ON THE AIR CBS can't wait to kick off new football season NEW YORK - Like an NFL team excited about its off-season free agent acquisitions, CBS showed off its new NFL pregame show team at a media day this week. "NFL Today" newcomers Deion Sanders, Boomer Esiason and Dan Marino hope to make fans start talking about the CBS team, which has been in the shadows of the Fox team in recent years. The CBS pre-season schedule kicks off next Saturday when the Eagles play the first-ever game in Gillette Field, the new home of the Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots. Steady Jim Nantz is the lone holdover from last season, which jettisoned Jerry Glanville, Randy Cross and Mike Ditka as studio analysts. Besides the personnel moves, there will be a set change, as like many New York shows these days, it will be broadcast outside - from the plaza at the CBS New York City studios with bleachers and a live audience. Nantz, who was offered the position of weekend sports anchor at KYW weeks before joining CBS Sports in 1985, is excited about his position. "I grew up watching 'The NFL Today' with Brent Musburger," he said. "I wanted to join CBS Sports so I could host this show and The Masters." Nantz has no problem sharing the spotlight with his new team. "We have a group of guys fresh off the field who are well known and well-liked," he said. However, Nantz is realistic about beating Fox in the pregame battle ratings, stating that no network that has ever carried the AFC has won the ratings due to the NFC having most of the larger markets. He's thrilled that CBS has the NFL."I've been with the network when we had football and when we didn't (CBS lost the NFC contract to Fox in 1993. It won the AFC slate from NBC in 1998)," Nantz said. "It's amazing that the entire network's spirit is affected on whether it has the NFL." Esiason, is happy to be back on the network after a season of purgatory on Fox Sports Net last year after getting fired by "Monday Night Football" three years ago. He and Marino, who will continue with "Inside the NFL" on HBO, have been drafted to add some of that quarterback glamour to the show. The network loves the glitzy Sanders, who seems to be on the fast track to network stardom. "His entire life has been in preparation for this job," Nantz said of Sanders. All of the network stars were on hand, including the No. 1 announcing tandem of Greg Gumbel, Phil Simms and sideline reporter Armen Keteyian. Gumbel, who just survived an interview with Stuttering John of "The Howard Stern Show," said the comfort level increases each year with Simms. They head into their fifth year together, making them the lead NFL team with the most seniority, since John Madden and Pat Summerall broke up. Keteyian, who also works for "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" on HBO, has the distinction of working with both Gumbel brothers, stating that one is more laid back. Want to take a guess which one? Lesley Visser, who will be a contributor to "NFL Today," once again will be competing against her husband, Dick Stockton, who is a play-by-play man for Fox. The sports broadcasting "super couple" who met during the sixth game of the 1975 World Series between Boston and Cincinnati, celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary in January. Not surprisingly, their wedding was during the off-week before the Super Bowl. Visser, one of the true female sports pioneers, said that things have improved tremendously for women in the field since she began as a reporter for the Boston Globe in the 1970s. "The issue of discrimination doesn't even come up," said Visser who was once thrown out of the Cotton Bowl. Laura Nachman covers television and radio sports for the Courier Times. She can be reached at bradyresident@aol.com