Thank you, media…
Hats off to the media clowns — to the folks at CBS and ESPN — for making this NCAA tournament such an enjoyable experience. Thank you Bobby Knight for picking Pittsburgh to win it all.
tThank you Hubert Davis for one day picking Western Kentucky to upset UCLA in the round of 16, the next day saying that “Western Kentucky will give UCLA a tough game but the Bruins will go to the Final Four” and 24 hours later declaring that “UCLA will have a very tough time with Western Kentucky and then will lose to Xavier in the Elite 8.” Bases seem to be covered. Davis must be one of those guys that fills out 12 brackets and then brags excessively when he picks one improbable upset. I hate those guys. And by the way, Davis was 0-for-3.
Thank you Andy Katz for suggesting that Butler didn’t deserve a seven seed because of their membership in the Horizon League. In case you didn’t know, every Division I coach participates in a conference lottery prior to each season. Butler, unfortunately, got stuck in the Horizon League this year. And heaven forbid, they played a great non-conference schedule to accommodate.
Thanks Bobby, Hubert and Andy for giving me hope that I might be able to succeed in this field one day. And thanks Dick Vitale for moving your hands so much when you talk I swear you might hit the cameraman.
But we listen to these guys religiously. You listen to them so much that they fill out your bracket. How many times had you seen UCLA play prior to the Elite 8? Hardly at all, I’d imagine. So you turned to Digger Phelps, Jay Bilas and the like for so-called expert analysis about a team that plays late (10:10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time) and a team that is a member of a conference that doesn’t contract with ESPN (based out of Bristol, Conn.). Of course, these guys know more than the average fan, but to pretend that they have seen every game of every team is ridiculous — yet we treat them as such. And to allow them the prestige of filling out your bracket is perhaps a prestige that they don’t deserve. Digger is in bed well before 10. I promise.
The media circus surrounding the Road to the Final Four is growing at a faster rate than consumers can manage — and new media only allows for an unlimited amount of coverage. From podcasts, to streaming live video of practice from San Antonio to constant coverage from said experts to live blogging … there’s as much content as ever, to the point that it is repetitive as ever. How many times can you articulately say that Memphis’ backcourt is pretty good?
And thank YOU, Los Angeles Times, for reporting this story in today’s Los Angeles Times. Thanks for forgetting that we fans have feelings too, that we fans build (quick and diluted) relationships with these athletes, that we fans might rather not have to swallow a story about a source “that preferred anonymity” about a player we learned to “Love” and trust. It’s like the middle school relationship where the girl tells her 9 million friends not to tell ANYONE about the guy she has a crush on, yet that “friend” goes and tells 9 million other people. Thanks for this. Thanks for reporting inaccuracies, as said by Ben Howland today at his press conference.