Fang's Bites

The Fang’s Bites College Basketball TV Awards: NCAA Tournament Edition

Last month, I gave you my College Basketball TV Awards for the 2012-13 regular season. As promised, I’ll provide you with the NCAA Tournament Edition featuring my picks for Final Four, Regional Final and First Week levels. Those not worthy and there will be a couple, will get the infamous Carton of Chinese Cigarettes handed out from the 2008 Summer Olympics in Communist China.

I’ll provide the awards first for play-by-play, then game analysts, reporters and finally the studio.

PLAY-BY-PLAY

Final Four Level

Marv Albert, Ian Eagle, Kevin Harlan – Marv is Marvelous. The man is a Hall of Fame announcer and during the Michigan-Kansas game, was able to pick up on the Wolverines’ comeback late in the second half and his call of Trey Burke’s three pointer to tie the game was perfectly understated.

Ian Eagle showed his versatility in calling NCAA Tournament games on both TV and radio. Does both well and allows the action to come to him. Ian had a very good call of the Davidson-Marquette game that went down to the wire.

Kevin Harlan was outstanding especially as Ohio State’s Aaron Craft hit a jumper with :02 in its Sweet Sixteen game against Arizona.

Regional Final Level

Brian Anderson, Verne Lundquist, Jim Nantz – Having this trio in the Tournament shows some very good depth on the CBS/Turner Consortium. Brian Anderson is a rising star. Calls games on Big Ten Network during the winters, then moves to his best sport, baseball for the Milwaukee Brewers and TBS Sunday Afternoon games. Could easily be on a Regional Final team down the line.

What can you say about Uncle Verne Lundquist that hasn’t already been said? He and Bill Raftery form one of the fun broadcast teams and you know that Verne plays the perfect straight man to Raft. He’s perfect at the Regional Final level.

Jim Nantz is perfect here. He would go higher except that he calls only one to two regular season games a season, yet he’s on the “A” team that goes to the Final Four. Nantz calls a good game, but I think there are several announcers who are better.

First Week Level

Tim Brando – Tim is good, but sometimes falls back on cliches. He’s perfect on the ACC Tournament on the Raycom-produced ACC Network. A nice fit with long-time partner Mike Gminski.

Carton of Chinese Cigarettes

Spero Dedes – Dedes provided some real lackluster and sleep-inducing calls. When Harvard upset New Mexico, Dedes failed to rise to the occasion and when the game ended, he gave us quite a forgettable call. His partner, Doug Gottlieb overpowered him at times.

ANALYSTS

Final Four Level

Clark Kellogg, Steve Kerr, Bill Raftery – Clark Kellogg knows his stuff and provides good analysis of the action. He’s able to spot trends and finds the right words. He also stepped up during the Louisville-Duke game when Kevin Ware broke his leg in a horrific sequence. And as Jim Nantz tried to collect himself in the minutes following the injury, Kellogg did his best to describe the emotions on the court.

When Steve Kerr found out that he was going to call the NCAA Tournament three years ago, he found work with Fox Sports to call Sunday night Pac-10 games and quickly got re-immersed in the college game. It was that preparation that puts him on the Final Four Level. And teamed with Marv Albert for the first two weeks of the Tournament, Kerr provides some really good tidbits especially during Michigan-Kansas.

Bill Raftery is the Mayor of College Basketball. Perfectly teamed with Uncle Verne Lundquist, Raft provides great anecdotes, one-liners and always knows when to use his signature “ONIONS!” call. I’d love for Raft to call a Final Four on TV, but you can always hear him on radio for the event.

Regional Final Level

Len Elmore and Jim Spanarkel – Len was the last ESPN exclusive holdover to remain on the Tournament after Turner came on board. Jay Bilas wasn’t kept and while Bill Raftery also works for ESPN, he does games for CBS during the regular season, pulling a rare network double. Elmore when Reggie Miller doesn’t step all over him, provides some salient points. He really could work solo with Kevin Harlan and doesn’t need Miller along side.

Jim Spanarkel works very well with Ian Eagle. It’s hard to believe that they’ve worked 17 previous tournaments together and they’re a very good team. Spanarkel was on top of trends especially when Marquette was coming back on Davidson in the second round.

First Week Level

Dan Bonner and Mike Gminski – Both ACC Network veterans, Bonner and Gminski are perfect analysts for the first weekend of games.

Carton of Chinese Cigarettes

Doug Gottlieb and Reggie Miller – Gottlieb will harp on points to where you want him to shut up. Reggie Miller must have pictures on a network executive somewhere as he’s a terrible analyst. I understand calling NCAA Tournament games was a dream for Gottlieb, but CBS/Turner should pull the plug on him working games next year. As for Miller, he’s basketball’s version of Marcelo Balboa, a person who makes statements just to hear himself talk and makes ridiculous points.

REPORTERS

Final Four Level

Jamie Maggio, Rachel Nichols, Craig Sager

Regional Final Level

Lewis Johnson, Marty Snider, Tracy “The Wolf” Wolfson

First Week Level

Allie LaForce, Otis Livingston

STUDIO HOSTS

Final Four Level

Greg Gumbel and Ernie Johnson, Jr.

Regional Final Level

Matt Winer

STUDIO ANALYSTS

Final Four Level

Greg Anthony

Regional Final Level

Seth Davis and Steve Smith

First Week Level

Charles Barkley and Kenny “The Jet” Smith – I understand why Barkley and Smith are there, but they’re much better on the NBA than college basketball. Charles’ candor on the NBA works against him on the Tournament as in the case where he harped against the Big Ten.

Carton of Chinese Cigarettes

Doug Gottlieb — Who else? Failed joke aside, Gottlieb has not differentiated himself from the pack. He overpowers people on the set. He comes off as abrasive as sandpaper.

So there you have the Awards for the 2013 NCAA Tournament.

Sports Media Weekly No. 142 — Greg Gumbel, CBS Sports

After a week away due to circumstances beyond my control, I’m back on the Sports Media Weekly podcast with Keith Thibault of Sports Media Journal.

There’s no Third Man In this week so Keith and I reviewed what has been a rather busy week in the sports media.

We first began by looking at the start of March Madness on the networks of CBS and Turner Sports. Both of us don’t expect anything different from the last two years on the air. I did advise listeners that the authentication process for the March Madness Live app has been streamlined from last year and easier to do.

Keith and I reviewed last week’s news that TBS could start airing the NCAA Men’s Final Four next year, a year earlier than planned.

We moved to the media rights deals signed by the New Big East and the Old Big East with Fox Sports and ESPN, respectively. Keith and I discussed how the Old Big East left a lot of money on the table with ESPN two years ago and got left holding the bag as several teams defected for the ACC, Big 10 and Big 12. The Old Big East signed a six year deal with ESPN. The New Big East featuring the Catholic 7 and Butler, Creighton and Xavier has signed a 12 year deal with Fox giving Fox Sports 1 over 100 basketball games starting in November.

And we touched upon ESPN signing the Mountain West Conference for six years.

Our final subject was the Sports Emmy Award Nominations which were released today.

Greg Gumbel of CBS Sports was the guest. He’s been hosting the NCAA Tournament on CBS since 1998. We talk about his experiences on the set when he hosted the entire tournament solo from 1998 until 2010 through now as he shares the hosting duties with Ernie Johnson.

Greg tells us what it’s like working with Charles Barkley and Kenny “The Jet” Smith and having their dynamic in the studio.

He also compares and contrasts hosting to play-by-play of four games in the first days of the Tournament which Greg has done in the early 1990′s for CBS.

Then we discussed his hosting of the Selection Show and his preparation for the program.

Greg gives some great stories of how fans have reacted to the tournament and to the selections.

And then we move to discussing the Rolling Stones’ greatest album as Greg is a huge Stones fan.

Overall, a fun interview with Greg. We’re going to have him on again. The man gives great answers. Thanks to CBS Sports public relations for their help in securing the interview.

You can download the podcast on iTunes by doing a search for “Sports Media Journal.” Make sure you subscribe so you can automatically download it on your mobile or tablet. Or you can go

CBS/ Turner Unveil 2013 NCAA Tournament Announcing Teams

Announced today by the CBS/Turner Sports consortium for the 2013 NCAA Tournament, the 75th incarnation of college basketball’s national championship, will be the men and women who will be in front of the camera this year. As usual, Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg and Steve Kerr will work the Final Four™ from Atlanta.

Some changes from last year, first Doug Gottlieb who came to CBS from ESPN late last year will call 2nd and 3rd round games with Spero Dedes replacing Bob Wenzel. Lesley Visser becomes a special contributor to the studio shows, leaving the sidelines. Rachel Nichols of Turner Sports takes her place on the team of Uncle Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery. And Allie LaForce, co-host of CBS Sports Network’s Lead Off with the aforementioned Gottlieb will work the sidelines as well with Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel.

Your regional final teams will be Nantz/Kellogg/Tracy Wolfson, Marv Albert/Steve Kerr /Craig Sager, Lundquist/Raftery/Nichols and Kevin Harlan/Reggie Miller/Len Elmore/Lewis Johnson.

Calling the one half of the First Four™ games in Dayton, OH will be Albert and Kerr on March 19.

And the studio will be manned by hosts Greg Gumbel and Ernie Johnson in New York with Matt Winer in Atlanta. Studio analysts will be Greg Anthony, Charles Barkley, Seth Davis, Kenny “The Jet” Smith and Steve Smith. Doug Gottlieb joins the New York crew for the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight.

Here’s the CBS/Turner announcement.

CBS Sports and Turner Sports Return All-Star Line-up of Broadcast Teams for Coverage of 2013 NCAA® Division I Men’s Basketball Championship

?Turner Sports and CBS Sports today announces its lineup of broadcast teams for the third year of combined coverage of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. Once again, CBS Sports and Turner Sports provide live, full national coverage of the tournament’s 67 games across four national television networks – TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV – as well as across multiple platforms including NCAA March Madness Live®.

The tournament tips off on Tuesday, March 19 and Wednesday, March 20 with the NCAA FIRST FOUR™ on truTV Presented by Northwestern Mutual. Marv Albert and Steve Kerr will be courtside calling the action from Dayton, Ohio on March 19, with Craig Sager reporting. Wednesday’s FIRST FOUR broadcast team, which will also call the second and third round games from the Dayton site, will be announced on Selection Sunday.

For the third consecutive year Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg, Steve Kerr and reporter Tracy Wolfson will team up for the Final Four® and National Championship game live from Atlanta, Ga. on Saturday, April 6 and Monday, April 8.

Joining this year’s announcer line-up are Doug Gottlieb, who will serve as a game and studio analyst, and courtside reporters Rachel Nichols and Allie LaForce.

Following are the announcer pairings for the second and third rounds (Thursday, March 21-Sunday, March 24):

Play-By-Play / Analyst // Reporter
*Regional Announce Teams

Jim Nantz / Clark Kellogg // Tracy Wolfson*
Marv Albert / Steve Kerr // Craig Sager*
Verne Lundquist / Bill Raftery // Rachel Nichols*
Kevin Harlan / Reggie Miller / Len Elmore // Lewis Johnson*
Ian Eagle / Jim Spanarkel // Allie LaForce
Brian Anderson / Dan Bonner // Marty Snider
Tim Brando / Mike Gminski // Otis Livingston
Spero Dedes / Doug Gottlieb // Jaime Maggio

Studio Coverage

For the third consecutive year, Turner Sports and CBS Sports will utilize two studios, based in New York and Atlanta, to cover all the tournament action. Studio coverage again will be anchored by Greg Gumbel and Ernie Johnson with Charles Barkley, Greg Anthony and Kenny Smith providing analysis throughout the tournament from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York. Matt Winer anchors the coverage from Turner Studios in Atlanta and will be joined by Seth Davis and Steve Smith. In addition, Lesley Visser will serve as a contributor.

During the Regional Semi-finals and Finals, Gottlieb will join the New York studio team. Gumbel will remain in New York alongside Barkley, Anthony, Gottlieb and Kenny Smith, while Johnson will shift to the Atlanta studio to join Davis and Steve Smith.

Studio coverage for the FIRST FOUR originates from Atlanta and will feature Johnson, Barkley, Kenny Smith and Steve Smith on Tuesday with Winer, Davis and Steve Smith providing analysis on Wednesday.

There you have it.

Super Bowl XLVII Provides Bizarre Moments; CBS Tries to Step Up; Phil Simms Missing

On Sunday, the Super Bowl was played in New Orleans for the tenth time, tying with Miami as the most times a city has hosted the Big Game. And in a city that is known for voodoo and the macabre, the tenth time in the Crescent City turned out to the most bizarre of any Super Bowl. Having to deal with a 35 minute blackout that was caused by a power surge, CBS had to scramble to cover the incident without its main voices, Jim Nantz and Phil Simms as electricity to the broadcast booth was cut.

For a network that normally doesn’t utilize sideline reporters, CBS had to rely on Steve Tasker and Solomon Wilcots to carry the broadcast until the studio crew of James Brown, Bill Cowher, Dan Marino and Shannon Sharpe was ready to fill. Up until the power outage, CBS was having a decent broadcast.

Replays were sharp. The production was going well. Jim Nantz was Jim Nantz, calling a good game. However, Phil Simms was missing and perhaps CBS needed to issue an Amber Alert for him as he did not have his best broadcast. Simms did not step up for a big game, a rarity for him. Normally in the upper echelon of NFL analysts, Simms had a pedestrian performance. Several times Nantz tried to set up him, but instead, we received silence from Simms. I’m not sure what was going on in the booth.

On a fake field goal attempt by the Baltimore Ravens, Simms did not give an opinion on whether the failure would hurt the team at the end of the game nor if he felt it was warranted.

Also, Simms did not offer an opinion on a controversial non-call whether a 4th and goal attempt by the San Francisco 49ers at the end of the game was a penalty until three or four replays were aired.

Normally, an analyst who is on top of trends and a very good first guesser, Simms was behind on plays and seemed to be aloof. I hope this is a one-time thing for Simms. I normally like him, but I was wondering what happened to him on Super Bowl XLVII.

Back to the power outage, CBS had to fill 35 minutes. Highlights were used a couple of times, however, viewers were subjected to Cowher, Marino and Sharpe talking over each other. Boomer Esiason, normally a part of the CBS studio crew, was on the Dial Global Radio broadcast and thus, was not part of this portion of the telecast. And during this segment, we got our one and only glimpse of Tracy Wolfson during the game as she reported on the power outage. Why wasn’t she utilized more?

In addition, a big fail to the NFL for not providing a spokesman to CBS to provide comments and updates as to when the game would resume. Producers in the truck fed information to James Brown and he informed viewers on the resumption of the Super Bowl.

When the game resumed, CBS’ production which was at a B minus grade continued at that level.

CBS set a standard for sports opens with a fantastic production utilizing past Super Bowl MVP’s such as Joe Namath and Lynn Swann, set to a remixed “We Will Rock You” and NFL on CBS theme.

For the Super Bowl Today pregame, CBS provided the usual client strokes to Ritz Crackers in a painful segment featuring butcher Rachel Ray and to Pizza Hut. The show did offer a frank discussion on concussions following a feature on player safety. Also Esiason offered strong opinions in the last 35 minutes of the four hour pregame on Ray Lewis doubting his denials in a 2000 double stabbing in Atlanta.

Its best features were on the Ravens’ OJ Brigance who has ALS and on 49ers’ tight end Vernon Davis. Another strong feature was on Indianapolis Colts coach Chuck Pagano.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch pointed out that CBS did not rely on silly celebrity red carpet interviews that had plagued Fox’s and NBC’s pregames over the last two years. Let us hope that Fox won’t bring them back in 2014 when Super Bowl XLVIII is played in New Jersey.

Greg Gumbel was a welcome addition to the Super Bowl Today hosting one panel at CBS’ Super Bowl headquarters in New Orleans with James Brown at the Superdome. Guest analysts Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals, Clay Matthews of the Green Bay Packers and Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks all showed promise if they choose to go to television after their playing careers are over.

CBS receives a B minus for the pregame.

For the postgame, San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh refused to an interview, the second consecutive game in which he refused to speak to the networks. The NFL’s TV partners pay a lot of money for access and I’m sure he’ll be “advised” by the league to do his part should he be in the same position next season. Shannon Sharpe who criticized Bill Belichick after the AFC Championship for not providing an interview to CBS, did not have time on the main network to do the same to Harbaugh and I’m not sure if he criticized him on the extended postgame on CBS Sports Network.

So it’s another NFL season in the books. We do know that NBC will cover the 2013 season opener in Baltimore in September. We’ll be ready to cover the TV networks then.

Super Bowl Broadcast History

I provide this table which has all of the Super Bowls to date including their networks and broadcasters. I thought you might get a kick out of it to see who has called which games. The CBS lines are in bold because this table was compiled by CBS.

There you have it.