Coach Bobby Johnson Interview with Al Trautwig; Set to Air Sunday, Monday on MSG Sports Network 10/4/02

Vanderbilt’s policy prohibiting the use of profanity on the football field has captured the attention of the Big Apple media.

An interview Head Coach Bobby Johnson recently conducted with former ABC Sports host and current New York Knicks announcer Al Trautwig is scheduled to air on “Angles,” a half-hour weekly program on the Madison Square Garden Network that addresses timely sports issues.

The interview, which also includes comments from New York Jets Head Coach Herman Edwards, will air Sunday at 9:30 p.m., CST, on the MSG Network. It will re-air twice on Monday (2:30 and 5:30 p.m.). MSG programming is available on the Dish Network.

MSG, which airs New York Rangers, Knicks and Mets games, is available in 3 million households, largely limited to the Northeast. Outside the Northeast, MSG is available on the Dish Network (channel 412). The show also is also available on the station’s official website, www.msgnetwork.com.

Johnson accepted Trautwig’s invitation to appear on “Angles” after the New York Times published a commentary last week bemoaning the coach’s stance against profanity. The interview was staged Thursday evening from the new football weightroom from Vanderbilt’s McGugin Center.

During the interview, Trautwig applauded the no-cursing policy. He also aired a separate conversation with Jets Coach Edwards, who praised the Vanderbilt coach’s effort to limit profanity.

Johnson initiated the cursing ban at his first Spring Practice last April, passing along a policy introduced to the coach in his prep and collegiate playing days. He also instituted the rule during his eight-year tenure as head coach at Furman University.

The policy is not unusual among college teams, according to the Associated Press. Several teams, including Notre Dame, are among a handful of major college squads to endorse the ban.