The topic sample platter post; several topics for an appetizer-sized price!
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Just Ducky
And so it goes that this Stanley Cup Finals ended not with a bang, but with a whimper. As has already been plastered on every hockey blog imaginable, the Anaheim Ducks ran roughshod over the hapless Ottawa Senators with a 6-2 drubbing, winning the series 4-1 and effectively crushing the hopes and dreams of fervent Canadian hockey fans from Vancouver to Montreal that the Stanley Cup would be won by a Canadian team for the first time in a decade and a half.
Yeah, go ahead, tell me that not every Canadian hockey fan wanted to see the other Canadian hockey team that isn't theirs be the first to bring it back, and also how the Anaheim Ducks currently have more Canadian players than any other team in the NHL. Irregardless of those facts, you can't deny the possible sense of anguish that comes with seeing half of all Canadian teams fall, one by one, over the past three years to three "non-traditional" markets where the Stanley Cup, if the mainstream media is telling the truth, is mistaken for a spittoon or an ash tray.
As for how I feel about seeing the Ducks win, well ... like I said last year when I favored the Carolina Hurricanes from a "spreading the game" standpoint, I have no qualms with the Cup spending some time under the hot sun, and rubbing bling with Snoop Dogg. Pundits far and wide will remind you, as they have been since the game ended last night, that this is a horrible thing to happen to the league. And as far as looking at it in macro terms, it certainly doesn't help in the here and now. But you just can't expect a team to grow the sport, let alone draw fans, without seeing them win. And the Ducks have done just that. As a result, they now have both doubled sponsorship and merchandise sales, as noted by James Mirtle. The issues concerning their claims of still possibly being in the red can be saved for another day.
Mike Priest talks ... just not in Columbus
Does anyone else find it even mildly curious that Mike Priest decided that he would instead speak publicly about the team over in Akron, instead of right here in Columbus with The Columbus Dispatch. While the Dispatch's parent group does have a minority stake in the Blue Jackets, you can't help but wonder if there could be any kind of rift between the front office and the Dispatch. I mean, since when did Akron care about the Blue Jackets, anyway? Something about this doesn't sit right with me.
What does he say? Well ... to me, it isn't much. I sort of feel like I walked in a circle, and didn't get to see much scenery before being planted back at square one.
Something of mild concern is the way that Priest dances around this issue, but ultimately makes it clear that the free agent market is not something that the Blue Jackets will be doing much moving and shaking in this off-season. The team is in a bind right now due to large contracts, as mentioned in the article, tied to Sergei Fedorov and team captain Adam Foote, who have both not been able to give the Jackets a bang for their buck. If that is the case and this team will be looking for poor man Daniel Brieres and the like, hopefully the upcoming general manager will be something of a quality judge of talent, since he'll have to be doing a lot of sifting through the bargain bin, it appears.
Speaking of the GM search ...
With the fact that Neil Smith, Jim Clark, and Don Boyd were all longshot candidates exposed to the public after the withdrawl of Bob Murry as the top candidate, the new focus on who will be the next Jackets' GM turns toward Dallas and Edmonton, where Les Jackson and Scott Howson, respectively, are slated for interviews at some point. When? No one knows, really, but it should obviously be before the draft, even if no one is named before then.
Both Howson and Jackson have experience playing hockey in the professional leagues, are assistant GMs for their respective teams, and both have coaching experience in some capacity in the minor hockey leagues. Howson, however, seems to have more direct general manager experience, as seen by his stint as the GM of the Hamilton Bulldogs. Jackson's history is not as easily accessible either through searches or through the Stars' own website, where it is mentioned that prior to his time as assistant GM to the Stars, he was also the assistant GM to the Atlanta Thrashers up until last season (at least I assume until last season ... the part in his bio which states " Les Jackson enters the sixth season of his second stint with the Stars after spending the previous two years as the assistant general manager of the Atlanta Thrashers" leads me to believe as such, barring it being obsolete).
Meanwhile, back on the topic of ESPN ...
... the usual prodding and mocking of the NHL, except with even more venom than usual, came spewing forth from cranky, crabby Tony Kornheiser's mouth as though he was just dying for the chance to yell, scream, and cause a ruckus during Pardon the Interruption this afternoon. Never have I wanted to wring his neck so badly, as he took every opportunity he could in the minute and a half he had to tear the NHL apart.
The rest of ESPN's "fine" line of original entertainment hovered between "respectable" to "ignorant", as Jim Rome -- despite the apologist way in which he tried to portray himself as a lover of hockey and the NHL -- jumped on the opportunity that the NHL never has, and never will be a major sport. Rome must have been born in the 21st century and had his aging process sped up, as if he had lived during the mid-90s, he would have remembered that the NHL was indeed outdrawing the NBA at many turns, both at the gate and on television, back then.
... which was something that was brought up by panelist Woody Paige when the NHL was brought up on Around the Horn. With the exception of biasedly anti-hockey journalist Bill Plaske, the panelists generally agreed that the NHL could actually somehow, someway, someday pull itself together and get itself back to greatness. Paige gleefully teared into Gary Bettman, while unabashed hockey lover Tim Cowlishaw shared inside information concerning an executive or owner in the league making it very clear that the league was missing ESPN right now, and wished there was a way to get out of its contract with Versus (at least that's what I thought I heard).
I guess that's about par for the course. Though Kornheiser's violent rage almost makes it seem like a proverbial double bogey in terms of media coverage.
And let's not forget the draft!
I think, for the most part, Drew and I have done all we can to get the word out, with the help of at least a dozen different bloggers out there who have been extremely helpful in spreading the word about the draft get together. To everyone who did, I want to say thank you very much!
Like I said earlier this week, I am hoping that by the middle to the end of next week, some sort of finalized plan will be hammered out in terms of where everyone should meet. So again, stay tuned!
On that note, it's been a long day, and I have some things to take care of this evening.
And so it goes that this Stanley Cup Finals ended not with a bang, but with a whimper. As has already been plastered on every hockey blog imaginable, the Anaheim Ducks ran roughshod over the hapless Ottawa Senators with a 6-2 drubbing, winning the series 4-1 and effectively crushing the hopes and dreams of fervent Canadian hockey fans from Vancouver to Montreal that the Stanley Cup would be won by a Canadian team for the first time in a decade and a half.
Yeah, go ahead, tell me that not every Canadian hockey fan wanted to see the other Canadian hockey team that isn't theirs be the first to bring it back, and also how the Anaheim Ducks currently have more Canadian players than any other team in the NHL. Irregardless of those facts, you can't deny the possible sense of anguish that comes with seeing half of all Canadian teams fall, one by one, over the past three years to three "non-traditional" markets where the Stanley Cup, if the mainstream media is telling the truth, is mistaken for a spittoon or an ash tray.
As for how I feel about seeing the Ducks win, well ... like I said last year when I favored the Carolina Hurricanes from a "spreading the game" standpoint, I have no qualms with the Cup spending some time under the hot sun, and rubbing bling with Snoop Dogg. Pundits far and wide will remind you, as they have been since the game ended last night, that this is a horrible thing to happen to the league. And as far as looking at it in macro terms, it certainly doesn't help in the here and now. But you just can't expect a team to grow the sport, let alone draw fans, without seeing them win. And the Ducks have done just that. As a result, they now have both doubled sponsorship and merchandise sales, as noted by James Mirtle. The issues concerning their claims of still possibly being in the red can be saved for another day.
Mike Priest talks ... just not in Columbus
Does anyone else find it even mildly curious that Mike Priest decided that he would instead speak publicly about the team over in Akron, instead of right here in Columbus with The Columbus Dispatch. While the Dispatch's parent group does have a minority stake in the Blue Jackets, you can't help but wonder if there could be any kind of rift between the front office and the Dispatch. I mean, since when did Akron care about the Blue Jackets, anyway? Something about this doesn't sit right with me.
What does he say? Well ... to me, it isn't much. I sort of feel like I walked in a circle, and didn't get to see much scenery before being planted back at square one.
Something of mild concern is the way that Priest dances around this issue, but ultimately makes it clear that the free agent market is not something that the Blue Jackets will be doing much moving and shaking in this off-season. The team is in a bind right now due to large contracts, as mentioned in the article, tied to Sergei Fedorov and team captain Adam Foote, who have both not been able to give the Jackets a bang for their buck. If that is the case and this team will be looking for poor man Daniel Brieres and the like, hopefully the upcoming general manager will be something of a quality judge of talent, since he'll have to be doing a lot of sifting through the bargain bin, it appears.
Speaking of the GM search ...
With the fact that Neil Smith, Jim Clark, and Don Boyd were all longshot candidates exposed to the public after the withdrawl of Bob Murry as the top candidate, the new focus on who will be the next Jackets' GM turns toward Dallas and Edmonton, where Les Jackson and Scott Howson, respectively, are slated for interviews at some point. When? No one knows, really, but it should obviously be before the draft, even if no one is named before then.
Both Howson and Jackson have experience playing hockey in the professional leagues, are assistant GMs for their respective teams, and both have coaching experience in some capacity in the minor hockey leagues. Howson, however, seems to have more direct general manager experience, as seen by his stint as the GM of the Hamilton Bulldogs. Jackson's history is not as easily accessible either through searches or through the Stars' own website, where it is mentioned that prior to his time as assistant GM to the Stars, he was also the assistant GM to the Atlanta Thrashers up until last season (at least I assume until last season ... the part in his bio which states " Les Jackson enters the sixth season of his second stint with the Stars after spending the previous two years as the assistant general manager of the Atlanta Thrashers" leads me to believe as such, barring it being obsolete).
Meanwhile, back on the topic of ESPN ...
... the usual prodding and mocking of the NHL, except with even more venom than usual, came spewing forth from cranky, crabby Tony Kornheiser's mouth as though he was just dying for the chance to yell, scream, and cause a ruckus during Pardon the Interruption this afternoon. Never have I wanted to wring his neck so badly, as he took every opportunity he could in the minute and a half he had to tear the NHL apart.
The rest of ESPN's "fine" line of original entertainment hovered between "respectable" to "ignorant", as Jim Rome -- despite the apologist way in which he tried to portray himself as a lover of hockey and the NHL -- jumped on the opportunity that the NHL never has, and never will be a major sport. Rome must have been born in the 21st century and had his aging process sped up, as if he had lived during the mid-90s, he would have remembered that the NHL was indeed outdrawing the NBA at many turns, both at the gate and on television, back then.
... which was something that was brought up by panelist Woody Paige when the NHL was brought up on Around the Horn. With the exception of biasedly anti-hockey journalist Bill Plaske, the panelists generally agreed that the NHL could actually somehow, someway, someday pull itself together and get itself back to greatness. Paige gleefully teared into Gary Bettman, while unabashed hockey lover Tim Cowlishaw shared inside information concerning an executive or owner in the league making it very clear that the league was missing ESPN right now, and wished there was a way to get out of its contract with Versus (at least that's what I thought I heard).
I guess that's about par for the course. Though Kornheiser's violent rage almost makes it seem like a proverbial double bogey in terms of media coverage.
And let's not forget the draft!
I think, for the most part, Drew and I have done all we can to get the word out, with the help of at least a dozen different bloggers out there who have been extremely helpful in spreading the word about the draft get together. To everyone who did, I want to say thank you very much!
Like I said earlier this week, I am hoping that by the middle to the end of next week, some sort of finalized plan will be hammered out in terms of where everyone should meet. So again, stay tuned!
On that note, it's been a long day, and I have some things to take care of this evening.
Labels: america hates hockey, Anaheim Ducks, Dis or Dat, GM search
Still ranting, and ranting, and RANTING ... and stop!
Friday, June 01, 2007
You know, I'm actually a little surprised. No sooner did I berate the fact that ESPN had the obligatory "American hockey ratings suck" headline near the top, did it vanished not only from the front page, but from the page devoted entirely to headlines as well. Given, it's still in existence, as noted by the link in my previous post still working.
Not that I'm taking any sort of responsibility whatsoever for this. Who do you think I am, George Bodenheimer? No, this is surely just an amusing, coincidental happenstance.
Before I move on, I want to add one last thought on my rant yesterday. To many people, including myself, the notion of simply sending letters or making an individual effort to make a difference can seem both a waste of time and downright silly. After all, what is a metric ton of vitriol-filled letters going to make the NHL do? Apologize for moving to Versus and promise to get right to work on a new deal with ESPN? Doubtful.
But being the most wired, the most intelligent, and for the most part the most learned fans in all of mainstream sports in North America, it's all about quality over quantity when trying to make our case to organizations, whom pretty much control whether the NHL ever will come back to any inkling of notability like it had during the mid-1990s, which most people love to point to as the point at which the league took its nosedive.
And it's also about letting organizations like ESPN know that believe it or not, we're not oblivious to just what the Hell they're doing each and every day when they let their "dogs" loose (see: your "friendly neighborhood" sports analysts) on hockey. I don't know about anyone else, but it insults my intelligence, as well as my very being, when I see Tony Kornheiser guffaw and mockingly say "Nashville!? I didn't know Nashville had a hockey team!" when asked about the possible relocation of the Predators to Canada.
I've probably wasted enough energy over yesterday and today going on about this, so I'll stop here. Just remember that doing nothing means nothing happens. And even if the odds dictate that even doing something won't lead to anything either, they still give us a better chance at some -- any -- sort of response or reaction than sitting on our hands.
With a bit of a long day ahead of me -- I have to call Ohio Dominican and see about doing a little class shuffling before it's too late, among other things -- I'm just going to quickly toss out the newest Dispatch article on the GM search, which has Aaron Portzline reporting that Bob Murray should be in Columbus at some point today for his interview with Mike Priest and the McConnells before he continues on his way up to Ottawa for the continuation of the Stanley Cup Finals. 1460 The Fan had earlier indicated that Murray was in town for the interview the other day, but from the looks of it they may have meant to say Neil Smith, who was in on Wednesday.
And with that, I am off! Enjoy your daily Dis or Dat!
Not that I'm taking any sort of responsibility whatsoever for this. Who do you think I am, George Bodenheimer? No, this is surely just an amusing, coincidental happenstance.
Before I move on, I want to add one last thought on my rant yesterday. To many people, including myself, the notion of simply sending letters or making an individual effort to make a difference can seem both a waste of time and downright silly. After all, what is a metric ton of vitriol-filled letters going to make the NHL do? Apologize for moving to Versus and promise to get right to work on a new deal with ESPN? Doubtful.
But being the most wired, the most intelligent, and for the most part the most learned fans in all of mainstream sports in North America, it's all about quality over quantity when trying to make our case to organizations, whom pretty much control whether the NHL ever will come back to any inkling of notability like it had during the mid-1990s, which most people love to point to as the point at which the league took its nosedive.
And it's also about letting organizations like ESPN know that believe it or not, we're not oblivious to just what the Hell they're doing each and every day when they let their "dogs" loose (see: your "friendly neighborhood" sports analysts) on hockey. I don't know about anyone else, but it insults my intelligence, as well as my very being, when I see Tony Kornheiser guffaw and mockingly say "Nashville!? I didn't know Nashville had a hockey team!" when asked about the possible relocation of the Predators to Canada.
I've probably wasted enough energy over yesterday and today going on about this, so I'll stop here. Just remember that doing nothing means nothing happens. And even if the odds dictate that even doing something won't lead to anything either, they still give us a better chance at some -- any -- sort of response or reaction than sitting on our hands.
With a bit of a long day ahead of me -- I have to call Ohio Dominican and see about doing a little class shuffling before it's too late, among other things -- I'm just going to quickly toss out the newest Dispatch article on the GM search, which has Aaron Portzline reporting that Bob Murray should be in Columbus at some point today for his interview with Mike Priest and the McConnells before he continues on his way up to Ottawa for the continuation of the Stanley Cup Finals. 1460 The Fan had earlier indicated that Murray was in town for the interview the other day, but from the looks of it they may have meant to say Neil Smith, who was in on Wednesday.
And with that, I am off! Enjoy your daily Dis or Dat!
Labels: america hates hockey, Dis or Dat, GM search, ranting
Never giving up, even when you really should.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
You ever notice how it's always the little things that make you snap? It's never, for example, the traumatic experience that sends you over the edge, but that tiny, pea-sized anecdote in your life sometime after the traumatic or emotional experience that makes you finally lose it, one way or the other.
So as I was going through Kukla's Korner over the past several days like I always do, seeing the loud and venomous editorials and articles by "mainstream" American sportswriters left and right about hockey being a dud, the Stanley Cup Finals having no buzz at all, and the sport probably only barely within the Top 10 list of sports in the United States, I just sort of shrugged it off. I mean, as a hockey fan, you learn to grow a thick outer shell to much of what is said about the sport. And if you don't, you just burn yourself out with frustration and stress at what you see nearly each and every day.
You roll with the punches, to put things succinctly.
But there's always that one thing that will set someone off; and oftentimes it will be something so inconsequential, so small, that it seems like such a worthless thing to get riled up by. Like last year, when I snapped at seeing Ian O'Connor's article on MSN.com about hockey and why hockey is "given the cold shoulder," in his own words. Back then I said I was sick of smiling and nodding, and just brushing aside articles like this, let alone the regular commentary made about how pathetic of a sports product hockey is in the United States.
This morning, the 2nd biggest headline on ESPN.com's NHL section was Stanley Cup finals Game 1 ratings plummet in U.S.. That's right, they plummeted. And it's important enough to mention that it is right near the top of the headlines, too. People tend to dismiss the placement of things on websites as trivial, but everything -- everything -- is done for a reason. The place of the NHL link at SI.com, for example, all the way behind college football, basketball, and even golf. Or the placement of the NHL link so far at the bottom of ESPN's "Sports" tab that it ranks behind the generic Auto category, and ... wait for it ... woman's basketball. You know, the one that teaches fundamentals.
I'm not about to get in to an argument with anyone about the definition of words or the talented use of semantics and link/name placement to sensationalize and/or sway readers one way or the other. It'd be a waste of time, as well as a waste of my energy. Suffice it to say, it's been the little things I've seen over the past week that drove me to vent like this today.
Paul, in his NHL.com blog, wrote just a couple days ago that we just don't care about what the mainstream media thinks anymore. To an extent, he's right; like I said, many hockey fans have had to grow a thick skin to handle the daily berating and mockery we receive for being fans of a sport so low on the food chain that "hockey mockery" has become a sport in and of itself.
But I was never one for peaceful protest, let alone turning the other cheek. Sorry, but Christian morals of giving your shirt to your enemy, or letting your foe give you a black eye to match the first one he gave you aren't going to work here.
With that said, while we don't care, I'll be damned if I believe hockey fans should sit on their asses and say or do nothing. Back in my entry that I linked to, I said I was sick of taking things in stride, because there was no other recourse or action that could be taken. I didn't think there was anything that could be done.
But the thing is, we hockey fans have always been considered the more superior fans of all major sports in America. Go ahead, say I'm being unabashedly cocky for proclaiming such a thing ... but it's been researched, time and again, that we're the most educated and most affluent. Besides, what are you going to do, NASCAR fan? Southern accent-talk me to death? "Git r done" and whatnot, right?
The thing is, hockey fans need to stop just quietly moping to just one another about being disrespected. We need to start harassing and contacting people in the NHL, at ESPN, at Versus, at NBC ... in essence, we need to be heard. Phone calls, e-mails, snail mail ... whatever. The fact of the matter is that no one in these organizations is actively seeking enlightenment outside of their own, insulated environments where they believe that "hockey is dead", or "NBC/Versus gives the NHL the respect it needs". Maybe it's simple-minded, and who knows? Maybe it's also futile ... but it's something. And frankly, we -- as hockey fans -- are the very reason that the NHL is still alive today. So we might not be front office big wigs or even Gary Bettman, but we can make some kind of difference.
I didn't start blogging for the sake of an NHL team, despite the fact that this blog has had and always will have a predominant focus on the Columbus Blue Jackets. I did it because I love hockey. And I do it because by the time I finally graduate from college with a major in Sports Management in 2009, I intend to spend every waking hour trying to get involved with the NHL in some way or another, so that I can actually try and make a difference with a league that is so discombobulated that it makes the abstract art of Jackson Pollock look neat, orderly, and purposeful.
I must have missed the realist bus or something, because I'm reminded time and again that such an idealistic and naive view, especially when you're 24 years old, is not only silly, but also pretty depressing to see from someone who should just grow up and face reality. Then again, I never really was that quick on the uptake.
I'm off to see Hot Fuzz. Here's your daily Dis or Dat, folks:
So as I was going through Kukla's Korner over the past several days like I always do, seeing the loud and venomous editorials and articles by "mainstream" American sportswriters left and right about hockey being a dud, the Stanley Cup Finals having no buzz at all, and the sport probably only barely within the Top 10 list of sports in the United States, I just sort of shrugged it off. I mean, as a hockey fan, you learn to grow a thick outer shell to much of what is said about the sport. And if you don't, you just burn yourself out with frustration and stress at what you see nearly each and every day.
You roll with the punches, to put things succinctly.
But there's always that one thing that will set someone off; and oftentimes it will be something so inconsequential, so small, that it seems like such a worthless thing to get riled up by. Like last year, when I snapped at seeing Ian O'Connor's article on MSN.com about hockey and why hockey is "given the cold shoulder," in his own words. Back then I said I was sick of smiling and nodding, and just brushing aside articles like this, let alone the regular commentary made about how pathetic of a sports product hockey is in the United States.
This morning, the 2nd biggest headline on ESPN.com's NHL section was Stanley Cup finals Game 1 ratings plummet in U.S.. That's right, they plummeted. And it's important enough to mention that it is right near the top of the headlines, too. People tend to dismiss the placement of things on websites as trivial, but everything -- everything -- is done for a reason. The place of the NHL link at SI.com, for example, all the way behind college football, basketball, and even golf. Or the placement of the NHL link so far at the bottom of ESPN's "Sports" tab that it ranks behind the generic Auto category, and ... wait for it ... woman's basketball. You know, the one that teaches fundamentals.
I'm not about to get in to an argument with anyone about the definition of words or the talented use of semantics and link/name placement to sensationalize and/or sway readers one way or the other. It'd be a waste of time, as well as a waste of my energy. Suffice it to say, it's been the little things I've seen over the past week that drove me to vent like this today.
Paul, in his NHL.com blog, wrote just a couple days ago that we just don't care about what the mainstream media thinks anymore. To an extent, he's right; like I said, many hockey fans have had to grow a thick skin to handle the daily berating and mockery we receive for being fans of a sport so low on the food chain that "hockey mockery" has become a sport in and of itself.
But I was never one for peaceful protest, let alone turning the other cheek. Sorry, but Christian morals of giving your shirt to your enemy, or letting your foe give you a black eye to match the first one he gave you aren't going to work here.
With that said, while we don't care, I'll be damned if I believe hockey fans should sit on their asses and say or do nothing. Back in my entry that I linked to, I said I was sick of taking things in stride, because there was no other recourse or action that could be taken. I didn't think there was anything that could be done.
But the thing is, we hockey fans have always been considered the more superior fans of all major sports in America. Go ahead, say I'm being unabashedly cocky for proclaiming such a thing ... but it's been researched, time and again, that we're the most educated and most affluent. Besides, what are you going to do, NASCAR fan? Southern accent-talk me to death? "Git r done" and whatnot, right?
The thing is, hockey fans need to stop just quietly moping to just one another about being disrespected. We need to start harassing and contacting people in the NHL, at ESPN, at Versus, at NBC ... in essence, we need to be heard. Phone calls, e-mails, snail mail ... whatever. The fact of the matter is that no one in these organizations is actively seeking enlightenment outside of their own, insulated environments where they believe that "hockey is dead", or "NBC/Versus gives the NHL the respect it needs". Maybe it's simple-minded, and who knows? Maybe it's also futile ... but it's something. And frankly, we -- as hockey fans -- are the very reason that the NHL is still alive today. So we might not be front office big wigs or even Gary Bettman, but we can make some kind of difference.
I didn't start blogging for the sake of an NHL team, despite the fact that this blog has had and always will have a predominant focus on the Columbus Blue Jackets. I did it because I love hockey. And I do it because by the time I finally graduate from college with a major in Sports Management in 2009, I intend to spend every waking hour trying to get involved with the NHL in some way or another, so that I can actually try and make a difference with a league that is so discombobulated that it makes the abstract art of Jackson Pollock look neat, orderly, and purposeful.
I must have missed the realist bus or something, because I'm reminded time and again that such an idealistic and naive view, especially when you're 24 years old, is not only silly, but also pretty depressing to see from someone who should just grow up and face reality. Then again, I never really was that quick on the uptake.
I'm off to see Hot Fuzz. Here's your daily Dis or Dat, folks:
Labels: america hates hockey, Dis or Dat, ranting
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
Well, gee. Isn't that just the height of "f***ing dandy"?
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Football is superior; hockey can't even compare to ice skating.
You know, what's the point? I ask you, my fellow hockey fans, be you just a reader, or even a blogger: what is the point in trying to penetrate the American sports mentality?
These statistics are depressing. In fact, they are more than depressing; they're the type of results that make you want to just spend the next day finding Gary Bettman's personal phone number, calling him up, and telling him that he's better off just relocating the whole league back north of the border.
I'd been procrastinating on a rather long rant for a while now; a rant that really focuses on the fact that the National Hockey League has, for all intents and purposes, died in the minds of the majority of Americans, and some of the many reasons behind that. Not only that, but I wanted to give my own, uneducated yet well-meaning perspective on what the league needs to do to get back any sense of respect in the United States. Obviously I am hardly the first to give an amateur opinion on what will fix the state of the league, and I will not be the last. But that doesn't mean that I don't hope that my ideas won't be considered if some big wig at the NHL Headquarters in New York ever see this entry.
All I know is that I love this sport. And I always will, even when it's dead, dying, and the only place I can find it is in the northernmost reaches of Canada, because even the Canadians in places like Toronto and Ottawa have forsaken it for something like Canadian Football.
Part 1: What the Hell happened to the NHL?
Well, it isn't like this question is that hard to answer.
-Lockouts.
-A lack of a marketable "American" name.*
-A lack of "Americanization".*
-A bad TV deal.*
-A horrible schedule.*
The problems with asterisks? I'm going to touch on those.
A lack of a marketable "American" name/A lack of "Americanization"
This has been something that has been eating at me for a while, however I only again thought about it as I listened to a random episode of NHL Live via NHL.com. A listener both mailed and called in about the fact that even though hockey might be a great sport, it lacks something "American" about it, which -- I hate to admit -- ignorant, me-centric Americans must have if they are to give anything any attention.
Baseball? Oh, please. That's about as American as mom's warm apple pie, the right to bear arms (yee-haw!), bald eagles, and capitalism. Even as the sport continues to diversify, it will always be considered something that Americans created, and Americans will dominate (just don't tell them about that loss to Canada at the World Baseball Classic last year).
Football? Well, let's just skip that, since regardless of how American it is, it's liked by more than 40% of Americans, and considered their favorite sport.
Basketball? Here's the funny thing: a Canadian invented the modern version of the sport, for all intents and purposes. Regardless, it has gained a following in the lower class of the country due to its simplicity. Grab a ball, find a hoop, and you're all set! It also has a strong American contingency in the NBA, even as diversity grows.
Let me ask the readers here a question: can anyone here tell me who near everyone can agree is the best American player in the NHL? Anyone at all? Because there seems to be no clear cut choice. Canadian? Sidney Crosby. Russian? Alex Ovechkin? Japanese? Yutaka Fukufuji (hur, I so funny).
The top American hockey player? I hate to say it, but unless Erik Johnson is the second coming of Bobby Orr, save for the fact he's American, there is no favorite. There is no player we can all agree is the American player right now. There probably isn't even any players that most people could agree are in the top three or top five.
A horrible schedule
How many people in the media have to say it? How about the fact that more than half of the team presidents hate it? What about the fact that practically any fan you talk to loathes it? The schedule's awful. It's horrible. It attempts to breed artificial contempt through repetitive games against divisional rivals, when all it does is annoy both players and fans. The only people who even enjoy this damned schedule is the "Atlantic Cartel" led by the man who I hate to love (even when you move and follow another team, you're a Devils' fan for life), Lou Lamoriello. All because a few teams in the tri-state area want to save on gas money and traveling expenses.
Well, good on you, Atlantic Division. Good on you for penny pinching and letting the rest of the league suffer through at least one more year of this horrible schedule, all because it lets those pampered players not have to spend another hour on an airplane. Oh, boo hoo.
A bad TV deal
For the longest time, I tried to defend the move to VERSUS.
"It'll work out in the long run!" I said with gleeful optimism, my hazel eyes shining like an innocent kid looking for the silver lining in the most darkest of times. "Just watch! OLN will start penetrating more homes and they'll make the NHL their cornerstone in a strong bid to make ESPN no longer the one and only dominant sports network!"
What the [censored] was I thinking when I said that? I must have been delusional at the time. And up until now, I refused to admit that it was a bad decision. All because I didn't want to submit to the mocking, and the jeering, and the laughing that the idiots like and Tony Kornheiser and Tony Reali from ESPN were doing every single day (or rather, any day they ever brought the NHL up) to help fuel the venomous disdain for the sport that most Americans seem to have.
It took too long for VERSUS to turn the corner and start to create better broadcasts, and even now they waffle where it matters, such as with particular color commentators and play-by-play analysts who sound about as exciting as watching grass grow. It took too long for NBC to start and aggressively push their NHL coverage through advertisements during NFL games. And to add to the frustration involved in advertising, ESPN has effectively blocked any and all NHL advertising on their channel, refusing to carry anything by the league so long as they refuse to bed with them and their monopoly on the American sports world.
What does it matter if the league is being treated like a god, if the place it is being treated as such is just a small mound of dirt (VS) behind the shadow of a cathedral (ESPN)?
Part 2: What the Hell can the NHL do?
Unfortunately, firing Gary Bettman isn't possible. Or rather, if it is, it won't be happening any time before I'm 30 (6 more years! Whoooo!), and by then the NHL could very well be an afterthought.
-A new TV deal.
-Continue to ensure the game stays fast and furious.
-A better schedule.
-Work harder towards diversity in the sport.
A new TV deal
Look, anyone with a sense of pride doesn't want to see the NHL return to ESPN. It would be a blow to the league's pride. But then again, pride is a deadly sin, is it not? And in this case, it has more or less been the death knell of the league this season, as it continues to drop further and further in to obscurity.
You can't penetrate the sports market of America if you don't have a single game on ESPN. The NFL, MLB, NBA, and even the MLS have coverage on "The Worldwide Leader in Sports." And no one is even saying that the NHL has to rely only on ESPN, either. Keep in mind that the NBA started off humbly enough, with the league relying on TNT.
But there is a problem you need to consider, though; ESPN has shown just how scathing and how violent they can be towards the NHL both in commentary and coverage ever since the league told them to take a long walk off a short pier after that "revenue sharing" offer. ESPN could very well tell the NHL to fornicate themselves if they continue to try and broadcast games with anyone but ESPN and ABC.
It's a risk the league has to take, though. And the league needs to at least try and work out some sort of deal with ESPN, lest it continue to be assaulted by venomous commentary. I'm no conspiracy theorist, but even a town idiot could see the bias behind many things said during shows like PTI, Around the Horn, The Sports Reporters, and so on. Bear in mind the gallup poll results, and how even while the league may have been unpopular even before the lockout, the fact that they were connected to ESPN shielded them from a lot of criticism and commentary about attendance or television ratings.
A better schedule
Sorry, Atlantic and Southeast Division; but the league needs a better schedule. Everyone is sick and tired of their divisional opponents. I don't want to see the Red Wings and their snotty fans invading Nationwide Arena just as much as the Red Wings fans want to waste time with a pathetic and boring basement dwelling team like the Blue Jackets eight times a year. We, as fans, want variety in our schedule. You want proof of how horrible this schedule is? Just check out Christy's post at Behind the Jersey back in December criticizing the fact that her Wings faced just two teams over the holiday season.
Don't worry, Detroit, we feel your pain ... maybe even worse, actually. Blue Jackets fans will disgustingly recall the "Predators, Avalanche, Predators, Predators" span in November, followed by the "Predators, Predators, Blackhawks, Predators" span just this month. Yeah, way to spread out those division rivalry games ... real smooth.
SO CHANGE THE SCHEDULE!! For God's sake, change it!
Better yet, the new schedule should, for just a year, force the Eastern teams to travel to the Western teams more than the West to the East. Consider it payback for dropping us with this stupid burden of a schedule that hurts one conference just as much as it "helps" the other.
Work harder towards diversity in the sport
You want to see the league expand its fan base? Maybe even see the very first, non-WASP (White Anglo Saxon Protestant) top draft pick, which could very well start turning the heads of American minority markets as well as social classes other than the upper class, which the league seems to rely so much on thanks to box seats? Then start devoting a lot more time and effort towards helping groups of people throughout the country to be able to actually give hockey a chance.
The sport needs more Yutaka Fukufuji-types coming from those Asian countries, and inspiring any sort of interest in non-traditional regions of the world, or even demographic groups other than the typical WASP. The most fastest growing ethnicities in the United States are people of Latino and African descent, and they need to be focused on. The NHL has somehow managed to seal itself in some sort of bubble from the world as it has passed it by when it comes to demographics, somehow teetering between obscurity and relevancy for a long time now when it comes to minority groups. As it stands, there are only four black players in the NHL that come to mind right off the bat, those being Georges Laraque, Anson Carter, and Kevin Weekes, with Jarome Iginla being multi-ethnicity. Latino? Jeez, I couldn't even think of one, sadly. And even when it comes to the black contingency in the NHL, these are all Canadians.
...
You know, I could go on and on, I'm sure. I've been writing this little by little during the NHL All-Star Game, enjoying this game as much as I could (and it's actually been a pretty fun All-Star Game to watch, too!). But I think I've touched on the core points. The points that people beat to death, and will continue to beat to death.
C'est la vie, right?
You know, what's the point? I ask you, my fellow hockey fans, be you just a reader, or even a blogger: what is the point in trying to penetrate the American sports mentality?
These statistics are depressing. In fact, they are more than depressing; they're the type of results that make you want to just spend the next day finding Gary Bettman's personal phone number, calling him up, and telling him that he's better off just relocating the whole league back north of the border.
I'd been procrastinating on a rather long rant for a while now; a rant that really focuses on the fact that the National Hockey League has, for all intents and purposes, died in the minds of the majority of Americans, and some of the many reasons behind that. Not only that, but I wanted to give my own, uneducated yet well-meaning perspective on what the league needs to do to get back any sense of respect in the United States. Obviously I am hardly the first to give an amateur opinion on what will fix the state of the league, and I will not be the last. But that doesn't mean that I don't hope that my ideas won't be considered if some big wig at the NHL Headquarters in New York ever see this entry.
All I know is that I love this sport. And I always will, even when it's dead, dying, and the only place I can find it is in the northernmost reaches of Canada, because even the Canadians in places like Toronto and Ottawa have forsaken it for something like Canadian Football.
Part 1: What the Hell happened to the NHL?
Well, it isn't like this question is that hard to answer.
-Lockouts.
-A lack of a marketable "American" name.*
-A lack of "Americanization".*
-A bad TV deal.*
-A horrible schedule.*
The problems with asterisks? I'm going to touch on those.
A lack of a marketable "American" name/A lack of "Americanization"
This has been something that has been eating at me for a while, however I only again thought about it as I listened to a random episode of NHL Live via NHL.com. A listener both mailed and called in about the fact that even though hockey might be a great sport, it lacks something "American" about it, which -- I hate to admit -- ignorant, me-centric Americans must have if they are to give anything any attention.
Baseball? Oh, please. That's about as American as mom's warm apple pie, the right to bear arms (yee-haw!), bald eagles, and capitalism. Even as the sport continues to diversify, it will always be considered something that Americans created, and Americans will dominate (just don't tell them about that loss to Canada at the World Baseball Classic last year).
Football? Well, let's just skip that, since regardless of how American it is, it's liked by more than 40% of Americans, and considered their favorite sport.
Basketball? Here's the funny thing: a Canadian invented the modern version of the sport, for all intents and purposes. Regardless, it has gained a following in the lower class of the country due to its simplicity. Grab a ball, find a hoop, and you're all set! It also has a strong American contingency in the NBA, even as diversity grows.
Let me ask the readers here a question: can anyone here tell me who near everyone can agree is the best American player in the NHL? Anyone at all? Because there seems to be no clear cut choice. Canadian? Sidney Crosby. Russian? Alex Ovechkin? Japanese? Yutaka Fukufuji (hur, I so funny).
The top American hockey player? I hate to say it, but unless Erik Johnson is the second coming of Bobby Orr, save for the fact he's American, there is no favorite. There is no player we can all agree is the American player right now. There probably isn't even any players that most people could agree are in the top three or top five.
A horrible schedule
How many people in the media have to say it? How about the fact that more than half of the team presidents hate it? What about the fact that practically any fan you talk to loathes it? The schedule's awful. It's horrible. It attempts to breed artificial contempt through repetitive games against divisional rivals, when all it does is annoy both players and fans. The only people who even enjoy this damned schedule is the "Atlantic Cartel" led by the man who I hate to love (even when you move and follow another team, you're a Devils' fan for life), Lou Lamoriello. All because a few teams in the tri-state area want to save on gas money and traveling expenses.
Well, good on you, Atlantic Division. Good on you for penny pinching and letting the rest of the league suffer through at least one more year of this horrible schedule, all because it lets those pampered players not have to spend another hour on an airplane. Oh, boo hoo.
A bad TV deal
For the longest time, I tried to defend the move to VERSUS.
"It'll work out in the long run!" I said with gleeful optimism, my hazel eyes shining like an innocent kid looking for the silver lining in the most darkest of times. "Just watch! OLN will start penetrating more homes and they'll make the NHL their cornerstone in a strong bid to make ESPN no longer the one and only dominant sports network!"
What the [censored] was I thinking when I said that? I must have been delusional at the time. And up until now, I refused to admit that it was a bad decision. All because I didn't want to submit to the mocking, and the jeering, and the laughing that the idiots like and Tony Kornheiser and Tony Reali from ESPN were doing every single day (or rather, any day they ever brought the NHL up) to help fuel the venomous disdain for the sport that most Americans seem to have.
It took too long for VERSUS to turn the corner and start to create better broadcasts, and even now they waffle where it matters, such as with particular color commentators and play-by-play analysts who sound about as exciting as watching grass grow. It took too long for NBC to start and aggressively push their NHL coverage through advertisements during NFL games. And to add to the frustration involved in advertising, ESPN has effectively blocked any and all NHL advertising on their channel, refusing to carry anything by the league so long as they refuse to bed with them and their monopoly on the American sports world.
What does it matter if the league is being treated like a god, if the place it is being treated as such is just a small mound of dirt (VS) behind the shadow of a cathedral (ESPN)?
Part 2: What the Hell can the NHL do?
Unfortunately, firing Gary Bettman isn't possible. Or rather, if it is, it won't be happening any time before I'm 30 (6 more years! Whoooo!), and by then the NHL could very well be an afterthought.
-A new TV deal.
-Continue to ensure the game stays fast and furious.
-A better schedule.
-Work harder towards diversity in the sport.
A new TV deal
Look, anyone with a sense of pride doesn't want to see the NHL return to ESPN. It would be a blow to the league's pride. But then again, pride is a deadly sin, is it not? And in this case, it has more or less been the death knell of the league this season, as it continues to drop further and further in to obscurity.
You can't penetrate the sports market of America if you don't have a single game on ESPN. The NFL, MLB, NBA, and even the MLS have coverage on "The Worldwide Leader in Sports." And no one is even saying that the NHL has to rely only on ESPN, either. Keep in mind that the NBA started off humbly enough, with the league relying on TNT.
But there is a problem you need to consider, though; ESPN has shown just how scathing and how violent they can be towards the NHL both in commentary and coverage ever since the league told them to take a long walk off a short pier after that "revenue sharing" offer. ESPN could very well tell the NHL to fornicate themselves if they continue to try and broadcast games with anyone but ESPN and ABC.
It's a risk the league has to take, though. And the league needs to at least try and work out some sort of deal with ESPN, lest it continue to be assaulted by venomous commentary. I'm no conspiracy theorist, but even a town idiot could see the bias behind many things said during shows like PTI, Around the Horn, The Sports Reporters, and so on. Bear in mind the gallup poll results, and how even while the league may have been unpopular even before the lockout, the fact that they were connected to ESPN shielded them from a lot of criticism and commentary about attendance or television ratings.
A better schedule
Sorry, Atlantic and Southeast Division; but the league needs a better schedule. Everyone is sick and tired of their divisional opponents. I don't want to see the Red Wings and their snotty fans invading Nationwide Arena just as much as the Red Wings fans want to waste time with a pathetic and boring basement dwelling team like the Blue Jackets eight times a year. We, as fans, want variety in our schedule. You want proof of how horrible this schedule is? Just check out Christy's post at Behind the Jersey back in December criticizing the fact that her Wings faced just two teams over the holiday season.
Don't worry, Detroit, we feel your pain ... maybe even worse, actually. Blue Jackets fans will disgustingly recall the "Predators, Avalanche, Predators, Predators" span in November, followed by the "Predators, Predators, Blackhawks, Predators" span just this month. Yeah, way to spread out those division rivalry games ... real smooth.
SO CHANGE THE SCHEDULE!! For God's sake, change it!
Better yet, the new schedule should, for just a year, force the Eastern teams to travel to the Western teams more than the West to the East. Consider it payback for dropping us with this stupid burden of a schedule that hurts one conference just as much as it "helps" the other.
Work harder towards diversity in the sport
You want to see the league expand its fan base? Maybe even see the very first, non-WASP (White Anglo Saxon Protestant) top draft pick, which could very well start turning the heads of American minority markets as well as social classes other than the upper class, which the league seems to rely so much on thanks to box seats? Then start devoting a lot more time and effort towards helping groups of people throughout the country to be able to actually give hockey a chance.
The sport needs more Yutaka Fukufuji-types coming from those Asian countries, and inspiring any sort of interest in non-traditional regions of the world, or even demographic groups other than the typical WASP. The most fastest growing ethnicities in the United States are people of Latino and African descent, and they need to be focused on. The NHL has somehow managed to seal itself in some sort of bubble from the world as it has passed it by when it comes to demographics, somehow teetering between obscurity and relevancy for a long time now when it comes to minority groups. As it stands, there are only four black players in the NHL that come to mind right off the bat, those being Georges Laraque, Anson Carter, and Kevin Weekes, with Jarome Iginla being multi-ethnicity. Latino? Jeez, I couldn't even think of one, sadly. And even when it comes to the black contingency in the NHL, these are all Canadians.
...
You know, I could go on and on, I'm sure. I've been writing this little by little during the NHL All-Star Game, enjoying this game as much as I could (and it's actually been a pretty fun All-Star Game to watch, too!). But I think I've touched on the core points. The points that people beat to death, and will continue to beat to death.
C'est la vie, right?
Labels: america hates hockey, ranting, statistics
