Schenkel remembered fondly

The news of Chris Schenkel's death makes this a time to pause and salute one of the industry's giants from a time when the TV business was simpler. Schenkel died Sunday at 82 in Fort Wayne, Ind. His New England connections dated to 1947, when he broadcast Harvard football.

One who took time to salute Schenkel was Dick Ebersol, NBC's chairman of Universal Sports and Olympics.

''I can remember my first Thanksgiving away from home while on the road for ABC Sports," said Ebersol. ''He made sure I was included in everything as a lowly production assistant. The first time, we were at Yale, after I had dropped out of school there to take the job at ABC. He never hesitated a second to say he wanted to take me and my parents out to dinner. If he did this for me, he did this for hundreds of people.

''In a business full of a lot of people in a hurry, he found time for everyone, no matter their station in life. He was certainly the best example of how best to conduct yourself when everyone is in too much of a hurry. Chris Schenkel was truly one of the nicest, most compassionate human beings I ever met in this business."

ABC honored Schenkel with a tribute at halftime of last night's Eagles-Falcons ''Monday Night Football" telecast.

One who covered Schenkel's career was former Globe sports media critic Jack Craig.

''Chris had a wonderful voice and was a debonair guy," said Craig. ''He became famous here as the Giants' announcer at a time when all their games came into Boston. He was extremely congenial and had a great voice. But remember, it was a different era and he was The Man.

''After he left CBS, he went to ABC, where he was a favorite of Roone Arledge. He did college football for years, plus bowling and all sorts of major events, including the 1968 Olympics."

Back then, noted Craig, instant replay didn't exist, and what an announcer said generally wasn't second-guessed.

''Chris had a very good life," he said.

That was echoed by Pro Bowlers Association Tour veteran Brian Voss, who has fond memories of how Schenkel became identified with the PBA Tour in his 36 years with it.

''Chris was irreplaceable in our sport," said Voss. ''His voice became synonymous with our sport. In addition, he was a wonderful man.

''I'm fortunate enough to make it onto TV a lot, so I get to know the TV people. Chris was down-to-earth and a humble man."

Voss grew up listening to Schenkel's voice, then having it describe his own matches, many of which he has on tape.

''When you're bowling, and a guy's talking about you, you listen," he said. ''And with Chris, it was all good stuff. I don't ever remember him saying anything bad about anybody. It's not always like that now."

Cold, hard facts

Some announcements leave you scratching your head. XM satellite radio yesterday announced a 10-year, $100 million deal to broadcast NHL games exclusively, beginning with the 2007 season. Trouble is, Sirius has a non-exclusive deal that runs through next season, so the two competitors will go two years with each broadcasting the games. XM also will launch an all-hockey channel as part of the deal. Bottom line in these dealings: In 2007, XM gets hockey for 10 years at the same time Sirius gets NASCAR (currently on XM) for five years for $107 million . . . Tomorrow's Globe ''Sports Plus" (NESN, 5:30 and 11:30 p.m.) will have columnists Bob Ryan and Dan Shaughnessy joining host Bob Neumeier to talk Red Sox, with Kevin Paul Dupont dropping in for some hockey talk . . . You can also catch Dupont tonight when he joins Ed Berliner on ''Sports Pulse" (CN8, 10 p.m.) and again on NESN's ''Sports Desk" each day this week, in segments shot at NESN's new studio at the TD Banknorth Garden . . . ESPN's core hockey guys -- Gary Thorne, Barry Melrose, Bill Clement, and Darren Pang -- have been split up. Melrose signed a deal to stay with ESPN, soothing those who feared the network would forget the sport now that OLN has cable rights. Thorne also remains at ESPN, though concentrating on baseball. Pang has taken a job with the Phoenix Coyotes, and Clement's contract wasn't renewed.

Big men on campus

Boston College makes its ACC debut Saturday against Florida State (ESPN, 7:45 p.m.), and many TV fans will consider the presence of ESPN's ''College GameDay" crew on campus as a sign that the Eagles have arrived as a big-time program. The show will air live from the campus from 10:30 a.m.-noon, with ESPN Radio broadcasting live from noon-7 . . . Having an American in the finals seemed to help the US Open tennis weekend ratings. The rating of 6.2 for the Andre Agassi-Roger Federer men's final was double the 2004 number (3.1) for Federer and Lleyton Hewitt in the 55 US metered markets. Saturday's prime-time women's final (Mary Pierce vs. Kim Clijsters) did a 3.1 rating, a 24 percent increase over last year . . . Saturday's Red Sox-Yankees game was the third-highest-rated regular-season game ever on Fox in Boston with a 13.5 (37 share).

Stay tuned

Michael Felger made his debut on ESPN Boston Radio (890 and 1400 AM) yesterday (4-7 p.m.), with flashboy Kevin Winter and producer Ross Carey. Bad phone connections hurt call-ins by Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Sox GM Theo Epstein. Most encouraging news: a promise that the show would be available soon on the station's website, www.espnboston.com . . . CBS (Channel 4, 1 p.m.) has Sunday's Patriots-Panthers game, to be followed by Jets-Dolphins. Both games will be available in HD, as will the Fox game, Falcons-Seahawks at 4 . . . ESPN is shuffling its announcing staff for the weekend. Mike Tirico and Sterling Sharpe will work Chiefs-Raiders on ''Sunday Night Football" (8:30 p.m.) with the regular Sunday night crew of Mike Patrick, Joe Theismann, Paul Maguire, and Suzy Kolber assigned to Monday's relocated Saints-Giants game (Channel 5, 7:30 p.m.). That telecast moves from ABC to ESPN at 9 when the regular ''MNF" Redskins-Cowboys game comes on . . . Patriots-Panthers goes head-to-head with the NASCAR race at Loudon, N.H., which is the first stop on the 10-race Chase for the Nextel Cup. (TNT, green flag at 1 p.m.). And Sox-Athletics from Fenway joins the festivities an hour later (NESN, 2 p.m.) . . . Richard Seymour and Rodney Harrison represented the Patriots well on ''The NFL Today" on CBS Sunday, dressing sharply, speaking well, and talking a little trash in a most acceptable manner with the studio crew . . . FSN starts its regular football-season rotation on ''New England Sports Tonight" (nightly at 6:30) tomorrow with a Vince Wilfork segment. Other regular segments are Thursday (''Four Downs with Felger"), Friday (Matt Light), and Monday (Harrison), plus Glenn Ordway checking in from Gillette Stadium. Ordway, Fred Smerlas, and Steve DeOssie return with ''New England Tailgate" on Thursdays and Fridays at 7 p.m. FSN airs the national ''Pro Football Preview" show each Friday at 5 and 11 p.m., with rebroadcasts Sunday at 10 a.m.

Bill Griffith's e-mail address is griffith@globe.com.