LAWRENCE, Kansas — Even after the Kansas men’s basketball team had escaped with a one-point victory against UCLA last night, something just didn’t feel right. How could officials have put 0.7 seconds back on the clock after reviewing the same footage I’d seen on television?

The issue to me was not whether KU’s Mario Little was in fact fouled but whether the official had called the foul before time had expired in the second half. After the replay had aired several times, it was clear that the official hadn’t raised his arm until after time had run out.

Filed under:
Opinion/Editorial, Sports TV, Technology by Scott A. Winer

LAWRENCE, Kan. – 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.

Filed under:
Opinion/Editorial, Sports TV, Television by Scott A. Winer

LAWRENCE, Kan. – After putting forth my arbitrary list of the best in live television for the past year, I have seen that the Sports Emmy Awards were given out last night. I’ve decided that, since I have yet to look at the winners, I might as well give my picks to a slightly less arbitrary selection.

Here’s a quick digression: I’m sitting in the Kansas Union on the KU campus in Lawrence with ESPN’s newsmagazine attempt, E:60, on a television to my left. I can’t really hear what’s being said. What I can tell is that the film noir pitch meeting footage is horribly over the top, and the camerawork for the interviews in this Stephon Marbury piece is basically what I’d expect from ESPN trying to do break into this genre. Could someone please watch Real Sports or 60 Minutes?! They do it right.

Filed under:
Opinion/Editorial, Sports TV by Scott A. Winer

LAWRENCE, Kan. – For as long as I’ve been writing about the world of live television, I don’t think I’ve ever actually put forth a list of who I think is the best for on-air and production.

Here are a couple of rules: 1) individuals must still be active in their respective roles (network changes are okay); 2) there is no limit on how many people working for a particular network can be chosen (if the network happens to be that good, it wouldn’t make sense for me to suggest otherwise); 3) for sports, when I feel it is warranted, I may select multiple people holding the same position but for different sports.

Filed under:
Music/Variety, Opinion/Editorial, Sports TV by Scott A. Winer