Sports and War
by Kevin
ESPN says the NCAA is prepared to postpone the first-round of the tournament should war break out in Iraq. MY gut reaction to this is NOOOO! I don’t think we should turn the country upside down because of Iraq. I realize there are serious security concerns as well as respect for the soldiers and their families but I am not sure how cancelling March Madness helps. I would be worried about the financial impact as well, on the cities where the tourney takes place. Those communities depend on these events economically and disruption would likely hurt.
I say have a moment of silence before every game and sing the national anthem extra loud for the brave men and women serving in the armed services. College basketball represents something great about this country, I am not sure military action in Iraq alone should disrupt it.
Like Mark Byron commented on at his site, it’s not the war, it’s the commercials. If CBS is stuck on news and the NCAA tournament sponsors can’t show their commercials, then they are just going to take their ball and leave. Show me the money!
The games must go on!
MarcV is totally right. The issue is not security. It is revenue. The network has an obligation to the FCC and to the people to provide news for at least the first 48-72 hours of the war. They have promised their advertisers a certain number of homes in the viewing audience. If they move the games to cable, you automatically cut the viewing audience. They may have no other choice, in terms of revenue, than to postpone.
Maybe I’m remembering inaccurately, but I don’t seem to recall the major networks broadcasting three straight days of war coverage back in 1991. The only news outlet I remember doing that was CNN. Am I remembering incorrectly, or have things just changed that much?