Heidi Ho And Away We Go...

WORST COMMENTARY—Cathy Rigby McCoy (ABC). Her yahoo whooping for the U.S. and snickering when a Romanian gymnast literally fell on her face was the pits.

BEST JOURNALISM—1) Howard Cosell for a Sports Beat piece on how the media fosters gambling (ABC). 2) Len Berman's interview with Kansas City's Willie Mays Aikens in which Aikens admitted having hit home runs while taking drugs ( NBC).

HEIDI RUSH TO JUDGMENT MEDAL—Curt Gowdy (Katz Sports). During the Pittsburgh-South Carolina broadcast, Gowdy reported as gospel a phony, planted story that coach Gerry Faust had been ejected by the officials from the Notre Dame-Air Force game.

MOST HEARTWARMING MOMENT—U.S. Olympic wrestler and one-time cancer victim Jeff Blatnick weeping for joy and choking out the words, "I'm a happy dude!" after winning a gold medal (ABC).

THE FIRST "GONE AWOL" AWARD—ABC for failing to give live coverage to Carl Lewis's historic fourth gold medal run. ABC caught up on tape, but the moment was gone.

BEST VERBAL FUMBLE—Harvey Martin ( NBC). During the Bills-Cardinals game Martin said that Bills fullback Booker Moore had recovered from a "fatal disease." In '81 Moore did have Guillain-Barr� syndrome, a potentially fatal nerve disorder. But unless we're missing something, Moore has not returned from the dead.

THE ANNUAL SHAMELESS PROMO AWARDS—1) ABC'S Olympic plugs for Call To Glory. ABC hyped it so much I was seeing jet planes and pillbox hats in my sleep. 2) NBC's Breeders' Cup promos featuring John Henry after the network knew he'd been scratched.

BEST INNOVATIONS—1) Behind-the-backboard "Midgi-cams" for WTBS's NBA games. 2) ESPN's football stereo. You haven't heard anything until you've heard gruntin' and groanin' in stereo. 3) Your choice: ABC's Super Slo Mo or NBC's Super Duper Slo Mo.

HEIDI'S FAVORITE INTERVIEWER—Roy Firestone of Sports Look ( ESPN). His questions bring out the best—or worst—in his guests. He got Raider Lyle Alzado to talk vividly about his days as a young tough in Brooklyn.

MOST GRATING CLICH�S—1) "How do you feel?" ( Diana Nyad, ABC, each time she interviewed a swimmer). 2) "It's really exciting here, Jim" (typical ABC announcer receiving a feed from anchor Jim McKay).