Tennessee took care of Vanderbilt in Knoxville last night to stay atop the SEC. Ted Valentine, official to the stars and man unafraid to soak up the spotlight, worked the game. The top of ESPN’s broadcast featured extended access to Vols coach Rick Barnes’ open microphone — and not by design.
Instead of hearing Sean Farnham and Roy Philpott’s insightful table-setting, the audience was privy to Barnes giving one of his assistant coaches the scouting report on Valentine.
Barnes was referring to this incident in the 2004 NCAA Tournament, which sounds very on-brand.
Was this some awkward television? Sure. But considering the circumstances, this is basically the best-case scenario. Barnes could have been saying anything during this time, completely unaware it was being broadcast across the airwaves.
Coaches have said much, much worse about Valentine. Heck, they say pretty colorful things to any ref. And their own team. This was fairly tame.
Maybe the next time a mistake like this happens it will be with a sharper-tongued coach willing to work blue and say what he really thinks. Of course, ESPN would prefer this be the first and only time.
