Former Super Bowl Director To Enliven Oscars With More Tackles, Bone-Crushing Hits

In what must be the last of the worst-guarded Top Secrets in Oscardom, we’re learning a little more today about the show’s new strategy behind the camera. Hint: The Academy is sending the blitz!

Patrick Goldstein is back on the Larry Mark beat today, spotlighting the rookie Oscar producer’s appeal to new awardscast director Roger Goodman. And what qualifies Goodman to run Hollywood’s biggest show? Well, the guy does have a background in other full-contact sports:

Roger Goodman, a Roone Arledge protege from ABC Sports who co-directed the 1984 Summer Olympics, directed the 1988 Super Bowl and, more recently, has worked the political beat, directing ABC’s coverage of the Democratic National Convention and the Obama inauguration. I admit that I’m biased, since it’s the exact move I’ve been advocating for years. The rationale is obvious. As anyone who watches Fox’s NFL broadcasts or ESPN’s baseball programming can attest, the most innovative work in television is coming out of sports telecasts, which make better use of the visceral nature of the medium than almost anything else on the air.

ABC isn’t alone in recognising sports TV’s wave of the future; E! has reportedly enlisted the company that brought you football’s yellow first-down marker to pinpoint celebs on the red carpet (seriously). That leaves the network little choice but to implement other NFL techniques inside the Kodak Theatre, including Gatorade baths for winners and instant replay for those especially close, questionable votes. Thank God that Harvey Weinstein only gets one challenge per half.

• Oscar producer: Worst job in the world? [LAT]