Bob Dekas, the coordinating producer for CBS’ college basketball coverage, and Bob Fishman, the lead director, say good TV is all about good stories.
And they’ve gotten to tell some wonderful stories, from Michael Jordan’s game-winning shot in 1982 to Butler’s missed game-winner in 2010.
They hope for more special moments Sunday in the South region final at the Georgia Dome, something memorable at the Final Four in New Orleans and again when the championship will be decided in Atlanta next year.
“We’re as good as the games,” said Fishman, who is in his 31st year as lead director of CBS Sports’ NCAA Division I men’s basketball championship and Final Four coverage. “It’s all about whatever happens. When it’s great, we’re great.”
They have special sporting ties to Atlanta. They worked the Finals Fours at the Georgia Dome in 2002 and 2007. They were at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium when Dave Winfield hit his double down the left-field line in the 11th inning to lift the Blue Jays over the Braves in the 1992 World Series.
“We like game-winning shots and hits, and we have a history of that,” Fishman said. “Hopefully we will get one this weekend and hopefully we will get one in New Orleans.”
A lot has changed with technology and access since Fishman’s first Final Four in New Orleans in 1982, when Dekas was there as an associate director.
Now there are sky-cams, the camera that moves above the action on a wire, which are being used at the Georgia Dome. There are also cameras on top of the backboards and cameras in the locker rooms before games. Slow motion is now super-slow motion. Shots can be magnified to such a degree that game officials can watch replays to clearly see if a toe is on the 3-point line, which they did during a Kentucky game at the Austin region in 2005.
“That has become standard now,” Fishman said.
Despite the warp-speed changes to technology what hasn’t changed is the essence of their mission: the storytelling and the subject.
“The most important thing about our job is it’s about sports,” Fishman said. “People are watching this because it’s sports. People aren’t watching it to watch the technology. People are watching it because they love sports, they love competition, they love great stories and that’s what brings viewers to the sets. It’s about sports.”
The job can be a grind. Greensboro becomes Atlanta will become New Orleans in a three-week span. The travel isn’t just regional. In 1992, they went from the Final Four to the Olympics to the American League Championship Series to the World Series.
Dekas prepares by visiting sites early. He visited all 14 NCAA tournament sites last spring to acquaint himself with the schematics.
“I know these buildings like the back of my hand, all of them,” he said.
While the buildings may be familiar the memories blend together. The ones they remember most usually come down to those that had the most impact: Lorenzo Charles’ dunk in 1983; Keith Smart’s 3-pointer in 1987; Chris Webber’s timeout in 1993.
The one they may have been the most memorable was the one that didn’t go in: Gordon Hayward’s 45-foot 3-pointer that preserved Duke’s national-championship victory over Butler.
“Some say the Butler shot would have been the greatest upset in any sport,” Dekas said.
But Dekas and Fishman were there, and their crew again captured another piece of college basketball history.
“I don’t think we’ve ever missed an important moment, and I’m proud of that,” Fishman said.
About the Author
