NHL Playoffs
I love the NHL playoffs. My favorite sport - but with the intensity cranked up a notch. The players are hyped. The fans are hyped. The announcers and broadcasters are hyped. And the shlubby guy in front of the television set is hyped. If he wasn't a Kings fan, he'd be REALLY hyped. But since he is, he's merely at a non-really hyped level.
The problem with the NHL playoffs this year has been - typical - the bad tv coverage. Last week in game 1 of Detroit vs Edmonton on OLN, with 60 seconds to go in a tie game, with Edmonton on a power play... the footage goes black. CUT TO: the OLN studio, where broadcaster Bill Clement has to create some filler. He turns it over to a surprised Keith Jones, who mutters something about, "Uh, this is going to be an exciting end to the game."
Pause. Keith Jones smiles - realizing that he's in a no-win situation. We don't want to see him talk about the game. WE WANT TO WATCH THE GAME. And he KNOWS IT. Finally, OLN manages to restore the video and returns us to the game.
Meanwhile on NBC, they've been doing an equally mediocre job. In the San Jose vs Nashville game this weekend, the announcers explained that Shark forward Jonathon Cheechoo practices each summer by shooting 500 pucks against a wall. As soon as they finish, they cut to the sideline reporter who excitedly says, "Did you know that Shark forward Jonathon Cheechoo practices each summer by shooting 500 pucks against a wall?"
Dead silence. Painful in its obviousness. The broadcast mercifully continues again without any further mention of Cheechoo and his practices each summer.
And then there's NBC lack of high definition. We all know that NHL hockey is one of the sports that most benefits from high definition, but only the east coast games have been in high definition. If Gary Bettman had half a brain, he'd be telling NBC to maybe invest in a SECOND high definition camera. You can almost picture NBC saying, "Yeah, but we don't want to. We can just share the one camera."
But at least NBC's hockey commercials aren't annoying. OLN has the worst hockey ads. All year long they've run these stupid "we believe in hockey" ads. Now they have ads showing the Stanley Cup on a mountain protected by - of all things - a bear. A BEAR? Are we supposed to be IMPRESSED? Do we get to see hockey players have to fight the bear with hockey sticks?
Bah. We all know the truth - as soon as the commercial was over, the bear was shot to death by Ted Nugent.
Thankfully, a few of the games on OLN and the Centre Ice package have been using Canada's TSN and Sportsnet feeds. Much better. Hopefully the broadcasts will continue this way - or at least the broadcasts from OLN and NBC will rise up to the level of "almost watch-able".
Lastly, I suppose I should make some predictions - but as my heavy gambling debts show, I'm not good at predictions. Remember my NHL predictions? I only picked 6 out of 8 playoff teams in the West and only 5 out of 8 in the East. But my Stanley Cup final prediction - Ottawa over San Jose in 7.
The problem with the NHL playoffs this year has been - typical - the bad tv coverage. Last week in game 1 of Detroit vs Edmonton on OLN, with 60 seconds to go in a tie game, with Edmonton on a power play... the footage goes black. CUT TO: the OLN studio, where broadcaster Bill Clement has to create some filler. He turns it over to a surprised Keith Jones, who mutters something about, "Uh, this is going to be an exciting end to the game."
Pause. Keith Jones smiles - realizing that he's in a no-win situation. We don't want to see him talk about the game. WE WANT TO WATCH THE GAME. And he KNOWS IT. Finally, OLN manages to restore the video and returns us to the game.
Meanwhile on NBC, they've been doing an equally mediocre job. In the San Jose vs Nashville game this weekend, the announcers explained that Shark forward Jonathon Cheechoo practices each summer by shooting 500 pucks against a wall. As soon as they finish, they cut to the sideline reporter who excitedly says, "Did you know that Shark forward Jonathon Cheechoo practices each summer by shooting 500 pucks against a wall?"
Dead silence. Painful in its obviousness. The broadcast mercifully continues again without any further mention of Cheechoo and his practices each summer.
And then there's NBC lack of high definition. We all know that NHL hockey is one of the sports that most benefits from high definition, but only the east coast games have been in high definition. If Gary Bettman had half a brain, he'd be telling NBC to maybe invest in a SECOND high definition camera. You can almost picture NBC saying, "Yeah, but we don't want to. We can just share the one camera."
But at least NBC's hockey commercials aren't annoying. OLN has the worst hockey ads. All year long they've run these stupid "we believe in hockey" ads. Now they have ads showing the Stanley Cup on a mountain protected by - of all things - a bear. A BEAR? Are we supposed to be IMPRESSED? Do we get to see hockey players have to fight the bear with hockey sticks?
Bah. We all know the truth - as soon as the commercial was over, the bear was shot to death by Ted Nugent.
Thankfully, a few of the games on OLN and the Centre Ice package have been using Canada's TSN and Sportsnet feeds. Much better. Hopefully the broadcasts will continue this way - or at least the broadcasts from OLN and NBC will rise up to the level of "almost watch-able".
Lastly, I suppose I should make some predictions - but as my heavy gambling debts show, I'm not good at predictions. Remember my NHL predictions? I only picked 6 out of 8 playoff teams in the West and only 5 out of 8 in the East. But my Stanley Cup final prediction - Ottawa over San Jose in 7.
posted by Eugene at 11:46 PM
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