Well, our sports Web log artists are once again stuck on the ice for hockey coverage. And Mike MacAdam is on assignment. So the Life and Arts department will say a few syllables about the good and bad of CBS coverage of the NCAA college basketball tournament.
Yeah, yeah, I know — Mike’s assignment IS the NCAA tournament. But he’s been on the road with Siena as the Saints prepare for Vanderbilt, and has been chained to his portable computer for the past three days. So here goes:

Funny how the schedule works. Some people — like me — thought the Duke-Belmont game and its 7:20 p.m. start time was a waste of prime time: This game was going to be over in 10 minutes. But Belmont, a lightly regarded 15 seed from the lightly regarded Atlantic Sun Conference, almost gave 2 seed Duke fans reason to jump — from buildings. The Blue Devils hung on for a 71-70 victory in the second-best game of the tourney— so far. Western Kentucky’s Friday afternoon buzzer-beater to beat Drake is the top dog right now!

Speaking of schedules, Siena could not have asked for a better spot to show off for a national audience. Tonight’s 7:20 p.m. start will give people a chance to leave work, shop for that Easter Sunday ham and a few six-packs of Coors Light, stock the fireplace and jump on the couch for the game against Vanderbilt. Whenever Siena or the University at Albany makes the tourney, CBS 6 stays with their locals, — even if the score becomes a bit lopsided. The network often will pull up stakes, and take viewers in other parts of the country to a closer game.
Had the game landed in an afternoon slot, people stuck at work might have caught a few minutes here and there on the office TV set, or maybe plugged into computers for coverage, even listened to the fine Siena play-by-play man, General Robert Lee. But it wouldn’t have been the same.
I’ll bet local bars and restaurants also get good basketball crowds tonight — crowds they might not have seen had the Siena game been scheduled at 12:25 p.m. or 2:50 p.m.

CBS is up to its old tricks. The network always cuts away for commercials during a timeout, and there are plenty during NCAA games. This move is particularly annoying in close games, when commentators could be using 30 seconds to maybe spell out options to win the game. ESPN generally stays with the game, and lets viewers peer into the huddle as plans are discussed for the last big shots. But CBS attacks this tournament for every advertising dime the way a tarantula attacks a baby crow ... in a ruthless, time-is-money fashion. One of these days, they’re going to miss a key play.

I know CBS has to pay the bills, and commercials equal revenue ... but marathon commercial “blocks” tune me right out. Thursday night, shortly before 11 p.m. and with late games about to start second halves, CBS ran about five minutes of interrupted dreck. The dreck was followed by a brief return court side and pending basketball action “after these few messages.” Another five minutes of dreck followed. Cellphone ads, video games, sneakers. The next time a commercial “block” begins, I’m going to wash the kitchen floor.

On a related note, I see Syracuse knocked Maryland out of the National Invitation Tournament Thursday night. I made a friendly bet on Maryland, and was confident the Terrapins would dismantle the Orange. As previously mentioned, St. Bonaventure graduates can be hard-pressed to root for our antagonists from the 1970s, and I was sure Maryland would prevail.
Just my luck. Now Maryland has joined St. Bonaventure on the sidelines ... and I must root for someone else to send Syracuse home.