The Masters’ many voices

Used to be, you saw the back nine of the Masters on Saturday and Sunday and were happy to get that.

Now we get or have already gotten:

The par-three tournament streamed live on ESPN 360.

At least 14 hours so far this week of Golf Central pregame gabbing, chatting, analyzing, predicting, highlights, lowlights and -- did we say talking? -- on the Golf Channel, live, from the Masters.

Three and a half hours of live coverage from ESPN on Thursday and Friday and 3 1/2 hours of live coverage from CBS on Saturday and Sunday.

But that’s not all.

If you’re a subscriber to DirecTV, you have four channels of game mix, which combines live coverage from ESPN and CBS plus a channel of continuous coverage of “Amen Corner,” the famously treacherous trip of holes No. 11, 12 and 13; a channel with complete coverage of Nos. 15 and 16 and a “Masters in Depth” channel that is offering live player interviews and highlights throughout the golf day. As it does on its NFL Sunday DirecTV package, the network has a game mix channel with a real-time leaderboard that helps if you want to change from channel to channel as action heats up.

As ESPN host Mike Tirico said, “I remember as a fan years ago, I was so hungry to watch those couple of hours of Masters coverage. We still don’t have the endless coverage we have of other majors, but we’re moving to digital areas where younger viewers are consuming their media.”

Andy North, also an ESPN commentator, said, “The Masters has done a fantastic job of creating a time slot that, even with everything else going on in the world, people look forward to those couple of hours of Masters coverage. Now we’ve added coverage but have still been able to keep some of the mystique.”

But with all this, there are so many voices from the Masters. Besides Tirico and North on ESPN, CBS has host Jim Nantz and commentators Nick Faldo, Peter Oosterhuis, Verne Lundquist, David Feherty, Bill Macatee, Peter Kostis and Ian Baker-Finch.

Trying to list all the Golf Channel talking heads (not that they aren’t good) would just confuse you, really.

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Perfectly said

Leave it to Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully to, in a simple sentence during the game against San Diego on Thursday afternoon, pay poignant tribute to Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned, don’t ever waste your time trying to figure out life,” Scully said. He also passed along the thoughts and prayers of all the Dodgers.

On the MLB Network, besides offering live coverage of the Angels’ news conference Thursday morning, analysts Victor Rojas, Harold Reynolds and Dan Plesac anchored a discussion of the pitcher and had an on-air interview with the Angels’ Torii Hunter arranged through Reynolds. It turned into an emotional moment when Hunter recounted driving Adenhart home sometimes and how Hunter’s children had become friends with Adenhart. Hunter said he was dreading breaking the news of Adenhart’s death in a traffic accident to his children when they came home from school.

Fox Sports West also offered live coverage of the Angels’ news conference and offered a special tribute to Adenhart on Thursday night in lieu of coverage of the postponed Angels game.

ESPN had delayed coverage of the news conference and included thoughts from a former manager, Buck Showalter, on how a manager deals with such a tragic situation. MLB Network had a more pertinent interview with former Cleveland Indians general manager John Hart, who was in charge of the team when a boating accident took the lives of pitchers Tim Crews and Steve Olin.

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Good to watch today

The Angels host Boston at 7 p.m. on Fox Sports West, and it won’t be about the game but about honoring the memory of Adenhart during his team’s first game since his death. Universal Sports is covering cycling’s Tour of the Basque Country, and besides the stunning scenery it’s a chance to see several Tour de France contenders, including Astana’s Alberto Contador and Garmin-Slipstream’s Christian Vande Velde round into form.

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Good to watch Saturday

The Ducks are at Phoenix at 5 p.m. on FS West, and it also might be fun to check out the NCAA Frozen Four hockey national championship at 4 p.m.

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Good to watch Sunday

At 12:30 p.m. on Channel 7 for Lakers fans interested in checking out Eastern Conference challengers, Cleveland plays Boston. And for night owls, at 1:30 a.m. (technically Monday), live coverage of the ATP Masters event begins on the Tennis Channel.

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Good to watch Monday

Play hooky, sneak off for a long lunch, because the Dodgers’ home opener against San Francisco is at 1 p.m. on Fox Prime Ticket, and what if Manny is Manny?

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diane.pucin@latimes.com