HOW THE OTHER SIDE LIVES : NBC'S MICHAELS GOES IN PURSUIT OF HIS OLYMPIC STORIES.

Byline: Tom Hoffarth

It's no stretch for David Michaels to be producing the gymnastics events for NBC's Atlanta Games Olympic coverage.

In the last two months, though, Michaels has been stretched across the other side of the world - specifically, China, Romania and Belarus, which are not quite the most popular Delta destinations - to collect feature material for the network's story-telling intensive Atlanta Games coverage that will start July 19.

And he's had to learn how to survive like the ultimate Boy Scout. You have to learn to live off Skippy peanut butter and Underwood deviled ham on crackers in a country where you're not even sure any more if it officially exists.

Gymnastics, which promises to be the most TV viewer-crazed event of the Summer Games, is a priority on NBC's prime-time showcase. At the '92 Barcelona Games, the women's gymnastics were on four nights. This time, it's six nights.

Michaels, who produced NBC's gymnastics four years ago and usually handles such network events as the Breeders' Cup and beach volleyball, knew what had to be done.

With a handful of NBC technical crew, Michaels spent two weeks in China in late April and early May, came home to his family in Agoura for six days (``luckily, they didn't change the locks,'' he said), then went off to Romania and the former Soviet-bloc Republic of Belarus to gather intimate features on gymnasts from those countries.

The first trick was getting each country to allow him in. Many fear negative publicity.

The final trick was getting out with all his stuff.

In China, Michaels' goal was to get past how Americans perceive the Chinese athletes and find the human element.

Michaels found Li Ning, a Chinese star from the '84 L.A. Games, who directed him to a gym by his name in - of all places - Chatsworth that is run by his coach, Ming Ming Yang. The coach guided Michaels to the proper Chinese authorities so requests for access could be faxed. After three weeks, just when Michaels was about to give up, the access was granted.

``China is not a monolithic thing that looks to get medals at all costs,'' said Michaels. ``We needed access to parents and family. We ended up getting free rein in the gyms there. No one had asked to do this before, so they took me seriously.''

In Romania, the focus was again how the athletes functioned within the system. A five-night stay at the gymnasts training school in Transylvania was something Michaels called ``tremendous access.''

Off to nearby Belarus, a republic about the size of Minnesota with 10 million people that gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1992, where the attention was on Vitaly Scherbo, the men's all-around champion from '92 who won six gold medals as part of the Unified Team.

While living in State College, Pa., after the '92 Games, Scherbo's wife was in a near-fatal auto accident and went into a coma. Scherbo quit the sport. When his wife regained consciousness, she urged him to return to competition. Two months ago, Scherbo went back to Belarus for more intense training.

Michaels' crew took two days to get from Bucharest to the Minsk International Airport in Belarus via car, train and plane. But there, a customs official insisted they had the wrong visas and impounded the NBC technical equipment.

After two days of frustrated panic, Michaels reached Scherbo by phone to explain the predicament. Scherbo angrily phoned the country's minister of sports at home. By the time Michaels retrieved the equipment, it was 4 p.m. on a Monday - and he had to leave the next day.

Somehow, it got done. And all the while, Michaels and the crew somewhat lived on the aforementioned rations of peanut butter and deviled ham.

Because he fears putting the stories together too early will ruin the freshness of them, Michaels won't edit these personal profile pieces until just about a day before they air.

``When you do them too early, you miss the real important parts - especially in the last 24 hours,'' Michaels said. ``I like to put the stories together about 48 hours before they run, much to the chagrin of the people who get worried about such things.''

This weekend, Michaels' travels are be a bit more tame. He's in Knoxville, Tenn., for the U.S. Gymnastics Championships. On June 28, he's in Boston for NBC's coverage of the U.S. Olympic trials.

``I already feel beaten to a pulp,'' admitted Michaels, the younger brother of ABC's Al Michaels, ``but the one thing I've learned around Olympic time is that it's important to pick out the stories myself and have first-hand knowledge about them.

``You can't send minions out to do these. This was very intense, but very necessary.''

Meltdown: Fox may have the puck that glows. But ESPN has the broadcaster that can go nuclear.

A bootleg tape going around the Bristol, Conn., satellite dish farm documents an off-camera moment between play-by-play man Gary Thorne and analyst Bill Clement during the Pittsburgh-New York Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Thorne, whose play-calling can be as painfully overbearing as a jackhammer and his propensity to err rivals a rookie goaltender, made a reference to New York's Sergio Momesso.

Except Thorne pronounced his name ``mimosa,'' as in the tropical drink.

``Sounds like you're ready to take a vacation,'' Clement joked before going into a commercial.

During the break, those in the production truck heard Thorne blow a fuse, shouting an obscenity at Clement followed by a loud slam. After a moment of silence, Clement asks if the truck can send in a new headset because ``Gary just broke his throwing it at me.''

Clement, prior to Thursday's Florida-Colorado telecast, called the incident ``unfortunate that many (ESPN) people heard it'' and the two have talked it out.

``Gary hadn't had a day off in a long time because he was still doing baseball, and it was just one of those stress-release things,'' Clement said. ``It's got out of proportion. I think we're doing our best work now.''

They had to be Thursday. The kids were watching.

The Dead Zone: Enough about Fox boss David Hill's ``no dead guy'' edict for baseball announcers. It ain't going to work as long as Tim McCarver grapples with the idea of thinking before he has to speak.

On Saturday's Dodgers-Mets debut telecast, McCarver made a reference to the fact Tommy Lasorda has been the Dodgers manager for the last 21 years, and the team has had only two managers in the last 43 years. The other skipper? Walter Alston.

Let's see . . . Alston.

Dead guy.

McCarver bit his tongue and never mentioned Alston's name.

In the fourth inning, partner Joe Buck noted that the Dodgers' Delino DeShields runs pigeon-toed like his hero, Jackie Robinson (as if the young Buck would know).

McCarver pounced on the corpses like Bela Lugosi: ``And Tommy Tresh used to run like Mickey Mantle, and Marv Throneberry . . .''

Dead-guy count: Four.

Fox's game for the L.A. market Saturday is Atlanta-Colorado. Thom Brennaman and Bob Brenly give it their best shot.

STATION BREAK Try these on for size:

What smokes 1. Bob Arum achieving some personal ultimate glory by redirecting tonight's Oscar De La Hoya-Julio Cesar Chavez grande pelia into the closed-circuit beerhalls instead of allowing the mainstream pay-per-view money-grubbers to gorge on it. Not that Arum's ethics are anything above standards in the slimy, creepy, crawly business of boxing. Not that the PPV people don't deserve to reap the rewards. It's just cool that Arum can make Don King's hair stand on end even more than usual.

2. Comparing NBA TV ratings to the NHL's. NBC's NBA Game 1 had a 16.8 rating/31 share nationally, reaching 48 million viewers - the most-watched game in the history of the championship series. L.A. topped the average with a a 21.3/35 mark, and Seattle (39.0/65) and Chicago (46.9/65) were Super Bowl-type numbers. The NHL Game 1 final on Fox was 3.7/7 - an all-time hockey high. L.A. matched that. Denver (28.3/48) and Miami (22.7/35) showed a big following as well.

3. Prime Sports West, which raised $185,000 for the Southern California Special Olympics from a charity golf event last month. It will also produce a one-hour Summer Games special for August and, later this month, televise a documentary called ``Let Me Be Brave'' about 12 mentally disabled California athletes who attempted to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.

What chokes 1. KNBC (Channel 4)'s Fritz and Fred Olympics spots. You could see this coming a mile away - the weather guy and the sports guy do the Smothers Brothers routine, appealing to the lowest common denominator. But didn't anyone think to tell Roggin a) he could lose a few rungs around his trunk before he puts on that tank top and b) as a substance abuse rehabber, it might not be a such great idea to have white powder - albeit chalk - tossed all over his face for comedic effect.

2. Todd Christensen's attempt to iron out his image. It's embarrassing enough that NBC Sports' former NFL hyperbolic golden boy has found new employment doing Arena Football on ESPN2. (At least it's not ``American Gladiators.'') But tune in some weekend night to check out his new hairdo. The wet, frolicking curls have been relaxed, straightened, darkened, blowdried and laminated into something that looks like a selection from the Marv Albert Rug-of-the-Month Club. Not even Christensen has the appro adjective for this thing.

3. Harry Caray's appearance on 7-Eleven commercials. The Cubs Hall of Famer is downing a Big Gulp (of what?) while shoveling down a Big Bite hot dog. Great diet for someone's who's had a recent stroke.

4. For a price, John Madden will bus your logo around the country. Outback Steakhouses has bought sponsorship on the ``Madden Cruiser'' that hauls the Fox NFL analyst to his cities of choice. Madden, of course, rides the bus because of his fear of flying. Meaning he's a chicken when it comes to flying. Meaning you've got a chicken endorsing steak.

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