Posts Tagged ‘Television’

Regardless of how things turn out for the Tennessee Volunteers this fall, the 2009 season represents so very many milestones—it really isn’t even worth the trouble to try and count them all.  There has been so much change lately and so very many new looks and faces that everything seems as if it is in flux.  Some feel this near c-change is long overdue, others decry it as a loss of tradition, others still reserve judgments and simply point to the inevitable movement of the hands of time.  Still, no matter how great the changes may be, the echoes of years gone by still ring in the air around Neyland Stadium.  Thankfully, this will never change. In addition to all of the “obvious” landmark events that have or will occur as part of the 2009 football season, there is one more that may go unnoticed by many.  Though it hardly seems possible, the 2009 season marks Bob Kesling’s tenth year as the “Voice of the Vols.” Since the kickoff of the 1999 football opener against the Wyoming Cowboys, Kesling along with color-commentator Tim Priest, and sideline reporter Mike Stowell (who succeeded Jeff Francis in 2007), have brought the sounds of Big Orange football into our homes via the “Statewide Stadium” that is the Vol Network. As have I pointed out in previous posts, since I was a child, I have always been a dedicated fan of live sports radio broadcasts.  I learned at an early age that television broadcasters, no matter how good they may be, simply cannot match the style, flair, color, or excitement that a gifted radio sportscaster can bring to a game.  There are few on television that come close—Ron Franklin and Mike Gottfried being pretty much the best—but even they cannot quite stay in step with the great radio broadcasters of the game.  Of course, for every Franklin and Gottfried, there are a bevy of lackluster talking suits which do little more than get in the way of the game rather than actually improving your understanding of what is taking place. Thus is the curse of television…

It is one thing to verbally recount what viewers just saw on their screen; it is an entirely different thing to narrate—paint a word picture—that which listeners depend on the broadcaster to pluck from the ether and make real.  It is remarkably easy to be sloppy and boring when broadcasting a game on television—the images speak for themselves.  With radio, however, the broadcaster creates those images and the world in which they exist. That is why I will always be a fan of radio play-by-play broadcasters… Thus, for the past ten years, we in Orange Nation have depended upon Bob Kesling to paint those pictures and to create those images—he has been the one to guide us through every play of every game.  On the whole, I have to say that Kesling has done a good job.  While I will be the first to admit that Kesling’s early broadcasts seemed to me a bit “sterile” and deadpan, over the past decade he and his gameday cohorts have steadily improved and I think they do a fine job of broadcasting Tennessee Football.  Suffice it to say that I listen each week, even if the game is on television or even if I am in Section Y7 watching it for myself. This decennial milestone, however, is less about the ten years that Kesling has served as the chief broadcaster for Tennessee, and more about the man he replaced.  I still can hardly believe that it has been ten years since last we heard the inviting and familiar baritone sounds of John Ward as the “Voice of the Vols.” Though Bob Kesling does a fine job, I still miss John Ward. [caption id="" align="alignright" width="148" caption="John Ward & Lowell Blanchard"][/caption] John Ward served as the Voice of the Vols in some capacity from 1963 until 1998, starting out as the host of the Tennessee coaches shows and as the PA announcer in Neyland Stadium.  Ward first began Vols play-by-play announcing when he began broadcasting Tennessee basketball games, along with the late Lowell Blanchard, in 1965.  Then, in 1968 veteran Vol Network broadcasters George Mooney (who started the Vol Navy) and Bob Fox decided to pursue other endeavors, paving the way for Ward and color-commentator Bill Anderson to assume their position behind the microphone. I first heard Ward when he broadcast the now legendary 1985-86 Sugar Bowl—where an underdog Tennessee Volunteers squad bested the No. 2 Miami Hurricanes by 28 points.  That game was, and remains, one of the most significant Tennessee football games of all time.  Ward, however, made it even better.  After hearing just one broadcast by John Ward it is fair to say that I was hooked. After that first experience, I could be found crowded around a radio whenever the Big Orange took the field.  I longed to hear John Ward and Bill Anderson relay the plays to me and the thousands of others out there in their own distinctive style.  To this day, I am a religious believer that if I am watching Tennessee play on TV, the sound goes off and the radio turns on.  However, in the era before satellite radio and internet webcasts, tuning in the Vol Network from my hometown of Asheville, North Carolina was not always an easy proposition.  There was no Vol Network affiliate serving my area.  Still, I found that if I was lucky, and if the game was at night (when the ionosphere makes radio signals carry farther) I could pick up the scratchy signal of the broadcast emanating from a station near Murphy, North Carolina.  Though my mother thought I was crazy constantly trying to tweak the radio to get just a bit more clarity, I always tried to find the broadcast.  She also thought I was about half-cracked when, as a student at Tennessee, I figured out a way to mount a tiny radio inside my marching band hat while I was in the Pride of the Southland, thus enabling me to listen while in the stands.  John Ward made it worth my while. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="John Ward & Bill Anderson host the "Kickoff Call-in Show" in 1997"][/caption] To this day, I am still a dedicated Vol Network listener and always have my earphones with me when sitting in Neyland Stadium. From 1986 to 1998, I listened to as many broadcasts as possible.  I learned a lot about the game of football, about Tennessee, and about communicating an image.  I learned that often I could see the game better with my eyes closed and my ears open.  John Ward’s words became my eyes, and they never saw things as clearly as they did when he was painting the picture word by word.  I learned that Tennessee football was as much John Ward as John Ward was Tennessee football.  I learned that a true professional needs no introduction, no pomp, and no showy entrance.  I learned that class is a commodity not often found among broadcasters.  I learned that mistakes in public are not a bad thing if you can have a good laugh about it. [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="220" caption="Cartoon of Ward from 1998"][/caption] Both prior to his retirement at the end of the 1998-99 basketball season and since that time, I have been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to speak with John Ward on several occasions, and found him to be every bit as genuine and every bit the gentleman he was on the radio.  For me he truly was—and remains—the voice of Tennessee.  He told us the story and let it unfold across the airwaves.  He not only told us what was happening, but he managed to make it real, to make the excitement palpable. Now, it has been ten years since he last sat behind the microphone in the communications center which bears his name inside the pressbox of Neyland Stadium.  Though this is difficult for me to imagine, I am sure there are many Tennessee fans today who have never heard Ward’s broadcasts and some who may not even know who he is.  On some level, that is very sad for me.  Yet, traditions are made over time, and each generation has a hand in forming and re-forming those traditions.  They are not static.  For me as a child and a young man, John Ward was a tradition.  Over the past ten years, however, Bob Kesling, Tim Priest, Bert Bertelkamp, and  Mike Stowell have started a new tradition for the Vol Network, one which I am sure in years to come will be remembered just as fondly as I remember Ward’s. Still, as we prepare for the 2009 football season, on the cusp of a great undiscovered country, the hopes of the future, it seems only appropriate that we look back ten years and remember the man who came into our ears, into our homes, into our lives to bring us the story of Tennessee.  That past is prologue for the future to which we all look. In recognition of this little reminiscent look back, I have put together a little soundboard of a few of John Ward’s memorable calls and catchphrases.  I plan on finding a permanent home for this soundboard here at the Gate, but for now, here are “21 Things” from the John Ward Era that still make me smile. Rest assured, I’ll be listening this fall from my perch in the North Endzone, from my home in North Carolina, or wherever else I might find myself on a gameday.  That is the primary reason why I own an XM Satellite Radio.  Yes, I still listen to the Vol Network every chance I get. So here’s to all the folks at the Vol Network for giving me and countless other Vol fans across the globe a reason to tune in.  Thank you for giving that experience to all of us who wear the orange.  Thank you for building and maintaining that wonderful tradition… …and a special thanks to the man who started that tradition for me: John Ward. -- So it goes …

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**Disclaimer and Notice: All Audio Clips remain the property of the licensing authority and their respective universities and/or institutions. Gate 21 makes no claim of ownership to these clips, and they are displayed on this website for the sole purpose of public commentary, discussion, and discourse, and are, in good faith, believed to be a Fair Use. Any questions or concerns regarding the display of such audio should be directed to the publisher of this site.

Image(s) Courtesy of:    UT Sports.com / the Vol Network •  Unofficial John Ward Page •  Knoxville News Sentinel ||  Statement on Fair Use

I am a bit behind on this story (at least I think I am) but still figured this is worth passing along.

In case you hadn’t heard, this weekend’s Orange and White Game will be the last for the Jumbotron at Neyland Stadium.  This change, however, is being driven by necessity, not vanity.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="465" caption="Tennessee Jumbotron I: 1999 - 2009"][/caption]

When installed in 1999, the Sony video screen was the largest of its type in the country.  According to an article on “Tennessee Today” since that time Sony has discontinued producing video screens which has led to problems for the Jumbotron and the UT Athletic Department.  For the last three years, no replacement parts have been available for the screen and the UTAD has had to purchase scrap parts from other screens just to keep it running.  With a limited supply of parts, it has been difficult to service the aging video screen.

Then, after a screen malfunction in the Fall of 2008, fears arose that if the screen were turned completely off, it might be impossible to turn it back on.  It is for this reason that the screen has been left on in "sleep mode" constantly since the Fall of 2008.

Thus, after the 2009 Orange and White Game, the screen will be officially disconnected and removed from its perch above Neyland Stadium.

Not to fear, however, the screen will be replaced by an even more gargantuan 41 x 127 foot one (that’s 5,207 sq. ft.) which should be ready to go for the 5 September kickoff against Western Kentucky.  The new screen will rest on the existing stantions that support the current screen and, apparently, is being designed and installed by Anthony James Partners, a Virginia firm specializing in massive video screens.

Below are a few renderings of the new screen that recently made their way onto the web.  Whether they are accurate is hard to say, but I figured they are worth sharing:

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Renderings of Tennessee's New Jumbotron

— Click Images to Bigify —

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I have to say that the design is impressive.  I especially like the decorative “T” iron work along the top.  Still, I hope that the final design includes the “VOLS"” sign that has graced the south endzone of the stadium since 1966.

A few shots of the "VOLS" sign through the years • L to R c. 1966, c. 1971, c. 1977-99

As for the old screen, if you’re in the market, I bet UT would make you deal on it.  Might look nice in your living room…

…or on top of it.

-- So it goes …

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Image(s) Courtesy of: :   FVSports •   TheVIB ||  Statement on Fair Use

Yes, friends and neighbors the NCAA Tournament is upon us.  Thus, we all get ready for the mayhem that accompanies that grand old tradition.  For what seems like forever, that has included watching endless hours of basketball courtesy of CBS Sports.  Now, generally, I am a huge fan of CBS Sports, and I favor their web presence when it comes to sports content on the internet. **

All that said, last year’s NCAA tournament almost drove me mad.  Actually it wasn’t the tournament, but the way that CBS covered the tournament on television.  That led me to fire off at the mouth a bit.  Since it is that time again, I figured it would only be appropriate to take a stroll down memory lane and look back on what I had to say about CBS’s coverage.  I do this for two reasons.

First, this seems relevant as we all get ready to become couch potatoes for a month.  This may be minimized a little bit due to the fact that CBS will be broadcasting all games online free of charge once again, but the fact remains a big flat screen is infinitely better than even the best computer monitor.

Second, I have been so busy that I haven’t yet gotten a chance to finish up my thoughts on the Oklahoma State Cowboys…

Thus, without further adieu, we go back in time to my post entitled simply:

CBS = Complete Bull Sh*t

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The following is an excerpt from an archived post on Gate 21 which originally appeared on 31 March 2008.  To continue reading the original post in its entirety, simply click the title above, or the “Continue Reading” link at the foot of this post

I intentionally waited a few days before airing this complaint, mainly because I didn’t want my vitriol to be mistaken as nothing more than "sour grapes" over the BasketVols loss to the Louisville Cardinals.

Trust me, this has nothing to do with Tennessee, Louisville, or any other specific team...

For the past ... well, it seems like quite a long time, now ... CBS has been the exclusive home of the NCAA Tournament. I vaguely remember ESPN covering first and second-round games during the 1990s, but CBS is all we have had for a while. Either way, CBS has held a stranglehold on the Final Four since Billy Packer conned James Naismith himself into signing over the rights some time during the 1920s -- back when Billy Packer was in his 50s.

First of all, I do want to applaud CBS Sportsline -- CBS Sports’ internet division -- for their ambitious decision to broadcast every tournament game for free on the web. Similarly, the CBS "Game Center" on the internet for each game -- displaying myriad stats and information in real time -- is amazing. It is as artful as it is impressive. Any fan can get up-to-the-second information on every facet of the game -- including points, fouls, assists, shooting trends, whether a player is taking bribes to throw the game, which boosters the cute little cheerleader next to the basket is sleeping with, and so much more -- via one of the best interfaces I’ve ever seen for statistical information of that kind.

Despite the minor fact that the bandwidth draw for the "March Madness on Demand" service has been so obscenely high that it has -- at times -- nearly crashed massive trunk lines on the web, I salute these efforts of CBS’s internet division. For reasons which will become clear in a second, in the future I may choose this as the only way I’ll watch the tournament -- even if it is in a 5" x 5" low resolution streaming window.

Continue Reading >>

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**Disclosure: While lawvol is a voting member of the CBS Sports Football Blog Poll and the CBS Sports BasketBlog Poll, neither this site, its editor, nor publisher receives any payment or other compensation of any type or kind in return for participation. Furthermore, neither Gate 21 nor lawvol received any benefit of any kind for this article, which was neither requested nor solicited by CBS Sports. This article represents the actual opinion of the author (for what that is worth) and was in no way influenced by any other person(s).

This post is part of a continuing series -- "The Cost of Sports" -- examining the impact of current economic changes on the world of major sports.    To see the other posts in this series, click here.

As I discussed in Part 1 of this series on the cost of sports, at Tennessee, the price can be high when it comes to paying your way into Neyland Stadium -- a truth of which Nashville's Thomas Luck is all too aware.  I discussed the issue purely in terms of the experience at Tennessee mainly because it is what I am familiar with.  Tennessee was but a lens -- the reality is largely the same at all schools with a major athletics presence.

The world of professional sports, however, makes the college ranks look like small potatoes in the way it is wed to the almighty dollar.  Given the current uncertain economic times, however, I question whether professional sports in particular can continue in the way it has for so long.

I suppose that sports fans should not be surprised at the notion that professional teams would necessarily focus on money, after all that is what professional athletics are all about: getting paid to play.  I suppose Rod Tidwell (from the movie “Jerry Maguire”) summed it up best with the oft quoted line "Show me the money!"  What I think is a bit surprising is how willingly and uncomplainingly professional sports fans have accepted the "money first" approach of all the teams in all the major leagues.  The increases in costs passed along to professional sports fans over the last generation is really quite staggering.

Video: Show me the Money!!

But don't take my word for it...

Fan Costs in Professional Sports

Sports marketing consultants Team Marketing Report (TMR) is a leading publisher of sports marketing and sponsorship analysis for both collegiate and professional sports.  Since 1988, TMR has been tracking major indicators in the world of sports.  One of the key components of their analysis is an analytical model called the "Fan Cost Index" which is used as a measuring stick for the cost to an actual fan attending a game for various franchises.

More specifically, TMR's exclusive Fan Cost Index (TM) survey,  tracks the cost of attendance for a family of four.

The FCI includes:

• Two adult average price tickets
• Two child average price tickets
• Four small soft drinks
• Two small beers
• Four hot dogs
• Two programs
• Parking
• Two adult-size caps.

Taking all of these factors into account, the analysts at TMR calculate the costs for fans attending games for teams across the country.  The data that TMR has assembled is telling.

For example, let's look at the NFL's presence in my home state: the Carolina Panthers.  The Panthers played their first season in Charlotte in 1996 (they played the 1995 inaugural season in the Clemson Tigers' stadium).  Thus, for Carolina we can see the change over the entire history of the franchise.  Since their first season in their permanent home, Bank of America (formerly Ericsson) Stadium, the Panthers have played in one Super Bowl.

Fan Cost Index: Carolina Panthers

	Beer	Soft Drink	Hot Dog	Parking	Program	Cap	Avg. Ticket	Avg. Prem. Ticket	Fan Cost Index	Cost Rank in NFL
1996	4.00c	2.00c	2.00	13.00	5.00	15.00	39.26	--	234.04	6th
1998	3.50c	2.00b	2.00	22.50	5.00	15.00	55.47	--	307.39	4th
2008	5.75e	3.00g	3.50	20.00	0.00	9.95	63.32	179.13	330.67	29th
	Increase Since 1998						7.85		23.28
	Percentage Increase Since 1998						12.4%		7.1%

Then there's the just-crowned Super Bowl XLIII Champions: the Pittsburgh Steelers.  During the 10 years covered below, the Steelers have won two Super Bowls and moved into a new stadium, Heinz Field.

Fan Cost Index: Pittsburgh Steelers

	Beer	Soft Drink	Hot Dog	Parking	Program	Cap	Avg. Ticket	Avg. Prem. Ticket	Fan Cost Index	Cost Rank in NFL
1998	3.50c	2.00c	2.00	8.00	4.00	12.00	35.76	--	206.03	27th
2008	6.75c	2.75c	4.75	25.00	5.00	18.00	67.47	204.34	384.38	15th
	Increase Since 1998						31.71		178.35
	Percentage Increase Since 1998						47%		46.4%

On the other hand, there's one of the biggest disappointments of the 2008 season: the New England Patriots.  During the 10 years covered below, the Patriots have won three Super Bowls and moved into a new stadium,  Gillette Stadium.

Fan Cost Index: New England Patriots

	Beer	Soft Drink	Hot Dog	Parking	Program	Cap	Avg. Ticket	Avg. Prem. Ticket	Fan Cost Index	Cost Rank in NFL
1998	5.00c	3.00g	3.00	15.00	5.00	10.00	39.45	--	236.81	13th
2008	7.50g	4.00e	3.50	40.00	5.00	14.95	117.84	566.67	596.25	1st
	Increase Since 1998						78.39		359.44
	Percentage Increase Since 1998						65.6%		61.3%

Key to notes on preceding Tables: b=14oz  c=16oz  e=20oz  g=22oz

• Source data for 1996, 1998, 2008 ( PDF), courtesy of: TMR.

These numbers show that, even in the smaller markets (which definitely includes Carolina and most would say includes Pittsburgh) there have been substantial increases in the cost of attending a game for the average fan.  What these statistics ignore, however, is the increasing impact of Personal Seat Licenses or PSLs on the cost of attending a game for individual fans.  Essentially, a PSL is the professional football equivalent of season ticket rights in college football.  The Average Ticket Price shown above reflects the average cost of a single game ticket available to the public for each team.  The fact is, however, in many of the NFL stadiums the number of generally available seats is wholly insignificant when compared to the number of seats licensed via PSLs.  In many cases, fans are left with only two choices: scalpers or buying a PSL.

PSLs are where the "Premium Ticket" costs referenced above come into play.

Again, let’s look at the Carolina Panthers, this time focusing on the Panther’s PSL program which, according to their website,  includes the following options:

 

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="478" caption="Panthers PSL Options (Click to Enlarge)"][/caption]

Again, when compared to what you see with some major college sports venues, Panthers PSLs are not that expensive.  The Dallas Cowboys, who are preparing to open a grand new $1.3 billion stadium for the 2009 season, however, will charge as much as $150,000 for seat licenses.  As a point of reference, according to Zillow.com, the median home value for Knoxville, Tennessee is approximately $148,000.  In the modern era, there can be little question, in most markets, that professional sports tickets are aimed less and less at individual fans (or the "Common Fan" as Basilio calls them) and more toward businesses and corporations.  As a result, on gamedays many professional sporting venues are primarily peopled by business people engaged in the schmooze game than it is by fans actively pulling for their teams.

The Flip-side of a Very Big Coin

The cost of gate admissions, however, barely scratches the surface of the cost of operating a professional sports franchise.  In that sense, professional sports depend far less on the ticket-buying fan and more on other streams of revenue than do college athletics.  None of this, however, means that the costs of running professional franchises are not passed on to fans.  It just occurs indirectly.  The "real" money for professional sports lies in corporate affiliations, naming rights, licensing and marketing, government subsidies, and the end-all and be-all: television broadcast rights.

Make no mistake, without these key components, professional sports as we know them do not survive.  The irony is, however, that without the common fan, these components of the professional sports balance sheet evaporate.

Of course, some -- most notably the NFL -- contend that professional sports always have and will continue to be recession-proof. In a recent interview with CNBC’s Mark Koba, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy commented on the effects of the recession by stating: "If we could build a stadium for 300,000 people we would sell out the game. The Super Bowl has always lifted the spirits of America and this year is no different."  Others are far less sanguine.

As the Money Players blog notes, there are already strong indications that "the long-held notion that sports is 'recession proof' is being shattered."  The first signs of this change have already begun to become apparent.  Some minor professional franchises folded early in the onset of the current recession, but now the list of the affected is growing.  For instance:

• In December, the WNBA's most successful franchise, the Houston Comets, officially folded;
• The barely solvent to begin with Arena Football League canceled the 2009 season;
• The PGA publicly acknowledged it could face tough times given the current economic crisis, and the LPGA cut three tour stops and $5 million in prize money from its 2009 tour;
• The NHL officially dropped its revenue projections for 2008-09;
• Neither the New York Giants nor the Dallas Cowboys have managed to find a suitor sufficiently willing to pay for naming rights on their new stadiums;
• The New York Yankees have yet to sell out the luxury boxes in the singularly lavish  New Yankee Stadium, while the secondary market prices of opening day tickets in the new facility have plummeted (most recently selling on the secondary market for $ 534, down from $ 1,101);
• The Washington Redskins recently laid off 20 front-office employees while Roger Goodell laid off 150 of the 1,000 employees at the NFL league offices;
• Both the NBA and NFL have recently offered cuts in ticket prices to bolster flagging attendance;
• Both the Minnesota Vikings and Arizona Cardinals had difficulties selling out their playoff games this season;
• NASCAR Racing is facing the bleakest season outlook in years due to sponsorship issues; and
• Most notably, the cost of tickets to Super Bowl XLIII on the secondary market was $500 - $800 lower than last year.

These are but a few examples.

These sorts of "adjustments" on the part of major professional sports demonstrate that professional sports are not immune to recession.  That realization has gotten the attention of many sports-business watchers and has started a new conversation about the state of professional sports.

Said Andrew Zimbalist, a noted sports economist and professor of economics at Smith College:

... fans tend to give up other consumption before they cut back their consumption of sports. The present downturn is, however, both much more severe and likely to last considerably longer than the typical post-WWII recession. Moreover, the revenue-generating model in pro sports has been gentrified over the last 20 years, becoming more dependent on the sale of premium seating, corporate sponsorships, and catering — all expenditures likely to be more sensitive to economic conditions.

... What we do know is that the sports industry will reflect, perhaps with some moderation, the vicissitudes of the overall economy.

• via: Freakonomics

Steve Czaban, a syndicated host with Fox Sports Radio (which, along with Sports Illustrated and others, is itself currently clawing to remain solvent) believes that the market for sports will diminish substantially, unless major corporations are able to save themselves from collapse.   In a recent article by Wall Street Journal columnist Jonathan Last, Czaban noted, "The worst-case scenario, for example, for the NFL, is there's a dozen teams that can no longer sell out their home games."  The article notes that such a loss would create broadcast issues due to the NFL blackout rules for non-sold-out games. Said Czaban, "The U.S. government is buying banks, major retailers are going under, and a half-a-dozen newspapers are folding up shop.  Why is it we think this could never happen to sports?"

As Andrew Zimbalist and others note, however, there is no real historical benchmark aside from the experience of Major League Baseball during the Great Depression.  During the early 1930's fan attendance dropped by as much as 40%, but no teams failed.  That begs two questions: 1) Is it possible that the same attendance drops could be on the horizon for major professional sports in the near future, and 2) if so, can they bear the financial strain of a reduced fanbase?

Of course, in the 1930's there was only one major sports league, college athletics were in their infancy and were largely localized, more importantly there was no television.

Television, in the minds of many, will be the savior of major sports in the current crunch, but there are those who question whether that is true.  In fact some assert that television might actually add to the erosion of revenues for sports -- professional and college alike.

The thought that television could add fuel to the already raging fire is a scary one, especially for professional franchises whose “help me, help you” relationship with television has been a dependable source of revenue during even the most trying times.

Video: Help Me, Help You...

That is what I will look at in the next installment of this series...

-- So it goes …

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Images Courtesy of: Panthers.com • Steelers.com • Patriots.com • Wikipedia

Ever wondered how they put the yellow first down lines on the field during football games on television?  No?  Well, never mind then.  If so, then here's a little video explaining the process. It's a bit technical, but interesting nonetheless.

The Mystery of the Yellow Line Video

• via: Fandome • NBC Sports

Just think, there is a staff of hundreds of people with millions of dollars of equipment all dedicated to making sure you don't have to wait that extra 10 seconds to find out the down and distance.  All of it, just for you.

Do you feel the power?  Oh yeah!  Man of distinction coming this way...

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I intentionally waited a few days before airing this complaint, mainly because I didn’t want my vitriol to be mistaken as nothing more than "sour grapes" over the BasketVols loss to the Louisville Cardinals.

Trust me, this has nothing to do with Tennessee, Louisville, or any other specific team...

For the past ... well, it seems like quite a long time, now ... CBS has been the exclusive home of the NCAA Tournament. I vaguely remember ESPN covering first and second-round games during the 1990s, but CBS is all we have had for a while. Either way, CBS has held a stranglehold on the Final Four since Billy Packer conned James Naismith himself into signing over the rights some time during the 1920s -- back when Billy Packer was in his 50s.

First of all, I do want to applaud CBS Sportsline -- CBS Sports’ internet division -- for their ambitious decision to broadcast every tournament game for free on the web. Similarly, the CBS "Game Center" on the internet for each game -- displaying myriad stats and information in real time -- is amazing. It is as artful as it is impressive. Any fan can get up-to-the-second information on every facet of the game -- including points, fouls, assists, shooting trends, whether a player is taking bribes to throw the game, which boosters the cute little cheerleader next to the basket is sleeping with, and so much more -- via one of the best interfaces I’ve ever seen for statistical information of that kind.

Despite the minor fact that the bandwidth draw for the "March Madness on Demand" service has been so obscenely high that it has -- at times -- nearly crashed massive trunk lines on the web, I salute these efforts of CBS’s internet division. For reasons which will become clear in a second, in the future I may choose this as the only way I’ll watch the tournament -- even if it is in a 5" x 5" low resolution streaming window.

All my praise for CBS stops at the web. While the geek squad over at CBS Sportsline has managed to push the delivery of live sports content to the next level of innovation, the senior production staff at CBS Sports television division have opted to take gigantic steps backward. The CBS Sportsline staff deserve a substantial raise, the television production staff should be drug out into the street by their hair, tied to a post, tarred and feathered, and then put on display outside the Alamodome for tournament-goers to poke and prod.

I generally like the CBS stable of announcers and personalities. I mean, how could you not just want to pinch Verne Lundquist’s cheeks every time you see him. Furthermore, between Bill Raftery and Gus Johnson there have been a bevy of quotable lines which are absolutely hilarious, even if they are ridiculous. What infuriates me to no end, however, is CBS’s apparent belief that the average viewer is a vapid, mouth-breathing fool who lacks the sense or the ability to decide which game they actually want to watch during the tournament.

Now, where I live, our CBS affiliate has been one of CBS’s primary testing grounds for new ideas. Our affiliate is always trying to do new things to make the viewers’ experience better. Thus, when tournament time rolls around, they make arrangements with all of the cable providers in the area to have numerous additional channels so that all the games are being broadcast at all times. Thus, despite the fact I live in the bowels of the ACC, I can still see the SEC games. I appreciate that.

What I absolutely hate is the fact that the powers that be at CBS Sports in New York feel that they are much wiser than I -- and the millions of other fans -- when it comes to deciding what is worth watching. Thus, they constantly insist on cutting away from the games to show other games due to the fact that they are more "exciting".

If I see Greg Gumbel’s face pop-up on my screen one more time to tell me that "we are now going to Souix City where the No Teeth State Water Buffaloes have comeback against the Alaskan State School of Veterinary Medicine and Applied Mechanical Engineering, and the score is currently tied at 6 with 1:00 to go..." I will be forced to take up voo-doo and put a hex on him and his family.

CBS, it is a simple concept: if I have already spent 2 hours watching a game, and there are only 2:00 minutes to go in it, I want to see the end of it.

I don’t give a damn how one-sided the game I'm watching is, or how boring it has become to the CBS front office. I want to watch the game I have on. If I wanted to watch the UCLA game, I’d have turned it on. If I really cared how close the Western Kentucky vs. San Diego game was, I’d have flipped over to it. If I gave two shits about what game you thought was more interesting, I’d have asked for your opinion.

So leave the damn game on so I can watch the end of it!

It is obvious that CBS has never heard of the 1968 game between the New York Jets and the Oakland Raiders, generally known as the "Heidi Game," but perhaps they should check it out. They might learn that, as a result of that debacle by NBC, that network learned that it is not a good idea to cut in on a game and switch to something else -- people get really pissed-off when you do. This is especially maddening considering that they are already displaying all the scores in their ticker. Furthermore, if anyone at CBS had ever looked at what any of the other networks are doing, they would realize that in the modern era, if there is something of interest going on elsewhere, they can use a split screen or something of that nature -- all of the other networks seem to have figured that out. I guess that would be asking too much of CBS...

The most galling thing about all of this, is -- as I mentioned above -- my local CBS affiliate has gone to great lengths in my area to ensure that all of the games are televised on the local cable systems. Thus, during the early rounds of the tournament, there were as many as 6 different channels showing games in my area at the same time. When the morons in New York decided that they had a better idea of what we really should be watching, however, they would cut away to "the hot game". Thus, instead of being able to switch over if I wanted to see that "hot game" CBS cut in on the one I was watching ... and on the ones that others were watching.

Thus, I had the amazing -- and enviable -- ability to watch the same game on 6 different channels!!!!!

The level of rank incompetence by the senior production staff at CBS during this tournament is bordering on legendary. Even though we are now into the final rounds of the tournament, I’m sure that CBS will find a way to keep it up: I imagine that during the Final Four, they will cut in to show the great deals available on home electronics over at QVC, and during the championship game, we will go live to the scene of Survivor to see the results of the latest tribal challenge.

This is ridiculous, and CBS ought to fire who ever made the decision to keep making these constant cut-aways. This sort of heavy-handed approach has ensured that, in the future -- if given a choice between CBS and any other broadcaster -- I will never watch anything on CBS unless absolutely necessary.

CBS has completely dropped the ball, and I hope their advertisers -- the only thing that really matters to them -- realize this.

Thus, I encourage all of you to get your "March Madness on Demand" passes early next year, because that is the only place you can avoid the constant cut-outs. Of course given the idiots driving the ship at present, I imagine next year CBS will make sure and do the same on the internet ...

... because after all, what do the fans actually know?

• If you’d like to send your thoughts to CBS, you can do so through their website, at the following link: CBS Corporation: Contact Us.

-- Go Figure …

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Images Courtesy of: CBS • Radiers.com