It was an excited final weekend of March in sports, with the NCAA tournament getting paired down to the Final Four, the start of the MLB regular season, and the craziness surrounding Tiger Woods. TJ Rives broke it all down on this week’s episode of Last Word on Sports Media, joined by Awful Announcing’s Ken Fang.
CBS Gets Big Ratings Heading Into Final Four
The guys start with the wild finish between Duke and Connecticut in the Elite Eight, and the shot made by Braylon Mullins that knocked off the top-seed Blue Devils and moved the Huskies into the Final Four. They harken back to the iconic shot made by Christian Laettner that beat Kentucky nearly 35 years ago. Ken says Mullins’ shot becomes “a ‘Laettner,’ an iconic shot for this generation.”
Both guys talked about how Grant Hill has improved as a broadcaster and how CBS’s Ian Eagle has become the guy who helps make stars of his analysts, much like how Dick Enberg used to do.
Baseball Gets Started And Broadcasters Put in Some Big Miles
The Major League Baseball season got started last week with the Yankees taking on the Giants in San Francisco. TJ and Ken talk about Netflix’s debut into baseball as well as the frequent flyer miles broadcasters Matt Vasgersian and Lauren Shehadi put in. Vasgersian did play-by-play for at Oracle Park, then got on a red eye so that he could be the play-by-play man for NBC’s coverage of Mets-Pirates the following afternoon from Citi Field in Queens. Meanwhile Shehadi went from the Bay Area to Houston the next day to be on the sidelines for the NCAA Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games.
Talking Tiger
But a large part of the episode was devoted to the story of Tiger Woods being charged with DUI following an car crash near his home in south Florida. Police reportedly found hydrocodone on him, and he has now announced he will be stepping away from golf to focus on treatment and his health. Focusing on the media side of things, TJ and Ken mention the audience hit CBS is expected to take by not having the most recognizable golfer in the world playing in the tournament, and compare the Tiger of the last few years to what they remember of Jack Nicklaus capturing his final green jacket at age 46 in 1986.
Listen to the newest episode of Last Word on Sports Media podcast below!
