Urban Meyer Audible Only Delays TV Courtship

Urban Meyer's decision to take a leave of absence from the Florida head coaching slot and not retire keeps in check, for now, what threatened to be a bloody scrum for his television analyst services.

Meyer, a dynamic, successful and young coach, would certainly have touched off a battle between two and possibly three networks to have him in either a booth or in a New York studio.

If Meyer, who has spoken even before this latest episode of being out of coaching by the time he is 50 -- five years from now -- does get off the sidelines in the next couple of years, he will find no shortage of suitors.

Of course, at the head of the line would be ESPN and ABC. The Worldwide Leader could easily put Meyer in the booth for its Saturday night ABC regular-season series and for its exclusive coverage of the Bowl Championship Series.

CBS could appeal to Meyer's familiarity with the Southeastern Conference to offer him a post either in what would be an intriguing booth with Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson or in New York with Tim Brando and Spencer Tillman.

However, the best pairing of Meyer's intent to throttle down and a prominent TV gig might be with NBC, which has Notre Dame home games. Meyer could either work in a studio or on the scene at a school where he once worked as an assistant coach at what would essentially be a half schedule.

Meyer's change of mind makes all of this moot -- but only in the short term.

Tie-Breaker Maze

It's understood that the NFL playoff tie-breakers are as simple to master as a college calculus course would be for non-mathematicians, but it shouldn't be too much to ask the networks, all of whom employ research staffs, to be accurate and to explain how they make their calls.

CBS, for instance, signed out of its coverage of the Denver-Philadelphia broadcast Sunday by informing viewers that the New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens controlled their respective destinies for the two AFC wild-card slots.

NBC, meanwhile, repeated that idea at the end of its pre-game show, though reporter Tiki Barber said Denver had a tiebreaker edge, a notion quickly corrected by Keith Olbermann.

However, ESPN and the NFL's Web site both reported that the Broncos and the Jets were in current playoff position, though ESPNEWS later reported that the Ravens and Jets will clinch postseason berths next week with wins.

Huh?

At the least, any outlet should tell you the basis by which it is making these pronouncements, meaning, it should clarify positioning and tie-breakers. Sure, explaining things takes time, but that's what news-gathering organizations do, bring clarity to otherwise muddled situations.

The James Gang

Imagine you're sitting at a sporting event that your son or daughter is participating in and your child makes a critical mistake, or worse yet, is hurt or injured during said contest. Your already impaired ability to be impartial or dispassionate about the event would understandably go right out the window.

Why, then, do networks think it's acceptable to allow the parent of a college or professional athlete to call a game in which their offspring is taking part in?

The answer is that it makes for interesting television to see and hear a father swell with pride, even if the telecast is laden with the conflict of interest of a broadcaster who cannot be expected to properly do his job as he has a personal stake in the outcome.

ESPN was apparently prepared to allow Craig James to do analysis on Saturday's Alamo Bowl game between Michigan State and Texas Tech, for whom James' son, Adam, is a wide receiver.

It shouldn't have taken the suspension of Tech head coach Mike Leach in conjunction with a matter in which he allegedly sent a player to a darkened room after the player, Adam James, wore sunglasses to practice to ease the impact of a mild concussion, for ESPN to pull Craig James from the Alamo Bowl telecast.

With all due respect to Craig James' estimable broadcasting skills, he shouldn't be allowed near a booth where Tech games are called until Adam James' eligibility has been exhausted.