And then there were four – The Final Four
By: Jim Williams
The Examiner
Welcome to Motown the home of great music, legendary street basketball and today at Ford Field the NCAA Men’s Final Four.
Saturday’s Final Four features Connecticut versus Michigan State, with tip-off scheduled for 6:07 PM, ET. Forty minutes after the game concludes North Carolina takes on Villanova to determine the final participant in Monday night’s championship game. For the first time in 28 years, CBS Sports’ basketball coverage has a new lead analyst as Clark Kellogg becomes only the second analyst in CBS Sports history to call the Final Four and Championship games. Kellogg teams with lead play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz, who is covering his 24th Final Four.
CBS Road to the Final is finally in Detroit and the production team is ready the pregame team of Greg Gumbel, Greg Anthony are ready and the broadcast team of Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg are ready.
“Ladies and Gentlemen it is show time on CBS.”
If you want to get an early start then checkout CBS Sports Online for their fine coverage of what has brought us to this day. Plenty of great features and interesting content to get you ready for tonight’s double header.
Checkout Destination: Detroit it features’s the latest news, interviews and expert analysis surrounding the Final Four. Host Jay Horowitz will be joined on the set by CBS College Sports Network college basketball analyst and former coach Steve Lappas (Villanova, UMASS & Manhattan) along with CBSSports.com Senior College Basketball Writer Gary Parrish.
CBS Sports’ coverage tips off today with OUTSIDE THE GAMES (3:30-4:00 PM, ET).
Seth Davis hosts as CBS Sports examines the impact the current economic crisis is having on higher education, both in the classroom and on the playing field. The show also explores commercialism in college sports. Davis has some great interviews with NCAA President Myles Brand, SEC Commissioner Mike Slive, Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson and University Presidents, Chancellors and Athletics Directors from a variety of schools.
Up next we have Greg Gumbel, Greg Anthony and Davis host THE FINAL FOUR SHOW (4:00-6:00 PM, ET) featuring tournament highlights, analysis of the four participants and interviews with coaches and players. Contributing to the program are Dick Enberg and Tracy Wolfson. Included in the broadcast are features on:
The best feature of the pregame show is 30th Anniversary of the Indiana State/ Michigan State 1979 NCAA Championship Game – CBS Sports take an intimate look back at the 1979 NCAA Championship Game between Indiana State and Michigan State, one of the most historic games in NCAA history. Players from both teams reflect on the 1979 season and the “Game that changed the Game,” and their lives over the last 30 years. The piece features interviews with Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Larry Bird reminiscing about their memories and the lasting impact of the 1979 NCAA Championship. The feature is narrated by CBS Sports’ Dick Enberg who was the play-by-play announcer for the game.
Let’s not forget the radio and the broadband.
Westwood One/NCAA Radio Network will have a very good broadcast team for the 2009 NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four: Kevin Kugler, John Thompson, Bill Raftery, Jim Gray, and Tommy Tighe. The games can be heard on over 450 radio stations across America. Also on Sirius –XM Radio.
Broadband the games can be seen on CBS Sports.com and NCAA.com
