For about five minutes Sunday afternoon, the TV screen looked as if CBS had scripted the final day of the Masters.
Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, golf’s marquee names (and competitive rivals) were on the road to a possible showdown as they strolled confidently down the lush 16th fairway.
The huge crowd waved arms, clapped and shouted support.
All this resembled a scene from one of those feel-good sports movies when two star athletes — not exactly close friends — compete for the championship.
Alas, the real contest replaced the reel scenario.
Both essentially collapsed.
CBS’s Nick Faldo summed it up, saying the pair made “unbelievable mistakes” on the last three holes.
When Woods banged a shot against a pine tree, Jim Nantz commented: “We’re not used to seeing Tiger Woods fall apart in the Masters.”
With the stars no longer in contention, the screen was filled with the three “supporting players” who battled in a playoff, before Angel Cabrera claimed the title on the second hole.
While the competition was there for golf enthusiasts, the on-screen scenario was deluded because the star performers weren’t swinging clubs.
Polite applause followed Cabrera’s winning tap-in putt. Missing was a crowd uproar which would have exploded on the audio, particularly if Woods had claimed another green jacket.
Still, a round of applause for the CBS production crew that kept the final day in clear focus.
Particularly impressive were timely video replays showing how Cabrera, Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell arrived to their playoff competition.
The TV sports world knows that when Tiger wins — or even competes — audience ratings go sky- high.
Look for Nielsen meters to support that theory after Sunday’s numbers are tabulated.
Around the bases.
Have you noticed ESPN has kicked its baseball coverage into a higher gear since the MLB Network, its cable rival, has arrived on the scene?
ESPN is spending more time on scores and coverage during “SportsCenter.”
Meanwhile, the MLB Network (DirecTV and Comcast channel 420) has expanded its live game coverage from the original 24 to 52 and now includes a Rockies-Pirates game in Pittsburgh on May 16.
The channel’s major attraction this week: New York vs. Cleveland (11 a.m. Thursday) — the Yankees’ home opener in their new stadium.
Ratings roulette.
North Carolina’s lopsided win over Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament finale lost viewers early.
The game averaged 17.6 million viewers — down 12.1 percent from the 2008 title game when Kansas beat Memphis in an overtime thriller. CBS’s ratings for the Final Four semifinals April 4 also were below 2008 figures.
• The NBA ratings leader in local TV coverage — by a wide margin — is FoxSportsOhio, which carries a good share of Cavaliers games.
The cable outlet boasts the largest audience figures that any local NBA team has had in recent years.
Wonder who’s responsible for that audience surge?
Longtime Denver journalist Dusty Saunders writes about sports media each Monday in The Denver Post. Reach him at tvtime@comcast.net.
Barkley barks
Managers and coaches often pin negative newspaper articles on dressing room walls as a way to stimulate players.
Perhaps the Nuggets’ George Karl should utilize this electronic age by regularly piping in the audio of Charles Barkley’s Thursday night comments on TNT.
Noted Sir Charles: “I don’t think you can win a championship shooting jumpers. . . . I don’t have faith in the Nuggets’ big guys. . . . They are not a good defensive team.”
Barkley, regularly dismissive of the Nuggets all season, may not have as much to say about the team in the foreseeable future, because he will spend many halftimes during the NBA playoffs critiquing Eastern Conference teams for TNT.
Planning ahead
HBO Sports, the producer of fascinating, in-depth profiles of Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle, will examine the life — and death — of Ted Williams during a July 15 documentary.
While concentrating on Williams’ on-the-field heroics and ongoing spats with fans and the media, the program also will detail the controversy surrounding Williams’ death when his body was preserved in a cryonics facility.
The program corresponds with the 70th anniversary of Williams’ rookie season with the Boston Red Sox.
