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SAUNDERS: 'Tis the season again for glib glitz

By Dusty Saunders, Special to the Rocky

Published October 26, 2008 at 8:13 p.m.

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Broncos cheerleader Lindsey Dudley, top, introduces Jay Cutler, center, during CBS 4's Jay Cutler Live. Even after Monday's loss to the Patriots, the cheerleading didn't seem subdued. Anchor Vic Lombardi, bottom, was the only one who seemed to provide any in-depth critique.

Broncos cheerleader Lindsey Dudley, top, introduces Jay Cutler, center, during CBS 4's Jay Cutler Live. Even after Monday's loss to the Patriots, the cheerleading didn't seem subdued. Anchor Vic Lombardi, bottom, was the only one who seemed to provide any in-depth critique.

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The weekly half-hour is a noisy exercise in cheerleading.

So I wasn't surprised Tuesday night to see Broncos cheerleader Lindsey Dudley introduce Jay Cutler Live amid rowdy applause from a Littleton bar and restaurant.

This Live series has long been a regular fall staple on CBS 4 - "the Broncos station" - offering of mix of soft commentary by player hosts (in recent seasons, the TV-savvy John Lynch was the guy) and anchor Vic Lombardi.

Also featured: game highlights, a guest Broncos player (fullback Spencer Larsen) and lots of visuals of smiling Broncos fans waving for the cameras.

I watched Tuesday's half-hour out of curiosity.

Would the cheerleading be more subdued following the Broncos' Monday night trouncing by the Patriots?

Not really.

It was happy times as usual, with Cutler throwing out the familiar line that the bye week will definitely allow the team to pull itself together.

Any in-depth critique of Live because of its lack of depth would be a wasted exercise, since the show doesn't pretend to be anything but a disguised cheerleading effort.

Still, Cutler is not nearly as comfortable in the role as was Lynch, who'll probably find a full-time gig in an NFL studio.

But Cutler offers an "aw-shucks" style that's somewhat appealing. I wish someone at CBS 4 would give him some brief elocution lessons and slow him down so he could cut down on the "you know" phrases. (I stopped counting at 56.)

But ("you know") in the long run, that really doesn't matter if Cutler can regain his early-season quarterbacking form.

A subtext to this series is the performance of Lombardi, by far the best of all the current local broadcast TV sports anchors.

Lombardi is the glue who holds the show together.

He told Cutler, in gentle terms, that prevailing wisdom among many Broncos fans is that the team is not getting any better.

This allowed Cutler to express his bye-week philosophy.

Thus, Lombardi could be viewed as a real "homer" based only on this weekly half-hour.

However, a different Lombardi shows up regularly on CBS 4.

Last week, a somewhat arrogant Lombardi threw out a logical question: Is this Broncos defense the worst ever? He then provided statistics to add weight to his question.

Pointing to weaknesses in the secondary, Lombardi even volunteered the phone number of the retired Lynch to Broncos officials.

In an ideal TV sports world, CBS 4 would provide a weekly studio half-hour of in-depth analysis of the Broncos, featuring Lombardi, Gary Miller or Reggie Rivers, and a couple of local ink-stained wretches who would assess the team's situation.

But this would mean that Lindsey Dudley couldn't introduce the show.

PLANNING AHEAD: ESPN is calling it College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon - 23 consecutive hours of live basketball game coverage and studio programming beginning Nov. 18.

* HBO will continue its tradition of in-depth documentary programming on Dec. 16, chronicling the integration of college football in the South. The hour will focus on the civil rights movement of the '60s and its effect on the racial status quo of college athletics, particularly in the Southeastern Conference.

NBA EXPLOSION: The Nuggets open the regular season at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Salt Lake City against the Jazz on Altitude.

But Denver will have TV competition, since ESPN is offering a competitive doubleheader - Phoenix at San Antonio (6 p.m.) and the Los Angeles Lakers at the Los Angeles Clippers (8:30 p.m.).

Meanwhile, here's TNT's Doug Collins' view of George Karl and the Nuggets' season:

"Through the years, he (Karl) has displayed a great basketball mind. But last year they (Nuggets) were so loose with everything. . . . especially on the defensive end.

"The big thing for George is if he still has the passion and love to do it (coaching).

"It's going to be tough for the Nuggets to make the playoffs."

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