The Road to Omaha: NCAA Baseball Tournament Thread

Not Eibner. Forrest, who relieved him and was in there for several innings.

 

Oh, I've got it. You're right, that's something they might have wanted to bring up. But that would take, you know, preparation, and I'm getting the idea that these guys are kinda mailing it in on this gig.

 

That's the best explanation for the staggering frequency of mistakes they've made in the two games I've watched from start to finish.

 

Which is why I stick with the radio broadcast.

 

But hey, we get plenty of graphics about how awesome Robin Ventura's college career was.

By the way, he and Ravech are both a gigantic step up from Mike Patrick.

 

The emphasis (although it has increased with the rise of satellite TV and dish) has never been there when compared with collegiate basketball and grid ball.
So we expect the TV giant to all of a sudden be perfect?
C'mon.
The broadcasts have been fine, for the most part.
Good camera work and highlighting of ambiance in and around Johnny Rosenblatt venue.
Watch the games and enjoy the title chase.
America (besides folks here and there) has never demanded that TV cover college baseball.

Also: GO SOUTHERN!

 

I suppose you're right, blitz. College baseball isn't up there with March Madness for most folks. Still, if I hear Orel Hershiser tell me one more time about Corky Palmer's 32 years at the helm at Southern Miss, I think I might throw something at the TV.

 

No, I don't expect perfection. I usually enjoy ESPN's coverage of Omaha. The number of mistakes -- and the type of mistakes -- I've heard in two games is alarming even given the qualifiers you posted. Really bad work, and there should be no excuse made. When I get through a batter without hearing something that jumps out at me as flat-out wrong, I consider it a huge success. It would take me all morning just to list the errors I remember off the top of my head.

You're right about the camera work, though, and capturing the overall flavor. There is a serious drop-off after that, at least for the two games I watched in full.

 

Agree with JD. As a guy who's watching it mostly for UVa, to hear them repeatedly - on nearly every reference - refer to Brian O'Connor as "O'Sullivan" is unacceptable.

 

I'd be happy if they stopped listing the "likes" of each player, like their favorite food or band. Yeah, it gives some personality to these guys a good chunk of America has never heard of, but they're not 12 years old. They wouldn't think of putting up that graphic for a college basketball or football game, so why do they do it for baseball?

 

Say good night, Golden Eagles.

 

As for the quality of ESPN's broadcasts, at least this year they hired someone like Robin Ventura, who's got credibility in the world of college baseball as one of its all-time great players. That's different from years past, when they just trotted out the Baseball Tonight crew, many of whom I'm certain had not seen a college game all year before arriving in Omaha.

But one thing continues to irk me ... whose idea of compelling television is it to interview players' families in the stands? Boring ...