TV: the new game

March Madness, Opening Day of the 2003 MLB (Major League Baseball) season, the Masters (golf) tournament, the beginning of the NHL playoffs and the final few games of the NBA season. All are events in the sporting world taking place concurrently in the cold months of April. And all of them are on television.

Sports and television make fantastic bedfellows. They live in a symbiotic world, feeding off of each other and twisting their futures together in a double-helix of commercial entertainment. The weekly sporting spectacular created specifically for television, Monday Night Football, enters its 33rd year on ABC, a product of the combined genius of Roone Arledge, head of ABC Sports, and Pete Rozelle, commissioner of the NFL.

As a favor to the FOX network for airing its games, the MLB is strongly considering changing the frivolous nature of its All-Star Game from being a simple exhibition to deciding which league gets home-field advantage for the World Series. Of course, an All-Star game with a greater significance will yield higher ratings and more advertising dollars for FOX. So, for better or for worse, television shapes the way professional sports are conducted.

March Madness, also known as the NCAA Basketball College Championship, concluded last night after two and a half weeks of thrilling basketball. The 65-team single-elimination tournament is tailor-made for television, with small private universities and large state schools all vying for the championship. CBS' knowledgeable and vibrant broadcast teams, like the headliners Billy Packer and Jim Nantz, offer great insight into each and every matchup. The theme song for "Road to the Final Four" serves as a melodious reminder to every sports fan to throw on their college hoodies and root for their alma mater (unless, of course, your school does not place a heavy emphasis on athletics and instead opts for Div. III standing).

The Masters, professional golf's most prestigious event, begins Thursday in Augusta, Georgia on CBS. Yet the biggest story this year is not who can beat the unstoppable Tiger Woods, but what will happen between the months-long struggle between Martha Burk and Hootie Johnson. Burk, the chairwoman of the National Organization for Women (NOW) is the leader of a crusade to boycott the annual golfing event because the Augusta National Golf Club, the host for the Masters, is a private, males-only club that is discriminatory towards women. As the president of the club, Johnson has remained stoic in support of his club's constitutional rights to accept whomever they please.

Burk has been partially successful in her campaign, as CBS has decided to air the tournament without commercials. This should make for an unprecedented television event and hopefully make the Masters an even more exciting event. We wait to see which match-up will be more exhilarating: Tiger vs. the field or Martha vs. Hootie.

The baseball season began last week with a whimper and a snow storm. The Red Sox's "closer by committee" strategy fell apart in their games against the Devil Rays, as shown on NESN (New England Sports Network). NESN will be airing the majority of Sox games, and the remainder will be shown on UPN38 Boston. In addition, ESPN, "the worldwide leader in sports," will have its traditional Wednesday and Sunday Night Baseball games, the latter of which showcases the acclaimed broadcaster John Miller. Miller, formerly the radio broadcaster for the Baltimore Orioles, currently serves as the regular color commentator for the San Francisco Giants in addition to his ESPN gig. FOX will begin airing weekend games starting in the summer in addition to the All-Star game and the playoffs in the fall. For those who can't get enough of the American pastime, TBS airs most of the Atlanta Braves' games. Every night, regardless of how many exams there are to study for and how many papers there are to write, there will always be a baseball game on television to distract you for a few hours.

The NHL and the NBA are winding down their seasons as the weather -- supposedly -- turns warmer. As the sickest and poorest sport of the Big Four (the Eastern Conference Champion Ottawa Senators declared bankruptcy earlier this year), hockey could use an exciting Stanley Cup playoffs to reinvigorate its fan base. Yet, even then, the games won't be seen by many viewers, as the bulk of games will be shown on ESPN and ESPN2. The NHL is an endangered specie on television, and it's a shame that a sport like hockey which is incredibly exciting in person, is a dreadful bore on television.

Hockey will likely lose air time to the NBA playoffs which begin in a week, also on ABC/ESPN. Games will also be shown on TNT, as they have been on Thursday nights for this past season. TNT's broadcasting team has been fantastic this season, especially Charles Barkley, who is emerging as a full-fledged talking head, spewing snippets of wisdom and humor with every breath. Hopefully, the biggest games won't be shoved onto the cable channels, like the NBA All-Star game was this winter. The NBA deserves the chance to prove it is a better product than March Madness, and will only have that opportunity if shown on primetime ABC.

The humongous influence of sports on television and vice versa is visible practically everywhere and any time on television. The average channel surfer will see ESPN, FSN, ESPN2, ESPNClassic, ESPNNEWS, YES, MSG, NESN, and this list of networks goes on...and on.

Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a baseball game on TV, and I have work to do. Play ball!