Pathetic American coverage of Slams. From Murph. Thanks.

MURPH

A sad note regarding the pathetic American coverage of Grand Slams by Bruce Jenkins, great sports writer for the San Francisco Chronicle:

NBC’s Wimbledon coverage has been bafflingly inadequate. On days with crucial matches running throughout the day and into the evening at the All England Club, NBC checks in for three hours — on tape delay — and then, “Take care, now — gotta go.” Are they kidding? Really, it seems like some sort of practical joke.

Although ESPN has been a reasonably satisfying alternative, the NBC coverage is worth watching for one reason: John McEnroe teamed with Ted Robinson in the broadcast booth. If you’re with me on this, enjoy it while you can, because their longtime partnership will be dissolved, quite against their will, at the upcoming U.S. Open.

The McEnroe-Robinson pairing has been a U.S. Open staple for years on the USA Network, particularly coming to life in those wildly entertaining night matches. As opposed to the confusing NBC-ESPN setup we get at Wimbledon, USA throws a blanket over weekday coverage at the Open, essentially showing everything that matters.

Regrettably, ESPN purchased the U.S. Open rights last year. The network will undoubtedly employ McEnroe, but Robinson will be left out in the cold (and as a valued employee of NBC, he won’t be around when CBS takes over on weekends). I’ll guarantee you McEnroe won’t be happy about working with Chris Fowler, or whoever anchors the ESPN broadcasts, after years in the booth with Robinson.

The Wimbledon coverage, as well as that at the French Open (and past U.S. Opens), is particularly special because McEnroe and Robinson are teamed with Mary Carillo. All three are from the New York area, they’ve known each other for decades, and for my money they’re the best three-person team ever assembled in any sport. It’s not easy working with McEnroe, but these two bring out the best in him.

“Ted was the first guy who ever listened to me when I started doing commentary,” McEnroe said in a conference call the other day. “Most of the guys would be doing their own thing, but he’d actually respond to what I had to say, and that made it all much more fun. I’m a little biased here, but I think we make a great team — Ted, Mary and myself. Mary and I go way back as kids, playing mixed doubles together, so there’s something special, a synergy that will always be there. Ted knows when to let us do our thing. It’s really worked into a beautiful thing.”

That partnership will be renewed next summer, at the French and Wimbledon. The U.S. Open won’t sound quite the same.