Things uttered by me last night during the Redwings game:
"They really can't afford to go down by two goals. It's over if they do."
-A few mins after the Penguins scored their first.
"The Penguins have absolutely given up on this game. They're playing like they're down 3 goals with a minute left."
-8 mins left in the game
"Crap, the Penguins all of a sudden are playing hard again. They (Redwings) have gotta keep the puck out of their zone."
-1 min left in the game
Various combinations of profanity
-30 sec left in the game
"The Wings need to stop shooting the puck from the sideboards so much. They need to get in front of the net and cause some disruption. That's what the Penguins are doing and they should've scored one of these by now."
-2nd OT
"I know the refs want to 'let them play' but they have got to start calling penalties. That's the only thing that is going to end this thing."
-3rd OT, 12 min left.
That was an extremely disappointing game. The Penguins quit on the game, so the Redwings were lulled into a false sense of security. One they started playing tough again late in the 3rd, the Wings didn't match their urgency. The silver lining is that they still have 2 chances to win.
NBC needs to learn from the way the NBA does playoffs. I would love to see the player intros rather than two people I don't know preview the game. If the NHL wants to grow its fanbase, you need to introduce them to the players. I know a lot of teams do exciting things with their intros (Oiler's oil derrick, the giant Shark head, etc.) - lets see them! Two things they have added that have improved the broadcast are more camera angles from behind the net and the mid-ice broadcaster.
ESPN's reluctance to show anything more than highlights of the playoffs is ridiculous. On the morning of what could be the championship game and the following morning after an exciting 3 OT game, what are Mike and Mike discussing? The NBA Finals, which doesn't even start for 3 days! But of course, those games are on ABC. What does the "family of networks" expect us to watch - two hours of the Bachelorette and College Softball??
5 comments:
There was an interesting stat on ESPN.com the other day.
There are about 58,000 fan profiles on ESPN.com that are die-hard NHL fans.
Of the 58,000, 15,000 were Detroit fans, and 10,000 were Pittsburgh fans...so almost half were pro Red Wings and Penguins.
What does that mean? Basically outside those two cities, most people don't give two shits and a fuck about hockey. You happen to fall into one of those cities, so obviously you want to see some highlights/love.
To put it into more prespective, I'm lucky if I get to hear when the game time is during a sports update on the radio. Other than that, since the Capitals are gone, hockey no longer exists in the state of Maryland.
I'm not a fan of the mid-ice broadcaster. I see it as media intrusion into the player's area.
If it were up to me, the media would not be allowed any interviews with players or coaches at least an hour before the game, during the entire game, and at least an hour after the game.
I did like the behind-the-net camera angle for power plays though.
See, I'm excited for when some pissed off player gets upset at something they hear the mid-ice broadcaster say and throws a water bottle at them. I'm thinking this has to happen sometime within the next 2-3 years. I do agree mid-game interviews should be banned. You gotta love Lloyd Carr's reactions to questions like "what went wrong with your team in the first half" or "what do you need to do to score more points".
I forgot one other quote:
"I'm surprised - there haven't been many overtime games this year. I wonder if they're going to overtime tonight."
-Sometime in the second period when the score was 2-1. I swear to Jeebus.
I really think I was the reason for their downfall last night.
See I thought I was the Wings downfall last night. With about a minute left in regulation, I logged into blogger to write a wings victory post. I didn't actually write anything, but in my head I had already sub-consciously called the game a win, and therefore jinxed the Wings.
And I would love to see a player throw a water bottle at the mid-ice broadcaster.
During some MLS telecasts, the broadcasters sometimes interview the head coach WHILE THE GAME IS BEING PLAYED! That upsets me as a fan, but I would be irate if I were a coach.
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