March Madness

Oral Roberts fans rejoice! Now you, too, will be able to catch all of that exciting NCAA Tournament first-round action. If you weren’t convinced that new technology will change the way we watch TV, maybe this will change your mind. CBS announced that they will stream all of the early round games of the NCAA tournament online–for free.
A story in today’s Los Angeles Times talks about the plan, which makes sense for CBS, because if you’ve paid $6 billion for rights to all the games, but can only show one on TV at a time, why not use the Internet to your advantage? This new strategy also plays well to advertisers–who have already bought all the ad spots, which, unlike TV, are interactive–looking for new ways to reach that 18-34 male demographic.
So if you’re really jonesin’ for that Southern Illinois/UNC-Wilmington matchup, and you think your boss isn’t watching (maybe he’s watching it in his office, too), here’s your chance to drop office productivity to an all-time low.
Oh, and while you’re filling out one of those office pools (and we know you are), take a look at this New York Times article that takes Freakonomics to the seamy side of sports.