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SAUNDERS: Viewers spoiled by full sports schedule

By Dusty Saunders, Special to the Rocky

Published April 6, 2008 at 8:02 p.m.

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Where were you between 7:15 and 7:17 p.m. Saturday?

Carmelo Anthony was scoring the Nuggets' first basket on an alley-oop dunk.

Brandon Rush hit a driving layup to give Kansas a 10-4 lead over North Carolina.

Meanwhile, Rockies right fielder Brad Hawpe missed making a diving catch as Arizona increased its lead over Colorado.

Saturday night offered an abundance of TV sports riches for couch potatoes with agile thumbs.

The centerpiece for this TV troika was, of course, the Jayhawks-Tar Heels battle that veteran CBS analyst Billy Packer billed as three games - the early rout by Kansas, the driving comeback by North Carolina and Kansas' pull-away finale.

Packer and partner Jim Nantz kept the changing court environment in focus, with Packer early on noting the obvious - the tired-looking, lead-footed Tar Heels were off their game in every department.

To their credit, neither Packer nor Nantz raised their coverage to histrionic levels, offering measured responses about what was happening on the floor.

In the earlier Memphis-UCLA game, Packer regularly hammered home a legitimate point: UCLA's offense was badly hampered because of the failure to get the ball inside to Kevin Love, the Bruins' big man.

Tonight's Memphis-Kansas championship will be the 68-year-old Packer's 34th straight appearance as an analyst in the NCAA final.

Rumors have popped up that Packer might retire following tonight's finale.

During his lengthy career, Packer has become somewhat of a polarizing talent. Some praise his knowledge and strict attention to detail. Others resent what they perceive as an arrogant attitude and lack of humor.

BROADCASTING PREDICTION: Fox Sports' Tim McCarver, who covered the 2007 World Series, is not on the Rockies' 2008 bandwagon.

But unlike some national "experts," he doesn't dismiss the team completely.

During a conference call, McCarver picked Colorado to finish second in the National League West behind Arizona.

"The Rockies' major problem will be lack of pitching," McCarver said before Colorado lost five in a row, while showing a decided lack of pitching.

According to McCarver, major league baseball's main problem (away from steroids and other off-the-field issues) is a lack of talented backup catchers.

"Youngsters starting off in baseball aren't encouraged to be catchers," he said. "It's a tough job. Because of this attitude, major league teams have a dearth of catchers."

CATCHER IN THE WRY: Joe Garagiola, whose career as a humorist is surpassing his previous jobs as baseball analyst and major league player, dispensed a bit of wit, if not wisdom, on Mike Rosen's KOA-AM (850) talk show Friday before the Rockies' home opener.

High on his humor list was a description of the protective paraphernalia worn by today's catchers compared with the leaner equipment of his era. Noted Garagiola: "Catchers soon will be wearing complete body armor."

BROADCASTING NAMES: FSN Rocky Mountain's Drew Goodman displayed a competitive broadcasting spirit during Saturday's Rockies game. Goodman informed viewers that Kansas was leading the Tar Heels by 28 points. Broadcasters rarely promote such major TV competition. I wonder how many viewers switched?

* Dick Vitale, in his 29th season on ESPN, will be inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.

* The life and baseball career of the late Roberto Clemente will be the subject of an April 21 hourlong documentary on American Experience, public television's award-winning series.

RADIO LINES: The Fan will continue to simulcast on KJCD-FM (104.3) and KKFN-AM (950), through the Nuggets and Avalanche seasons. Initially, the Fan planned to vacate the AM position March 31.

"We think our fans and advertisers are very familiar with the AM frequency," said Bob Call, vice president and general manager of the local Lincoln Financial Group stations. "We'll make the change later this spring."

When that happens, look for KPEN-AM (1600), the ESPN outlet, to move to the 950 position.

So what happens to the 1600 frequency, often a broadcasting joke because of its poor signal? Possibilities include a return to classic country, a business radio format or ESPN in Spanish.

Dusty Saunders writes periodically about sports broadcasting. Contact him at tvtime@comcast.net.

Comments

  • April 7, 2008

    11:33 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    R8R_H8R writes:

    RE: "Goodman informed viewers that Kansas was leading the Tar Heels by 28 points. Broadcasters rarely promote such major TV competition. I wonder how many viewers switched?"

    ACtually it isn't rare for scoring updates to be given. For most of us sports fans, if they DONT give us a scoring update, we're gonna change the channel to get the score ourselves, and we might not come back.

  • April 7, 2008

    2:35 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    TheVentilator writes:

    Why switch if you know it is a 28 pt blowout?

  • April 14, 2008

    12:40 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    troopermsu writes:

    I wish CBS' other broadcasters would refrain from histrionics; specifically Vern Lundquist, Bill Raftery, Gus Johnson, Tim Brando (the absolute worst).