Sound and Fury
“It's true, he [ESPN's Dick Vitale] has become college basketball's most recognized voice. But try something for me, please: Next time you're driving a car, roll down your window. What's the most recognizable voice on the road? The car missing the muffler.”
Greg Doyel, CBS SportsLinehttp://cbs.sportsline.com/columns/
Television Time Out
“If CSTV (which is owned by CBS) does this the right way, it could fill a gap that exists in most years between 2 and 4 p.m. on the first two days of the tournament, when CBS pauses for stations in the East and Midwest to air news and those in the West to jam in Dr. Phil and Oprah.”
Jay Posner, The San Diego Union-Tribunehttp://www.signonsandiego.com/
Hustle and Workflow
“Please spare us, however, the always-lame (and oh-so-predictable) stories about how the NCAA Tournament can harm office productivity. Like the people you work with haven't found YouTube by now to keep themselves from real work whenever possible. If anything, the NCAA Tournament increases office productivity, since it forces people to actually talk to each other, instead of sending IMs across the cube-aisle.”
Paul Kaputska, newteevee.com
Everyone's Important
“Let's start with the Big Daddy: CBS Sportsline's March Madness on Demand, the NCAA tournament's streaming online site that allows you to get credit for being at work without actually working. It's free again this year, like last year, and they've extended VIP registration until noon PDT Wednesday. What does VIP mean? Not a whole lot, because everybody is registering as a VIP these days, although I suppose it gives you priority over those who don't think to sign up until Thursday morning.”
John Ryan, Morning Buzzhttp://www.mercextra.com/
Substitutions Allowed?
“For the 2006 NCAA basketball season, DirecTV used footage from actual basketball games and edited the film taking out the basketball, basket and even the opposing team! As a result, the message stands out; you're missing a piece of the action unless you have DirecTV.”
Max Katsarelas, Maple Takedownhttp://thetakedown.blogspot.com/
