Brett Ferino
05-06-2003, 01:37 PM
NEW YORK (AP) -- Bolt down the tables. Jim Rome is back on ESPN.
The combative sports talk show host returns to the network Tuesday with the premiere of his weekly show "Rome is Burning" at 7 p.m. The hour show will feature commentary from Rome, plus guests and other commentators.
It will be Rome's first TV work since he stopped "The Last Word with Jim Rome" on Fox Sports Net late in 2002, after a five-year run. Rome's first foray into television came in 1993, when he hosted "Talk2" on ESPN2.
That show, which ran until 1994, is best remembered for a confrontation between Rome and former NFL quarterback Jim Everett, who flipped over a table and knocked Rome out of his seat after the host called him "Chris" several times - a reference to tennis great Chris Evert.
Rome, who also hosts a nationally syndicated radio show five days a week, said he's grown wiser in the interim.
"I think this time around we don't have to worry about any tables being knocked over," Rome said.
The program adds to a growing stable of talk shows on ESPN, including "Pardon the Interruption" and "The Sports Reporters."
"I think what makes the show a little different is that I have a different opinion," Rome said. "This show is going to have a lot more opinion than I've had in the past on television."
Rome's duties will also include a column on ESPN.com and a weekly one-minute editorial on "SportsCenter."
"There isn't a topic in the sports world, wide and far, that he doesn't have an opinion on," said Mark Shapiro, ESPN's vice president or programming and production.
Rome has built his career around a no-holds-barred style. His radio show is known as the Jungle, where "only the strong survive" by talking "smack" about sports and listening to Rome's opinions on various topics.
The talk sometimes turns vicious. In 1997, when hockey great Gordie Howe was planning to become the only player to compete in six decades, Rome raised over $7,000 that he pledged to give to any player who would "drop gloves with Gordie and pummel this old fool back to reality." Howe considered having a police report filed. Rome and his producers passed it all off as a joke.
"I've seen Jim Rome and I don't think he has much respect for anybody," Howe said afterward.
Despite criticism about his style, it has served Rome well. He hopes he can use it successfully on his new show.
"I want to hit a home run in TV," Rome said. "I think I've had a pretty distinguished run in radio. I don't think I've hit that same home run in TV than I have in radio."
The combative sports talk show host returns to the network Tuesday with the premiere of his weekly show "Rome is Burning" at 7 p.m. The hour show will feature commentary from Rome, plus guests and other commentators.
It will be Rome's first TV work since he stopped "The Last Word with Jim Rome" on Fox Sports Net late in 2002, after a five-year run. Rome's first foray into television came in 1993, when he hosted "Talk2" on ESPN2.
That show, which ran until 1994, is best remembered for a confrontation between Rome and former NFL quarterback Jim Everett, who flipped over a table and knocked Rome out of his seat after the host called him "Chris" several times - a reference to tennis great Chris Evert.
Rome, who also hosts a nationally syndicated radio show five days a week, said he's grown wiser in the interim.
"I think this time around we don't have to worry about any tables being knocked over," Rome said.
The program adds to a growing stable of talk shows on ESPN, including "Pardon the Interruption" and "The Sports Reporters."
"I think what makes the show a little different is that I have a different opinion," Rome said. "This show is going to have a lot more opinion than I've had in the past on television."
Rome's duties will also include a column on ESPN.com and a weekly one-minute editorial on "SportsCenter."
"There isn't a topic in the sports world, wide and far, that he doesn't have an opinion on," said Mark Shapiro, ESPN's vice president or programming and production.
Rome has built his career around a no-holds-barred style. His radio show is known as the Jungle, where "only the strong survive" by talking "smack" about sports and listening to Rome's opinions on various topics.
The talk sometimes turns vicious. In 1997, when hockey great Gordie Howe was planning to become the only player to compete in six decades, Rome raised over $7,000 that he pledged to give to any player who would "drop gloves with Gordie and pummel this old fool back to reality." Howe considered having a police report filed. Rome and his producers passed it all off as a joke.
"I've seen Jim Rome and I don't think he has much respect for anybody," Howe said afterward.
Despite criticism about his style, it has served Rome well. He hopes he can use it successfully on his new show.
"I want to hit a home run in TV," Rome said. "I think I've had a pretty distinguished run in radio. I don't think I've hit that same home run in TV than I have in radio."