CBS/Turner have angered NCAA tournament viewers with this gimmick.
1. We're coming off a fun, wild, thrilling four days (with horrible quality of play, but that's a whole other subject) of the NCAA tournament, but there was one trend that irritated many viewers: CBS and Turner constantly looking for crying kids in the stands after dramatic losses. This did not sit well with many.
Dear Tourney Producers: Enough with the crying kids!
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) March 19, 2018
stop showing crying kids. stop showing crying kids. stop showing crying kids. stop showing crying kids. stop showing crying kids. stop showing crying kids. stop showing crying kids. stop showing crying kids. stop showing crying kids.
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) March 19, 2018
Can we get all the network heads together and make an agreement to stop showing crying kids???
— Danny Kanell (@dannykanell) March 19, 2018
Another thing about the crying kid shots -- they're the cheapest way to convey drama. Kids cry after their teams lose all the time; there's nothing especially notable about that. Beyond anything else, it's just lazy.
— Sports Media Watch (@paulsen_smw) March 19, 2018
The show the crying kid repeatedly trend really needs to go away at live sporting events.
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) March 19, 2018
I think we can STOP showing the crying kids thank you.
— Freddie Coleman (@ColemanESPN) March 19, 2018
I hope one of the kids that CBS shows crying after their team loses realizes that he or she is on live TV and flips off the camera. Those directors are bad people.
— Holden Kushner (@Holdenradio) March 19, 2018
Hey CBS don’t show kids crying in the stands. Come on.
— Ben Pershing (@benpershing) March 19, 2018
Of course, the real problem here is that after a kid is shown bawling his or her eyes out on national television, people on Twitter pull the video and it gets shared over and over and then websites pick it up and post it for all to view.
The problem this year is that the CBS/Turner camera people seem to be finding younger and younger people to shame. It's one thing if it's a college student, which is what you usually see during the college football season. But in this tournament, it does seem like plenty of kids 13 and younger are being sought out for their tears, and CBS/Turner can't get enough.
The backlash, though, was pretty significant this weekend, so it'll be interesting to see if the networks tone it down when coverage starts again Thursday.
2. Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin was very salty with a reporter after his team blew a 22-point second half lead to Nevada and lost 75–73.
Unhappy Mick Cronin when I asked if a loss like this would keep him awake at night:
— Jeremy Rauch (@FOX19Jeremy) March 19, 2018
"You come up with that question by yourself? You kidding me?" #Bearcats @fox19 pic.twitter.com/LGoQQUSty8
3. Gamblers shouldn't judge other gamblers, but doing this really makes no sense on any level.
Worst Bet Of The Night: With Cincinnati up 22 on Nevada, a bettor on William Hill’s InPlay app bet $2,000 on the Bearcats to win. If they did win (they didn’t), it would have paid out — you ready — $26.65!!!
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) March 19, 2018
4. I'll never look at Greg Gumbel the same way after seeing this post from The Office's Brian Baumgartner.
5. Several Brewers players did a reenactment of The Sandlot and it was pretty great.
6. Gronk was being Gronk this weekend.
I think Rob Gronkowski just crashed my bachelor party in disguise. Not sure if he's going to retire, but said he could be playing for the "69ers" next season. I love my job. I love Gronk. #Patriots pic.twitter.com/ySWLHhjuJN
— John Breech (@johnbreech) March 17, 2018
7. RANDOM WRESTLING VIDEO OF THE DAY: Here's one of those "it's so bad it's good" skits from back in the day involving Jake "The Snake" Roberts and The Ultimate Warrior.
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iTunes
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StitcherIN CLOSING: The first two rounds of the NCAA tournament should've taught you a big lesson: Don't waste your time watching preview shows and reading predictions. Nobody knows anything.
