Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Woodling

Woodling: Kansas all over the dial

By Chuck Woodling

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'Hawks half way home

The midway point has come and gone for the Kansas men's basketball team, and the Jayhawks are still perfect.

Jayhawks sorry to see OU's Griffin hurt

The last thing Darnell Jackson wanted to see Monday night was his buddy, Blake Griffin, hit the deck because of a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee.

I'm like most of the rest of you. I watch Kansas University's multi-talented men's basketball team on television.

This, of course, has been an adjustment after covering the Jayhawks in person for nearly four decades. Sure, I miss the fieldhouse buzz and all that, but that's not really the biggest change.

Instead of just showing up at the fieldhouse, now I have to figure out where in the heck I can find the latest game among the hundreds of digital cable television channels.

It's sure a far cry from the old days, when one network owned the sole rights to all college basketball games and, if you were lucky, that network might bless us with a doubleheader on a Saturday afternoon.

Do you know how many men's college basketball games will be televised live this Saturday?

I posed that question to a couple of sports-department staffers the other day and received varied answers. No one guessed higher than 18. Not even close.

From 11 a.m. until past well midnight Saturday, a myriad of networks will show an eye-straining 28 men's college basketball games. Among those 28 are all six Big 12 Conference contests, including the Kansas-Missouri collision in Columbia, Mo. - the first major meeting between the ancient border rivals since the über-hyped football Armageddon at Arrowhead Stadium.

Big 12 pundits are already touting Saturday's KU-MU game as one of only a handful the Jayhawks are in danger of losing. And with reason. The Tigers are talented, and they play like barracudas in Mizzou Arena.

With all the hoopla and with all the anticipation, surely this would be a game picked up by either ABC or CBS or, at the very least, ESPN or ESPN2.

But no. This installment of the Border War will be on ESPNU, the runt network of the self-proclaimed world-wide leader that usually gifts us with the likes of Muskingum, Heidelberg, Pace, Wagner, Stony Brook and Binghamton, among other obscurities.

Saturday, for example, Kansas-Missouri will anchor an ESPNU quadrupleheader that also includes Hampton-South Carolina State, Rutgers-DePaul and Eastern Illinois-Tennessee State. OK, Rutgers and DePaul are majors, too, but they're hardly in the same rivalry mode as Kansas and Missouri.

While KU-MU is languishing in the horse latitudes of ESPNU, the flagship network of the world-wide leader will be carrying a Big 12 game between Texas A&M and Kansas State. Yep, those two long-time antagonists - the Aggies and the one-time Aggies. ESPN will also be providing us with Kentucky-Florida and Clemson-Duke.

Well, I guess Kansas can't be on ESPN every week. KU has a dozen dates on ESPN, with five games down and seven still to go - we can only hope without Holly Rowe - including the Kansas-Missouri rematch on Feb. 4 in Allen Fieldhouse.

This season's KU men's basketball schedule has 12 games on ESPN and one each on ESPN2 and ESPNU. That doesn't include three games on ESPN-Plus, which is essentially the Big 12 Network. What, no ESPN Classic?

By my count, eight different networks will carry at least one KU game this season. The Jayhawks are always bouncing off a communications satellite somewhere. All you have to do is find them.

Comments

jaybate (anonymous) says...

Television, like all mainstream media, does a lot of bad things, like systematically underreporting major news stories that could threaten ad revenues or access to news makers, as little Sonoma State's research points out every year, but I am one happy consumer of KU basketball on TV.

For what its worth, you overlooked ESPN360.com, the most important addition to sports coverage the last decade.

January 16, 2008 at 6:48 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

yates33333 (anonymous) says...

I wondered why reporting on KU basketball had improved. Now I know.

January 16, 2008 at 6:49 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

lance1jhawk (anonymous) says...

You don't go to the games? what the F*&%? You live in Lawrence, and cover KU, and you don't go to the games. Shell out some money and go to the games Chuck. Just because the J_W doesn't give you tickets, does not mean you have to stay home. I live 400 miles away and still go to a handful of games and I never missed a Football game. I guess you not going though leaves room for true KU fans.

January 16, 2008 at 6:51 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

husbus (anonymous) says...

holly rowe is annoying, and i don't listen at all when she talks. i think she may have asked the dumbest question to the espn sportscenter anchors, "what makes you come to lawrence ks to watch a ball game"... ummmmmm, because we are bad ass and allen fieldhouse is off the chain length. figure it out holly and in the meantime, shut up.

January 16, 2008 at 7:26 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

hobrauer (anonymous) says...

Good call lance1. I too no longer live in Kansas and still manage to see a handful of game each year - maybe that is courtesy of Chuck being to busy playing with his remote...

January 16, 2008 at 7:40 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jross1972 (Johann Ross) says...

Holly Rowe is cute and shes got great boobs. I know, cause I felt them. Okay, okay...I didnt. But look. Holly gave us a great interview with George Brett and got the ESPN Desk guys in attendance to (one) call AFH the greatest venue in college basketball and (two) hype up the team as on the shortlist of the greatest teams in America. Even as your average superficial male sports enthusiast, I gotta tell ya: to me those two interviews were better than a great set of boobs.

Now let me read that in black and white and see if i really believe it...*laughs*.

Holly is cute, leave her alone!

January 16, 2008 at 8:18 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

nicka (anonymous) says...

1st intelligent thing ever to come from chuck: "we can only hope without Holly Rowe".

With great reporting like "who's your favorite jayhawk player", and her captivating interviews "what do you think about this jayhawk team, George Brett?", I can't believe she hasn't been approached to be an anchor for the Free State High School news cast....or, better yet, taken into the back alley and beaten within an inch of her life.

And you know what really grinds my gears? Just who the hell does Stacey Dales think she is fooling? She sounds like an idiot even reading off the teleprompter....and she catches herself thinking "Am I making any sense at all right now, or should I just start stuttering over my lines?"

Where is Erin Andrews when we need her the most?

January 16, 2008 at 8:21 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

nocaljayhawk (anonymous) says...

Finally, someone mentions the one-and-only Ms. Andrews...she should attend every event televised on ESPN...with Bonnie Bernstein filling in in a pinch.

January 16, 2008 at 8:49 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

ChicagoJHawk (anonymous) says...

husbus, I hear you but I think it's good that she asked that question. It's amazing how many people, outside of Kansas, don't know anything about KU basketball or about any of our history/traditions. When every one of those guys answered her questions they talked a lot about how unique of a place the Allen Field House is & how great the fans are etc. I felt like for once they weren't focusing all their attention on the ACC & SEC & that we were actually getting a little recognition & respect for a change.

January 16, 2008 at 9:02 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

digitalkookie (anonymous) says...

let's hear it for erin andrews!!!!!

hubba hubba.....

January 16, 2008 at 9:04 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

speedy (anonymous) says...

mr brett where was your wife????????

January 16, 2008 at 9:15 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

kevbo (anonymous) says...

After reading this list of comments, I am now mystified as to what I was going to say about the actual article. I think it was something about ESPNU not in high definition. Lame.

Oh, and I second the Erin Andrews commentary from above.

January 16, 2008 at 9:34 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

d_prowess (anonymous) says...

I assume this game will be a big plus for the bars around town since the basic cable package in Lawrence doesn't include ESPNU.

January 16, 2008 at 9:58 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

JNgohawks (anonymous) says...

Jaybate, thank you very much for that website info., I did not know, looks cool

January 16, 2008 at 10:41 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

2xhawk (anonymous) says...

Why was George sweating so much? AFH is warm, but he looked like he was in a turkish steam bath.

January 16, 2008 at 11:07 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

quigley (anonymous) says...

jross- Thanks for the laugh!

January 16, 2008 at 11:11 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

distracted (anonymous) says...

Aside from the hottness factor Erin Andrews (and a select group of other female commentators) provide, sideline reporters in both football and basketball are completely unnecessary and often cause painful headaches due to rambling, forced and, often, errant commentary.

Speaking of...
Ron Franklin sucks.
Is anyone else annoyed by him?
There isn't one ESPN broadcast that goes by that I don't curse the day he was assigned to the Big XII. Fran does his best to bail him out (when he isn't rambling about the greatness of UCLA), but his suckness reaches heights only paralleled by SLU's offense.

How many window licker comments can he make before ESPN gets rid of him????

January 16, 2008 at 11:45 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

TheRev (anonymous) says...

NOBODY has ESPNU. It totally sucks that one of the biggest games of the year is not available on TV for 99% of the fans. This has to be a result of greed on the part of the athletic department.

January 16, 2008 at 11:47 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

actorman (anonymous) says...

Thank you, distracted. Ron Franklin is, bar none, the worst broadcaster working in television. I would suggest a drinking drinking game where everyone drinks every time he says something stupid, but the problem is that everyone would be passed out by halftime. When, oh when, will they get a real broadcaster to do Big XII games???

January 16, 2008 at 11:56 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jman18562 (anonymous) says...

Yeah for real Rev! Are you Fu**ing kidding me? I've got the best Direct TV package you can get... and to add ESPNU is STILL considered extra! This is worse than the Packers and Cowboys on the NFL Network (Which I actually have.) Ridiculous. Guess I'm gonna have to hit up the sports bars 6 hours before the game and probably still not get a seat.

January 16, 2008 at 11:58 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

ttoulouse (anonymous) says...

Good Point d_prowess, maybe some of the local scenes will get back what they think they lost from the KU-MU football game.

Erin's hot but I still cast my vote for Bonnie Bernstein. There was nothing better than being around her at the tournament games in the 90s. Although, I don't care as much for her points of view when she's on set. Stick to the sideline Bonnie.

January 16, 2008 at 12:05 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

JayCeph (anonymous) says...

TimeWarner in KC gets ESPNU in the upper tier so pony up next to someone who gets that feed. Or, shack up in a bar a grill.

ESPN Classic? Only a matter of time... this year marks the 20 year anniversary of the 1988 championship so it will be shown (multiple times?) as we get closer to March Madness, I can just feel it coming on.

January 16, 2008 at 12:09 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jprich (anonymous) says...

Be honest everyone, the only reason you're criticizing Holly Rowe and Ron Franklin is because the game's are blowouts. If these were competitive matchups, do you really think there would be a need to interview SportsCenter anchors or George Brett. They're doing the best they can with what they have. I guarantee that if the OU game was much closer, we probably wouldn't have even heard of interviews from those guys I just mentioned. But because KU continues to dominate most games, there's a need to keep viewers interested, hence finding important people to interview.

January 16, 2008 at 12:14 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Royaljayhwk (anonymous) says...

I guess I miss most of that. If the game is not on, I'm usually up doing something and I come back and watch it when it pops back on. But I don't really here the commentators either. I'm too busy cheering my lungs off and annyoing my neighbors. For all I know, they might have spanish commentators.....do they?

January 16, 2008 at 12:19 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

brooksmd (anonymous) says...

Doesn't anybody remember Gayle Gardner when she used to do SC on ESPN? Very knowledgeable and very, very hot. That red hair used to light my fire. Used to and still do think she would make the perfect wife.

January 16, 2008 at 12:23 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

BannerforKirk (anonymous) says...

Gotta love rampant sexism on a public message board.

January 16, 2008 at 12:28 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

digitalkookie (anonymous) says...

kris mckendry...

anyone??

January 16, 2008 at 12:46 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Rockchalk_Mom (anonymous) says...

Only one broadcaster is worse than Ron Franklin and that's Fred White. I scream every time he opens his mouth. Ron Franklin always said "Dwight Gooden" and did anyone catch him the other night when Darnell Johnson made a basket? Fred White is lucky to know which 2 teams are playing.

January 16, 2008 at 1:35 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

JHawkNExile (anonymous) says...

I live in Oklahoma. No Jayhawk Radio Station reaches this far into OK. Is there a Internet Station that carries all of the KU radio programs so that I can listen to the Voice of the Jayhawks instead of the dribble on the TV?

January 16, 2008 at 1:42 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jhawkr (anonymous) says...

Nice writeups guys. I actually laughed out loud more then once reading the comments while eating my lunch!

Holly Rowe does nothing for me. Stacy Dale is another story and is quite the looker. Even though she played for OU (I hate them even though I live in Oklahoma) I forgive her. I could care less if what she is saying makes sense. I am too busy trying to get the camera guy to pan lower on her .........

I say bring back Lisa Guerrero and make her a member of the ESPN family. Colleen Domingez (sp?) isn't too bad either. Somehow we need ESPN to make Jennie Finch into a roving reporter.

ESPNU sucks and we don't get that either. Ron Franklin is bearable, but I absolutely detest Billy Packer and Bill Walton when they do KU basketball. We could be playing Prairie View A&M and he would be rooting against us ..........

January 16, 2008 at 1:44 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Ranger35 (anonymous) says...

So, which local establishment (Lawrence) would be the best place to watch the game on Saturday? All reccomendations are appreciated.

January 16, 2008 at 2:17 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

bmcmich1 (anonymous) says...

Two words:

Linda Cohn. Huh? Huh?

January 16, 2008 at 2:35 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

fundamental (anonymous) says...

jhawkr,

When was the last time Bill Walton did a KU basketball game? I've been watching for several years (though I'm not a lifer, sadly) and have never experienced a Bill Walton called game.

Also, Ron and Fran are by far the best Big XII commentators ESPN has. They sure beat the heck out of Schulman and Vitale (although Jay Bilas is pretty good as a color guy too). Fran just knows the Big XII so well. Ron Franklin makes the occasional error (Mario Chambers, Alice Fieldhouse, etc.), and he starts too many statements with the word "so," but what are you gonna do, right? Fran's great, though. He's on the KU bandwagon big time right now, too, so can't complain about that.

January 16, 2008 at 2:40 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

digitalkookie (anonymous) says...

fran and franklin have got to go. period.

January 16, 2008 at 2:55 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

actorman (anonymous) says...

Be honest everyone, the only reason you're criticizing Holly Rowe and Ron Franklin is because the game's are blowouts.
__________________________________________________________

Um, no. I have hated Franklin for years. The guy is completely incompetent. He often doesn't know which team committed a foul, he constantly says someone's shooting a three-pointer when they're not, he gets the score wrong, etc., etc., etc. ad nauseum. You have to be kidding me, fundamental, to say he and Fran are the best. I'm not saying the others are great, but a third-grader could do a better job than Franklin.

As for the sideline reporters, I can't believe nobody has mentioned Rachel Nichols. To me she is the cutest by far. I don't know if she does CBB or just football, but either way she's number one.

January 16, 2008 at 3:44 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Yahweh (anonymous) says...

Fran's the one that really annoys me. It sucks because he keeps saying we're the best team in the country... and then blurts out a seemingly endless stream of excrement. I liked it better in the old days when Jay Bilas was the talking head that loved us so much. Dukie that he is, at least when he says something it doesn't sound like he has the wisdom and intelligence of a fifth grader. Fran is also one of a certain breed of college basketball announcer. It seems like he has very few original thoughts of his own. All of his stats and facts that he reads off on air seem to have come from LJW articles over the past few days. It's never anything inspiring or new, never something I can add to my own sports knowledge arsenal. Of course, I steal all of my factoids from the LJW, too... so maybe I shouldn't talk.

January 16, 2008 at 4:11 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

leikness (anonymous) says...

If anybody wants to come over and watch the game at my house I have ESPNU....Oh wait, I'll be at the game in Columbia with my Orange T-shirt on!!!!!!

January 16, 2008 at 5:12 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

okjhok (anonymous) says...

Finally, the truth about Franklin comes out. I've been waiting for someone to admit how terrible he is. Actorman is right on.

I'll be watching the game at the OKC watch site: Fox and the Hound on Memorial Rd.

January 16, 2008 at 5:46 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

nicka (anonymous) says...

Moan and groan about the dynamic duo of fran and franklin, but be thankful for 1 thing:

at least mark may doesn't do kansas basketball games!

p.s. fran's not so bad. he gives love to the big xii. And you can't blame him for who his partner is.

January 16, 2008 at 6:23 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

NavyHawk (anonymous) says...

You folks don't even remember how bad Curt Gowdy was calling the KU-UCLA regional back around '75(?) He savaged every KU player's name having apparently not done any preparation for the game. I'll take any of these guys today!

Also, I thought Holly Rowe did pretty well until she stupidly asked George Brett how he thought his numbers (3100+ hits, .305 lifetime batting average) would stand up today. Up until then he smiled and somewhat patronizingly answered her questions about the current problems in baseball. When she asked the question about his numbers, he turned about three shades of red and, with a flustered look said, "Pretty good!"

January 16, 2008 at 8:15 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

NavyHawk (anonymous) says...

JHawkNExile, I live in Tulsa, and found I can listen on KLZR at lazer.com. If the listen live link doesn't work, copy the link below and drop it in Windows Media Player, it works for me. (I'm a Mac guy.)

http://wm13.spacialnet.com/klzr

January 16, 2008 at 8:25 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

kupopp (anonymous) says...

KLZR as above, or CSTV for a nominal fee.

www.cstv.com

Both work even if you are 3000+ miles from Lawrence. What doesn't work is to try to listen to the KU announcers' play-by-play on the internet while watching it on TV- so that you don't have to listen to Ron Franklin, etc. There is about a 30 second delay on the internet.

Cut Stacey a little slack. She's new to the talking head business. Did you score all 10's on your job the first few years? Like Sharapova- not often you can watch a babe taller than 6 feet.

January 16, 2008 at 9:57 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jross1972 (Johann Ross) says...

calling jayhawk fans everywhere...

go to this page and show some love for allen field house. in the lower right hand corner there is a question re: venues of college basketball. support ku!!!!

http://espn.go.com/

January 16, 2008 at 10:28 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

KUFan90 (anonymous) says...

I'd nail Holly Rowe in a pinch.

January 17, 2008 at 12:01 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

dagger108 (anonymous) says...

I love going back to watch my tape of the '88 NC game in part to hear the ignorant comments by Billy Packer. I remember thinking they were ignorant during the game, and all the more fun to revel a bit even 20 yrs later.

My vote for the worst.

January 17, 2008 at 12:35 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jhawkr (anonymous) says...

fundamental,

Hell I can't remember when Walton last did a KU game. That was several beers ago........ What I do remember is he did games years ago during the season and the tourney, and he was always over-critical of KU !

Franklin I can take or leave. You all just have to be glad that KU doesn't have Bob Berry (Barry) doing their football and basketball games on radio. It is utterly amazing how this man can butcher both the players on OU's team and the opposing team. Truly a has-been, but someone must like him.

As for Holly Rowe, once again yuck. She was either doing the NC or the A&M/Tech game last night and I swear she'd spent the day at a buffet or was pumped full with 30 lbs. of air. George Brett was probably sweating because she was so close to him during her famous interview .........

January 17, 2008 at 7:40 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jocojhawk (anonymous) says...

to jhawkr--if you see that Bill Walton is going to call a KU game, run the other way and don't come back.

I'll acknowledge that Bill Walton can breakdown X's and O's fairly well, but strictly on the NBA side. I remember watching KU in the NCAA tourney back in 1991 when we went to the Final Four. Our first round game was a real grinder against New Orleans coached by Tim Floyd (KU #3 seed vs UNO #14.) Bill Walton did not have 1 good thing to say about the Hawks. At halftime, he said that New Orleans is "clearly the superior team." KU came back out, shut UNO down, controlled the game in the second half, and we ended up winning by 6. Walton never acknowledged it, just kept spewing about what a lack of depth KU had. I vowed I'd never listen to Bill Walton call a KU game ever again after that...can't stand him.

about Billy Packer...I'll never listen to him babble thru a KU game again after the '88 championship vs. OU. Some of his comments were pretty hilarious though, like Kansas can't run with Oklahoma...

rock chalk

January 17, 2008 at 10:03 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

mike_blur (Mike Blur) says...

Posted by jhawkr:
"As for Holly Rowe, once again yuck. She was either doing the NC or the A&M/Tech game last night and I swear she'd spent the day at a buffet or was pumped full with 30 lbs. of air. George Brett was probably sweating because she was so close to him during her famous interview ........."

Bleep you, anonymous turdpile. I'd do Holly Rowe in a second. And several thousand seconds after that!

January 17, 2008 at 12:19 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jhawkr (anonymous) says...

Mike_Blur,

Like I care if that even is your real name. Looks like I hit a nerve with your infatuation with plus size models! Haven't heard the word "turdpile" in a while.

To each his own..... "A few thousand seconds later" Mike_Blur says. From that I can't tell if you have the virility of a 22 or 52 year old.

January 17, 2008 at 12:57 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jhwkfan162515 (anonymous) says...

We're not allowed to have a TV over here, so it doesn't matter that I can't see the game on ESPN-U. No matter; I'll just listen to it on the radio like always.

January 17, 2008 at 12:58 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

mike_blur (Mike Blur) says...

Jhawkr, try googling my name.

January 21, 2008 at 1:33 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

kataboom (anonymous) says...

erin andrews!

http://www.sidelinehotties.com/stills...

January 21, 2008 at 12:01 p.m. ( | suggest removal )