GREAT Moments In Sports: Saturday, Oklahoma was playing Texas A&M when ESPN cut to a promo, one stirringly titled, “This is College Basketball.”
The featured players in the promo were Texas’ Kevin Durant and Ohio State’s Greg Oden, both star freshmen who would play later in the day on ESPN2. Thus, the “This is College Basketball” promo was subtitled “Fabulous Freshmen.”
And that moved analyst Stephen Bardo, a four-year player at Illinois who was working Oklahoma-Texas A&M, to innocently and honestly add, “And you better watch. This’ll be one of the few times, because these guys are one-and-done.”
Durant and Oden are expected to turn pro after their freshman seasons. Yes sir, given that it often has almost nothing to do with college, “This is College Basketball!”
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In anticipation of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell‘s state-of-the-game news conference this week, we’ll submit our questions in writing:
By attaching $600 and $700 face values to this year’s Super Bowl tickets, does the NFL presume all fans are rich or just fools? Or does it presume everyone who buys tickets will scalp them?
Or is it that long-time patrons of either team who are not financially advantaged or “connected” aren’t invited? Might Super Bowl tickets be for everyone except such fans?
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In addition to infuriating tens of thousands who already were paying roughly $175 per season for the out-of-market Extra Innings package, MLB’s anticipated announcement that it has sold Extra Innings exclusively to DirecTV actually could prevent MLB from collecting a ton of money.
By allowing Extra Innings to remain – and grow – on cable, satellite and others providers, MLB wasn’t going to short-change itself.
Regardless, MLB, while it’s not likely to admit it, must be shocked by the volume and ferocity of complaints. This decision, more than most, has exposed MLB as fan-dismissive.
It’s reminiscent of the quick-cash Peter Ueberroth days. In 1989, MLB sold exclusive national rights to CBS, even knowing that CBS planned to provide far less baseball than NBC had before it.
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Legendary Gump Worsley, elected to the Hall of Fame despite a career losing record, died Friday at 77. At 5-7, he played 21 NHL seasons, the first 10 with the Rangers. But his passing didn’t make the home page of the NHL’s or Rangers’ Web sites. With all the ads selling team merchandise, there was no room.
NBC used to air sports on Sunday afternoons. Yesterday, it aired two hours of poker. . . . Friday on 1050 ESPN, Stephen A. Smith was outraged that Eddy Curry received so few All-Star votes. Saturday, 1050 aired a promo in which Smith was heard blowing hard about how Curry doesn’t play defense.
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The epidemic grows worse. Networks pay fortunes for rights. Then they plead with people to watch. Then they don’t allow them to. If you thought The Golf Channel’s big new deal to televise PGA Tour events would be good for those who like to watch, say, golf, thus far you’re wrong.
TGC’s Thursday and Friday “coverage” of the Buick Open, in large part produced by CBS, was awful – unless you tuned in to watch commercials, TGC promos, frequent cuts to the studio (apparently to prove TGC has a studio show), blimp shots (of and from) and everything else except live golf.
Kelly Tilghman, Nick Faldo‘s co-host, spent both days relentlessly encouraging those already watching to watch; mostly because Tiger Woods is playing (Tiger Woods is playing, Tiger Woods is playing). And in Tilghman’s world, you don’t shoot a 68, you “author” a 68; you don’t make a par, you “script” one. Yeesh.
Friday, we saw more golf played in promos, commercials and on tape from the studio than live from the course. Thursday, when Woods finished his round, TGC went to commercials and promos, returned to show one shot, conducted a pointless interview with Woods, then went to commercials and promos.
And if you figured The Golf Channel, with no local newscasts or anything except golf to consider, would stay until the completion of the round, well, wrong again. Friday, with leader Brandt Snedeker playing 18, TGC, under CBS rule, bolted for TGC’s “Post Game Show.” First time we saw a post game show with the game still on!
It’s unclear how much of the shipwreck was influenced by CBS personnel, but golf fans don’t care; they just want to watch some golf. That’s the least they can expect from The Golf Channel.