BIG SHOT: Mississippi’s trash-talking Marshall Henderson couldn’t buy a shot until the second half of the Rebels’ NCAA Tournament win over Wisconsin, but that didn’t stop CBS from turning him into a star of the tourney. (Getty Images)
It’s unlikely Sean McManus, the chairman of CBS Sports — and the son of Jim McKay, for crying out loud — would encourage the kids in his life to acts of excessive, public immodesty.
So then why would CBS encourage that in our kids?
Throughout the first week of CBS/Turner’s NCAA Tournament presentation, the networks went ESPN on us. Although four networks televised the games, none was inclined to present basketball as a sport.
The message was clear and repetitive: If you act like a self-impressed fool, we’ll minimally reward you with a slow-motion cameo. And the more you betray the sport as a sport, the greater the televised rewards. Heck, for as long as your team lasts, we’ll make you a star!
Friday and Saturday we were force-fed Mississippi gunner Marshall Henderson as a don’t-miss wild, zany, fun-for-the-whole-family act, when he’s a garbage-talking, garbage-Tweeting, chest-pounder whose bio shows a month spent in jail for purchasing drugs — with counterfeit money! — followed by parole violations.
And Ole Miss is his fourth college.
On studio shows, Henderson was given the credit for Ole Miss’s upset of Wisconsin on Friday when, even when he finally hit a few shots, he had little to do with it.
Ole Miss won because, 1) Wisconsin played horribly and 2) Henderson’s teammates played incredibly hard, especially in pursuit of Henderson’s missed shots.
Still, Friday evening in a full-screen graphic headlined, “Today’s Shining Moments,” Henderson’s name and photo appeared above the following: “Points — 19, FGs — 6/21, 3 pt. FGs — 3/12.” Hmmm.
Although it was repeatedly explained to us that Henderson “fires up” Ole Miss, no one explained why the Rebels would need to be “fired up” to play an NCAA Tournament game.
Saturday, during Michigan-Virginia Commonwealth, Greg Gumbel twice told us an interview was coming up with the “outspoken” Henderson.” Outspoken? On what? The minimum wage? Fracking?
He’s outspoken on only one issue: himself. He’s a braggart!
Friday night, Florida Gulf Coast’s upset of Georgetown lost some of its wonder glow as FGCU guard Sherwood Brown seemed eager to show how ungracious and self-smitten winners can be. And TV, as always, was there to help him out, encourage him.
Near the end of the game, Brown, playing to the crowd and the TV cameras, walked over to Len Elmore, Reggie Miller and play-by-player Kevin Harlan and shook their hands. “Hah, hah, hah! He’s loving it!” we were told.
But if only one of them had refused his hand and pointed him back on the court to finish the game and show it some respect …
Saturday, CBS had FGCU coach Andy Enfield and Brown in a live interview. As Brown spoke, CBS showed tape of him, after hitting a short jumper, in a demonstration of great self-regard. That was the chosen clip.
During Indiana’s blowout of James Madison, the Hoosiers’ Yogi Ferrell’s check-me-out gesture after hitting a shot became a chosen slo-mo.
Countless times when CBS or Turner went to commercials, the cut-away was accompanied by the chosen, edited image of a kid show-boating. Is that really TV’s sense of what basketball’s all about, how it should be played?
But that’s the bag we’re in. Wonder what would happen if we typed “Down” into our GPS?
If a f— comes from Woods, does anyone hear?
NBC’s Golf Channel last week closely followed every step taken by Tiger Woods, but when he let loose with a “f—!” after missing a putt on Friday, no one — except viewers — heard it.
* Bud Palmer, the Knicks’ first captain, died last week at 91. He was Marty Glickman’s WMGM (1050 AM) Knicks radio partner for the 1949-50 and 1950-51 seasons.
* You don’t suppose local radio stations ignored the arrest of the son of former Giant and crude-talking car dealer Brad Benson — Clint Benson last week was arrested for DWI-related felonies including vehicular assault — because they were worried about advertising dollars, do you?
* Ray Williams, who died last week at 58, with or without basketball was a lost soul. The alleged socialization and life-skills development of student-athletes eluded Williams during his three years at the University of Minnesota.
* The left-side list on Saturday’s ESPN “SportsCenter” included “Heat Win 25th Straight!” followed by “Jon Barry on Heat concerns.” Heat concerns? Stay tuned! Barry later reported that the Heat really don’t have any concerns.
* What a nightmare I had. I went to the complaint department at Bloomingdales and the employee at the counter was John Tortorella.
Tourney musings & gripes
Some notes on the NCAA Tournament: Charles Barkley on Saturday likely thought he was being clever when he asked Florida Gulf Coast coach Andy Enfield: “Where the hell is Florida Gulf Coast at?” as in, “We never heard of it.”
But is there a more area-explicit school name in the tournament? Even Western Kentucky seems vague, by comparison. Enfield answered that it’s in Ft. Myers (which is on Florida’s Gulf Coast).
Any stat, any time: Spero Dedes, during Arizona-Harvard on Saturday, said the Wildcats were “on a 15-3 run.” Given that the score, at the time, was 20-5, that kinda figured.
Every NCAA Tournament we see a team or two that leaves us asking how it ever lost a conference game at home. Florida Gulf Coast this season lost an Atlantic Sun Conference game at home to Lipscomb.
Sideliner Jaime Maggio had a funny way of putting things, reporting that Arizona’s Grant Jerrett is back on the bench after injuring his elbow, and “could return to this game if he feels up to it.” She made the tournament sound like staying home or going to a movie.
Sideliner Otis Livingston on Friday asked Miami coach Jim Larranaga if “it bothers you that no one on your team has NCAA Tournament experience.” Larranaga looked surprised by the question, then said, “Basketball is basketball.” Miami’s loaded with older players, including 6-foot-11 Kenny Kadji, who will be 25 in May.
Clark Kellogg yesterday said Temple’s Khalif Wyatt “has literally carried his team, offensively.” Then Wyatt should be allowed to rest on defense.
Give studio guys Barkley, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson credit. They knew that we knew that they knew that they were just filling time with say-anything stuff at halftimes and between games.