Get back on ESPNHow many times have you stayed at a motel/hotel or went to a friend’s house who doesn't have Versus on their television dial? That is unacceptable in my opinion, this should not happen. During the day of ESPN you didn’t see this happening. The squabble between Direct TV and Versus is also mind numbing, because if it dispute doesn’t get solved soon a lot of people aren’t going to get to see the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The NHL's cable deal in the United States is with Versus, which does an excellent job covering the games. But it's not about that. It's about being part of the sports fans' consciousness, and that's what ESPN provides (and Versus doesn't). Sports fans instinctively turn their TVs to ESPN, often not even knowing what will be on. It's habit. ESPN carries every major sport — the NFL, NBA, major-league baseball, golf, NASCAR, tennis, soccer, college basketball and football. It even shows poker, for crying out loud. But not the NHL, not since 2004. ESPN sets the nation's sports agenda. If ESPN covers something, the event becomes important to sports fans. Many believe that if ESPN carried the NHL again, the network would dedicate more time to it on SportsCenter and maybe even again have a specialized show for it like it did when it carried the games; its NHL 2Night was a hockey version of Baseball Tonight and NFL Live.
This idea is one that I really find acceptable and I am sure I am not the only NHL fan hoping for this change. It's time to tell Gary Bettman thanks for a job well done but don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. The things that are going to stick out the most with me is the lock out in 2004-2005 NHL season and how we lost a whole season of the NHL under the leadership of Gary Bettman.
Find a new commissioner
This isn't meant to slam Gary Bettman, because he's not as bad as many fans and media members think he is. But he has been on the job 17 years now, and it's time for new blood, someone with fresh ideas and a different approach. Don't hire an old-school hockey guy or someone in the NHL office. Owners need to think outside the box by going outside the "company.'' Look to an up-and-coming whiz kid from another sport. Look at a top-level executive from a company outside sports. Find someone who isn't going to keep doing it the way it has always been done. After all, the way it has always been done isn't working.
Here's a conspiracy theory besides the obvious $$ that Vs. threw at the NHL.
ReplyDeleteDavid Sterns, NBA commissioner, is Gary Bettman's mentor, or was anyways. IIRC, Bettman started out in the NBA. Well... ESPN is all basketball all the time (or would be if they could). Why would Bettman want to get in the way of Sterns?
You're right, Bettman is an alien from the mondo bizarro NBA and look where that operation is headed. The NHL missed the boat when Eagleson was running things and international play was a huge attraction. But maybe it isn't too late. The NHL should expand to Europe, a team in each Scandinavian country, one or two in Germany, one each in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and two or three in Russia. Stateside teams could make one or two trips a year over there and vice-versa. It would be like the Olympics every season. Imagine a Stanley Cup final between the Rangers and CCK. It would be stupendous. Cable TV would pay a fortune for it. I might even buy or rent a TV for something like that.
ReplyDeleteRedwing77: ESPN is all basketball all the time (or would be if they could).
ReplyDeleteWhich is why I am skeptical at best about whether a move back to the ESPN family would really help the NHL all that much. Even if it did happen, the NHL would probably be given the unwanted-stepchild treatment when it came to finding a time slot for them during a time of year when the ESPN channels are pretty much booked solid with college and pro hoops during the prime time hours. We might as well be talking about getting ESPN to show the National Lacrosse League in prime-time.
Maybe a more viable alternative would be to court one of the other older, more established networks - perhaps the USA Network, which used to carry NHL games back in the day (not to mention part of the hockey coverage at the recently concluded Winter Olympics), and which also happens to be part of the Universal group, and thus a sister network of NBC.
If I remember right all of the NHL games were pretty much on espn2. It worked for me, but it wasn't that good for many people.
ReplyDeleteStill I think if Bettman could get on espn he would. Hockey is still a regional sport and it's a tough sell.