P.S.: FURILLO IS GOING STRONG; LONGTIME JOURNALIST, TALK-SHOW HOST HASN'T LOST TOUCH WITH L.A.

Byline: TOM HOFFARTH The Media

It's a month before his 73rd birthday - ``you could've got odds of 1,000 to 1 on that happening,'' he admits - so of course Bud Furillo has considered retiring.

``I was going to hang it up last May,'' he said.

And this city would be about as good a place to do it as any.

But then Furillo wakes up at his home in nearby Palm Desert, reads the sports sections in his den with his dog, Rip, and the enthusiasm that propelled him through more than a half-century of a career in sports journalism starts all over again.

He simply can't wait to drive over to the radio studios of KPSI, 920 on the AM dial, and start prepping for his weekday, 4 to 6 p.m. sports-talk show.

``It's the highlight of my day,'' said Furillo, who's been doing his show in Palm Springs for four years, with the last 5-1/2 months at KPSI.

He then qualifies his statement: ``It's the best thing I do all day.''

From Furillo, you won't get any smack talk, no blathering on about what's wrong with sports today from the mouth of someone who's been there and done that. Just as he did in his 10 years as the ``SportsTalk'' host of KABC's popular show in the '70s and '80s, Furillo keeps his ``Steam Room'' show more on the lighter side.

``There's too much negativity in today's media anyway,'' said Furillo, who started as a sportswriter in 1945 and considers himself to this day as a newspaper man. ``Nothing positive comes from negative thinking. And people still like to read nice things about people.''

With 39-year-old producer/co-host Steve Kelly to bounce off of, Furillo pulls it off. But it doesn't mean Furillo ignores current affairs.

On his shows this past week, in fact, the Dodgers have been a topic almost as hot as the weather.

Monday, Furillo interviewed former Dodgers general manager Fred Claire, who said he was asked about firing then-manager Bill Russell by team president Bob Graziano right after the blockbuster deal with the Florida Marlins. Claire said he thought it was better to let things settle down and then talk about it around the All-Star break. Soon enough, Russell and Claire were fired.

Claire also admitted he didn't consider a trade for Cincinnati reliever Jeff Shaw specifically because of his multi-year contract that allows him to demand a trade. Claire said that's what happened several years ago when he obtained Jesse Orosco from the New York Mets.

Tuesday, current GM-in-training Tom Lasorda came on, and Furillo asked him about his relationship with Russell. Lasorda admitted he's upset because Russell never thanked him for recommending him for the manager's job when Lasorda stepped down in the middle of the '96 season.

Wednesday, Graziano was Furillo's guest. Graziano admitted that the team had seriously considered firing Russell last season.

Hear any of that kind of stuff on L.A. sports talk shows?

Even in Palm Springs, L.A. sports are the talk of the town.

``This city is full of former L.A. residents who want to keep up on what's going on,'' said Furillo, who, when let go from KABC in '87 because of ratings, went to work in Sacramento, where he'd be closer to his ailing mother.

Although Furillo returns to L.A. occasionally - he'll be in Anaheim next week to see the Yankees, and has plans to attend USC's football opener against Purdue in August - his health prevents him from making more visits.

``You know me - nobody loved L.A. more than I did when I was there,'' said the legendary bombastic sports editor of the former Los Angeles Herald Examiner from 1967 to '74.

``And I think it's a tragedy that no one seems to care about the history of L.A. sports anymore. I find it offensive that no one seems to have a sense of that city.

``There is no `now' without a `then,' and nobody knows that anymore.''

But as long as Furillo has a voice - even if it's in Palm Springs, where on a good night the signal from the 5,000-watt station gets all the way down to Rialto - he'll make sure no one forgets.

BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. . .

Six weeks before the first ``Monday Night Football'' game, ESPN starts ``Monday Night Countdown'' this Monday (4:30 p.m.) and ESPN2's ``NFL 2Night'' starts the next day (4:30 p.m.), featuring Sean Salisbury as one of the studio analysts. . . . ESPN's first NFL game coverage is Saturday, Aug. 1, with a Green Bay-Kansas City exhibition. . . .

Summer Sanders replaces Willow Bay as Ahmad Rashad's co-host on ``NBA Inside Stuff,'' starting Saturday.

SOUND BYTES

By Tom Hoffarth E-mail: sptmediaaol.com

WHAT SMOKES

Diane K. Shah's almost-all-access piece on the Tom Lasorda-run Dodgers in the current issue of ESPN The Magazine.

``Baseball is back,'' declares the cover story of Time magazine's July 27 issue, with cartoons of Ken Griffey Jr. and Mark McGwire. Just in time for that subscriber push at sister publication Sports Illustrated.

CBS announces its new NFL broadcast pairings for the fall. They are. . . you know, why not have them just fax the press release to you like they do to every other panting sports media writer, OK? Our calendar says it's still July. Call us in September.

WHAT CHOKES

The downside of televising live press conferences past the opening remarks. Take Wednesday's ESPNEWS break-in coverage of Carmen Policy's resignation as the 49ers president (which, on ESPN2, interrupted a very important taped AMA motocross race). With viewers unable to hear the questions coming off camera, our TV shows us Policy and his former boss sitting at a table with a glass of water and blank looks on their faces. Then they utter things like: ``No.'' Or: ``That wasn't part of our thinking.'' And: ``You'd have to ask him about that.'' And then: ``To answer the first part, maybe, but I can't get into that right now.'' Compelling TV? You know the answer to that one.

WHAT SMOKED ON LOCAL TV

The top 10 Nielsen-rated sports events (with their share numbers) on L.A. television from July 16-22:

Event Date Station Rt/Sh.x

British Open July 19 KABC 6.2/21

Dodgers-Cincinnati July 20 KTLA 5.8/10

British Open July 18 KABC 4.4/14

Dodgers-St. Louis July 18 FOX 4.0/11

Dodgers-St. Louis July 17 KTLA 4.0/9

Goodwill Games July 19 KCBS 2.8/7

Senior PGA Ameritech Open July 19 KCBS 2.7/7

Angels-Minnesota Twins July 21 KCAL 2.7/6

Pep Boys 400K Auto Racing July 19 KCBS 2.4/6

CART Molson Indy Toronto July 19 KABC 2.1/6

x-One rating point equals 50,092 TV homes in Los Angeles; a share is the percentage of all TV sets in use at that time.

CAPTION(S):

2 Boxes

Box: (1) SOUND BYTES (See Text)

(2) WHAT SMOKED ON LOCAL TV (See Text)