The Media Learning Curve: March 12-26

In today's issue of USA Today (linked here), under the headline, "Veteran announcers speak from experience," a story focused on broadcasters who are up there in age makes the assertion:

Septuagenarians and octogenarians are asked to keep up with the play of teenagers and young men, keep an eye on officials' calls, game clocks and more, all while directors are barking commands in their ears and asking them to synchronize on-air promotional reads. ... Does that means it's time for some of them to hang up their mikes? Is the tyranny of the clock overpowering?

That's gonna leave a mark. After all, it's septuagenarians and octogenarians who make up 83 percent of today's newspaper readership.

Vin Scully doesn't seem to think there's all that much to fear. Not at 82 strong -- and not the oldest on a USA Today list that's included in the story of those still doing play-by-play. That would be Jerry Coleman (85), doing games for the Padres, and Milo Hamilton (82) on the Astros. Ralph Kiner (87) is a Mets analyst.

"I've been carrying a laptop on the road for some 10 years because the internet offers a goldmine of information, anecdotal or otherwise," Scully says. "But there's so much available today that there's the constant temptation to provide too much information on the broadcast."

Well said. Take that as a teaching moment, you young, cram-it-all-in-there broadcasters.

As for other things we learned:

== Dick Enberg, calling his last NCAA tournament game for CBS on Saturday before he dives back into baseball with the Padres, says "I'm not dying" (linked here).

== Chet Simmons, the former NBC Sports and ESPN chief, has left the park (linked here)

== The Orlando Sentinel columnist sticks up for his guy -- and not for Urban Meyer (linked here)

== Why would Bob Costas be calling the sports editor of the Highland (Calif.) community news to debate whether the media did enough to call out steroid users in the 1980s? (linked here).

== CBS is Bill Self-serving (linked here)

== Does what's going on in San Diego sports-talk float your clipper ship (linked here)?

== Don Cherry is worried about a bio-pix mini-series on his life by CBC? (linked here)

== Five good minutes with Tiger ... not for CBS (linked here)

== MSG tried a 3D hockey game ... and many dug it (linked here) like the NYTimes (linked here).

== AND FINALLY:

== You doubted whether CBS' Gus Johnson would get the chance to scream about an upset this month? (linked here) You want him for your Final Four announcer? (linked here)