CBS wasn’t in race to report NASCAR struggles

WHAT makes commercial network TV news, when and why?

Thursday evening, CBS News presented a report on the diminished attendance and TV ratings of the Daytona 500, scheduled to appear Sunday on FOX.

Hmmm. CBS held Daytona 500 rights from 19792000. Think CBS News even would have assigned this story if Daytona were still a CBS property?

Not a chance. It more likely would’ve presented something to promote it.

From 1992-98, CBS held Winter Olympics rights. Though it was long and widely known that International Olympic Committee czar Juan Antonio Samaranch was a bad guy — an unrepentant World War II fascist who did Olympic business with crooks, bribe-takers, bribe-givers and murderous totalitarian governments and governors, including bestowing Olympic honors on since-convicted and executed Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu — CBS News, in those years, never got around to reporting that story.

Then, one Sunday evening, CBS News’ “60 Minutes” presented a fullblown piece on Samaranch, strongly suggesting he heads a corrupt international enterprise known as the IOC.

That “60 Minutes” piece was produced and presented just after CBS lost Olympic rights to NBC.

What does it take to make the NCAA Tournament? Well, bad coaching helps.

Should Syracuse, now 17-12, make it, note its Feb. 1 game at North Carolina State. The Orange trailed 87-84, 10 seconds left, when N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried allowed Syracuse guard

John Gillon to dribble 12 times, into and around the perimeter, choosing not to foul him.

With 1.8 seconds left Gillon hit a 3. Syracuse won in overtime. What sensibly should have been an Orange loss became a win. And 17-12 sure seems a lot better than 16-13.