This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

With coverage of 48 games in four days, the fact that CBS and Turner's coverage of the NCAA men's basketball tournament wasn't replete with embarrassing incidents speaks to just how good those telecasts have been.

Sounding smart on live TV isn't easy. Once you've opened your mouth, your words are out there. You can't edit.

How many of us could withstand having cameras focused on us at work for a couple of hours at a time? Hey, we all make mistakes — including yours truly, and I (usually) have time to go back and edit what I've written.

The CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV telecasts weren't flawless. Not every camera angle was perfect. Not every spoken word was a gem.

There was a power failure courtside in the closing minutes of Michigan's win over Oklahoma State on Friday, resulting in a few moments of silence before courtside reporter Tracy Wolfson jumped in to do a bit of play-by-play.

Studio host Greg Gumbel corrected a comment by Verne Lundquist — and Lundquist was right. And Lundquist got bonked in the face by a ball. Fortunately, he wasn't injured.

He made out better than his broadcast partner, analyst Jim Spanarkel, who damaged his reputation with a weird and overtly sexist comment during Thursday's West Virginia-Bucknell game.

CBS reporter Allie LaForce said that Bucknell's coach, Nathan Davis, just had told her as the second half tipped off that his team had to do a better job rebounding.

"And how do you feel about that?" Lundquist asked Spanarkel.

"I agree with Allie. I always agree with Allie, though," he said —just sportscaster blather. But he continued.

"I've learned not to argue with pretty women," Spanarkel said. "Like the people in my house, I don't get in trouble with the people that are in my house either," before actually talking about the rebounding situation.

Spanarkel and his wife are the parents of two daughters and two sons.

It was odd. For one thing, LaForce was reporting what Bucknell's coach said — so Spanarkel didn't need to agree or disagree with her.

And it's safe to assume that if LaForce was a man, Spanarkel wouldn't have commented on her gender or appearance. He would have recognized her as a reporter, not a "pretty" woman. He would not have condescended to her.

That is one of the definitions of sexism — an example of "attitudes or behavior based on traditional stereotypes of gender roles."

No, this isn't the most egregious example of sexism in sports TV we've heard. And Spanarkel, whose full-time job is as a vice president at Merrill Lynch, clearly was trying to be funny and charming — oblivious to the fact that this is 2017.

Maybe he missed all the criticism NBC suffered during its coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympics. Like when one network commentator said of the gold medal-winning U.S. women's gymnastics team, "They might as well be standing in the middle of a mall." Or when Hungarian swimmer Katinka Hosszu won a gold medal and another NBC commentator said that her husband was "the guy responsible."

Spanarkel's "pretty women" comment didn't go unnoticed. It should be a lesson learned. A chance to move into the 21st century.

But there's been no apology from CBS or Spanarkel, who seem determined to ignore the backlash and hope it goes away. So … apparently sexism still is OK at the network.

Scott D. Pierce covers TV for The Salt Lake Tribune. Email him at spierce@sltrib.com; follow him on Twitter @ScottDPierce.