedom: The Story of the 1968 Summer Games," which debuts Aug. 12. The documentary recounts one of the most powerful moments in sports history, when U.S. track runners John Carlos and Tommie Smith raised their gloved fists on the victory stand in Mexico City to show black power.