I turned on CBS Sports Saturday Sept. 10 about 15 minutes before the time listed on the University of South Florida schedule available on the Internet — about 4:45 p.m. EDT, 5:45 p.m. our time. Not surprisingly, the University of Conneticut versus Navy game was still on. I watched to the end of that game, which went past the scheduled time for the start of the USF vs. NIU game, and to my great surprise and delight, as the USF versus NIU game began, CBS Sports didn’t do the usual — either stay with the first game or switch to the second — they switched video to the second and kept audio on the first.

What a wonderful idea! Providing both games in their entirety for the benefit of two, mostly non-overlapping audiences.

Regrettably, the wonderfulness didn’t last.

Within minutes, the UCONN versus Navy game was over, but instead of switching quickly to the USF versusNIU game, CBS Sports stopped its overlapping broadcast and switched to audio and video of, first, post-game interviews on the Naval Academy field, and second, an extended post-game CBS Sports review of UCONN versus Navy plus video highlights of the Alabama game and a number of others, including, of course, commercials.

Only then did CBS Sports switch to Tampa and the USF versus NIU game, only to enter on a (pre-recorded?) pregame introduction and more commercials. By the time CBS Sports finally joined the USF versus NIU game already in progress, 5:05 minutes had expired on the game clock.

This is aggravating, not just because I’m an NIU fan, but because the broadcast was such an insult to all us viewers. It was a variation on the numerous ways that providers of services put themselves before their customers, profit before quality of product delivered.

I would hope that the NIU president’s office would take note of this and communicate to the Mid-American Conference its disappointment in such shabby treatment.