As managers, it is always important to make decisions that will put your people in a position to be successful. Whether it’s setting an obtainable revenue goal for the sales department or giving the programming department the necessary tools needed to hit ratings incentives. That is what it means to be the decision maker. The pressure is on you to make the final decisions and if those decisions are successful ones, you get the rewards and if those decisions are unsuccessful too many times, you will be looking for work.
When it comes to programming, one lesson a lot of people learn the hard way is that just because something works in one situation does not mean it will work in another. A perfect example of this is what we have seen when the NBA on TNT crew works the NCAA Tournament.
Now, let me explain where I am coming from here. I could watch the NBA on TNT crew talk NBA basketball and just about any other subject for hours on end. In fact, those that know me well know that Charles Barkley is my all-time favorite non-St. Louis athlete. My email address is davegreene34@gmail.com with the numbers representing Sir Charles. My youngest daughter wears No. 34 in all of her sports currently as an homage to my Barkley fandom.
With all of that said, the experiment of using the NBA on TNT crew (sans Shaq) during the NCAA Tournament needs to end. And to take it a step further, the person responsible for putting these guys in this position should be heavily questioned.
Entertaining? Absolutely! Do they have any actual idea of what is going on in college basketball? Nope. And Charles Barkley is the guiltiest.
Ernie Johnson, who is a true pro and one of the best to host at the desk, is trying, you can tell. EJ’s career tells you he isn’t going to show up unprepared for anything. Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith tries as much as possible to react to what he sees in games, but it is pretty clear that his college basketball knowledge, outside of North Carolina and the ACC is pretty limited.
Then there’s my man Charles. I feel like all we get out of the ‘Round Mound of Rebound’ during these broadcasts are things like, “the bigger players need to make sure they rebound the basketball,” or “the guards really need to protect the basketball and not create turnovers.” I’m always waiting for him to hit us with something like, “The team that scores the most points in this game is going to be the one that advances to the next round.”
If you are paying attention, you hardly ever hear Barkley or Smith say any names. Barkley knew a couple of the Auburn players and can typically give you the best player or two in a particular game, but it is quite obvious his knowledge of what is going on in college basketball is extremely limited to say the least.
However, none of this is really the fault of the NBA on TNT guys. This is clearly on the managers, the decision makers who decided that since this crew is great on NBA coverage, they would also work well on NCAA Tournament coverage.
Think about the premise to begin with – that these guys, who cover the NBA on a regular basis, would also be able to put the time and effort into studying the college game as well. That alone should have taken them out of the running to be on the coverage team for the tourney.
In fact, I will go as far as saying it is a slap in the face to those that do cover college basketball and know these teams and players well. In this day and age, with all of the people who could go on that desk and provide solid analysis, someone is still sold on these guys when they are adding very little if anything at all.
I assume there is a handsome paycheck involved and that’s why Kenny and Charles put themselves through the embarrassment of trying to act like they know college basketball well enough for these broadcasts. What I cannot figure out is how the decision makers watching these segments believe it is serving the viewers well.
Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and especially Charles Barkley are being put in a terrible spot by management. Clearly, they do not have the knowledge to be doing any sort of long-form coverage of the NCAA tournament. They’re hilarious when they are doing their thing together on TNT, but I would much prefer if we didn’t see Charles Barkley during the NCAA Tournament unless he is with Samuel L. Jackson and Spike Lee.
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The Best Thing I Heard This Week
670 The Score in Chicago’s Bernstein & Holmes Show had a great visit with Ian Eagle right before the start of the tournament. With Jim Nantz still doing football, I think a lot of people have forgotten he has stepped away from calling NCAA basketball games for CBS and Ian Eagle has taken the top seat.
Not only did CBS have the easy decision to move Eagle into the top spot, but they also have the luxury of him joining Bill Raftery and Grant Hill, both of which have worked with Eagle in the past. In the case of Raftery, Eagle said they had worked over 600 games together.
You can listen to the whole interview by clicking here.
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In Case You Missed It
If you have not checked out Derek Futterman’s ‘Day Spent With’ series, you are missing out. Derek has put a lot of time and miles in to bring you first-hand experience and behind the scenes looks with voiceover artists Jim and Dawn Cutler, FOX Sports Radio (at the Super Bowl in Las Vegas), VSiN, Omaha Productions, ESPN Radio, Brandon Tierney and Sal Licata of WFAN, Direct Results, FOX Sports 1 and he is not done yet.
Each piece is unique and you learn something you probably didn’t know about what goes into doing these jobs or working for one of these companies.
You can see the entire series by clicking here.
Dave Greene is the Chief Media Officer for Barrett Media. His background includes over 25 years in media and content creation. A former sports talk host and play-by-play broadcaster, Dave transitioned to station and sales management, co-founded and created a monthly sports publication and led an ownership group as the operating partner. He has managed stations and sales teams for Townsquare Media, Cumulus Media and Audacy. Upon leaving broadcast media he co-founded Podcast Heat, a sports and entertainment podcasting network specializing in pro wrestling nostalgia. To interact, find him on Twitter @mr_podcasting. You can also reach him by email at Dave@BarrettMedia.com.
