The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 70

sports Home runs vs. touchdowns Face it: Contact Fans like to cheer individual feats is a major attraction 33 Joe Namath, shown In 1967, Is a football analyst for NBC. He was a star quarterback of the New York Jets (winner of Super Bowl III in 1969) and the Los Angeles Rams, 1965-77. Tim McCarver, shown as a player for the Phillies in 1967, to a baseball broadcaster for CBS, He was an All-Star catcher in SL Louis, Philadelphia, Montreal and Boston, 1959-80. I love to get to a stadium early when I'm broadcasting a game.

I watch the stands fill up the whole place comes to life. Football just has more excitement than baseball Fans and players have the whole week to get hyped up for the game, and that intensity shows at the stadium. Just check out the tension of players before a game. It's rock-'em, sock-'em football vs. la-di-da baseball.

Football players on the sidelines are nervous; if you've got a little bit of a brain at all, the chances of injury flash through your mind. (Some players say they don't think about it but they do.) There's nothing like this in baseball They're playing the organ before the game. It sounds awful. Let's face it: Contact is a major attraction. A good hit stirs everyone, men and women alike.

I know fans like to see that big hit, love to scream when it happens. They like the toughness. That's why (to an ex-football player), when injuries come up in baseball, you think that they're taking too many dives, that they're more concerned about coming back next year. Now, don't get me wrong. I like baseball.

I played it when I was growing up my hero was Roberto Cle-mente. But you have to be a die-hard fan for baseball What are there 162 games in baseball? (My wife once asked me: "When does the season start? Baseball has a way of reminding you that there's more to life than work. After all, football is played on the weekends, when everyone is off, but you can go catch a base-ball game in the middle of the week. That's terrific, because it offers a built-in work break. The game is full of great moments and memories that stand out more clearly than those in football.

Just look at what happens after a home run. Fans cheer to get a guy out of the dugout so they can express their thanks; the player comes out and tips his cap. Football has nothing like that Not only do football players not tip their helmets, they butt helmets. Ouch! Not a handshake, but a headshake. Baseball does have the Oakland A's bash (they smash each other's forearms after home runs), but, then, they're all big enough to be football players.

Anyway, there's also something about a pennant race that captures us. Football's "division race" just doesn't have the same ring to it I don't remember taking a radio around with me when I was a kid to listen to a division race in football. But there was an urgent need to take a radio when a pennant race was going on. Football memories yes, I am a big football fan, too are lumped into a mass, as football players are. When you think of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the late 70s, you think of their four Super Bowl wins, right? But when you think of the Giants in '51, you think of one momentous occasion: Bobby Thomson's home run.

And you can almost hear sportscaster Russ Hodges shouting: "The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!" There's so much more individuality in baseball and that pays off for the fans. For instance, I have all the respect in the world for interior linemen, but how many people who go to a football game really can see what an interior lineman does? Everybody can sec what a shortstop does. It seems women like baseball better because they can see the players' faces. There's an appeal in seeing faces. In football, it's all armor and padding.

Even the pace of a baseball game is much more in tune with relaxation. Summertime is leisure time, and baseball reflects that How many people do you know who say, "I think I'll take off from Nov. 5 to Nov. No they take two weeks in the summer. Baseball blends into our everyday lives better than football.

Football games are big events, while baseball has a more natural feel, because it's played day in and day out like life. When does it I just can't keep interested over the long haul. I really don't get interested until it reaches the playoffs and the World Series. Football has a fast tempo and fewer games so each game means more. And I think many fans are attracted to it because it's more team-oriented than baseball a "we" rather than an sport One star, even if it's Broadway Joe, isn't going to do much of anything without the other guys.

I believe football players have more camaraderie as a result That comes across to the fans. Another thing about football fans: They're also tough. There are nice days in October and early November to be in the stadium. But then, late November into December, it's not so pleasant When I was growing up, I was a fan of (Baltimore quarterback) Johnny Un-itas. I was even nicknamed Joey and wore his number, 19.

I'm sure there are kids now who've made a hero of another Joe Joe Montana. His performances in the Super Bowls are something every fan is going to remember. There's something special when an individual stands out in a team sport. Stories with Jonathan Walters and BillAlthaus Bo knows Bo Jackson scampers after fly balls for the Kansas City Royals and for touchdowns for the Los Angeles Raiders so of which sport is he a bigger fan? "Baseball and football are business to me. If I'm home on a Sunday afternoon, the TV will be tuned to the Discovery Channel.

I don't know anyone who spends their free time watching their business on TV. I'd rather be fishing or hunting." 14 USA WEEKEND Septtmber 7-9, 1990.