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Dog
Day Afternoon
CBS
Deprives Viewers Of Gonzaga-Stanford Drama
By
Randy Williams and George
Stahl
NEW
YORK (AQB)--AQB entered the weekend with hopes that CBS would make
a better effort to keep viewers apprised of what is going on around
the country. As Saturday afternoon turns into evening, we're
very disappointed with the effort by the network.
CBS did a terrible job while showing the Iowa-Arkansas thriller
to the New York market, largely because it paid no attention to
the biggest story of the day, Gonzaga's upset of second-seeded Stanford.
Early in the second half of Iowa's win, as it became apparent Stanford
could lose, CBS assumed fans weren't interested in seeing the
Cardinal go down in flames. Sure, they granted us a one-minute
look-in at Gonzaga's win with under 10 minutes left in that game
but failed to do viewers any favors down the stretch. Did Homer
Simpson stroll over from Fox and run the control room?
There is absolutely no excuse for the bumbling ineptitude
CBS displayed in this situation. The Stanford game was much
farther along than the Iowa contest; It wouldn't have hurt viewers
to miss the middle of the Iowa-Arkansas second half in favor of
the key moments of Gonzaga's victory.
Meanwhile, CBS/Westwood One radio provided the live ending
of the Iowa and Gonzaga wins, plus Auburn's win against Oklahoma
State. If it can be done on radio, can't it be done on TV?
To compound my pain, a late CBS score update instead flashed the
Iowa score, as I watched the Hawkeyes-Razorbacks on my screen. And,
as far as the New York market goes, would it have killed hoops
fans in Queens or Brooklyn to miss a piece of the Hogs' loss to
Tom Davis & Co.?
After all, CBS left the dreadful Ohio State-Detroit game later
Saturday in favor of the Weber State-Florida matchup. Yes, the OSU
game was a blowout while the Iowa-Arkansas game was close but I
still don't think it would've been difficult to give fans more of
Gonzaga's big win.
This isn't the first time the network has struggled with its coverage
this week. On day one, CBS missed the end of the Detroit victory
over UCLA while showing the Weber State win over North Carolina.
Friday night, CBS didn't switch from the Mississippi victory over
Villanova to show College of Charleston's futile comeback against
Tulsa.
On the other hand, AQB tips its hat to the game announcers, most
of whom have performed well. They've done a nice job of calling
the action; informing the audience about key players, many of whom
they've probably never seen before; and handling interruptions caused
by studio breaks.
Kudos to Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel, who did well in the
Iowa-Arkansas contest. In a game played at a breakneck pace, the
broadcasters kept their thoughts to a minimum and made their words
count. Still, their fine effort wasn't enough to make up for the
unfortunate decisions by those at the controls.
CBS, "Welcome Home?" How about CBS, "Wake Up!"
Other
news, notes and quotes from a full day of watching college basketball...
File this:
Studio analyst Clark Kellogg said Detroit is the low
seed he feels can make a run in the tournament, citing the Titans'
strong guard play and solid defense.
Somebody stop him:
In the second half of St. John's-Indiana, Gus Johnson provided a
painful lead-in to a promo for the new CBS show, "Payne,"
starring Dan Laroquette. Laroquette, by the way, should have hung
'em up after "Night Court."
Good
work:
1. Analyst Dan Bonner during St. John's-Indiana. The underrated
announcer did a nice job of dissecting defenses and made some insightful
points. For example, in the first half, he said a defender should
never reach across his body to swipe at a ball because "even
if you don't foul, it looks like a foul and they'll call it."
Also, when Red Storm point guard Erick Barkley was yelling at his
teammates for not alerting him on a hard screen, Bonner said alerting
teammates about screens usually isn't necessary in a zone defense.
2. During Iowa's win against Arkansas, Ian Eagle and Jim
Spanarkel talked about how Tom Davis said he didn't appreciate talk
that his team isn't athletic.
Good
line:
1. "I know that in your coaching career, Bill, you have
been in [Detroit coach] Perry Watson's position a lot - way behind
early," Sean McDonough said to his partner, Bill Raftery, after
Ohio State jumped out to a 12-0 early lead.
Ooops:
1. After a three-pointer by Indiana's A.J. Guyton, CBS showed
Luke Recker even though the announcers were taking about Guyton
and his shot.
2. Bonner made a good point about how Indiana guard Dane
Fife had his head down while driving to the basket and missed a
wide-open teammate. His only mistake was that he said Fife made
the difficult layup attempt when he didn't.
Questionable:
Bonner had his arm wrapped around St. John's coach Mike Jarvis in
a postgame interview. Aren't journalists supposed to be detached
from the participants. Also, Bonner asked Red Storm star Ron Artest
a weak "How does it feel?" question.
Read AQB's review of
Thursday's first round coverage and Friday's
second round coverage.
Do
you agree with our assessments? Do you have items to add to our
page? Then SPEAK
OUT or E-MAIL
US.
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