Tirico, ESPN move into Butler Cabin: Other notes

New things don't come to Augusta National Golf Club very often, so when they do, it's news.ESPN will televise the first two rounds of the nation's most prestigious tournament, starting next Thursday. Mike Tirico will be the host at Butler Cabin with CBS' cadre of announcers calling the play. ESPN takes over for USA, which had previously been the Masters' cable partner.Perhaps most interesting, however, will be ESPN televising Wednesday's Par 3 Contest. It's the first time the Masters has ever allowed its traditional day-before competition to be shown on TV and it promises to give viewers a different and almost -- dare we say? -- irreverent look at Augusta."I think you'll see a lot of personality at the Par 3 from a lot of the competitors," Tirico told reporters this week. "For those who haven't seen the Par 3, we've seen everything from kids caddying to (former NBA player) David Robinson caddying for Corey Pavin. Here's Corey Pavin at his height, somewhere near 5 feet, and David Robinson at 7 feet in the full Augusta National caddies uniform, carrying his bag."Tirico said the Par 3 Contest, which is played on Augusta National's separate nine-hole course, gives the golfers a chance to relax a bit before the tournament starts."Wednesday is almost as if it's the last deep breath before Thursday morning begins. Every golfer will tell you that when the PGA Championship ends, their thoughts from September on through April are about the Masters. The elite golfers will certainly tell you they're focused on getting their game in shape, their schedule, their planning, what they need to work on. Then Masters week arrives and that pressure builds and the preparation for the course and the uniqueness of each year continues to focus."And then Wednesday afternoon there's a couple of things: You get a lot of wedges in your hands. You get an opportunity to get a sense of the greens, which are just spectacular on the Par 3 and it's a chance to just take a deep breath, to be out there with your kids or your friends. Many people have dads caddie for them, and (it's a chance) to just exhale before the pressure of the next four days."I think it's going to be a great window, to see the players in kind of a relaxed forum before they go to sleep Wednesday night with dreams of leaving Augusta National's grounds on Sunday night with a green jacket."There is a problem, however. No player that won the Par-3 Contest has ever won the Masters in the same year.MADNESS SLIPS: CBS' ratings for the NCAA Basketball Tournament are averaging a 5.2 rating with an 11 percent share of the audience this year. That's down 7.1 percent from last year's 5.6 rating and 12 share, according to Sports Business Daily.A good deal of that may be due to the fact there has been a significant number of blowouts in the tournament this year, culminating with all four No. 1 seeds making the Final Four. The national semifinals set for Saturday in San Antonio feature UCLA facing Memphis, followed by North Carolina and Kansas.Davidson's remarkable run to the Elite Eight was the main highlight of the tournament, but Cinderella generally doesn't play well in the Final Four, says CBS News and Sports president Sean McManus."As much as we like Cinderellas and as much as they provide drama -- none more so that Davidson (on Sunday) -- from a pure ratings standpoint, you're probably better off having the four unquestioned best teams in the country with the basketball tradition they have. Ratings are primarily determined by how close the games are, but if you wanted to set up a Final Four that before the tip-off was set up to draw good ratings, this is the Final Four you would draw up."(Contact Jim Carlisle at jcarlisle@VenturaCountyStar.com.)(Jim Carlisle writes for the Ventura County Star in California at XX(at)xxx.com.)