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Observations from the NCAA Tournament final broadcast

CBS analyst Billy Packer called it "one of the strangest Final Four games I've ever seen." He meant the action on the court, but the broadcast wasn't textbook either. Packer and announcer Jim Nantz seemed to have their own agendas, each barely waiting for the other to finish before starting in on a completely different thought. Sometimes they interrupted each other. It would have been better if producers had just let Packer talk all night.

Even more disconcerting was the number of times promotions for CBS shows were worked in. For a network that claims it doesn't think in-game paid advertising is effective, CBS sure cluttered up the championship game with self-serving network ads. Seeing the Masters logo flashing in the left corner of the screen was bad enough. Listening to Nantz hype the Masters, Survivor and The Amazing Race during very brief breaks in the action -- as when players were setting up for free throws -- was too much to bear.

CBS brought back "EyeVision" for the Final Four, but it wasn't any more effective than last year. It's expensive technology, and it adds nothing to a basketball broadcast. The far simpler "Sky Cam" gave an easier-to-follow look at how key plays developed.

If the network wants to close the tournament coverage every year with its slick tournament highlights montage set to the song One Shining Moment, fine. It's a nice wrapup, but it's not worth hyping every other minute as soon as the game ends.

Thank goodness for Packer. If it wasn't for him, the entire broadcast would seem canned, from Dick Enberg's halftime "Enberg Essay" (waxing poetic about college coaches) to the aforementioned final moments.

Packer seems to be the only one capable of saying anything unpredictable or interesting. He was at his best taking Maryland to task, especially suddenly erratic point guard Steven Blake. "Blake is really having the kind of night where (coach) Gary Williams is going to have to abandon him," he said at one point. Later: "So far he's made terrible decisions." Terrible for Blake, more fun for us.

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