Broadcast News

A big story for Columbia that I haven't written about yet is the SNY deal to broadcast five Lions football games this season, (SNY will also broadcast some men's and women's basketball games this academic year).

Ever since cable TV and internet broadcasting exploded into our current 1,000 channel world, I've wondered why a network like SNY wasn't sought out as a logical hometown broadcaster for Columbia Football. For several years, Yale paid the YES Network to broadcast 3-4 of its games per year, but that deal was allowed to expire.

We still don't know exactly how the SNY games will be staffed. I'm guessing that the Columbia broadcast team for the Ivy League Sports Network will simply be simulcast on SNY, but again that's just a guess.

I can report that after an incredible 11-year run as play-by-play man for CU Football, Jerry Recco is stepping away from the booth this season. I worked with Jerry for three seasons in my capacity as color commentator and he was the most professional and decent person I've ever come in contact with in sports broadcasting. He is also very good and right on top of the call every play. You never missed anything on a play where Jerry was doing the games, even if you only could follow the audio.

I do not know yet who is replacing him. If I had to take a wild guess, I'd say it would be Columbia Basketball and Baseball play-by-play man, (and also the pregame and postgame N.Y. Giants radio show host), Lance Medow and color man Sal Licata.

On the very bright side, this SNY deal makes Columbia Football a consistent national product for the first time. And for people on the go, putting almost every Columbia game on regular cable TV, (four other games will be on the new 11 Sports Network), means that folks will be able to DVR the games and watch them on their own time without knowing the score in advance. (That's something you still can't do when watching an archived game on the internet). And SNY's reach into some more distant regions of the country should help the recruiting process.

This is just the latest piece of a puzzle that started with the hiring of Al Bagnoli and continued with the building of the practice bubble that sets the Lions program up with everything it needs to become successful.

It's one thing to get all these games on TV, it's another to live up to the attention by putting an exciting and winning team on TV week after week.

A lot more people will be watching. It's time to step it up.