A kinder, gentler criticism of the NHL from ESPN's fine EOE programming?
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Readers who frequent Army of the Ohio know that I generally have no love for Around the Horn or Pardon the Interruption, in large part because of the one-sided, immature and otherwise idiotic antics of people such as Tony Kornheiser, Jay Marriotti, and Woody Paige whenever the topic of hockey, or the NHL, comes up.
After last night's abysmal attendance at Joe Louis Arena for Detroit's 3-2 SO win over the Ducks, as well as the Avalanche's first ever lack of an opening game sellout (they hit around the 97% capacity mark), I just knew I had to tune in and see what was going to be said. PTI and ATH are the sorts of things that we hockey fans watch because we're masochists; we know we're going to get punched in the face, kicked in the groin, and get humiliated ... but we can't turn away.
And so it went, that the topic of the lack of American games playing to capacity crowds was brought up on both programs.
But something different happened this time around ... something quite funny. This time, at least to me, the criticism levied against the National Hockey League was ... gentler, I guess? I can't think of the right word, but suffice it to say, I found myself in near-disbelief at the fact that the likes of Mariotti, in all his boombastik and loud glory, was able to coherently and rationally go over a variety of the reasons as to why the NHL was suffering, which included the majority of ownership being incapable of keeping up with the times. And then there was hockey-loving Tim Cowlishaw, who fired off the largest salvo of intelligent criticism of the league that I've ever seen come from him.
I still took issue with the fact that in general, the reasoning behind both games being unable to sell out were glossed over. Detroit fans and bloggers have already vehemently pointed out a variety of legitimate rationales for what happened last night, which included not just the economy's woes, but also the stronger competition from the other three sports leagues in MoTown, as well as an ignorant, out-of-touch, and otherwise aloof front office that waited too long to act against fan apathy. As for Colorado, it must be remembered that even if Avalanche games are not happening at the same time as Colorado Rockies games, people only have so much money to put towards luxuries and leisure activities, and this being the Rockies' second ever playoff berth, it's hard to argue against people flocking to them at this point in time.
But I'm straying from the topic, which is that it seemed as though the normally over-the-top anti-hockey rhetoric seems to have been toned down, if only temporarily. Perhaps a result of the supposed talks between the NHL and ESPN to try and shuffle the league -- head hung low -- back to ESPN2, due to the currently hurting television ratings they have from their VS and NBC contracts?
Like I said to a friend earlier this evening, it makes no sense for ESPN to commit character assassination on the NHL to the point where if they did once again air hockey games, no one would turn in all thanks to all the hate and apathy they themselves drummed up and directed towards the league. Of course, this is all just theoretical; and I'm sure I'm probably giving ESPN too much credit. Maybe a week from now I'll see something more on par with Kornheiser's tirades that I've come to know and hate him for.
After last night's abysmal attendance at Joe Louis Arena for Detroit's 3-2 SO win over the Ducks, as well as the Avalanche's first ever lack of an opening game sellout (they hit around the 97% capacity mark), I just knew I had to tune in and see what was going to be said. PTI and ATH are the sorts of things that we hockey fans watch because we're masochists; we know we're going to get punched in the face, kicked in the groin, and get humiliated ... but we can't turn away.
And so it went, that the topic of the lack of American games playing to capacity crowds was brought up on both programs.
But something different happened this time around ... something quite funny. This time, at least to me, the criticism levied against the National Hockey League was ... gentler, I guess? I can't think of the right word, but suffice it to say, I found myself in near-disbelief at the fact that the likes of Mariotti, in all his boombastik and loud glory, was able to coherently and rationally go over a variety of the reasons as to why the NHL was suffering, which included the majority of ownership being incapable of keeping up with the times. And then there was hockey-loving Tim Cowlishaw, who fired off the largest salvo of intelligent criticism of the league that I've ever seen come from him.
I still took issue with the fact that in general, the reasoning behind both games being unable to sell out were glossed over. Detroit fans and bloggers have already vehemently pointed out a variety of legitimate rationales for what happened last night, which included not just the economy's woes, but also the stronger competition from the other three sports leagues in MoTown, as well as an ignorant, out-of-touch, and otherwise aloof front office that waited too long to act against fan apathy. As for Colorado, it must be remembered that even if Avalanche games are not happening at the same time as Colorado Rockies games, people only have so much money to put towards luxuries and leisure activities, and this being the Rockies' second ever playoff berth, it's hard to argue against people flocking to them at this point in time.
But I'm straying from the topic, which is that it seemed as though the normally over-the-top anti-hockey rhetoric seems to have been toned down, if only temporarily. Perhaps a result of the supposed talks between the NHL and ESPN to try and shuffle the league -- head hung low -- back to ESPN2, due to the currently hurting television ratings they have from their VS and NBC contracts?
Like I said to a friend earlier this evening, it makes no sense for ESPN to commit character assassination on the NHL to the point where if they did once again air hockey games, no one would turn in all thanks to all the hate and apathy they themselves drummed up and directed towards the league. Of course, this is all just theoretical; and I'm sure I'm probably giving ESPN too much credit. Maybe a week from now I'll see something more on par with Kornheiser's tirades that I've come to know and hate him for.
Labels: ESPN
Second verse, same as the first.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Before I get back to the grind that is known as apartment packing, I thought it was worth it to check in here at Army of the Ohio after I got an e-mail today from a friend of mine, as well as ran in to this entry by Paul over at Kukla's Korner. In it, the SportsBusiness Journal reveals to us all that the NHL and ESPN -- the self-crowned Worldwide Leader in Sports -- are in the preliminary stages of talks that could bring the league back to Bristol.
Suffice it to say, this definitely got me sitting upright in my recliner after a rather boring summer.
If the comments in Kukla's post are any indication, the possibility of returning to ESPN -- or rather, ESPN2 -- brings about highly mixed feelings, ranging from pleasure to outright disgust. Not that that should come as a surprise to anyone out there or anything.
My thoughts on the matter? Well, it's hard to say right now, considering just how many hurdles need to be gotten over before this would even happen. The preliminary discussions are about putting games on ESPN2 only as soon as the 2008-09 season, for one, meaning NBC will have one full season to bury the NHL with its watered down, Mike Milbury-hosted coverage. Additionally, Versus owns all exclusive rights to the NHL when it comes to cable coverage, meaning they would have to give the green light for this to happen.
Then there's the matter of if any of the games would get coverage on ESPN, and not just ESPN2. Also, would ESPN/ESPN2 only cover the number of games that NBC was obligated to cover under their contract with the NHL? And would all of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals then be stuck all the way on ESPN2? I'm not about to make the presumption that once the Finals roll around, they'd actually air it on ABC ... that's way too much of an optimistic view there.
So for the moment, it's an extremely ugly mess that needs some untangling before any serious considerations or opinions put out by the average fan can be considered legitimate.
Still ... it's an unfortunate reality that if the NHL wants to cling to whatever claim it has left to being the 4th major sport in the United States, ESPN is a necessity. And considering Versus' inability to grab any headline sports to cover outside of the Tour de France and obscure Division I-A football conferences, it would be in its best interest to give the NHL the green light here, so long as Versus gets a bit more coverage in return. The article in SBJ even mentions that they'd like something akin to ESPN's partnership with TNT and their sharing of cable coverage of the NBA.
With that, I am out. I still need to pack up some of my jerseys hanging on the walls in here, along with some portraits. Man, moving is such a pain ... but it'll be so worth it once I'm done.
Suffice it to say, this definitely got me sitting upright in my recliner after a rather boring summer.
If the comments in Kukla's post are any indication, the possibility of returning to ESPN -- or rather, ESPN2 -- brings about highly mixed feelings, ranging from pleasure to outright disgust. Not that that should come as a surprise to anyone out there or anything.
My thoughts on the matter? Well, it's hard to say right now, considering just how many hurdles need to be gotten over before this would even happen. The preliminary discussions are about putting games on ESPN2 only as soon as the 2008-09 season, for one, meaning NBC will have one full season to bury the NHL with its watered down, Mike Milbury-hosted coverage. Additionally, Versus owns all exclusive rights to the NHL when it comes to cable coverage, meaning they would have to give the green light for this to happen.
Then there's the matter of if any of the games would get coverage on ESPN, and not just ESPN2. Also, would ESPN/ESPN2 only cover the number of games that NBC was obligated to cover under their contract with the NHL? And would all of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals then be stuck all the way on ESPN2? I'm not about to make the presumption that once the Finals roll around, they'd actually air it on ABC ... that's way too much of an optimistic view there.
So for the moment, it's an extremely ugly mess that needs some untangling before any serious considerations or opinions put out by the average fan can be considered legitimate.
Still ... it's an unfortunate reality that if the NHL wants to cling to whatever claim it has left to being the 4th major sport in the United States, ESPN is a necessity. And considering Versus' inability to grab any headline sports to cover outside of the Tour de France and obscure Division I-A football conferences, it would be in its best interest to give the NHL the green light here, so long as Versus gets a bit more coverage in return. The article in SBJ even mentions that they'd like something akin to ESPN's partnership with TNT and their sharing of cable coverage of the NBA.
With that, I am out. I still need to pack up some of my jerseys hanging on the walls in here, along with some portraits. Man, moving is such a pain ... but it'll be so worth it once I'm done.
Labels: ESPN, NBC, Versus, You Don't Know Jack
Oh, how I wish this wasn't real and just a photoshop ...
Friday, June 01, 2007
ESPN: So uncaring of hockey that they're even starting to dis Canada itself by disregarding proper spelling. Know the most hilariously coincidental part? Jay Mariotti then uses his face time to tell those poor, stressed out, homeschooled kids who recently took part in that televised spelling bee to relax.
Sorry. The second I saw this on my TV screen, after all I'd railed against yesterday and today, I just had to throw in one more potshot at "The worldwide leader in sports."
Labels: ESPN, Ottawa Senators, randomness
Top 15 cable program, or 76% ratings plummet?
Monday, January 29, 2007
Oh, ESPN; what won't you do when trying to knock the NHL down a peg (not that there are many pegs to knock out, anyway).
Readers of Kukla's Korner will recall last week when Paul put up some numbers concerning the All-Star Games ratings. The most positive point to be made? That VERSUS, and the ASG by association, was in the top 15 cable network for all ad-supported television. Not bad, right?
Don't tell that to ESPN, though. In this article released by the Associated Press (and then chosen as the pick of the litter for ESPN to post up on ESPN.com), no mention is made of that. In fact, the "fuzzy math" comparison of the All-Star Game to American Idol is made, despite the fact that as we all well know, Idol's home is FOX, which is not a cable channel and as such is in virtually every single household in the country that has a television.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not denying the ratings drop. But regardless, this is an almost dead-on example of trying to compare apples to oranges just to make something look bad. Though I guess in that case, it's more like comparing a fresh apple to a moldy apple.
Whatever. I got work to get ready for. Public transportation, hooooo!
Readers of Kukla's Korner will recall last week when Paul put up some numbers concerning the All-Star Games ratings. The most positive point to be made? That VERSUS, and the ASG by association, was in the top 15 cable network for all ad-supported television. Not bad, right?
Don't tell that to ESPN, though. In this article released by the Associated Press (and then chosen as the pick of the litter for ESPN to post up on ESPN.com), no mention is made of that. In fact, the "fuzzy math" comparison of the All-Star Game to American Idol is made, despite the fact that as we all well know, Idol's home is FOX, which is not a cable channel and as such is in virtually every single household in the country that has a television.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not denying the ratings drop. But regardless, this is an almost dead-on example of trying to compare apples to oranges just to make something look bad. Though I guess in that case, it's more like comparing a fresh apple to a moldy apple.
Whatever. I got work to get ready for. Public transportation, hooooo!
Labels: america hates hockey, ESPN, ranting
