This Month Seems… Mad
Whenever the bracket comes out, conspiracy theorists immediately search for juicy matchups ready to scream “a-ha!” There are always eye raising scenarios, whether in the first round or in potential later round games. Sometimes local rivals that rarely face each other wind up meeting in the tournament. Sometimes a relatively small school faces a large state university. Sometimes a coach is matched up against one of his former schools. Sometimes a coach faces one of his former assistants. These games are met by fans with allegations that the tournament committee is intentionally juicing up the bracket.
The problem is that it’s not true. There have been times in the past in which writers were invited to take part in a workshop that draws up mock brackets so that they could get a firsthand look at how the sausage is made. They find that so much work is involved in putting the thing together that there is literally no time to look down the road. Thinking logically also shows how improbable it is to manipulate the bracket. The committee needs to set things up so that travel is minimal, that conference rivals don’t face each other in early rounds, and that schools don’t play in their home arenas. Within those limits they also need to balance the 4 regions as best as they can while trying to establish an approximation of an S-curve. Having said all that, going forward the committee absolutely needs to insure that Gonzaga and UCLA will face each other every year.
Those 2 schools have provided us with some of the most memorable finishes in tournament history. Thursday night’s Sweet 16 game is only the most recent example, and the Jalen Suggs dagger from a couple of years ago was a big highlight, but no one who watched will ever forget their 2006 matchup. It had everything, from the Bruins’ spectacular comeback to the indelible image of Adam Morrison’s emotions. And Gus Johnson was the perfect broadcaster for that game. Johnson & his calls will always be closely connected with Gonzaga. His “the slipper still fits” call for their first Cinderella run back in 1999 might be his most famous, but he was otherworldly in the 2006 game. As UCLA continued to come back, his excitement exploded so much that by the end he was making noises that no human could replicate if they tried. It’s viewers’ loss that Johnson has not been part of the tournament since his move to Fox. It would be great if CBS could borrow his services for these couple of weeks the way they do Bill Raftery.
Goodbye Friends
And while we’re on the subject of broadcasters, this year’s Final Four is noteworthy as it will be the last one with Jim Nantz at the mic. Since taking over for Brent Musberger, Nantz has made the call for each championship since 1991, quite a run of longevity. Credit where credit’s due, but over that tenure he’s been… fine? He’s as solid and professional as you could ask for from a play-by-play man, but his somewhat stoic style never seemed to be an ideal fit for a sport with the frantic pace that basketball has, especially considering some of the other voices in CBS’s stable.
Just take a listen to the play-by-play men for the other 3 regionals. Ian Eagle put on an absolute clinic; it almost seemed as if he was saying to Nantz “you want puns? Here are puns!” yet they never grew tiresome. Brian Anderson does an outstanding job of modulating his excitement to match the flow of the game. And you want to talk about excitement, look no further than Kevin Harlan. His call of the crazy ending of the Furman/Virginia game is bound to be remembered for a long time. Even when Nantz gets very excited, he still sounds as if he’s holding himself back. I can almost picture a producer screaming in his ear, “bring it on home Jim! Come on! Emote!”
There’s nothing wrong with Jim Nantz, it’s just that for March Madness CBS would be better off using him as one of the guys rather than THE guy. It comes down to the tendency for the networks to understandably give the big assignments to their top dogs. It’s nothing new. As a kid watching sports it seemed that Curt Gowdy called every big event; I’m pretty sure that he hosted my first Communion. And ABC used to go so far as to place Howard Cosell in the baseball booth even though he made it clear he hated the sport even more than Smoltz does. The issue is that it sometimes spreads someone too thin. Priority #1 for Nantz is the NFL, which means he doesn’t have much time to get in many reps calling basketball games. Eagle, Harlan, and Anderson all call so many basketball games over the course of a season that they are in peak form by the time the tournament begins.
Anyhoo, congrats to Nantz for completing a significant run and good luck to Kevin Harlan as he takes over the slot beginning next year. May he be blessed with many more moments such as this.
Friendship Amongst Rivals
One of the most noteworthy talking points that’s arisen in the aftermath of the World Baseball Classic is that it appears to have been an overwhelmingly positive experience for the participants. It’s very similarly to what NBA players say after returning from an Olympics or a World Cup competition. You have an opportunity to measure yourself against fellow greats. You can see firsthand how a peer prepares. You have an opportunity to pick a star’s brain. That knowledge is invaluable when it’s time to return to your regular team. The Dream Team scenario in basketball has clearly elevated the level of play in the NBA, we can only hope it does the same in MLB.
I realize this fraternization mentality can sometimes offend old schoolers. Everyone well remembers the old stories of how Bob Gibson would refuse to socialize with his temporary teammates at the All-Star Game. Yes, he desperately wanted to beat the American League, but he didn’t see the sense in befriending a Pirate or a Dodger for a couple of days if they’re going to shortly revert to enemy status. That obviously worked out well for him, so who I am to question his method. On balance, however, I believe it’s optimal to learn from the best and these types of tournaments benefit the sport as a whole for precisely these reasons.
Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Side Category Closing Thoughts
Over the past several weeks I’m suggested multiple candidates that merit consideration for induction in the side categories. I doubt any members of those committees read this newsletter, but just in case anyone does - you’re welcome, and I’m glad to have helped. In each of the last 2 election cycles there were 7 inductees spread across the categories, so I’ll presume there will be the same number this year. Will all 7 come from the group of names I threw out, or will the Hall throw a curveball or two? Or are there obvious candidates that I overlooked?
This year it’s more crucial than ever that the Hall chooses wisely. The complaints over the low number of female inductees is notably loud, and it would be terribly tone deaf if it goes unaddressed. If this year’s list of side category inductees includes the likes of Big Mama Thornton, Estelle Axton, Chaka Khan, Patsy Cline, etc. it’s still only baby steps but at least it’s some progress. If instead they make another Allen Grubman type choice the optics would be awful and indefensible.
To revisit the long list of possibilities I’ve looked at I tried to discuss a broad range of people, while recognizing that some of them are more plausible than others. Even beyond those that I brought up there are plenty of others who may have strong cases. I’m sure there are noteworthy record company executives whom I did not think of. Sylvia Rhone? Or how about a DJ such as Murray the K? Casey Kasem? Would they consider a journalist such as Ralph Gleason? Lester Bangs? A famous concert promoter such as Ron Delsener? John Scher? And there are so many producers or production teams that I did not name. Timbaland. Mutt Lange. Timbaland. The Neptunes. Timbaland. The Dust Brothers. Timbaland. The Bomb Squad. Timbaland. Roy Thomas Baker. Did I mention Timbaland?
The fan poll closes April 28, which means the official announcement of inductees will be made the first week of May. I’ll try to make the bold move of predicting who gets in around that time.
NBA Stretch Run
We’re down to the final 2 weeks of the NBA season and the playoff battle in the Western Conference continues to be intense. As I’m writing this only 3 1/2 games separate the 4 seed from 11th place & being left out of the play-in. The current #11 team is quite eye opening. If the current standings hold at the end of the season, the Dallas Mavericks will head home.
Yes, a team led by Luka Doncic is in serious danger of not even qualifying for a play-in game. It bears reiterating that as great of a player as he is, Kyrie Irving is one of the most toxic team players in memory. Immediately after doing immense damage to the Brooklyn Nets, not that a franchise with its history needs much help, the Mavs spiraled into a downturn at the exact moment they traded for him. This is another positive item for LeBron James’s GOAT argument. He was good enough to counteract Irving’s negative presence and win a title for Cleveland. By this point any team that actually believes Kyrie Irving is worth the headaches gets what they deserve.
Solid April Fool’s Joke Elon
None of the Twitter substitutes have taken off yet; generally when one logs onto one of them they are greeted with digital tumbleweeds. In order for any of them to grow it would likely require a mass exodus from Twitter, which has not happened even though the quality of the site has significantly deteriorated since the Musk takeover. I wonder if such a departure is finally on the verge of happening. If you are a celebrity or a reporter, would you still want to remain on a platform that doesn’t fully guarantee that users are who they say they are?
After threatening to do it since he purchased the site, Elon Musk has informed the legacy verified blue check mark crowd that those marks will be removed as of April 1; blue checks will only be reserved for those that pay the $8 a month fee. Great timing there, a sudden surge of parody/unverified accounts on April Fool’s Day, what could go wrong? And you have to believe that the potential grows for more incidents such as what happened a few months back when a phony Eli Lilly account tweeted that they were going to make insulin free, which caused a temporary plummet for Eli Lilly’s stock. Also, just imagine how many phony celebrity accounts will appear that will tweet awful stuff. Musk is exposing himself to so much potential litigation.
A report also came out that Musk places Twitter’s current value at $20 billion. You may recall that he purchased the site for $44 billion. I’m no business wiz, but it seems to me that losing 24 billion dollars of value in less than a year is suboptimal. Tell me again how smart this guy is.
Programming Note
Thursday is Opening Day, so this week rather than do my usual Wednesday newsletter, I’ll do a season preview on Thursday instead. I may send out a brief posting on Wednesday if something happens that’s worth commenting on (indictment ?), but otherwise expect an empty inbox on Wednesday. Thanks for reading everybody.