Team streams give viewers a more fan-based commentary

RYAN HERRING, Sports Columnist

You are watching a basketball game on TV and a controversial play happens. A bang-bang play resulted in the ball going out of bounds.

It is way too close to call, making it ultimately a 50/50 chance it will go your way. The ref makes the call. One team and their fans are happy and the other team and their fans are upset.

Regardless of which side you are on, you have an opinion. In your head you either think it was great call or a terrible call.

Naturally, you want to hear the commentators on your side agree with you, not only on that one play, but also the entire game. That is where Team Streams come in.

This weekend there will be Team Stream Broadcasts for each of teams competing in the Final Four courtesy of Bleacher Report. Syracuse, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Villanova will each have their own stream for fans.

These include unprecedented local flavor, such as comprehensive team and player storylines, custom graphics, music, graphic and show packaging, additional cameras, team-centric replays and custom halftime shows with school features.

This is a generally new concept which still causes some confusion. The people not aware of these different broadcasts will find themselves scratching their head through the course of the game as they slowly start to realize just how one-sided it is.

You know, a lot of time people don’t know what channel the game is on, so they flip to the first channel that has the game playing not thinking much of it. Well here is a guide to clear up all the confusion.

TBS will televise the NCAA Final Four National Semifinals on Saturday, April 2, and the National Championship on Monday, April 4. This is the neutral broadcast which will have Jim Nantz, Grant Hill and Bill Raftery on the call.

Also for Saturday: “Oklahoma Team Stream” will be on TNT at 6 p.m. with “North Carolina Team Stream” following, and “Villanova Team Stream” will be on truTV at 6 p.m. with “Syracuse Team Stream” following. Oklahoma’s stream will consist of Chad McKee (play-by-play), Eduardo Najera (analyst) and Jessica Coody (reporter).

Villanova will be Scott Graham (play-by-play), Brian Finneran (analyst) and Kacie McDonnell (reporter). North Carolina’s is Wes Durham (play-by-play), Brendan Haywood (analyst), and Dwayne Ballen (reporter). Syracuse will have Tom Werme (play-by-play), Roosevelt Bouie (analyst) and Donovan McNabb (reporter).

So we have plenty of different options for viewing these big games. It may seem a bit ridiculous that there are three different channels all showing the same game, but that kind of puts into perspective just how popular the Final Four is.

Bleacher Report also has team stream apps you can download on your phone to keep up with your favorite teams (of any sport) all year long.

Common rule when it comes to broadcasting is not to be biased. However, these Team Streams make it both acceptable and quite beautiful.