CBS and Turner Sports Share in the (March) Madness!

In an unprecedented move, CBS will share its broadcasting duties and $10.8 billion cost of the rights to the new 68-team NCAA Tournament with Turner Sports and its affiliated networks which include TBS, TNT, and truTV. The new partnership will, for the first time, put the fan in control of programming and give us home access to every game throughout the tournament. Score!

Game analysis and commentary will be brought to you by CBS and Turner's familiar roster of broadcast talent: Greg Anthony, Charles Barkley, Seth Davis, Len Elmore, Greg Gumbel, Ernie Johnson, Gus Johnson, Clark Kellogg, Steve Kerr, Kenny Smith, Marty Snider, Matt Winer, and Tracy Wolfson.

This is certainly good news for the viewer. We can now assert our power and select which games we prefer to watch. In the past, I've always felt I was at the mercy of CBS to deliver the game(s) I was most interested in watching. This hit or miss approach has often left me disappointed, ruining my viewing experience.

Additionally, and most importantly, Gus Johnson fans are now guaranteed the opportunity to hear and revel in all of his calls. For me, this is the biggest win of them all! Gus will bless us with his awesomeness starting Wednesday night. Now, if CBS would wise up and assign him to the National Championship Game, my March Madness experience would be complete. If you agree, sign the official Put Gus Johnson on the National Championship Game Petition.

If you're left scratching your head wondering what the hell truTV is and most importantly, if it's included in your basic cable package, the answer is yes. As you breathe a sigh of relief, I'm sure you're now left wondering if it's available in HD. Well, the answer is yes and no. It depends on your cable provider and location. Unfortunately, New York City Time Warner Cable sufferers customers like myself do not receive truTVHD.

The madness starts tonight with truTV First Four at 6:30 PM/ET. Do yourself a favor, save yourself some time and locate the channel number in advance.

Living on a budget and no longer have cable? If you have the internet, you don't have to miss any of the action. All of the games will be available on the NCAA Tournament's website via March Madness on Demand.

OR, if you have an iPhone, iPod, or iPad, you can download a number of apps to manage your brackets and watch the games on-the-go. Read more at Technorati and Digital Trends.

Good luck with your brackets and finding truTV.

Let's go Big East!!

Gus Johnson: Mr. March Madness

If you've been following the NCAA Tournament for the past 15 years then you know that Gus Johnson aka Mr. March Madness, as I like to refer to him, is the man!  He's so good that he also serves as the play-by-play announcer for the Knicks, Big Ten Network, NFL and a few other sports.  

However, I love him most for the value he contributes to the NCAA Tournament.  There is no one better at calling the play-by-play of these games.  Period. Point blank.  End of discussion.  Gus gets into the "holiday spirit" and truly. loses. his. mind.    There's no way he can contain himself.  What I love most is that he doesn't even try.  His overt and unapologetic passion and excitement shows his pure and genuine love of the game.  For that reason, his level of hypeness gets me amped.  It's contagious! 

His calls go something kind of like this...wait for it...wait for it...wait for it...SCREAMING + SCREAMING! + MORE SCREAMING!!!  Nothing but pure awesomeness!  I love it!!!  As he's yelling at the top of his lungs, it's almost guaranteed that everyone in the bar is yelling right along with him.  Jumping up and down and making themselves dizzy from whatever they just witnessed. 

Everything about Johnson's play-by-play delivery is what makes this tournament so great. The unpredictability of each game always makes Johnson's outbursts seem like they come out of nowhere.  If you, for whatever reason, walk away from the TV for 5 seconds, all you need to do his hear Johnson's voice go 10 octaves higher and you'll know you missed something amazing.  Shame on you.


When Gus isn't calling a game, I often wonder if he's somewhere screaming like he's doing it for TV.  I think I curse CBS at least five times during the tourney when I realize that another play-by-play team is covering that game.  I feel cheated.  It's almost as if I wish they'd just patch Gus in and have him deliver the last minute or two of each game, just because.  I'm sure anyone who matters would be ok with that.

In case you're wondering, here's Gus Johnson's NCAA Tournament first round announcing schedule:

• Fri, 3/19 @ 12:15 ET – #2 West Virginia v #15 Morgan State
• Fri, 3/19 @ 2:35 ET – #7 Clemson v #10 Missouri
• Fri, 3/19 @ 7:10 ET – #8 Gonzaga v #9 Florida State
• Fri, 3/19 @ 9:30 ET – #1 Syracuse v #16 Vermont

Gus will then be announcing the winners of these games on Sunday.

If you're interested in anyone else's schedule, check it out here. 

We'll have to get through Day 1 without Gus, but on Friday, it's Gus (and Len Elmore) all day long.  Until then,  enjoy this.