Half the battle of being good on TV comes from being yourself. That’s why NBC studio analyst Tom Tolbert is a keeper.
After Jayson Williams lost his job due to his legal problems, Tolbert moved into the analyst seat and quickly made it his own.
The relaxed Tolbert is so good that ABC/ESPN is strongly considering him an analyst on its NBA package, which begins next year.
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ESPN boxing analyst Max Kellerman, from lower Manhattan, has a different slant on the recent flap involving Mike Tyson and CNN reporter Josie Karp.
Kellerman doesn’t defend Tyson, but insists that “perceived rudeness” led the ex-champ to tell Karp, “I normally don’t do interviews with women unless I fornicate with them. So you shouldn’t talk anymore.”
While covering Iron Mike in Hawaii, Kellerman started plain-talking Tyson during a group interview. That led to the pair’s SportsCenter Sunday Conversation.
During Tyson and Kellerman’s byplay, Karp (not inappropriately) chimed in with a question. Tyson told her she was talking out of turn before adding his vulgar comments.
“My feeling was that I had just seen Hannibal Lecter reacting to some perceived rudeness,” Kellerman said.
Kellerman, 28, has a thing for film as well as boxing. He wants to be an actor and has a supporting role in a pilot that’s being shopped to networks. He and his brother also have written a screenplay, tentatively titled “Murder, Mayhem and Extortion.”
When Kellerman graduated from Columbia, he didn’t want to wait tables. So instead, he turned his public-access boxing show into a job at ESPN. He recently turned down working ESPN’s Tuesday night fight gig because he didn’t want the travel to mess with his other endeavors.
Instead, he works Friday Night Fights on ESPN2 – a duty he relishes.
“Remember when Norm from ‘Cheers’ got a job as a beer taster?” Kellerman said. “I got a job tasting beer.”
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NBC will announce next week that Bob Costas is staying with the network. He’s getting a new multi-million-dollar deal.
Costas will host his fifth Olympics in Athens in 2004. NBC owns the Olympic rights through 2008. By the time NBC’s deal ends, Costas will have hosted seven Games. Jim McKay was the main host or co-host for 12 Olympiads, dating back to 1960.
Costas already has added to his HBO duties. He will host “Inside the NFL” with analysts Dan Marino and Cris Collinsworth.
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From now on, wrestling fans will notice something different when they tune in. The WWF is now the WWE – World Wrestling Entertainment.
Last year in a London court, the World Wildlife Fund won the rights to the WWF initials. This week, the wrestling federation changed its call letters so it can promote itself worldwide unencumbered.
Until an alternative is found, it will still be traded as the WWF on the NYSE.