Climax Is Anti After the Break

All the emotion was unfolding right in front of the CBS cameras.

Bobbi Olson straightening husband Lute’s hair, A.J. Bramlett crying, Lute Olson giving Billy Packer a hug--all part of a frenzied, emotional celebration after Arizona had won the NCAA tournament.

It was truly a shining moment.

So what does CBS do? It goes to a commercial break, a long commercial break with a half-dozen spots and a promo for Channel 2 news.

It was an exciting game and a pretty good telecast, until the end.

First CBS opted for commercials instead of replays at the end of regulation, then dropped the ball completely at the end of the game.

The emotion of the moment is what viewers wanted to see, not commercials. Nor did we need to see people leaving the arena or all the postgame analysis from Pat O’Brien, Clark Kellogg and Mike Krzyzewski.

Packer had supplied enough analysis during the game, and most of it was right on the money.

This was the 23rd NCAA championship game Packer has called for national television, and 16th for CBS. We can’t recall him ever having a bad one. But then, he never has a bad game.

Packer is exactly what a commentator should be. He doesn’t numb your brain with a lot of screaming. He just tells you what you need to know.

He’s the John Madden of basketball, only maybe better.

If he has a flaw, it’s that he lacks a sense of humor.

With about five minutes left in regulation Monday night, Packer said, “You could watch these two teams for days.”

We could also listen to Packer for days. He’s easy on the ears, even during a game that, thanks in part to all the CBS commercials, lasted 2 1/2 hours.

Only once did Packer show a flaw. He got kind of testy when he thought Jim Nantz was trying to correct him. Packer was talking about the number of consecutive championships the Southeastern Conference had won when Nantz pointed out Arizona had won a swimming championship.

“I was talking major sports--football, basketball and baseball,” Packer snapped. He sounded as though he was truly irritated.

But otherwise it was a good night for Nantz and Packer. Nantz often has trouble seeing game developments as quickly as Packer, but he kept up pretty well Monday night.

The dumbest thing of the night came during halftime when O’Brien was interviewing John Wooden.

O’Brien asked Wooden, “If you were coaching now, could you win 10 national championships?”

What did O’Brien think Wooden would say? “Oh sure, at least 10.”

Wooden, typically modest, said he just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

A lot better question for Wooden would have been something about comparing Henry Bibby, who played for Wooden, with his son, Arizona’s Mike Bibby.

O’Brien also got off the worst cliche of the night, saying Arizona had “climbed a beanstalk to knock off the three biggest giants.”

On the other hand, Nantz and Packer got off some pretty good lines.

At the end of regulation, Nantz yelled, “Indyscribable from Indianapolis.”

Nantz called the Miles Simon-led victory a “Miles-stone victory.”

Packer came up with “Simon Says Championship.”

And from Nantz: “Don’t show me the money, show me the Lute.”