The James Harden Revolution Will Not Be Televised

If you were hoping to watch your 16th-ranked Sun Devils visit the dangerous USC Trojans tonight, you’re out of luck. This game, like so many others, is not televised in Arizona. What forces conspire to keep James Harden out of our living rooms? Keep reading to find out.

With the Arizona State men’s basketball program on the verge of moving from Pac-10 afterthought to contender, its quickly growing fan base is missing out. Why? Because tonight’s critical road game against USC is not on TV.

Stupefied fans in the Valley will be treated to a Fox Sports Arizona presentation of Washington State vs. Oregon State at 7 p.m. Thursday. That’s followed by Arizona at UCLA at 9 p.m. ASU’s 8:30 game against USC will not be on television in Phoenix.

Washington State vs. Oregon State? We believe the term is: WTF?!

We’re sure there are complex contractual issues when it comes to FSAZ and what they can and can’t show. But if that’s the case and we’re ASU’s administration, we think we’d try to do something.

A top 20 men’s basketball team doesn’t come around Tempe too often, and fans are missing out on a critical conference game. Couldn’t Thursday’s 8:30 p.m. start time have been moved up to 7 p.m., so that both the ASU game and the UA game could be televised in Arizona? Would Trojan fans be so crushed to play a game a little earlier in the evening?

This same scenario occurred when ASU opened the season on the road against Stanford, and we’re still annoyed we didn’t get to see that 30-point beatdown.

ASU is at least throwing fans a bone with an offer to view the USC game online, but charging almost $7 for the right to view is just bad public relations. It’s obviously a way to make a few bucks while fans clamor for any option. If the athletic department wanted to create some good will among fans, it would have offered this online deal free.

As of now ASU’s remaining untelevised games are: 1/29 vs. Washington St; 2/28 at Washington St.; 3/5 vs. Stanford and 3/7 vs. Cal. Thankfully, there’s a good chance that the final two games of the regular season – Stanford and Cal – will be picked up by FSAZ.

Is it too much to ask to see the home team on TV? What do you think?

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