BRAINY AND BEAUTIFUL LISA GUERRERO HAS A BRIGHT FUTURE IN SPORTSCASTING.

Byline: Tom Hoffarth

Best & Worst of L.A.'s sports media 

To make it as a female TV sports reporter, Lisa Guerrero was once told, she'd have to cut her hair, lose the makeup, wear neutral blue suits and, most important, don't smile too much.

But that would be acting, wouldn't it?

For someone who already had plenty of acting training with movie and TV experience, asked to enter this kind of business as if it's a pretend world wasn't going to cut it.

``I'm going to be myself, not play some role,'' said the KTTV Channel 11 sports reporter and fill-in anchor who has been with the station nearly a year after leaving KCBS Channel 2.

``This isn't acting. If I want to go out and do a story and be goofy and interview a bunch of drunk fans in a sports bar, I don't want to be pretending.''

It's tough enough for a woman to be accepted in a sports-TV world dominated by pretty-boy anchors and testosterone-juiced viewers, trying to interview immature athletes. But for Guerrero, working in a city where TV sportscasts are personality driven, the trick has been to get viewers looking past her incredible beauty to see she also has a personality, creativity and a grasp of what's going on.

She's got the whole package.

And since the former soap-opera vixen (Franchesca Vargas from ``Sunset Beach'') has put her acting career on hold in the midst of the season for shooting TV pilots, it's serious time to see how far she can go in the sports TV world.

``I love reporting and producing features and writing my own stories,'' she said, admitting she has no formal college training in writing. ``And with the live anchor spots, I like to talk right to the camera. And I'm getting that opportunity, so I'll take advantage of it.''

To L.A. viewers, her first break came as a part of KCBS Channel 2's expanded weekend sports shows, doing remote live interviews. Her sports- reporting background, however, goes back to Atlanta 10 years earlier, then to Boston, where she hosted a talk show for SportsChannel New England.

In '93, she returned to her native Southern California and worked with Fred Wallin's KMPC-AM morning show. For FIT TV, she was a health- and-fitness reporter.

But, yes, she could act.

Aside from the soap run (her character was killed off tragically about a half year before the show was canceled), Guerrero had the role of ``volunteer bimbo'' in the 1992 ``Batman Returns'' Michael Keaton movie, and also played beauty roles in Sandra Bullock's ``Love Potion No. 9'' and Steven Segal's ``Fire Down Below.''

As she juggled both careers, KCBS tried to get her to commit to a long- term contract last year, shortly after Sports Illustrated did a feature on her dual life. She considered the security a plus but eventually opted to keep her options open.

KTTV longtime sports anchor Rick Garcia heard about her leaving the station and within a week convinced news director Jose Rijos to hire her. With Guerrero's background in soaps, she said, ``I'm an easy target'' for critics of her sports-TV work. But Garcia saw through that.

``I wouldn't have pushed for her if I didn't think she brought a lot to the table,'' said Garcia. ``Women in this business often get unfairly put under the microscope and are often treated unfairly. They make one mistake and everyone comes down on them. That's why it's a joy to see someone like Lisa, who possesses a good knowledge of sports, succeed. People are always asking me about her wherever I go.

``When you hear a sports report delivered in soft voice from a beautiful woman, maybe we're not used to it. But I think she's able to pull it off.''

Now connected to the Fox family, Guerrero has also been able to pull off additional sports-related work. She's co-hosting a series for Fox Sports Net called ``Sports Geniuses,'' a smarter-than-average trivia game show that has been taping furiously the last few weeks and will begin a daily weekday run later next month.

And her writing, which has started with a column in the monthly Street Zebra publication, could expand to steady work for a major men's magazine.

All of which makes her run as a local TV sportscaster seem like a brief launching pad rather than a long-term assignment. Unfortunately.

``To be honest, there's a lot more out there for her than just being confined to do a few minutes of sports news each night,'' said Garcia, who had Guerrero sub in the anchor chair for him and Randy Kerdoon extensively during the month of December. ``People with her talent go on to bigger things.''

Which could mean a network sports assignment for Fox even before the NFL season rolls around again.

``I understand the pressure women sometimes have doing this,'' Guerrero said. ``It's TV, so looks are important. But some think women are trying too hard to be like one of the guys.

``I'm a sports chick - that's what I call myself - and I'm proud of it. I don't find that degrading at all.''

Just as long as she's able to pick out her own clothes, wear whatever makeup she wants, and smile as big a smile as possible all the way to bigger and better things.

THEY DO IT WITH STYLE --KNBC Channel 4: The nebbish Fred Roggin has cut and pasted a video career that runs on automatic pilot, especially during February sweeps. As long as Carlos Del Valle isn't a threat - and how can he be, as he continues to butcher names like a Benihana chef - the female-friendly Fred will flourish.

--KTTV Channel 11: Adding a bombshell like Lisa Guerrero to the mix with straight man Rick Garcia (who has been at the station 14 years) and the wacky Randy Kerdoon, and the Fox attitude comes through for the nonsports viewers. They can even throw in Gil Bellows (Billy from ``Ally McBeal'') and get away with it in this town.

--KABC Channel 7: As much trouble as Bill Weir stirs up, he draws attention with his dry humor that usually works. Curt Sandoval is a worthy accomplice andRob Fukuzaki has the weekend yelling part down.

THEY DO IT WITH SUBSTANCE --KCBS Channel 2: The Sports Central weekend team of Jim Hill, Bret Lewis, Steve Hartman and Kimiko T combination of high-profile, experience, opinions and womanly flair.

--KCAL Channel 9: You've got Alan Massengale as the front man, John Ireland doing the grunt work and Derrin Horton as a capable third wheel. Nothing flashy, just productive on a station that carries the most local live sporting events, which sets the tone for the sportscasts.

THEY DO . . . WHAT? --KCOP Channel 13: It's Michelle Bonner left to carry the banner. Bummer.

THEY DO IT WORST --KTLA Channel 5: On weeknights, when anyone's watching anymore, there's the veteran Tony Hernandez, who's been around longer than Hal Fishman's hairpiece. On weekends, Claudia Trejos, still in need of closed captioning, continues to embarrass the industry. And then Stu Nahan pops in for some crusty commentary. Adios, audience.

THEY'RE DOING IT NEXT --Fox Sports News: Expect some old faces (possibly Ed Arnold, Newy Scruggs or Bill Seward) in new places once this thing gets launched in the summer. It'll have an immediate local impact.

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo: (color) Not only has Lisa Guerrero excelled as a sports reporter for Channel 11, she's also co-hosting a sports-trivia show for Fox Sports Net.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer

Box: They do it with style (see text)