Jewish World Review March 20, 2003 / 16 Adar II, 5763

Evan Weiner

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Consumer Reports


Guardians of college basketball question your competence with a remote


http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | Does "March madness" attract fans who don't know how to use their TV remote controls during a time of war?

Let's get this straight, the guardians of college basketball not only want you to believe that men's college basketball is a clean and wholesome product, but they also question your competence with a remote control.

All week long, we have heard that the tournament might be postponed because of the Iraq conflict, then we have heard that it might be difficult for viewers to find the games should a war break out because the CBS television network would be devoting its airtime to the war and that those games would be pushed over to the cable channels like MTV and TNN.

Here's a news flash for those guardians. Most Americans get network programming from cable or satellite TV. It's pretty easy to find games, just use the cable remote.

More than 85 million American homes have cable or satellite TV. Americans are involved in a conflict in Iraq, that is far more important than this tournament except for the people who stand to make money from it.

And that would be everyone connected to the tournament except for most essential people, the players.

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JWR contributor Evan Weiner is a radio commentator on "The Business of Sports" for Westwood One's Metro Networks. He is being presented with the United States Sports Academy's Distinguished Service Award for 2003. Comment on this column by clicking here.

Up

03/19/03: Sports should be stopped because of war?
03/18/03: The madness needs to be cured
03/17/03: Not exactly the kind of news baseball wants
03/14/03: Keep the pols' paws off my cable TV bill!
03/13/03: In sports, 'free' is usually expensive
03/11/03: War on sports?
03/10/03: Sen. McCain, here's one more sports issue to take up
03/07/03: Playing the $tadium game --- and $coring
03/06/03: NBA should study history before wa$ting tax payer re$ource$
03/05/03: Baseball may no longer be very, very good to Ruppert Murdoch
03/04/03: At Augusta, the real fun and games will not be on the course
02/28/03: Will sports world soon be awaken to war realities?
02/27/03: Is baseball just a game like every other, after all?
02/26/03: He wasn't a player, manager or an owner, but he belongs in Cooperstown
02/25/03: States lining up to protect "college athletes' rights'"?
02/24/03: Why Gov. Ed Rendell is more important to the Pittsburgh Penguins' future than its owner
02/21/03: Tyson is living proof that both Mencken and Barnum were both right and Warhol was wrong
02/20/03: An endless season
02/19/03: The bills have come due
02/18/03: The world may be falling apart ... but American baseball teams are more popular than ever overseas
02/14/03: Adding jocks to the state's payrolls
02/13/03: How can the financially struggling Cablevision bail out another NHL franchise?
02/12/03: Selig is undermining sports franchises
02/11/03: Politicians and business leaders want to join a business that admits it's failing financially
02/10/03: Hold the pols responsible for rate hikes!
02/07/03: Judge a team's future by journalist's job?
02/05/03: College Sports and priorities
02/04/03: While corporate America parties, one wonders about the world's largest communications company and its future
02/03/03: High schooler picked the wrong $port to excel at
01/31/03: Gaming and games
01/30/03: The NHL's game plan
01/29/03: The moral guardians of basketball need some schooling themselves
01/24/03: America's excuse for a party
01/22/03: Turning San Diego into an armed camp
01/22/03: Will San Diego lose on Sunday --- even if it wins?

© 2003, Evan Weiner