IS IT A BLACK-AND-WHITE ISSUE?

Byline: TOM HOFFARTH MEDIA

Even before the media crush begins next week for Super Bowl XLI, there've been some intriguing storylines churning out about head coaches Tony Dungy of Indianapolis and Chicago's Lovie Smith.

Their relationship. Their accomplishments. Their coaching styles.

Oh, and the fact this is the firsttime in Super Bowl history that not one, but two black coaches have made it in.

No kiddin?

A Google search for the phrase ``first black Super Bowl coach'' turns up more than 4,000 news story references already in the data bank. Wait'll next week when the focus goes up 4,000 percent.

``Anyone who doesn't think the first black coach leading a ballclub to the Super Bowl is a big deal ... is ignorant,'' writes Kareem Copeland in the Hattiesburg (Miss.) American.

So let the debate begin. That could end up being more interesting media fodder than the actual stories written about the importance of this Tony- Lovie achievement.

When asked how important this storyline should be, CBS' Sterling Sharpe and James Brown, the twoblack voices on the NFL pregame show for the network that's covering the game, gave their spin during a conference call with reporters this week.

``Tony and Lovie will embrace it,'' Sharpe said. ``They're proud of what they accomplished. Not that they're black -- because being black, that's not an accomplishment. They had no choice in that. It's being proud of what they've been able to accomplish in the same year. The downside is they're best friends and one will lose. As good a story as it is now, it'll end badly for one of them later.''

Brown, who returned to CBS after a well-received run as Fox's pregame host and helped the network actually win a few weeks of ratings, says that from a personal standpoint he's ``never dwelled on my blackness, if you will, as much as I've tried to make certain I executed what I did in an excellent fashion, and hoped that resonated strongly and opened some doors as well. I think (Smith and Dungy) are thinking the same thing.

``I'm kind of curious to see how the dialogue will take place now that it's forced into the national landscape. It'll be fascinating to see various viewpoints that will be articulated. We so often hear the expression that `We'd be glad to get past this point where it's of any significance.' I think (former Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson) said it best when `You can't get past it until you get past it.' And we haven't got past it yet.

``I wrote an editorial for The Sporting News radio where I talked about the milestone that will occur in Super Bowl XLI and failed to mention the fact that they were black, because to me, it's insignificant, on one hand. However, many societal shifts don't take place until people can see it in front of them and embrace what the significance of that is. Sports have led the way so many times in that regard.

``I don't think we could have two better representatives than Lovie and Tony, having seen what they went through to become a head coach and how they've handled themselves in the media. I'm loving what's taking place now.''

Then there's Dwight Lewis, a black columnist for the Tennessean, who looked at this topic as a way to cite evidence that very few black journalists or sports-talk radio hosts are even covering the NFL anymore.

C'mon. Stay on course here. There are plenty of angles to take in this debut. And those who see this only as a black-and-white media issue have only begun to hash it all out.

Nantz's wish: To hug it out with actor Piven

Smokin' aces, did actor Jeremy Piven pull off a immitation of CBS play-by-play man Jim Nantz on last week's ``Saturday Night Live,'' enough so that the real Nantz had to doubletake.

``Man, there is a resemblance ... I finally found my long lost twin,'' Nantz said Wednesday from the CBS compound at Torrey Pines, where he joins the network in broadcasting the last two days of the PGA Tour's Buick Invitational.

Nantz, who missed the ``SNL'' episode because he turned in early Saturday in preparation for calling Sunday's AFC Indianapolis-New England title game, said he knew something was up when he received a bunch of voice messages and e-mails that morning.

The gist of the sketch: Nantz (Piven) is with Phil Simms (Jason Sudeikis) doing the AFC title game, and they invite teenager Danny Hoover (Andy Samberg) as a ``Make-A-Wish'' guest into the booth. Hoover begins interjecting the phrase ``That'll move the chains!'' incorrectly enough to where Nantz is finally so frustrated, he asks Danny what his disease is. When told it was ``ADD,'' Nantz goes from mild-mannered to incensed.

``If you're going to mess with the integrity of the game, you think you'd have an actual illness!'' he yells. ``Not attention deficit disorder, like every other kid in America. Thanks for wasting America's time, Danny. Nice job. Why don't you fulfill my wish and get out!''

Nantz, when told that Danny's illness is actually called ``Automatic Death Disease,'' feels bad and tells Danny to take over the broadcast. Danny mangles another call before, well, Automatic Death kicks in.

The real Nantz, who'll do the play-by-play on CBS' coverage of Super Bowl XLI next Sunday, finally saw the four-minute skit on a YouTube.com link (which has since been taken down because of NBC copyright issues).

``I brought my 12-year old daughter Caroline over to see it -- she of course had been hearing in school that her dad has been parodied -- and she thought it was quite funny,'' said Nantz, once played by Kevin Nealon on ``SNL'' years ago.

``Piven has always been one of my favorite guys -- I've rooted for him as an actor since he gave that great best-man speech in `Serendipity.' His character in that movie talking a mile a minute reminded me of the many high-intensity folks I work with in television. All in all I was honored, and hopefully I can track down Jeremy and say thanks.''

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, 2 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- 2) Tony Dungy, left, and Lovie Smith have a lot in common, and that's already been the focus of stories a week before Super Bowl XLI.

Photo left: Al Behrman/Associated Press. Photo right: Alex Brandon/Associated Press.

(3) NANTZ

Box:

(1) WHAT SMOKES

(2) WHAT CHOKES