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Monday, January 8, 2007

Woodling

Woodling: TV drops ball; KU doesn’t

By Chuck Woodling

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Columbia, S.C. — If the Columbia Broadcasting System has done it once, the national network has done it a hundred times.

Once again Sunday afternoon, CBS left Kansas University men's basketball fans frustrated because it didn't telecast the KU-South Carolina game in its entirety.

KU fans watching around the country missed the first 31â2 minutes because of the post-game blah-blah - not to mention the incessant commercials and in-house promotions - after the Jets-Patriots NFL playoff game.

I know this because I was sitting behind CBS announcers Kevin Harlan and Bill Raftery in the Colonial Center, eyes fixed on their monitor waiting for the KU-SC game to appear.

Once CBS finally joined the game in progress, it occurred to me that the many KU fans who were depending on this telecast for their Kansas basketball fix must have been wondering if center Sasha Kaun was the latest Jayhawk to be victimized by the flu or a sprained ankle or whatever.

Nope, Kaun started. The problem was the 6-foot-11 center already had been whistled twice by the officials before television joined the fray. Those two fouls earned the native Russian a bench berth for the remainder of the half.

Take a look a Kaun's line in the box score and you won't be impressed. Six points and six rebounds don't draw much attention, and yet the lanky sophomore posted his double half-dozen in just 14 minutes of second-half duty.

Mario Chalmers was terrific with 19 points and five steals. Darrell Arthur, Kaun's first-half replacement, snapped out of his freshman funk with 17 points. And Brandon Rush contributed a dozen points and four assists.

Photo Gallery

KU vs. South Carolina

KU coach Bill Self praised all three, of course, but he didn't stop there. Self placed a laurel wreath on Kaun's head, too.

"Sasha was the key in the second half," the KU coach said. "I really feel he played as big a role in the second half as anybody."

Another second-half stalwart was KU radio analyst Chris Piper, who didn't miss a beat when a dangling rubber spider suddenly appeared in front of his face.

What the : ? Ah, it was just Cocky, the Gamecocks' playful mascot having a little fun by attaching the ersatz arachnid to a line at the end of a fishing pole and hanging it momentarily over Piper's noggin.

Cocky could not, however, remove the blanket of fatigue that hung over the Gamecocks like an oppressive cloud in the second half.

When push comes to shove, South Carolina coach Dave Odom doesn't have a bench. All five of the Gamecocks' starters logged 31 or more minutes. Brandon Wallace, a lithe and talented 6-9 senior, went the route.

Odom mentioned that KU's depth had been a factor, but he must not have noticed that four of the Kansas starters logged 30-minutes plus. Basically, Self went with a rotation of seven players. Three other Jayhawks saw duty, but none for more than six minutes.

In retrospect, perhaps the most important aspect of the Jayhawks' 70-54 victory was wiping away the notion nurtured by the late December loss at DePaul that this team, as talented as it is, lacked a killer instinct.

On a rainy Sunday afternoon in the state capital of South Carolina, the Jayhawks stomped on the Gamecocks down the stretch, erased the bad memories of that Windy City swoon and, in essence, said: Look out Big 12, here we come.

Jayhawks vs. Gamecocks

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Comments

CO_JHawk (anonymous) says...

Chuck do you know who decides if we are on CBS? I know some people can only see the games when they are on a national network like CBS or ABC, but I am tired of the disrespect CBS shows its basketball viewers. Can the University choose not to be aired on CBS? If so my vote would be to go that route. All of the other networks give far far better coverage.

January 8, 2007 at 6:25 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

voygr1 (anonymous) says...

Chuck I agree dont let CBS broadcast games if they arent going to make it available to everyone...I missed the BC game here in Arizona!!! If they arent going to let everyone see the game then let ESPN plus broadcast it to the KU faithful!!! CBS coverage is horrible at least we didnt get East coast Billy Packer!!!

January 8, 2007 at 6:42 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Nutflush21 (anonymous) says...

Yes CBS once again botched the coverage of another game, but KU has nothing to do with that. If KU had thier way, they would be on CBS every weekend. . It really helps give us exposure on a national level. It's just unfortunate that the country missed the first 5 minutes.

January 8, 2007 at 7:17 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

laidbak_bb (anonymous) says...

the CBS station out of Topeka (ch.13) switched over before the tip off and showed the entire game, where as the Kansas City CBS channel (Ch.5) was late switching over. so the whole game was seen in Lawrence. why CBS decided that the KU game was more important to Jayhawk fans in Topeka than it was to Jayhawk fans in the KC area is beyond me.

Just switch on the radio to Bob and Chris and you can avoid some of this frustration. Same thing will happen at least 10 times when conference play starts and we are a late tip off on ESPN or ESPN2. some Big East game will go into overtime and we will miss the entire first half.

January 8, 2007 at 7:59 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Cash_McMogulson (anonymous) says...

Chucky-poo, if you get paid to write trash (different kind of WT I guess), at least get the facts straight. Kaun is a Jr. not a Soph. Also, what kind of crack-team do we have here at kusports.com? Roster has Rush as a Jr? Get with it folks.

January 8, 2007 at 8:25 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

papasax (anonymous) says...

Call your cable company and complain. I live in Johnson County and we did not get the beginning of the game. I don't think it is CBS as much as the Cable Co. If the Topeka CBS had the tip-off then it must be the Cable Co. This is not the first time this has happened.

January 8, 2007 at 8:38 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Lebowski (anonymous) says...

It IS more important to Topeka fans! :) j/k

I cancelled my Cox Cable the year of the Texas-Providence OT game, because I missed almost the entire 1st half of the KU game. I was like "what is the point of having cable?" I watch all locally broadcast games over the air, and I go to a friends house to watch the ESPN games. Basically, that's the only way cable providers are going to care... if LOTS of people cancel their crap because of it. They've lost YEARS from me. I cancelled my internet, too. That's a lot of money I've saved or spent elsewhere.

January 8, 2007 at 9:03 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

speedy (anonymous) says...

i agree no ku games for cbs!!!!!!!!!
here in arizona we get shafted and cbs puts on a west coast feed and shortchange ku. they have cut off ku games in the past "for more meaningfull contest" because ku was up by 20 pts. then instead of a top 10 team game you get a top 50!!! i,ve waited once while a football game started the 4th Q when the bb game was scheduled to start. the bb game came on with 1 min to go in the half! a whole hour late. ku gets no respect from cbs!!!!!!!!!!!!! and not much from espn either.

January 8, 2007 at 9:19 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

PeteJayhawk (anonymous) says...

It's not the cable company, it's the station. As someone who works for a cable company, I can assure you we will make fun of and be rude to the ignorant people who call in to complain about something that is controlled by the station.

January 8, 2007 at 9:41 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

John1945 (anonymous) says...

C-BS sucks. The game on our system actually started at 15:36 of the first half after over 5 straight minutes of commercials and that stupid post game show.

Once it did get off the ground, the camera work was horrible. The announcing was slightly better than usual, but not by much. Most of the time there's a heavy east coast bias to the coverage.

C-BS has butchered every game I've ever seen them do, including the march tournaments. Give the coverage to any other network, they couldn't do worse.

January 8, 2007 at 9:57 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

bristowhawk (anonymous) says...

"It's not ..., I can assure you we will make fun of and be rude to the ignorant people who call in to complain about something that is controlled by the station."

Being rude is a great PR method. Unfortunately, you must work for a lot of cable companies. Only your rude runs over into every day dealings. I hope your supervisor recognizes your name and read your comment and gives you a little "rude". Wouldn't it make more sense to pass your coustomer's comments on to the station than trash the consumer. Remember, jerk, they pay your salary.

January 8, 2007 at 9:58 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

crooner (anonymous) says...

Get that Jayhawk impostor "Cocky" out of here!

January 8, 2007 at 10:08 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

kevbo (anonymous) says...

Sasha Kaun is lanky? Hmm...

Cocky. Just wanted to say it.

January 8, 2007 at 10:57 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Lebowski (anonymous) says...

I agree bristow.... it's a matter of "there's a problem, is my cable provider going to fix it?" Deferring because it's someone else's fault and simply saying "sorry, take your beef up with them" doesn't fix squat. People's BILL gets paid to the Cable Company, not the Station. So when people aren't getting the programming they thought they were paying for, then I don't care whose fault it is, it's the Cable Company's responsibility to see why that is and have an answer and a fix for it.

It's jackasses like YOU, PeteJayhawk that will "make fun of and be rude to the ignorant people"??? C'mon dude, just tattoo "i'm a D$@#$@$@#" on your forehead next time. Maybe there isn't anything you can do about ESPN staying on a different game... but then again, that doesn't change the fact that there's no reason for people to continue paying for your product, either. I'm going to pay for cable that doesn't show what I want to watch, just because it's not your fault? Please.

I'd suggest everyone get a TV antenna that will pick up both KC and Topeka signal, and cancel your cable! Then you can go to a bar to watch the ESPN road games where they have the Season Pass and you won't miss any of the action. And who needs to watch all that other crap they show on cable?

January 8, 2007 at 11:06 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

John1945 (anonymous) says...

The reason why metro area viewers saw 5 minutes of commercials instead of the entire game is because Beth Green at channel 5 KCTV in Kansas City did not request that CBS send us the game. I suspect it's also the reason we didn't see the entire game the last time.

Her number is 913-677-7218. Call and leave a message and then call back at 913-677-5555 and ask for the station manager. Maybe if enough people call we'll be able to see the whole game for a change.

January 8, 2007 at 11:06 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

KUweatherman (Curtis Lange) says...

CBS may have screwed up, but calling for no KU games on CBS? That's laughable. How would we watch the Jayhawks in the Tourney since all games are on CBS? Didnt think about that one, huh?

January 8, 2007 at 11:09 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

DrJHawk (anonymous) says...

I've been able to watch just about every game through the ESPN Full Court package. I cringe every time a game is broadcast by one of the "free" systems. Although March Madness is supposed to mean basketball crazy, it usually means I start a homicidal rate at CBS because the game I want to watch is being pre-empted by what some suit at CBS thinks I ought to be watching. What can we do about it, Chuck? Can we threaten a boycott of CBS sponsors? Or maybe sign a pledge to no longer watch CSI?

January 8, 2007 at 11:14 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

ttoulouse (anonymous) says...

As you all have read, "national coverage" is a very relative term. There's no "national exposure" as Nutflush21 infers, only "regional exposure." The game was on the frickin' East Coast and we here in the DC area had to watch the Indiana-Mich. St. game! It doesn't get any more midwestern than that! I plan on keeping all local stations on my speed dial come tourney time baby!

January 8, 2007 at 11:37 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

walkdog262 (anonymous) says...

Most people in other parts of the country don't give a rat's patoot about KU, so that's why they offer regional coverage. I didn't get to watch it in Minnesota, either, because they showed a Big Ten game. But that's because more people here are interested in the Big Ten than KU, unfortch for me. Live with it.

January 8, 2007 at 11:42 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

sleeperhawk (anonymous) says...

In Columbia (I recorded the game, and attended the game), the entire game was broadcasted.

But I have tried to watch the KU games at other times, and CBS is not the only one, they all do it, even on PPV, delay the games.

January 8, 2007 at 12:09 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

bmcmich1 (anonymous) says...

CBS should find a way for sports bars and satellite providers to show BOTH games across the country!! I am in South Florida, and yes, I know walkdog262, there are not too many down here who care about KU, but I counted two irate KU fans at the bar I was at yesterday and not one MSU or IU fan--it's getting absurd considering I was in Chicago for the BC game (also blacked out by CBS) and, granted, that is considered 'Big 10 country' but there are a TON of KU Alums there who spend good $ at bars like Kincade's and Lottie's while watching the 'Hawks play.

There are KU bars in almost every major metro area across the nation, called 'hot spots' by the alumni association, who cannot show the games because they are blacked out by CBS. There HAS to be a way to show multiple games in future cases such as this. Absolutely ridiculous, C-BS.

January 8, 2007 at 12:54 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

JOEHAWK (anonymous) says...

Channel 5 could have switched over just like 13 did. They have multiple feeds at the station. They didn't pay attention. I'm sure they had a lot more Giants fans than Hawks fans anyway. DOH!

I could hear TV's changing all over Lawrence over to channel 13. Give them hell at ch. 5 and watch 13 instead. I watched it on HD after they switched it over.

January 8, 2007 at 1:38 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

tjsarahriley (anonymous) says...

Living in Colorado, I get so angry at (C)BS during tournament time. KU is generally the primary game but I only get to see 3/4 of it if I'm lucky, 1/2 of it if I'm unlucky, due to live look-ins and game overlaps. Who would want to see 1/2 of any game? Who would want to see bits and pieces of 5 games and not see one in its entirety? The knuckleheads who make the decisions at (C)BS try to appeal to everyone when in fact they end up alienating most. Raftery is terrible by the way, but better than Packer. Remember how irate Packer was last year at the selection show when all the Valley teams and all the other mid-majors were getting in to the dance? Look how they fared. Idiot.

ESPN schedules tip-offs 2 hours apart. Unless KU is the first game of that schedule, of which they rarely are, I'm royally screwed. Why not start the east coast game at 530 central and the Big 12 game at 8? So what if they have to cut a 1/2 hour of Sportscenter. It's on a again after the west coast game and ESPNNews is on all day.

January 8, 2007 at 1:47 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

klineisanazi (anonymous) says...

KWCH out of Wichita switched over immediately and its viewers saw the entire game. I guess it just comes down to the KC affiliate.

January 8, 2007 at 2:27 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

ebbenji (Eric Beightel) says...

I got the MSU vs. Indiana snoozer here in DC. I also didn't get to see the KU vs. K-State football game earlier this year because Fox Sports Pittsburgh decided to show the Top 10 Meltdowns instead of an entertaining college football game. Rat Bastards.

Thank God for Full Court or I may never get to watch my Hawks (except for Big Mondays, since ESPN doesn't switch games dependent upon region).

January 8, 2007 at 2:52 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

rockchalkjayhawk4ku11 (anonymous) says...

boooo cbs

January 8, 2007 at 3:41 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

KUGreenMachine (anonymous) says...

yeah, KCTV5 definitely dropped the ball. i missed a minute because i forgot that lawrence has two cbs stations, haha. it was pretty sweet in HD, ESPN needs to catch on and start showing all KU games in HD instead of craptastic Div II football games and east coast bball games in HD. i have no idea who decides what games to put in HD, but they are morons. as far as cbs goes, i'd have to say that i really enjoy kevin harlan, being that he seems to be a local guy, and he always does chiefs games. also, raferty with his turrets and send it in big fella, with a kiss, is pretty fun too, haha. having them call the game was refreshing as opposed to other national announcers....

January 8, 2007 at 5:28 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

FlaHawk (anonymous) says...

I live in Tampa , Florida and usually the local CBS station has another regional broadcast and skips KU games. Lucky, that USC is only two states away.I was afraid that I would see the Big Ten game instead.

I did join the broadcast about 5 minutes into first half. The commercials and the Post-Game show cucked big time. Give me my HAWKS!

January 8, 2007 at 5:36 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

speedy (anonymous) says...

how can i blame anything on a cable co? i have no local cbs. i have no cable. i have satelite or i can,t watch anythin here. i purchased a new computer before x mas and now i cannot get the internet play. anyway to get around and hear a game or anyway to bypass cbs.? so far i,ve seen 2 games plus driven to vegas to watch. espn only wants duke! how aboutfox??????????

January 8, 2007 at 11:06 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

KUGreenMachine (anonymous) says...

speedy...are you on drugs?

January 9, 2007 at 12:35 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

kranny (anonymous) says...

I have DISH network and we saw the whole game from tip off to finish. I would highly recommend the satellite route. With all the ESPNs(1,2, and U), the NFL network and local coverage, we haven't missed a game. The signal and picture quality is flawless and I've only lost signal once or twice and that was during a raging Tstorm.

January 9, 2007 at 8:53 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

lalawguy (anonymous) says...

I was lucky enough to have a subscription Sirius satellite radio, who was broadcasting the S.C. coverage of the game (no Dave and Chris for this one, unfortunately). While not all of the games are broadcast, I have found most of them on my satellite radio. There is also the subscription-based internet broadcast of the Jayhawk Radio network. I strongly recommend these for anyone who lives outside of Kansas. It seems that both CBS and ABC (NBC doesn't broadcast any college basketball) tend to favor airing East Coast games over those played in the Midwest. I am saying this as somebody who lives in California. We did not get the BC game either.

I would be curious to know which companies' ads played in those five minutes of commercial before they finally cut into the SC game. They might vary depending on whether they were local or national commercials. I am sure that the executives of those companies would not be too happy to hear that CBS chose to risk their reputations by playing their commercials over live game coverage, thereby angering thousands of fans (and potential customers).

January 9, 2007 at 3:57 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

kansas92 (anonymous) says...

CBS is the worst. I live in Lexington, KY and never get to see KU on CBS. This past weekend, they chose to show IU/MSU - Big10 - crazy considering KU was playing an SEC team. Seems SEC country would've been more interested in SEC out-of-conference play against a top10 team. I have ESPN Full Court, but of course - no good when CBS owns the game. Called my local cable provider, called my local CBS affiliate - nothing. I hate CBS. Not broadcast on the internet either - sucks to live in the middle of Kentucky country sometimes.

January 9, 2007 at 8:27 p.m. ( | suggest removal )