Wednesday, March 12, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Opinions are like belly buttons. Everybody has one and they're not good for anything.
But there are these three guys in Bristol, Conn. Push their buttons and they spew opinions on the NCAA Tournament like you wouldn't believe.
Thankfully, you don't have to pick out the lint.
Even though the games, which start Thursday, are on CBS (KLAS Channel 8), the best analysis comes from ESPN (Prime Cable Channel 19). Joining host Chris Fowler in the studio are fixtures Dick Vitale and Digger Phelps, who will be joined by former Louisiana State coach Dale Brown.
And if a recent teleconference is any indication, these three analysts will provide all the angles with Vitale as the excitable screwball, Phelps as the insightful devil's advocate and Brown as the bluntly honest cynic.
"We've got the teacher, the preacher and the reacher," said Phelps, the former head coach at Notre Dame. "Vitale's always reaching for everything but the check. We'll still have a blast."
But that won't stop Brown from getting down.
"I do not think college basketball is on the upswing," Brown said. "I personally think this has been one of the most uneventful years in college basketball.
"I don't think there are a lot of stars to push. I don't think there are a lot of great teams. There are 307 Division I teams. Today, only 150 of them have winning records. I think the whole country is down."
But don't think these guys aren't pumped up about the tournament, which runs through the Final Four March 29 and into the championship March 31. All three predicted Kansas to be there at the end.
"Very simple: I feel Kansas is the best team in America and everyone will be chasing the Jayhawks," Vitale said. "You look for team with a combination of experience and great guard play. They got guards with great basketball IQs in Jerod Haase and Jacque Vaughn, size inside with (Scot) Pollard blocking shots and a genuine All-American in Raef LaFrentz. Plus, Roy Williams has done it all. He's the winningest coach in a nine-year period."
Brown knows all that. His Tigers fell prey to the Jayhawks, 82-53, this season.
"We've played Kansas, North Carolina, Michigan, Louisville, South Carolina, Kentucky," said Brown, who coached his last game Thursday. "And I think the team that is, by far, the best for talent, experience, chemistry, passion, unity and coaching is Kansas. It'll take a major upset to knock them off."
Phelps, though, points to the play of North Carolina and its star forward as a team to watch.
"Antawn Jamison has made North Carolina the team to beat and ... Antawn Jamison will be the player of the year," he said.
Static
* BASEBALL RADIO: In response to several calls from readers, here is the lineup of Las Vegas radio stations broadcasting Major League Baseball this year: KDWN 720-AM again carries the entire Los Angeles Dodgers schedule; KRLV 1340-AM has a combination of the Kansas City Royals and the Chicago Cubs on weekends; KENO 1460-AM no longer has the San Diego Padres but does air CBS Radio's package, which includes one or two Saturday games and a Sunday night game. ... Once again, KORK 920-AM is the radio home of the Las Vegas Stars.
* KORK ON HOLD: According to KENO sports director Seat Williams, Lotus Broadcasting won't switch sister station KORK to its 24-hour, all-sports format until April 23. Lotus originally intended to scrub KORK's big band format March 17. A major factor in the delay was the helicopter crash atop Mount Potosi late last month that injured two of the company's engineers, Richard Roy and Michael Liles.
* SPINNING THE DIAL: The Nashville Network (Prime Cable Channel 29) and the Motor Racing Network (KRLV 1340-AM) airs Sunday's NASCAR Las Vegas 300 Busch Series race live. MRN's coverage starts at 12:45 p.m., while TNN's begins at 1 p.m. For those heading to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, KRLV will offer traffic reports. ... ESPN has tonight's UNLV-Memphis NIT game from the Thomas & Mack Center. Joel Myers and Jimmy Dykes call the action. ... Last Saturday's Western Athletic Conference men's basketball championship between Utah and Texas Christian at the T&M drew a healthy 1.6 rating for ESPN. Friday's semifinal between Utah and New Mexico scored a 1.3. One rating point equals one percent of U.S. homes with a TV, or about 950,000 homes. ESPN's college hoops season average is a 1.4.
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