I knew Bonner played at UVa, but did not realize until just looking it up that he coached their women’s team for two years.
Agree. And as a result, the late game starts at 9:45 ET on a Sunday night, so they will be losing a lot of east coast fans. I also don't understand why on both days, the winner of the earliest game plays the winner of the latest game - with only one day off in between games, they extra eight hours does make a difference. Gonzaga can now go rest up while their opponent won't be finishing until midnight local time.
I suspect this has something to do with CBS' prime time schedule. They would rather pre-empt Mondays than Thursdays.
I'm not as sure about Tuesdays vs. Fridays, though I wouldn't mind seeing NCIS fans and Blue Bloods fans in a street fight. It's moot anyway, as Tuesday's Elite Eight games are on TBS.
Kenny Smith at the half yapping about how his UNC teams could make Johnny Dawkins look bad. UGH...
It sounds like Spanarkle is doing the Bama/UCLA game (which I now see in this thread). While googling to see if it was him, I saw that Spanarkle is no longer doing Nets games as of this year. It's a shame he was let go after so many years right when the Nets appear to be on the verge of reaching new heights (in the NBA at least). I also didn't realize that Spanarkle once lead the Mavericks in scoring.
Spanarkel was out last week due to COVID reasons. The network didn't elaborate on it. GHill took his spot with Ian Eagle. Very glad to see him back today. He had a funny comment about the length of his shorts versus what players wear now - a replay showed a ball went off the loose fabric of a Bama player's shorts. If he had worn the Daisy Dukes of Spanarkel's day, Bama would have kept the ball!
I've said this many times - Spanarkel's number should be up in the rafters at Cameron.
9F
I will never talk about That Game. GTHC.
I will never talk about That Game. GTHC.
NCAA (and not Awful Announcing) has the people calling the Elite Eight:
MONDAY, MARCH 29
Ian Eagle, Jim Spanarkel, Jamie Erdahl (Lucas Oil Stadium North)
(12) Oregon State vs. (2) Houston, 7:15 p.m. CBS
Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill, Tracy Wolfson (Lucas Oil Stadium South)
(3) Arkansas vs. (1) Baylor, 9:57 p.m. CBS
TUESDAY, MARCH 30
Kevin Harlan, Dan Bonner, Dana Jacobson (Lucas Oil Stadium North)
(6) USC vs. (1) Gonzaga, 7:15 p.m. TBS
Brian Anderson, Jim Jackson, Allie LaForce (Lucas Oil Stadium South)
(11) UCLA vs. (1) Michigan, 9:57 p.m. TBS
Awful Announcing does an annual poll of NCAA Tournament broadcaster rankings (based on 16,000 votes after the first two rounds).
10. Lisa Byington and Steve Smith
9. Carter Blackburn and Debbie Antonelli
8. Tom McCarthy and Avery Johnson
7. Spero Dedes and Brendan Haywood
6. Andrew Catalon and Steve Lappas
5. Brian Anderson and Jim Jackson
4. Brad Nessler and Steve Lavin
3. Jim Nantz and Bill Raftery
2. Kevin Harlan and Dan Bonner
1. Ian Eagle and Grant Hill
Reminder that the #3 team on this list is calling the Final Four, with some help from the #1 analyst. The announcing schedule:
SATURDAY, APRIL 3
Pregame
"At The Final Four" – 2 PM, CBS
Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Clark Kellogg, Kenny Smith, Seth Davis, Candace Parker
"The Final Four Show" – 3 PM, CBS
Ernie Johnson, Greg Gumbel, Charles Barkley, Clark Kellogg, Kenny Smith, Seth Davis, Candace Parker
Final Four
#1 Baylor vs #2 Houston – 5:14 PM
CBS television: Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill, Tracy Wolfson
Westwood One: Kevin Kugler, PJ Carlesimo, Jim Jackson
#1 Gonzaga vs #11 UCLA – 8:34 PM
CBS television: Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill, Tracy Wolfson
Westwood One radio: Kevin Kugler, PJ Carlesimo, Jim Jackson
MONDAY, APRIL 5
Pregame
"Prelude to a Championship" – 8:30 PM, CBS
Greg Gumbel, Charles Barkley, Clark Kellogg, Kenny Smith
National Championship
Baylor/Houston vs Gonzaga/UCLA – 9:20 PM
CBS television: Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill, Tracy Wolfson
Westwood One radio: Kevin Kugler, PJ Carlesimo, Jim Jackson
One Shining Moment
Around 2:30 AM
Starring Hep Cronin, Sister Jean, Jalen Rose, and Drew Timme's handlebar mustache
Count me as a critic of Bill Raftery. His cliche laden remarks are Cringeworthy. Hoping he will get the boot soon like CBS did with Billy Packer."The Kiss" off the glass.Can't stand him.
This post aged pretty well. Twitter is still scratching their collective heads over Bill Raftery's "lingerie on the deck, call the janitor" line in the national championship game.
Completely unrelated news. Deadline: ESPN & Paul Pierce Part Ways After His Wild Instagram Live
Maybe this is what Raftery was talking about?Antics on social media appear to have claimed another victim. ESPN and its NBA analyst Paul Pierce have parted ways in the wake of his wild Instagram Live that included pot smoking and scantily clad exotic dancers.
Dan Dakich is telling Sports Media Watch that he expects that ESPN will drop him.
Thank goodness. I never want to hear that jerk's voice again.