Another sports media thoughts post which means more original content and that’s good for you. And they’re in bullet form as always.
- CBS/Turner went back to basics for the NCAA Tournament Selection Show this year streamlining the set. Jettisoning Kenny “The Jet” Smith and Charles Barkley off the Selection Show and leaving Greg Gumbel, Greg Anthony and Sports Illustrated’s Seth Davis to analyze the 68 team field led to a more efficient show as compared to last year’s edition where Barkley was woefully miscast and seemed to be snake bitten. This year, Anthony and Davis gave some strong analysis on the field, although Seth freed from having to cede time to Barkley and Smith, seemed to be more forceful in jamming his opinions.
The Selection Show was much stronger this year and it gave the viewer more meat and potatoes. However, the satellite delays from various school viewing parties are still annoying and forced Gumbel to vamp until the reaction was given. Perhaps going fiber optic will help, but until we get to that point, we’ll have to endure the delays.
Overall, I was glad to see CBS/Turner return to a less crowded set for the Selection Show.
- CBS/Turner’s first foray into extended analysis of the Tournament field with NCAA Hardcore Brackets on truTV was more of a mixed bag. Barkley and Smith joined Gumbel, Anthony and Davis plus Selection Committee Chairman Jeff Hathaway and Vice Chair Mike Bobinski were interviewed extensively. Barkley’s questions to Hathaway and Bobinski came off more like statements and led to long awkward pauses. Plus, having Hathaway and Bobinski stay for a half hour actually slowed the pace, which was not their fault. Some tweaking is needed for Hardcore Brackets, but the show was a nice alternative to ESPN’s Bracketology.
- Speaking of Bracketology, ESPN kept mostly its tried-and-true formula of having Rece Davis, Jay Bilas, Hubert Davis, the Perpetually Angry Doug Gottlieb, Digger Phelps and Dick Vitale analyze the field. While there was no extreme anger over omissions like Drexel as compared to Bilas going insane over VCU getting in last year. Vitale did go classic Vitale at the end of the show, but overall, the two hour show went off without too much controversy.
- One leftover thought from Sunday’s sports media post regarding ESPN’s coverage of Championship Week. If you watched the ACC, Big East and SEC Tournaments on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU or ABC, you may have noticed that the shot clock was superimposed on the floor, near each basket. For some reason, seeing this large clock on the floor distracted me from the action and creeped me out whenever someone stepped over it. I could understand if there was no shot clock, but ESPN had one on its scoreboard bar on the bottom of the screen. I don’t know if it was ESPN’s way of trying to be cute or just showing off, but the whole concept was annoying. Not a bad idea, but the execution was off.
- I know we won’t have Gus Johnson on the NCAA Tournament this year, but if I could suggest that radio rightsholder Dial Global hire him for next year. It would bring back the event’s signature voice to its rightful place and be a great PR move. Plus, it would bring an audience to the radio calls. Gus has called radio for the New York Knicks for MSG so why not have him do it for the NCAA Tournament? Just a thought. Let’s make this happen.
That will conclude the thoughts for this Monday.
