DOES THE MESSENGER REALLY MATTER?

Byline: TOM HOFFARTH

Some will call it cultural diversity. Others think of it more as equal representation. Mike Piazza might refer to it as another headache.

In the sports media, the subject of a level playing field comes up often enough, starting with a simple pronouncement like: Why aren't more (fill in the name of a minority group) doing play-by-play or analysis or studio work at the networks these days? We see progress on the local level but why not the big time?

Go ahead and listen to the lines of reasoning. They might even start to make sense.

Latinos, who will make up the second-largest ethnic group in the United States sometime near the year 2010, see only a handful of Latino-surnamed broadcasters - ESPN's Buck Martinez, CBS' Mary Carillo, boxing's Ferdie Pacheco - working on national English-language broadcasts. And there's only one - Florida Marlins' Joe Angel - doing play-by-play for a big-league team.

African-Americans, recognizing the importance of the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier, wonder if there's room for another Robin Roberts, James Brown or Joe Morgan.

If it's Asian-Pacific Heritage Month, it's time to look into how many Asian-Americans have been denied hefty network paychecks.

As for American-Eskimos . . . go ahead, name one.

Invariably, the first assumption is that not enough minority college students have been given the chance to break through.

Dr. Sherri Manzingo, who coordinates the broadcast-journalism sequence at USC's Annenberg School of Communications, disagrees.

``There are thousands of every color who go into journalism who want to be sportscasters,'' said Manzingo, who just sent a group of graduates into the world this spring. ``There are simply very few openings.''

She frequently receives calls from media employers asking for up-and-coming students. None, she says, ask for a particular race or gender. Manzingo knows why.

``Doors don't open for those who knock the loudest and say, `Let me in.' It's about being qualified . . . you must be qualified.''

WHAT'S IN A NAME

One of the problems Manzingo has with Latinos who bring up this topic is with those who base their complaint solely on surnames.

About 20 years ago, the trend in the media was to get broadcasters to Anglicize their names. These days, the opposite is happening.

Buck Martinez, ESPN's Wednesday night baseball analyst, said, ``I realize everything is so sensitive with minority issues, but I haven't really thought about it,'' when asked if he thought his name helped him in the business.

He said his surname comes from his father's Spanish heritage, but Martinez is half native California Indian as well. He also works for the Blue Jays in Toronto - ironically where French and English are the two languages. The only reason Martinez happens to speak Spanish is he played winter ball in Venezuela.

Rick DeReyes, the new Lancaster JetHawks radio broadcaster, remembers when he was at an El Paso TV station and the program director wanted him to change his name. He suggested ``Rick Dees'' or ``Rick Derenger'' - oblivious that there already was a popular disc jockey in Memphis, Tenn., (soon to make it big in L.A.) and a pop singer who already used those names.

DeReyes says ``DeReyes'' is fine with him.

Another Southern California broadcaster, who asked that his name be withheld, conveyed a story: When the local radio station hired him, his employers were actually disappointed to find out that he was Italian-American and not Latino. They then asked if he was interested in changing his name, which they considered rather difficult to pronounce on radio.

I guess so, he said. They offered him a Latino surname. He politely declined.

And where does the newest ESPN hiree, Reggie Jackson - whose proper name is Reginald Martinez Jackson - get pigeon-holed?

THE NETWORK STANCE

Fox Sports communications director Vince Wladika, when asked about minority hirings, gave an answer that's usually heard networkwide: ``It doesn't matter what race, creed or color the candidate is. We have the same qualifications on minorities as we have for anyone else. No one's treated different here.''

Adds CBS' LeslieAnne Wade: ``Our history speaks for itself. For example, Mary Carillo (who does both men's and women's tennis) is simply the best. (Reporter) Michelle Tafoya has Latino heritage - as if that matters.

``Maybe sometimes we've been at the forefront of hiring minorities. But that isn't the reason we're doing it.''

IN CONCLUSION

Manzingo will always try to help minority placement, but that's not what she feels is her true purpose.

``When we get into racial and ethnic distinctions, I get disturbed,'' she said. ``I really do. We need to stop with these kinds of issues based on units of background.

``As far as anyone saying there aren't enough of this or that . . . and I'm going to get in trouble here . . . they're showing a closed-minded stupidity I find totally intolerable and insidious. It reinforces attitudes and becomes a seed for perpetuating these attitudes in young people.''

In this melting pot of a country where Tiger Woods can make up a classification for himself, ethnic boundaries can't be as clear-cut as some would like, Manzingo said.

On top of that, there are way too many subjective variables involved in this kind of thinking, too. The least of which is: How many is ``not enough?''

``Journalists want to keep writing stories like this; it's narrow thinking and it doesn't work,'' said Manzingo. ``I have a Vietnamese student who doesn't think there are enough Vietnamese sportscasters. I tell him, `Then go be the first.'

``So maybe I can't name an Asian sportscaster, or a Samoan or a Liberian. But shouldn't we be looking at the bigger picture?''

Like the fact that Manzingo, who makes these educated assessments, happens to be an African-American woman.

SOUND BYTES

WHAT SMOKES

The pros and cons of the Tyson-Holyfield pay-per-per aftermath. Specificially, at the Federal Prison Camp in Boron. The facility out on Highway 395 was one of about 250 places in Southern California - the only non-sports-bar or restaurant, actually - that had a closed-circuit party for Tyson-Holyfield II. It charged the inmates a nominal fee so they could watch something other than ``Cops'' on a Saturday night. (Our stoolie on the inside tells us that even that audience thought Tyson's actions were criminal.)

The much-maligned (for all the right reasons) sideline reporter Jim Gray, who asked all the pointed questions that came out of his pointed head to Mike Tyson and his hyenas after the mauling. Y'know why Gray can get away with being the fearless guy sticking the mike into the teeth of our nation's hulking athletes? Because they'll look even worse if they kick in his feeble rear end. Gray just has to stay away from kids who steal home runs, bulked-up female Olympic swimmers and injured mascots.

WHAT CHOKES

Lawyers. Especially the one in San Francisco (we'll call him ``Trial and Error''), and the other one in Dallas (we'll call him ``Liar, Liar'') who've started loud, publicity-seeking class-action suits to get refunds on the Tyson-Holyfield fight. Knock off the nonsense. Life has no guarantees. If they'd been in Las Vegas, they'd still be chasing Holyfield's ambulance to the hospital.

Why didn't Tyson-Holyfield blow-by-blow announcer Steve Albert show more shock about the ultimate bite? Or should we direct this question to his brother, Marv?

Memo to Jim Hill: Continue hosting these pay-per-chew events for Don King and watch your credibility leave a bad taste in everyone's mouth.

Showtime executive producer Jay Larkin, who confidently boasted that even those nitwits charged on the ``pay-per-round'' formula by Cablevision would end up paying $50 for Tyson-Holyfield II. Three rounds at $9.95 equals. . .you do the math.

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Box

Photo: MARTINEZ

Box: SOUND BITES (see text)