Lost a bit in this weekend's college basketball storylines were the first impressions of Turner announcers merged with CBS talent. This was essentially a dry run at what you'll be seeing in the NCAA Tournament with Steve Kerr joining Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg for the Final Four (he's partnered with Marv Albert and Craig Sager for earlier rounds) and Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith in studio along with CBS veterans Seth Davis, Greg Gumbel, and Greg Anthony.

At first glance it seems that the meshing of talent is still in a feeling out process. Barkley and Smith were confident and made their ascertaions on the released brackets but seemed to stay at a basic level when discussing the teams in the tournament. Davis and Anthony, who cover NCAA hoops for CBS all season long, would typically drill down deeper in their analysis by providing names of players, going over matchup styles, and citing games earlier in the season.

With Gumbel sitting in the middle of the two sets of announcers, there seemed to be a bit more argumentative banter as Barkley and Smith's broad analyis often clashed with Davis and Anthony.  Most of the Twitter reaction seemed to find fault in Barkley and Smith who cover the NBA for Turner and are only now being fully counted on for their college basketball analysis.

 

Most thought that the show was business as usual and others look forward to the idea of Barkley and Davis becoming more combative as they begin to let it rip as the tournament gets underway. My take is that the casual basketball fan will enjoy the additions of Barkley and Smith to the studio while the NCAA enthusiast/purist will be proactive in evaluating if the Turner duo have properly researched and scouted the teams. Even the best analysts have been hit or miss as prognosticators, but I think Barkley and Smith are under some pressure to deliver a good track record of predictions to build some level of credibility with the hardcore college basketball affecianados.

You mean there's other basketball games on this week!?

Monday March 14

San Antonio Spurs @ Miami Heat (ESPN 8PM) Michael Tirico, Hubie Brown - American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL
Orlando Magic @ Los Angeles Lakers (ESPN 10:30PM) Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, Chris Mullen - Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA

Tuesday March 15

Dallas Mavericks @ Portland Trailblazers (NBA TV 10PM) Rick Kamla, Kevin McHale, Chris Webber – Rose Garden, Portland, OR

Wednesday March 16

Oklahoma City Thunder @ Miami Heat (ESPN 8PM) Michael Tirico, Hubie Brown - American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL
Dallas Mavericks @ Golden State Warriors (ESPN 10:30PM) Marc Kestecher, Mark Jackson - Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA

Thursday March 17

Cleveland Cavaliers @ Portland Trailblazers (NBA TV 10PM) Local Broadcast – Rose Garden, Portland, OR

Saturday March 19

Denver Nuggets @ Miami Heat (NBA TV 7:30) Local Broadcast - American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL

h/t Sammy!

Here is every single game from Rounds 1 & 2 of the 2011 NCAA Tournament with announcer assignments.  The games and network on which they will be televised are in bold with the locations and announcers surrounding.  Play by play first, then analyst(s), and then sideline reporters.  If you're one of those people that like to schedule ahead, here's the dates, times, and networks for all the NCAA tourney games.  Enjoy!

"ROUND 1"

Tuesday, March 15

6:40, Dayton: (16) UNC Asheville vs. (16) UALR (truTV)  -- Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg, Steve Kerr, Tracy Wolfson

9:10, Dayton: (12) UAB vs. (12) Clemson in Dayton (truTV) -- Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg, Steve Kerr, Tracy Wolfson

Wednesday, March 16

6:40, Dayton: (16) UTSA vs. (16) Alabama St. (truTV) -- Gus Johnson, Len Elmore, Marty Snider

9:10, Dayton: (11) USC vs. (11) VCU (truTV) -- Gus Johnson, Len Elmore, Marty Snider

"ROUND 2"

Thursday, March 17

12:15, Tampa: (5) West Virginia vs. (12) UAB/Clemson (CBS) -- Ian Eagle, Jim Spanarkel, David Aldridge

12:40, Wash D.C.: (8) Butler vs. (9) Old Dominion (truTV) -- Tim Brando, Mike Gminski, Lewis Johnson

1:40, Denver: (4) Louisville vs. (13) Morehead St. (TBS) -- Verne Lundquist, Bill Raftery, Lesley Visser

2:10, Tucson: (7) Temple vs. (10) Penn State (TNT) -- Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller, Dan Bonner, Sam Ryan

2:45, Tampa: (4) Kentucky vs. (13) Princeton (CBS) -- Ian Eagle, Jim Spanarkel, David Aldridge

3:10, Wash D.C.: (1) Pittsburgh vs. (16) UNC Ash./UALR (truTV) -- Tim Brando, Mike Gminski, Lewis Johnson

4:10, Denver: (5) Vanderbilt vs. (12) Richmond (TBS) --Verne Lundquist, Bill Raftery, Lesley Visser

4:40, Tucson: (2) San Diego State vs. (15) Northern Colorado (TNT) -- Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller, Dan Bonner, Sam Ryan

6:50, Tampa: (2) Florida vs. (15) UC Santa Barbara (TBS) --Ian Eagle, Jim Spanarkel, David Aldridge

7:15, Denver: (3) BYU vs. (14) Wofford (CBS) --Verne Lundquist, Bill Raftery, Lesley Visser

7:20, Wash D.C.: (3) UConn vs. (14) Bucknell (TNT) -- Tim Brando, Mike Gminski, Lewis Johnson

7:27, Tucson: (4) Wisconsin vs. (13) Belmont (truTV) -- Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller, Dan Bonner, Sam Ryan

The brackets just came out and there are a couple of shockers. Most notably the inclusion of VCU and UAB in this year's tournament. To put it mildly, everyone on ESPN right now is pissed off about the bubble teams that were or were not chosen. Enjoy Dickie V's classic rant on this subject, and stay for the Roseanne Barr vs. Scarlett Johansson reference.

Gus Johnson was at Staples for the Pac 10 Final between Washington and Arizona. It just had to go down to the buzzer, right?  This video shows why we all love Gus Johnson - notice how he is standing during the call as Isaiah Thomas nails the game winner at the buzzer for the Huskies.  Of course, the call of this buzzer beater will take its rightful place with the rest of the all-time great Gus Johnson moments.  The last minute of the Pac 10 title game is March Madness at its best with two huge shots within the last thirty seconds to crown a conference champion.  And to think this is only the appetizer to the big dance.  It's truly the most wonderful time of the year! HA HA!

***Update - Here's a much higher quality version via @jose3030...

The automatic NCAA bid from the Ivy League was decided at the buzzer this afternoon. The game was aired exclusively on ESPN3 and Marc Kestecher provided the call.


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Analysts are supposed to be unbiased in their work - it's perhaps the one aspect of announcing that draws the most skepticism, controversy, and outrage from fans.  "Announcer X is biased against my team or my league!"  "I don't like Announcer Y because he hates our team!"  Things get complicated when a former player from a given team or university enters into the sports media and has to answer to charges of bias.  Usually, criticism comes from fans of rival schools, teams, or conferences.  But, I can't ever remember an analyst actually leaving his hometown based on criticism from his own fans.  That's exactly what has happened with Kirk Herbstreit.

ESPN's top college analyst has reportedly come under so much fire from rabid Buckeye fans that he actually moved his family to Nashville from Columbus.  Here's some Herbie quotes from Bob Hunter's article in the Columbus Dispatch...

"Nobody loves Ohio State more than me," said Herbstreit, a former Buckeyes quarterback. "I still have a picture of Woody Hayes and my dad (Jim, a former OSU player) in my office, and nobody will do more than I do for the university behind the scenes. But I've got a job to do, and I'm going to continue to be fair and objective. To continue to have to defend myself and my family in regards to my love and devotion to Ohio State is unfair."

"From a sports perspective, this is rough," he said. "I love Ohio State. Love the Blue Jackets. Love the Reds. Those are my hobbies. I don't like moving. I love living here. I don't want to leave. But I just can't do this anymore. I really can't keep going like this.

"Eighty to ninety percent of the Ohio State fans are great. It's the vocal minority that make it rough. They probably represent only 5 to 10 percent of the fan base, but they are relentless."

As someone who lives in Columbus, let me tell you that this would be a huge local story... if it wasn't for that little controversy going on with Ohio State's head coach.  As a C-Bus resident, I can say that the perspective on Herbie is mixed.  Certainly, there are many that love him as a former Buckeye and TV personality.  Then, there is indeed that 5 to 10 percent of fans that are absolute nutcases and probably think the NFL labor dispute is a grand conspiracy against the Buckeyes.  However, there are also many levelheaded Ohio State fans that see Herbstreit as often going too far in the direction of objectivity towards an anti-OSU bias.  Therefore, I don't think this story is as crystal clear as "insane Ohio State fans drive local hero out of town."

Wisconsin and Penn Scchtaate just played one of the all-time turds of a game as the Nittany Lions held on to win 36-33. This abomination even took place in front of Gus Johnson. Still, Gus provides his signature excitement as Jordan Taylor rises and fires for a potential lead changing three in the final seconds. no comments

I've thought in the past how awesome it would be if Gus Johnson were a play-by-play announcer for the World Cup. His passion and enthusiasm as an announcer would match the atmosphere of the world's most popular sporting event perfectly.

Well, somebody made a video to show how all sorts of awesome it would be. And not just does the video include Gus as an announcer, but also the equally as enthusiastic Bill Raftery as the color commentator. ONIONS! DOUBLE ORDER!

Watch Gus and Raft "call" Landon Donovan's game-winning goal from the USA's 2010 World Cup game against Algeria:

H/T: Hot Clicks; Sportress Of Blogitude

The always crotchety Billy Packer isn't happy about a lot of things. A few things he hates are the new tournament setup, new announcers, and that his truTV cops and robbers shows will be bumped for the measly NCAA tournament. Weeks went by, and it looked like all involved decided to take the high road and ignore the always bitter Packer. Luckily for all of us, Chuck decided to finally say something. Barkley, who is always a very eloquent speaker, simply summed up Packer as being a jackass. Considering everyone who isn't Billy Packer probably already thinks this, this really wasn't all that shocking.

Upon hearing about Barkley's statement, Packer decided to respond in the most Billy Packer way possible... by challenging Chuck to an NCAA basketball knowledge debate (see audio at the bottom of the page here). Do you know who definitely knows more college basketball than both Packer and Barkley? Watson. That's right, that diabolical computer. But even though Watson is a computer that will probably enslave us all some day, it still somehow has way more charisma and likeablity than Packer. But being an announcer/TV personality isn't only about knowing an endless stream of facts. Most importantly you must have a compelling personality that makes us want to tune in. Chuck does know basketball, but even more importantly he makes me want to watch halftime and postgame shows for the first time ever. Billy Packer is simply a curmudgeon that irritated college basketball fans for years and very few miss his presence from the NCAA tournament.

[Sportsgrid]