TAKING THEIR PART IN `YARD' PLAY.

Byline: TOM HOFFARTH The Media

There's more Hollywood buzz these days about whether Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are really in love or just doing mushy photo ops as a publicity stunt. But there's no mistaking the relationship between the makers of the movie ``The Longest Yard'' and the sports media.

They are not just embedded, they're making each other's beds.

Adam Sandler's remake of the 1974 classic, which hits theaters nationwide today, has clearly targeted the sports-junkie audience through not-so-subliminal media channels. On the front end, the movie includes some of the country's top media heavyweights with key speaking roles. And on the backend, it's getting a slew of free publicity since many of those same skeptical sportscasters and writers who poo-poo'd the project when they first heard of it suddenly have softened their stance on it since they're directly involved.

Genius strategy, isn't it?

ESPN's parent company Disney has long used the synergy of its all-sports network to help promote its movies, but this time, it's Paramount Studios that have harnessed its forces. Chris Berman ends up with about 30 minutes of screen time doing play-by-play - complete with his inane nicknames and his trite signature ``he could go all the way'' phrases - during the climactic scene of the game between the prison guards and inmates that, for some reason, ESPN2 ``televises.''

Syndicated radio sports-talker and ESPN's ``Rome Is Burning'' host Jim Rome has about a 30-second cameo setting up the game. And those who pay close attention may recognize ESPN's Dan Patrick as one of the policemen who arrest Sandler's character, Paul Crewe, in the first 10 minutes.

So, it should hardly seem like an accident that both Rome and Patrick have landed Sandler, Chris Rock, Burt Reynolds, Nelly and other stars from the movie on their radio shows the past two weeks.

Or that Patrick moved his ESPN Radio show to Los Angeles for three days last week so he could attend the premiere at the Chinese Theatre and talk it up.

Or that Rome used Green Bay Packers receiver Javon Walker as a correspondent to cover the premiere for a humorous bit that aired on his ESPN show Wednesday.

Or even that Brian Bosworth, the former NFL player who hasn't done anything much newsworthy in years, appeared on ESPNews with Brian Kenny the other day for an eight-minute interview to chat up his ``therapeutic'' appearance in this flick playing a prison guard.

The media tie-ins were part of a well-conceived game plan by ``Yard'' producer Jack Giarraputo. Aside from bringing in ESPN, Giarraputo invited seven high-profile sports writers - including Sports Illustrated's Peter King, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Bryan Burwell and Fox Sports' Jay Glazer - to form what they called the ``Hack Pack.'' Every time they write about their experiences or discuss them on their own local radio shows, the movie receives more attention.

Chip Namias, president of Athlete & Event Sports Public Relations in Culver City and a media liaison for the project, said at the end of the day, a movie has to stand on its own. But it can only help that media members who appear in it help carry the message of the fun they had doing it, which will likely encourage others to see it for themselves.

``When the sports media get a chance to be in a movie like this, it's almost like a fantasy camp and they find it very interesting, and it sparks interest with the other sportswriters,'' said Namias, who also helped arrange special ``Yard'' screenings for NFL teams at their minicamps, which ends up getting covered as a news story by the local TV stations. ``When you can cut through the clutter and spur interest in a movie, it sure doesn't hurt.''

Rome says he didn't feel he compromised his credibility by appearing as himself in the movie, nor does he sense it's a stretch to have the stars on to help steer his listeners to his radio show as well as to the movie.

``I suppose the fact I'm in the movie and have a forum in which to talk it up, it's more likely they'll appear on the show, but plenty of actors who are sports fans know that we hit their target audience and they've come on the show in the past,'' said Rome, referring to Kurt Russell, Charlie Sheen, Angelina Jolie, Will Smith, Ice Cube, LL Cool J, Jimmy Fallon and Matt Damon as ``Jungle alums.''

``I don't feel 'used' for being invited to be in the movie. I get a bit role and it makes for good show fodder. And Sandler's a great get - I'd take that interview every day of the week.''

Cross-promoting with the sports media might not give a movie instant credibility, but at least there's acceptability that the viewer might not otherwise recognize. And recognizing the ESPN logo does help make it more real to some.

ESPN's first noticeable leap into movie making might have started with ``Jerry Maguire'' almost 10 years ago, using Roy Firestone's show, ``Up Close.'' Last year's comedy ``DodgeBall'' made up a new ESPN channel, The Ocho, to cover its climatic game, and the network loved the spoof.

Ron Semiao, ESPN Original Entertainment senior vice president said the risk/reward factor for the all-sports network allowing its brand to be incorporated into movies isn't really a tough call, even if the project receives poor reviews or doesn't do well at the box office.

``The movie isn't about us, we're just an element that adds authenticity and the only risk is how it's portrayed,'' said Semiao, in Toronto this week overseeing the EOE production of ``Four Minutes,'' about Roger Banister's record-breaking mile run in 1954. ``The reward is that it keeps ESPN in the social conscious of people out there, especially with the average fan that might see a personality he finds engaging and goes to their radio or TV show. Some worry that there can be overexposure with the brand, but I'm not sure that's the case.''

ESPN's intentional involvement with movies this summer also includes Disney's remake of ``Herbie: Fully Loaded,'' where lead actress Lindsay Lohan plays the role of an ESPN production assistant. There's an ESPN ``SportsCenter'' scene in the Cruise movie ``War of the Worlds,'' and more ESPN exposure in the ``Bad News Bears'' remake.

Maybe the Academy Awards won't have any Oscars ready for those involved in ``The Longest Yard.'' But with all this cross-mingling, it wouldn't be a reach for it to somehow garner an ESPN Award for ``Best Sports Movie'' later this year.

--Arrested developments: Patrick, who sports what he lovingly calls a ``porn mustache'' for his cop role in ``The Longest Yard,'' said the toughest part for his two minutes on screen was trying to keep up with Sanders' ad-libs take after take.

``Very little of what was on the written page made it on the screen,'' Patrick said. ``It's all improv for him once he got into his character. I didn't know how to react. He finally said, `Danny P., you're not on the TelePrompTer.' We might have had five or six takes, and each one was different. That's just how he works.''

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Photo:

ESPN's Chris Berman, right, ``calls'' the game between the prisoners and guards in ``The Longest Yard,'' out in theatres today. Actor Steve Reevis, as ``Baby Face Bob,'' is Berman's colorman in the movie.

Tracy Bennett/Paramount Pictures