THE! ZAPPER

John Walters

April 13, 1998

Given the travails of the telecasters of Troy, Southern Cal alumnus Marcus Allen probably made the right call last week when he decided to spurn CBS's offer of a studio job on NFL telecasts and return to the Kansas City Chiefs. In this year of the Trojan Hoarse, USC man Frank Gifford has been dumped from the Monday Night Football booth. Another former Trojan gridiron star, Lynn Swann, was jettisoned as MNF sideline reporter. Finally, erstwhile USC hoopster Tom Selleck's new CBS sitcom, The Closer, was closer to being benched after performing weakly in the Nielsens.