Dog show will have opportunities for great tales

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

By Michael Hiestand, USA TODAY

Sports TV coverage in the USA, compared to sports coverage in many other countries, relies heavily on close-ups.

Knotty beat nearly 2,500 others for Best in Show at last year's tournament, and his owner claimed a $50,000 prize.

They pay off, says Joe Carolei, who will produce and direct live coverage of the American Kennel Club/Eukanuba National Championship on Saturday and Sunday.

On TV this weekend

American Kennel Club/ Eukanuba National Championship
Saturday and Sunday, 8:00 p.m., ET, Discovery Channel and Animal Planet .

"We'll try to get the tightest angles," says Carolei, whose 12-camera coverage will include a robotic camera underneath a table where small dogs are placed and then judged. "We really get in dogs' faces. Bulldogs and pugs, especially, which have such expressive faces."

But Carolei, for an event that usually establishes the favorites for the Super Bowl-like Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show next month, won't just focus on the crowd-pleasers. (Although Carolei isn't exactly sure why, he says Labradors are definitely the most popular dog among viewers.)

But all 162 breeds on display will get air time. "We may be the only show that shows every dog," he says. "For us, it's the kind of show you could watch with the sound off, because it's that interesting."

Still, for coverage that will be simulcast on the Discovery Channel and its corporate cousin, Animal Planet, announcers will include Ron Reagan for play-by-play and 1993 Miss America Leanza Cornett for behind-the-scenes reports.

But great sports coverage, even on big-time live events, almost always comes down to storytelling. And Carolei says his crew has spent months preparing features that are tributes to dogs in general, rather than simply elite show dogs.

Those features, he says, include one on a real-life Rottweiler that literally dialed 911 when its owner went into a diabetic coma; it saved the owner's life.

Then there's the German Shepherd, working with police, that jumped in front of its handler to take several fired bullets. That dog, viewers will learn, not only survived but also is back at work.

And viewers will get up close with the dog that rode the Animal Planet float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

Tonight is the night in case anyone forgot! Show starts in an hour here, right now their doing a segment on the road to the championship. Can't wait for the show to start and best of luck to all the dogs! Heres wishing my favorite Bulldog at least a group lacement as well!