Affiliate flips during Viking win
By Bryan D'Andrea
As the seconds ticked away in CSU’s historic upset over Wake Forest, WUAB, “Cleveland’s My 43,” switched to the Ohio State game as it was nearing the end of regulation with the outcome still in doubt.
The Vikings were cruising to 84-69 victory while the Buckeyes were involved in a nail biter with the Sienna Saints.
With such a monumental win in their grasp, the first of its kind since 1986, should WUAB have stayed with Cleveland State, or did they make the right move by covering the better finish to the Ohio State game?
This reporter sampled students to get a better perspective and while some were upset about the change, more than half of them were okay with the switch.
Sophomore Erin Ainsworth said, “We knew CSU was going to win at that point.”
“I didn’t have a problem with them switching over,” added Junior Steve Lombardo. “The game was pretty much over, and I was interested to see if Ohio State would hang on for the win.”
Unfortunately, OSU could not hang on for the win as they dropped a heartbreaker to the Saints, 74-72, in double overtime.While many sided with Ainsworth and Lombardo, others disagreed.
“I wish they would have just left the game alone,” said Junior Anthony Cobb. “It would have been nice to see the team celebrate.”
Cobb and others supported their opinion by pointing out that the Buckeye game was already being shown.
“The Ohio State game was already on channel 4 (WOIO),” said Cobb. “They should have let the viewers decide which game they wanted to watch.”
While some were unhappy with the decision by WUAB, others blamed the NCAA Selection Committee for the way they scheduled the games.
Senior John Landu said, “If the committee didn’t schedule the games at the same time, there would never have been a problem. They should take into account the proximity between teams when scheduling.”The Committee did present fans with a unique dilemma.
On one hand, they could tune into WOIO, CBS’ primary affiliate station, to watch the more established Buckeyes who had just come off a second place finish in the Big Ten tournament.
On the other hand, they could switch over to WUAB to see the upstart Vikings make history. Because of the OSU loss, affiliate stations didn’t have to make such decisions when the Vikings took on Arizona last Sunday. Unfortunately for CSU, they fell to the Wildcats 71-57. Xavier is now the lone Ohio team left standing in the tournament. The Musketeers will battle top-seeded Pitt Thursday night with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line.