Brilliant

Searching through my digital channel guide, I'm looking to see if Versus (that would be the former OLN) was airing tonight's big Air Force-UNLV game. Being a college basketball nut and certified bracketologist, I'm anxious to see if these teams are as good as their lofty RPI rankings. Of course, no dice. Back in the day, Mountain West games aired every Monday as the nightcap of Big Monday, with the occasional Saturday night showdown mixed in. However, feeling emboldened to air more Mountain West games at a "more suitable" time, Craig Thompson, the Mountain West commissioner, decided to leave ESPN for the fledgling CSTV. While most sports fans get fed up with ESPN's increasingly cartoony coverage of sports, trying to pull a power play on them is a great way to render yourself and your conference into obscurity. Instead of the regular Monday 11 p.m. central, 10 p.m. mountain showcases, fans outside of the mountain time zone have been left to the occasional game picked by Versus and hoping your cable system actually carries CSTV. Thanks to this, I have seen the three serious NCAA Tournament contenders from the conference, Air Force, BYU, UNLV, play a combined half of basketball. That half featured UNLV without their two best players and San Diego missing their two best interior players. Diehard college basketball fans would like to thank Thompson for the dumbest business decision this side of New Coke.