LAWRENCE, Kansas – When I said three weeks ago that, for CBS, this year’s NCAA Tournament “may very well be the network’s own shining moment,” I never could have anticipated the whirlwind ride that followed. Not only were we treated to two overtime games in the first session of the first round, but we were also treated to close game after close game, upset after upset.

In a year with so much uncertainty about the future of the tournament, teams delivered the most exhilarating set of games in history. They showed off everything that is right with the current format, making a seemingly imminent expansion to 96 teams look that much more ridiculous.

I had the pleasure of working for CBS in St. Louis for the Midwest Regionals. Even our least competitive game – Northern Iowa vs. Michigan State – was tight until the Panthers went on one of their signature scoring droughts in the second half.

Even with so many great games, there was an eerie doubt beneath the diligent work of each crew member. It was the elephant in the room. As everyone was focused on the task at hand, the unanswered question remained in the backs of their minds: will we still be doing this next year?

An occasional reference in jest was soon followed up with uncomfortable laughter. Never in 29 years had the question been so real. In some ways, as the tournament hit one crescendo after another, it began to feel  like an all-too-perfect storybook ending. And should it be CBS’ last dance, it would be a heartbreaking end.

Next year, the network would mark its 30th year as the exclusive home of the Final Four and National Championship. Will they be given the chance?

The lead production team of producer Bob Dekas and director Bob Fishman marked their 25th Final Four and National Championship together this year, extending their record as the longest-running production duo for a major annual sporting event. In fact, no Final Four broadcast in the last 29 years has been without one or both of them.

Fishman directed CBS’ first Final Four in 1982 and has directed all but one, when illness sidelined him one year. Dekas came on board in 1985 after his predecessor Rick Sharp died suddenly of a heart attack the previous January. Sharp was only 40.

Indeed, “Deke” and “Fish,”  as they are known, have been a staple of CBS’ Final Four and National Championship coverage longer than “One Shining Moment.” And, while the closing montage doesn’t always deliver, they do.

If they were doing their final championship, they saved their best for last. They managed their nearly 20 cameras and replay machines without overusing any one piece of technology. Fishman didn’t overplay his hand on shots of wives and families, reverting to his early career with CBS News by letting announcers narrate clean pictures without excess clutter. Even in the aftermath of Duke’s victory when the temptation to go overboard peaked, Dekas used only four replays to show just how close Butler’s Gordon Hayward was to sinking his last second heave.

Such restraint would become all but extinct with a network like Fox or ESPN taking over March Madness. It’s no mistake that Augusta National doesn’t trust ESPN with the early rounds of The Masters. CBS produces their coverage instead.

If the NCAA opts out of its contract with CBS and expands the field to 96, what will the tournament look like next year?

I, for one, hope we never find out.

Filed under: Opinion/Editorial, Sports TV, Television

LAWRENCE, Kansas – As CBS embarks on another NCAA Tournament, it is important to remember just how good they are at doing this event. Sure, they will miff some viewers by jumping around from site to site to update other games – the necessary evil known as “walking the dog” – but when your game is on the line, you can be sure you’ll see it live.

With the NCAA nearing a summer deadline to opt out of the remaining three years of its contract with CBS, this may very well be the network’s own shining moment, or at least its moment to shine. More than any other year of the tournament, there are more teams vying for the NCAA Championship than the ones on the court.

Sixteen announcers, eight producer-director teams as well as more than a dozen associate directors and broadcast associates will travel this week to the four corners of the country and places in between to remind the NCAA of why CBS is and should continue to be its exclusive television partner. From top to bottom, the network has a broadcast lineup that’s second to none. And that’s without many of its golf on-air and production personnel, who are instead preparing for The Masters and the return of a particular golfer.

Indeed, it is the dreaded first weekend – when each crew must broadcast 6 games in two days – that CBS really separates itself from the rest, both from a production and technical standpoint.

ESPN has demonstrated all season long that getting audiences to the games they want to see is not easy. As the regular season progressed, Big 12 basketball fans became increasingly annoyed that Big Monday games were routinely joined in progress, prompting some to start online petitions targeting the network and the conference.

The greatest display of scheduling ineptitude came last week when ESPN joined the  Big 12 Tournament championship game five minutes late in order to show the end of an ACC Tournament semifinal. That’s right. They felt a conference semifinal game took priority over a conference championship game. Did I mention that ESPN has about a handful of channels? Yet they couldn’t move the ACC semis to, say, ESPN2 in order to give top billing to a championship game.

Imagine if they only had one channel. Ever.

That’s essentially what CBS has been dealing with for nearly 30 years. Sure, there’s the DirecTV Mega March Madness package that allows subscribers to choose which game to watch on TV or the free March Madness On Demand service that allows users to choose which game to watch online. But the network is still most keenly set on delivering their product to the viewer watching on an affiliate station.

Because of its 50-year association with the NFL, CBS has needed the infrastructure to distribute regionalized coverage. On the busiest NFL weekend, the network could have eight different games in an afternoon, often with more than half being played simultaneously. The NFL blackout policy requires a degree of regionalization for every outlet, but CBS and Fox are easily the most equipped as they have the Sunday afternoon packages.

Most of the producers and directors for Fox Sports migrated from CBS when Fox took over the NFC Sunday afternoon package in 1994. Of those, only three current Fox producers and three directors covered tournament games in those capacities. Because Fox has never had a contract for basketball, it’s likely been as many as 17 years since any of them covered basketball.

To put that into perspective, Lance Barrow was an associate director the last time those producers and directors covered the NCAA Tournament. He just produced his second Super Bowl last month.

Having the tournament on any other network simply doesn’t make sense. Then again, neither does a 96-team field. But that’s a discussion for another day.

Filed under: Opinion/Editorial, Sports TV, Television

LAWRENCE, Kansas – If you choose which games you watch based on the announcers or crew covering them, this is for you. Here is the breakdown of which crew is at which site for the first two rounds of the 2010 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament as well as the early and late first round games.

Thursday, March 18

Oklahoma City

Kevin Harlan (play-by-play), Dan Bonner (analyst), Craig Silver (producer), Andy Goldberg (director)

Early Games (11:20 a.m. CT):

Florida vs. BYU, Kansas State vs. North Texas

Late Games (6:10 p.m. CT):

UNLV vs. North Iowa, Kansas vs. Lehigh

New Orleans

Dick Enberg (play-by-play), Jay Bilas (analyst), Mark Wolff (producer), Mark Grant (director)

Early Games (11:25 a.m. CT):

Notre Dame vs. Old Dominion, Baylor vs. Sam Houston State

Late Games (6:15 p.m. CT):

Kentucky vs. East Tennessee State, Texas vs. Wake Forest

Providence

Verne Lundquist (play-by-play), Bill Raftery (analyst), Bob Mansbach (producer), Suzanne Smith (director)

Early Games (11:30 a.m. CT):

Villanova vs. Robert Morris, Richmond vs. St. Mary’s

Late Games (6:25 p.m. CT):

Georgetown vs. Ohio, Tennessee vs. San Diego State

San Jose

Spero Dedes (play-by-play), Bob Wenzel (analyst), Vic Frank (producer), Chris Svendsen (director)

Early Games (1:30 p.m. CT) :

Vanderbilt vs. Murray State, Butler vs. UTEP

Late Games (6:20 p.m. CT):

Marquette vs. Washington, New Mexico vs. Montana

Friday, March 19

Buffalo

Gus Johnson (play-by-play), Len Elmore (analyst), Steve Scheer (producer), Mike Arnold (director)

Early Games (11:15 a.m. CT):

West Virginia vs. Morgan State, Clemson vs. Missouri

Late Games (6:10 p.m. CT):

Gonzaga vs. Florida State, Syracuse vs. Vermont

Milwaukee

Ian Eagle (play-by-play), Jim Spanarkel (analyst), Ross Schneiderman (producer), Bryan Lilley (director)

Early Games (11:25 a.m. CT):

Xavier vs. Minnesota, Pittsburgh vs. Oakland

Late Games (6:15 p.m. CT):

Oklahoma State vs. Georgia Tech, Ohio State vs. UC Santa Barbara

Jacksonville

Jim Nantz (play-by-play), Clark Kellogg (analyst), Bob Dekas (producer), Bob Fishman (director)

Early Games (11:30 a.m. CT):

Temple vs. Cornell, Wisconsin vs. Wofford

Late Games (6:25 p.m. CT):

Duke vs. Arkansas Pine Bluff/Winthrop, California vs. Louisville

Tim Brando (play-by-play), Mike Gminski (analyst), Ken Mack (producer), Jim Cornell (director)

Early Games (11:25 a.m. CT):

Notre Dame vs. Old Dominion, Baylor vs. Sam Houston State

Late Games (6:20 p.m. CT) :

Michigan State vs. New Mexico State, Maryland vs. Houston

Filed under: Sports TV, Television