Fans might yet see game on cable

[cablewithaview]

USC, SEC are talking with ESPN about putting contest on one of its networks

Football fans across the state might get their wish: Officials are working on a deal to broadcast Saturday’s Clemson-USC game on a cable network.

As of late Tuesday night, USC athletics director Eric Hyman and SEC commissioner Mike Slive were negotiating with ESPN executives to air the game on one of the cable sports company’s channels, USC sports information director Steve Fink said.

Fink was uncertain whether the time of the game would change if an agreement were reached. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Williams-Brice Stadium and is available throughout the state only on a pay-per-view basis.

The last time a Clemson-USC game was not televised nationally or regionally was 1986.

Fans reacted loudly to last week’s news that the SEC’s TV partners had passed on the 103rd meeting between the in-state rivals, bombarding Jefferson Pilot and ESPN with angry e-mails and phone messages and threatening to boycott the stations.

CBS, which by contract gets the first choice of SEC games, is broadcasting the Auburn-Alabama game on Saturday.

ESPN, which chooses second, selected the Mississippi-LSU game. Jefferson Pilot opted to split its broadcast, airing Tennessee-Vanderbilt in some markets and Georgia-Kentucky in others.

JP officials have said their contract with the SEC requires them to give priority to games involving two SEC teams. ESPN has no such obligations.

Asked about the possible change of heart by ESPN officials, Fink said: “I think it stems from both teams winning on Saturday.”

The Gamecocks defeated then-No. 12 Florida 30-22 this past weekend for the first win over the Gators since 1939. Clemson upset No. 17 Florida State 35-14. It was the first time the schools had knocked off ranked teams on the same day.

ESPN offers multiple sports channels, including ESPN2, ESPN Classic and ESPNU. ESPN Classic and ESPN2 are available on basic cable systems throughout the state.

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/sports/13178431.htm

 

[cablewithaview]

The goal for the USC-Clemson game is for it to become MUST-SEE TV

How will that happen? It’s quite simple really: The teams need to win more

Bill Curry said it best, or at least most colorfully, when he learned Saturday’s USC-Clemson game originally was not scheduled to be shown on television — not on his employer’s multiple networks, not on SEC outlet Jefferson-Pilot, nowhere but on pay-per-view.

“I’m absolutely bumfuzzled,” the former Alabama and Georgia Tech coach and current ESPN color commentator said. “You’ve got Steve Spurrier, you’ve got Tommy Bowden (and) you’ve got South Carolina-Clemson, which is a huge and significant rivalry in the South.

“Spurrier and Bowden are national stories. If it were left to me, this game would be on.”

Gene Wojciechowski, senior columnist for ESPN.com, nearly matched Curry for over-the-top hyperbole.

“The TV folks who made that decision need to check in for a CAT scan,” he said. “Anyone who can’t see the drama in this game needs to go to theatre school. This has some pathos and neat things at stake.”

And CBS’ Tim Brando offers the darkest critique of all: USC-Clemson not being on the air, he said, was one example of how TV brokers are killing college football.

“Interest is dissipating at an alarming rate; fans are passionate about their teams, but TV ratings are dwindling,” Brando said from his Alabama home. “We have to start rescheduling games, admit we’ve got a problem.”

Maybe it was such national criticism, or maybe it was the outcry of USC and Clemson fans. Regardless, the issue is now moot; Saturday’s 7 p.m. game will air on ESPN2 — albeit only in South Carolina — and on satellite services elsewhere.

But the solution, courtesy of USC athletics director Eric Hyman’s and SEC commissioner Mike Slive’s tender ears, is a one-year, local-only quick fix. A larger issue remains for the Gamecocks and Tigers: how to avoid being left off TV schedules in the future.

USC-Clemson has been on open-air or cable TV every year since 1986, “and I would expect, the way things go, it’ll be another 20 years before they’re not on,” Jefferson-Pilot chief Jimmy Rayburn said.

But that, others say, is the point: USC-Clemson has maintained an on-air presence despite the fact that at any time a quirk in scheduling (in this case, a wealth of games with more at stake than Palmetto State pride) could relegate the game to pay-per-view exile.

So the question is, how do the state’s teams make their annual meeting must-see TV? How do they elevate this instate rivalry to the national stage, on a par with, say, Alabama-Auburn or Florida-Florida State?

The short answer, said Tony Barnhart, college football writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and an analyst for CBS and Fox Sports, is simple: “Get better.”

“Face it, there’s nothing compelling (about the USC-Clemson game) outside the state borders if nothing else is on the line,” Barnhart said. “To appeal to audiences outside the state, there’s got to be some sort of juice, a reason to watch this game.”

By comparison, Barnhart points to the Iron Bowl, Alabama and Auburn’s annual grudge match. “There’s a lot on the line there,” he said, noting two ranked teams, a possible SEC West title and major bowl bids.

South Carolina supporters figured they had the “juice” factor covered when Spurrier took over. ESPN aired an otherwise nondescript USC opener against Central Florida in large part because of the presence of the Head Ball Coach. But it didn’t hurt that USC was willing to move the game to a Thursday night, either.

For an end-of-season, big-game Saturday, going up against the likes of Auburn-Alabama and, nationally, Ohio State-Michigan, “(Spurrier) isn’t enough to get people to watch,” ESPN analyst Lee Corso said.

“It’s a great story in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. But in Idaho? ... They’d rather watch Ohio State-Michigan.”

Dave Neal of Fox Sports grudgingly agrees. “There hasn’t been anything to capture national attention for South Carolina since George Rogers won the Heisman Trophy (in 1980),” he said. “Or for Clemson since 1981 when they won the national championship.

“Now, if USC wins the SEC East, or Clemson captures their ACC division, now you’ve captured national attention. Then there’s no way they’re not on TV.”

Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Bianchi playfully suggests Spurrier “accuse Tommy Bowden of coaching his players to hit (USC quarterback) Blake Mitchell late,” a reference to complaints Spurrier made while he was at Florida about Florida State coach Bobby Bowden.

But Bianchi echoes the others, saying, “(USC and Clemson) need to be going to bowls other than the CarQuest and the blue-turf (Humanitarian) bowl.”

Clearly, USC and Clemson hope to climb beyond that level, making their game more attractive based on their success. Short-term, Corso suggests they might want to get away from weekends with a lot of other big games.

“Play on Thanksgiving Day, or night,” Corso said. “Bring back Big Thursday, where they’re not in competition with other games.”

Long-term, most believe USC and Clemson will improve, possibly to the level that their game is a no-brainer for TV. Count Wojciechowski among them.

“Tommy Bowden isn’t going anywhere; his program will only get better,” he said. “And I’d sell my daughter to Bedouins to bet Spurrier’s team is going to get better.

“I like their chances to be must-see TV. That game isn’t close to Auburn-Alabama. But it’s getting closer.”