Matt Buckler: Sue Bird's game at Mohegan Sun was blown opportunity

Jun. 20—Television networks have stopped showing the introduction of the starting lineups prior to the start of a regular season basketball game for quite a while now.

Instead of hearing the P.A. announcer tell us the starters, we're treated to a few extra commercials. The lineups are shown on a graphic — sometimes while the game is going on.

If there was a time to revive the old tradition of the lineup introductions, it would have been prior to Friday's game between the Seattle Storm and the Connecticut Sun.

Earlier in the week, former UConn star and current Seattle guard Sue Bird announced that this is her final season. And that meant that Friday could've been her final game in Connecticut.

I was interested in what kind of reaction she would get from many of her old fans.

If you watched the game on NESN Plus, you never found out. It had technical difficulties at the start and then went through about six commercials. By the time NESN came back from the break, the game had already started.

CBS Sports Network, which also televised the game, didn't have the introductions either.

It was a wasted opportunity to bring viewers something special.

The folks who televised the game didn't realize it.

Seattle returns to Mohegan Sun to play Connecticut on July 28. Perhaps the networks will seize the opportunity to redeem themselves.

Matt Buckler is television and radio editor of the Journal Inquirer.

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