The Best of Neil

Jimmy is a 'Survivor'

" 'Survivor' probably saved my life,'' Jimmy Johnson said, recalling he nearly was cast on the show in 2008 but was rejected when doctors discovered blocked arteries and ordered heart surgery.

Two years later, after getting into better shape and convincing his skeptical wife, the Fox analyst and former Cowboys coach gave it another try. This time, he made the cut for "Survivor: Nicaragua,'' premiering Wednesday on CBS.

Why do it? "The adventure of it,'' Johnson, 67, said. "When I was a kid growing up, I had these aspirations of someday going to the Amazon . . . Nicaragua wasn't the Amazon, but it was pretty close to it.''

Johnson, an "obsessed'' fan of the show, said the experience was his motivation, not winning. It turned into even more of an experience than he imagined.

The most difficult challenge, he said, was not the lack of food or primitive living conditions but the lack of sleep.

Johnson said some competitors were football fans who enjoyed hearing his stories. Otherwise, he was treated like anyone else.

One concession to the lack of combs and mirrors: He got his famously rigid hairdo cut shorter than it had been since high school.

Evert, Martina are 'Unmatched'

"Unmatched,'' premiering Tuesday as part of ESPN's "30-for-30'' series, chronicles the friendship between Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, which has endured despite differences in their upbringings, personalities, playing styles and public images.

Producer Hannah Storm and directors Lisa Lax and Nancy Stern Winters - identical twins who grew up in Port Washington - let the players tell their story themselves in a series of conversations over several days of shooting in Amagansett last fall.

The film is decidedly female in tone and content. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

It's just that it is difficult to imagine two male rivals feeling and talking about one another with the same depth and intimacy.

The players' different personalities are evident as they essentially interview one another, with Evert doing most of the talking and Navratilova the shy, quiet one, in contrast to her on-court image.

America's Game still a hit

NFL television ratings have been defying gravity for years, amazing and delighting media executives, and it appears there is no end in sight.

Thursday night's opener between the Vikings and Saints on NBC attracted an average of 27.5 million viewers, the most for a prime-time, regular-season game on a single network in 14 years. (The final regular-season game between the Giants and unbeaten Patriots in 2007 had a higher viewership, 34.5 million, but was on NBC, CBS and the NFL Network.)

A remarkable 60 percent of homes in the New Orleans area watched. Strangely, that was more than the 56.3 the market averaged when the Saints won the Super Bowl in February.

What about HBO's Jets edition of "Hard Knocks?'' It was a hit, too. The premiere showing of the season finale Wednesday averaged just more than one million viewers, the most since 2002.

Olbermann departs, stage left

Keith Olbermann, who spent the past three seasons offering his trademark wisecracking highlights narration on NBC's "Football Night in America,'' is off the show.

The move was initiated not by NBC Sports but by NBC News, which wanted him to focus primarily on his MSNBC show as the midterm elections approach and CNN trots out new competition.

No word yet on whether Glenn Beck will replace him. (Kidding!)

Big Blue on tube

Beginning Sunday, the Giants at last join the other area pro teams in having a regular TV postgame show when Ch. 9 debuts its version, featuring former receiver Amani Toomer as an analyst, for the first of 13 games. (The three road night games are the exceptions.)

The Giants also have been in talks with MSG for a slate of several weekly programs about the team on that network, including airing Tom Coughlin's Wednesday news conferences live.

That sounds like fun! OK, maybe not. Coughlin should invite Rex Ryan on as a guest star during the Jets' bye week.