Riley Story So Hot McDonnell Claims He Got Burned on It

In the last few weeks, there has been a lot of speculation that Pat Riley will not be back next season as the Laker coach.

On May 23, KMPC’s Jim Healy said, “He’s Sayonara City.”

In this space two weeks ago, it was reported that it was a good possibility that Riley and Detroit Coach Chuck Daly would end up at NBC next season.

Last Sunday, Joe McDonnell, on his KFI talk show, reported that Riley and owner Jerry Buss had met and that Riley was gone. According to McDonnell, someone from KCBS called to ask about it.

That night on KCBS, Keith Olbermann had a report similar to McDonnell’s. Monday night, he repeated the story, but before going on the air, Olbermann had a station publicist call media outlets to alert them.

The next day, word of Olbermann’s report appeared in The Times and a news service story, and was mentioned on ESPN.

McDonnell called foul.

“He stole the story,” McDonnell said. “He didn’t have to give me credit by name, or even my station, but he could have at least mentioned, ‘According to a local radio report.’ ”

McDonnell said that Olbermann called him Wednesday.

“He admitted he had been tipped to the story by my report,” McDonnell said. “Yet he told me he didn’t have to give anyone else credit.

“He said, ‘Fred Roggin steals stories, not me.’ ”

Add feud: Olbermann was called for comment, but KCBS chose to have News Director Michael Singer respond. He said: “For Joe McDonnell to say Keith Olbermann stole his story is ludicrous . . . it’s preposterous slander.

“Keith is a journalist. He knows how to break a story. He had his own sources for his report. Doesn’t Joe McDonnell know how this business works?

“Keith Olbermann has broken more stories than anyone else in town. It’s great that other reporters in town are now breaking stories, but they have a long way to go to catch Keith.

“Joe McDonnell has never broken a story in his life.”

Responded McDonnell: “For Michael Singer to call Keith Olbermann a journalist is ludicrous. Ask Florence Griffith Joyner what she thinks of Keith as a journalist.

“After he accused her of being on steroids, and it was proven false, he should have been fired.

“Anytime he wants to compare exclusives, I’ll sit down with him.”

Riley probably is gone and will end up at NBC. One thing holding up an announcement is that NBC agreed not to name its commentators for next season until this one has concluded.

The NBA doesn’t want anything to detract from the championship series. Also, Daly is currently busy trying to win another title.

It should be noted here that Olbermann was right on the money Monday night with a report that an arbitration hearing had been called off and that Al Michaels would be back in the ABC fold within two or three days.

Add Michaels: According to USA Today, Michaels’ new contract with ABC will pay him $15 million over six years. Michaels’ old contract would have paid him an average of $2 million a year through 1993.

KCBS wasn’t doing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar any favors by putting him in a director’s chair during the NBA postgame show Tuesday. He appeared a little stiff anyway, and the set didn’t help. The chairs used Thursday were much more appropriate.

It’s obvious that Abdul-Jabbar needs more work before sending off audition tapes to NBC, but his questions are good. Better than the long-winded ones Tony Hernandez directed at Detroit’s John Salley after Game 1.

And someone should have told Portland’s Buck Williams Tuesday there wasn’t a game the next night.

Ratings game: No question CBS misses the Lakers. Game 1 got an 11.8 national Nielsen rating, the lowest rating for an NBA finals prime-time telecast since CBS began doing them in 1982. Last year, Game 1 drew a 14.0 national rating.

Oops Dept.: ESPN analyst Bill Robinson, a former outfielder with the New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates, was asked by John Saunders Wednesday night about pitchers retaliating.

Robinson, a little wound up, said hitters expected their pitchers to retaliate, and that if the pitcher didn’t, a player might “drop a foul ball, or do something to lose a game for the pitcher.”

During a commercial break, someone clued Robinson into what he had said, that he was talking about throwing a game.

“I’ve got a way of running off at the mouth,” Robinson said on the air.

Todd Christensen, new NBC football analyst, will probably be paired with Charlie Jones.

“I hope that’s the case,” Christensen said. “Charlie’s a great guy.”

Merlin Olsen, Jones’ partner last season, is close to signing with CBS.

Jones, by the way, makes his SportsChannel debut on tonight’s Angel telecast.

Add Christensen: He said one thing he would like to clear up is the perception of him as arrogant.

“For some reason, that adjective and me get put together,” he said.

“Maybe it’s because of my work on ‘Sportslook.’ When you’re a critic, you can’t come across as milquetoast.”

Christensen also will work as an NBC track commentator.

“It’s my favorite sport,” he said. “I grew up in Eugene (Ore.) and competed in track in high school.”

TV-Radio Notes

“Baseball’s Funniest Pranks,” produced by Steve Rotfeld and distributed by Berl Rotfeld, will be televised on Channel 7 Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Jay Johnstone is the host. It’s on opposite the NBA finals on CBS, but it may be worth taping.

Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda is featured in several segments. In one, he talks about putting the head of a roasted pig in former Dodger Steve Sax’s bed. Sax thought an angry fan had done it. Sax told Lasorda the thing that scared him the most were the eyes. “You’ve never seen anything like them,” Sax told Lasorda. The eyes were actually olives. In another segment, Lasorda talks about how, on April Fool’s Day, he told Chris Gwynn and John Wetteland they had been traded.

The Rotfelds, a Philadelphia father-son team who have shows all over the dial, will have specials about football and basketball pranks later in the year. Lyle Alzado will be the host of the football show, Charles Barkley and Rick Mahorn the co-hosts of the basketball show.

Don King and Bob Arum, working on a fight promotion together for the first time in 10 years, will appear on Prime Ticket’s “It’s Your Call” Wednesday at 6 p.m. to talk about the HBO June 16 doubleheader at Caesars Palace--Mike Tyson vs. Henry Tillman and George Foreman vs. Adilson Rodrigues. New Clipper Coach Mike Shuler will also appear. . . . Foreman will be Gabe Kaplan’s guest tonight on KLAC’s “Sportsnuts.”

On its boxing show next Tuesday night, the USA network will ask viewers to vote for the heavyweight fight they’d most like to see: Buster Douglas vs. Evander Holyfield, Douglas vs. Tyson, or Tyson vs. Foreman. The results will be announced the following Tuesday. . . . KCBS has announced the addition of a regular sports memorabilia segment to the Sunday night “Keith Olbermann Show.” Joining Olbermann will be Matt Federgreen, proprietor of the Beverly Hills Baseball Card shop.

A history lesson: CBS, which loses the NBA to NBC next season, has had the league since 1973-74. The first announcing team was Pat Summerall and Elgin Baylor. Baylor was fired in mid-season and replaced by Rick Barry. Hot Rod Hundley was the pregame host. The next season, Brent Musburger and Oscar Robertson were paired up. Robertson was a bust and was fired after the season. Jerry West was the backup commentator that season with Don Criqui.