Hey NHL... Are You F'ing Kidding Me?
Posted on
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
by Gary A. Ballard
The NHL playoffs begin tomorrow night, and my excitement pump is getting primed. My Minnesota Wild are in the playoffs as the #7 seed, getting ready to enter a series with the #2 seed Anaheim Ducks, a rematch of the last time the Wild made the playoffs. I remember 2003 well, as a scrappy Wild team ground out two series wins against Colorado and Vancouver, only to run into the brick wall that was Finals MVP Jean Sebastien-Giguere. Imagine my surprise then, when I read the TV schedules for the playoffs on Versus and NBC, the only hockey outlets I have without paying for a special satellite package. You guessed it.
Not only do I not get to see Game 1, unless someone gets handily swept, I don't get to see ANY of the Wild/Ducks matchups. None. Nada. The Nil Set. Fuckall.
While I've resigned myself to the constant scheduling bias in the regular season of the bigger franchises like Detroit, the Rangers, Colorado and the smaller franchises with the marquee names like Crosby and Ovechkin, the playoffs are another matter entirely from the regular season. At the very least, the networks who should be forced by the NHL to show some pittance of balance in their playoff schedules. I'd settle for a Game 3. And if it comes down to an important Game 4, you bet I'll want to see that game.
The truth is that the NHL and its broadcast affiliates have largely ignored those south of the Mason-Dixon line with their TV packages. While I agree that Mississippi is no hotbed of hockey hysteria, it deserves better than the awful coverage both Versus and NBC have inflicted on the entire United States. The commentators are atrocious, the schedule is abysmal for fans of non-marquee teams, and this playoff broadcast is further insult. Does the NHL really not give a flying fuck if I watch the playoffs at all? My playoff beard is burgeoning, and it deserves a little bit of fan service.
ESPN did the coverage right, and instead of bowing to their pressure after your wasteful strike almost killed the sport completely, you acted obstinate. Now you are stuck on the redneck fishery channel and the fans are suffering for it. You need to look to Canada, Mr. Bettman, look to their outstanding coverage of what is not only a national religion, but a broadcast bonanza. No, the NHL will never get baseball or football numbers. But it can at least get respectable numbers with respectable broadcasts. Respect your product better than you have, it's all you've got.
Not only do I not get to see Game 1, unless someone gets handily swept, I don't get to see ANY of the Wild/Ducks matchups. None. Nada. The Nil Set. Fuckall.
While I've resigned myself to the constant scheduling bias in the regular season of the bigger franchises like Detroit, the Rangers, Colorado and the smaller franchises with the marquee names like Crosby and Ovechkin, the playoffs are another matter entirely from the regular season. At the very least, the networks who should be forced by the NHL to show some pittance of balance in their playoff schedules. I'd settle for a Game 3. And if it comes down to an important Game 4, you bet I'll want to see that game.
The truth is that the NHL and its broadcast affiliates have largely ignored those south of the Mason-Dixon line with their TV packages. While I agree that Mississippi is no hotbed of hockey hysteria, it deserves better than the awful coverage both Versus and NBC have inflicted on the entire United States. The commentators are atrocious, the schedule is abysmal for fans of non-marquee teams, and this playoff broadcast is further insult. Does the NHL really not give a flying fuck if I watch the playoffs at all? My playoff beard is burgeoning, and it deserves a little bit of fan service.
ESPN did the coverage right, and instead of bowing to their pressure after your wasteful strike almost killed the sport completely, you acted obstinate. Now you are stuck on the redneck fishery channel and the fans are suffering for it. You need to look to Canada, Mr. Bettman, look to their outstanding coverage of what is not only a national religion, but a broadcast bonanza. No, the NHL will never get baseball or football numbers. But it can at least get respectable numbers with respectable broadcasts. Respect your product better than you have, it's all you've got.
posted by Gary A. Ballard @ 9:35 AM
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