If you’ve ever been to Lollapalooza, Ozzfest, or any other
glorified riot disguised as a concert, then you are familiar with
the dismal notion of the second stage.
Tucked behind the trees, sequestered from the rest of the venue,
a couple of banjo-toting local hacks wail incessantly as a half
dozen people wander by. Meanwhile, merely a football field away,
hoards of screaming fans crowd the main stage, trying to catch a
glimpse of whichever band du jour is headlining that day.
Sadly, in the world of college hoops, the Pac-10 has been
relegated to the second stage. While the other elite teams around
the nation are showcased every week on ESPN, Pac-10 powers like
Arizona and UCLA are confined to Fox Sports Net, the red-headed
stepchild of the sports broadcasting industry.
This season’s Pac-10 television package features 60
regular-season men’s basketball telecasts, but only six of
those will be on ESPN or ESPN2. All six of those games are in
November or December.
That means until the Pac-10’s three-year contract with Fox
Sports Net runs out, the conference will get about as much exposure
as a group of Amish men sunbathing in Waikiki.
Former Bruin Earl Watson has yet to see his Alma mater play thus
far this season.
“I’m so far away that I can’t get Fox
Sports,” the Memphis Grizzlies’ point guard said.
“I haven’t seen them play yet. The Duke game was the
only nationally televised game that came on, and I had a game that
day.”
It’s not that FSN embarrasses itself with its basketball
coverage. Former UCLA All-American Marques Johnson and current
Anaheim Angels play-by-play man Steve Physioc are an unlikely
combination, but they do a credible job (though every time Physioc
gets any airtime, I wonder if he has to use spackling compound to
get his hair to stick like that).
But ESPN is the foremost source of college basketball news, so a
weekly appearance on the network could only improve the coverage
that the conference receives.
Even Associate Pac-10 Commissioner Jim Muldoon readily admits he
would like to see ESPN work out a deal with the conference, but the
two sides have been unable to come to an agreement in the past.
“ESPN has approached us before, but they have offered us
the late time slot on Monday nights,” Muldoon said.
“That would offer us excellent exposure, but the games would
not tip off until 9 p.m. PST or 10 p.m. in Arizona. It’s not
worth it to sell out the schools like that.”
Right now most ESPN talking heads have a very cursory knowledge
of Pac-10 basketball to say the least. Since most West Coast
schools including UCLA do not appear on the network all season, the
ever-shouting Dick Vitale must still think that UCLA guard Dijon
Thompson is some exotic type of French mustard.
While this ignorance may seem harmless enough, it has certainly
contributed to the perpetuation of “East Coast Bias” in
the national media.
ESPN does not promote Pac-10 schools like it does teams from
conferences like the
Atlantic Coast Conference or the Big-10 that have signed
lucrative contracts with the network. This has a negative impact on
national recruiting and affects the public’s perception of
the Pac-10 come tournament time.
“Exposure in the East is a problem we have in every
sport,” Muldoon said. “Fox has done a great job for us.
We are one of their premier clients, and we have one of their
better time slots.”
Their premier client?
That doesn’t mean much when you are playing the second
stage.