O'Donnell: Bill Raftery back in the spotlight as memories of Deford, McGuire swirl around NCAA tournament
THE NONPAREIL FRANK DEFORD said it best:
"The NCAA (men's) tournament is the only major sporting event in America where there's more interest at the beginning than at the end."
True then, true today. Someone will win, all others will lose, will Good Shoe Zion rally the blues?
The CBS/Turner combine could offer a great new-mill graphic. Under select stars, show estimates of how much "grass-roots" and other hidden funding it took to get that transitting hooper to his books-optional playground.
Don't hold your zapper waiting on that one.
Among the annual swell of broadcasters who will man the microphones for CBS/TBS/TNT/truTV, one who has evolved into an American master is Bill Raftery.
He's 73 now and there's no question the New Jersey native studied The Book of Al McGuire with acute retention. McGuire, of course, was the supremely entertaining Rockaway Beach derivative who long ago took all of that professional Irish fairy dust to the gilded green vault.
(As McGuire might have said, "The cash register doesn't care who cuts down the nets.")
Raftery has enough insight, wit and rhythm to make bad games engaging. Those traits are big reasons that for the fifth straight year, he, Jim Nantz and Grant Hill will serve as the tournament's AAA team through the Final Four in Minneapolis.
As for upsets, the greatest of them all would be if Charles Barkley can name all four remaining starting lineups by championship weekend.
In the interim, maybe some day they'll introduce bracketology blackjack cards to help Sir Charles crib.
WITH ALL OF THOSE BASKETBALLS flying through the broadcast air, Major League Baseball rears its regular-season curves in the week ahead.
Both the Cubs and White Sox open next Thursday. The Wigglies will be at Texas (WGN-TV, 3:05 p.m.). The Sox are at Kansas City (NBCSCH, 3:15 p.m.).
To figure out any discernible pattern in either club's 2019 TV schedule, please submit all inquiries to the nearest Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences.
Thoughts of fretting before the Worm Moon is gone about Yu Darvish's blisters or Carlos Rodon backdooring righties with his slider can seem about as captivating as anticipation of Robin Thicke and Elisabeth Hasselbeck touring in "Hamilton."
Still, the games begin. And just to rile the April Sports Mass, what better way to open than the Cubs coming out at 9-17 and the Sox going 17-9?
IN SEVEN SHORT WEEKS, Robert Kraft has gone from an object of envied Super Bowl annoyance to one of honest judicial sympathy among a segment of clear-channeled America.
And the fact he now likely will offer a well-resourced defense against charges of misdemeanor solicitation at a Florida massage parlor is drawing a surprising number of "Hurrahs!" from the blue blood streets of Boston, up in Berkeley, out in Queens.
(Thank you, Bob Seger.)
Q. Your Honor: If local authorities were aware of the possibility of sex trafficking at the strip-mall operation, why didn't they simply use some undercover "johns," rescue the victimized workers and vigorously pursue the capitalizing slime behind it all?
As for Kraft, if the 77-year-old billionaire skates, he'd become a prime candidate for a national tour of upscale senior communities. Before he crescendoed with a spoken "Please Come To Boston," the robust Patriots owner would probably be getting the ol' Tom Jones room-keys treatment from both up front and back closer to the coffee cake.
STREET-BEATIN': Bradley's Brian "Baby Man" Wardle did the impossible with his attempted rawhiding of reporter Dave Reynolds - he dropped John Calipari to the second-most disliked coach in the NCAA tournament. And now it's up to BU prez Gary Roberts - once a recurring legal analyst for the NFL Network - to ashcan the toxicity. … Another flat ratings book for both WSCR-AM (670) - down 10 percent - and WMVP-AM (1000), down 16 percent. Word from the rotunda is that facile Laurence Holmes will be CARE-Packaged into a new midday slot at The Score; real pro to watch at the Entercom waterslide is razor-sharp director of sales Peter Bowen. … If Northwestern AD Jim Phillips comes in as a longshot and replaces Jim Delany as commissioner of The Big Ten, his first patronage hires must be David Haugh and Teddy Greenstein. The cooing twosome is unwavering in pumping the purple mythology. … Former Notre Dame hockey star Sam Calabrese - who passed on a very good chance at the NHL to pursue a career in global finance - weds Liz Harrell at Holy Name Cathedral Saturday. Proud dad is Carmen Calabrese; proud granddad is Frank Calabrese, the most prolific winning owner in the history of Arlington Park. … Who would have thought Dave Leitao and DePaul would be the last D-I men standing in the state of Illinois? The Blue Demons host Longwood in a College Basketball Invitational quarterfinal at 7 p.m. Monday. … And TV-savvy Mike Brophy asks, "Does Mike Trout's new contract mean the Angels will split all of their home games between Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium?"
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