March Madness: When NBC dropped the ball

“I was seldom able to see an opportunity until it had ceased to be one.”

Mark Twain

  Rare is the individual (or group for that matter), who’d have the candor of Mark Twain, to admit they’d missed it and blown an opportunity. There’s just something about opportunity that makes it unfortunately much more obvious after the door has closed.

  Great opportunities push us out of our comfort zone. Often we miss opportunities because our world is too small. We’re more comfortable playing it safe, sticking with the known and familiar. Sometimes it’s because our rear view mirror is so huge that we can’t see out the front windshield. We’re looking at how things were, how they used to be. We succumb to being so nostalgic about the past, we’re out of touch with the present and unprepared for the future. Then, sometimes we’re so into ourselves and our own world, we’re virtually unaware there’s another one out there. For some, it seems that the theme song of their life is, “It’s a small world after all.” Oftentimes their world is not much larger than the tip of their nose, or their own family and circle of friends…who all essentially think, act and live just as they do. Because their world is small, it has very little, if any room for growth, risk and opportunity.

  Monday night’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship on CBS is a historic example of an individual who missed a phenomenal opportunity. Because he wouldn’t stretch out of the familiar or his own comfort zone, it greatly cost him and his company.

  If you know anything about television and media history, you may recognize the name of Fred Silverman. In many portions of his life, Fred was a genius. He was sharp and on the cutting edge. Yet, when he had to stretch out of his comfort zone, he was dimmer than a burnt out light bulb.

  For nearly forty years, he was a one man media genius. At some point, in his career he worked for all three major networks. He had the foresight to bring to TV such popular shows as The Waltons, All in the Family, Charlie's Angels, even Scooby-Doo. It was his genius that was behind some of the first great TV miniseries like Roots and Shogun. He had an uncanny ability to spot burgeoning hit material. He reintroduced game shows to the network's daytime lineups, including an updated version of the 1950’s game show, The Price Is Right, that’s still on the air some four decades later. He revitalized the news division of the networks. Yet, amazingly, as talented, brilliant and connected as Fred Silverman was, he was obtuse when it came to sports. He didn’t understand how vital they were or how much they were a part of American culture.

  When he was president of NBC, all he cared about was whether something was profitable in the present, not its potential worth in the future. When it came to the opportunities presented by sports, a former associates described him as “myopic.” For example, during the 1979 World Series, it was bitterly cold in New York. Bowie Kuhn, the Baseball Commissioner invited Silverman to sit in his box during Game 1 at Yankee Stadium. Even though Silverman was president of NBC which had the rights to the World Series, he balked and had to be cajoled into attending and sitting with the Commissioner during the game by Chet Simmons, who was then president of NBC Sports. Simmons pointed out to him that if NBC wanted to keep the rights to the World Series, Silverman needed to do some serious schmoozing. Afterwards though, Silverman chewed Simmons out, telling him, “If you ever do that to me again, I’ll fire you.”

  The reason March Madness is on CBS instead of NBC is that when NBC had a two year contract for the Tournament, the NCAA gave NBC an option for a four year contract. It took Fred Silverman less than 10 seconds to turn down that fantastic opportunity. Even when all of his other executives and sales staff wanted to jump at the opportunity, even when one of his top executives begged him to reconsider, Silverman still said no.

  Though NBC had had the rights to the Tournament since 1969, this shortsighted decision so irritated the NCAA that when NBC’s contract was up, the contract was given to CBS…and the rest is March Madness history.

  For the believer, an opportunity is any favorable occasion when we have the opportunity to make a decision that could have a positive impact for the Kingdom. Opportunities are a gift from the Lord. Yet, like short sighted Fred Silverman, too often we let them pass us by, failing to recognize that they’re gifts and that our heavenly Father sent them to us.

  Think about this. Isn’t it amazing that even in this post-Christian age, billions of people around the world celebrate Easter? Sure, for some it’s little more than eggs and bunnies, but they’re still thinking about it. What an opportunity for those of us who know the real meaning of Easter! Since they’re already talking about our holiday, what a fantastic opportunity to graciously share the real Easter story.  

  Our greatest enemy is Death. It represents our sin and guilt. It stands for hopelessness. Yet, Jesus conquered Death. Jesus wasn’t resuscitated, He was resurrected, never to die again. Because of Jesus, Death is now little more than a toothless lion with no claws.

  Ephesians 6:15 says, “And, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.” The idea is for us to be ready at all times to share the gospel. As believers, we’re on duty 24/7 because you never know when an opportunity will open up to share the gospel with someone. It's the idea of being ready and willing to move at a moment’s notice because opportunities to share the gospel frequently come when we least expect them.

  Are you watching for those opportunities? They come quickly, often unexpectedly. The Lord Jesus is passing us the ball. Please don’t drop it!