It’s nice that they made a proposal. Brilliant PR move to put the screws to the NHLPA. But still it feels like the owners are picking up where they left off in 04-05 and trying to take things away from the GM’s and the players.
Well, it looks like Dynamo Moscow is a featured team for us here in the States, kinda like how the Penguins get crammed down my throat every year. Amur
Observation 1: Dynamo seems to have more than a few fans dressed as empty seats tonight – probably because of the Saturday night game . That said, the atmosphere still seems a little upbeat. I think it’s the flags.
Observation 2: Memo to Barry Melrose and Steve Levy – THIS IS HOW YOU CALL A HOCKEY GAME. In all seriousness, if I wanted to hear a couple guys talk about anything but the hockey game while I’m watching a hockey game, I’d go to the sports bar.
Observation 3: No TV timeouts makes ESPN cry. Also, why on earth are they putting in the ESPN Trivia to fill space during the commercial breaks and between periods? Is there some law against actually cutting the breaks out on replay and just showing the whole thing without any breaks?
Observation 4: NHL’s Eastern Conference can quit whining about their west coast roadtrips…now. When Amur has to go 7 time zones west pretty much constantly, I’m sure the boys in the NHL can handle a quick jaunt to LA now and again.
Observation 5: Still don’t like Dynamo’s logo, especially compared to Amur. Don’t ask me why, but there’s something kinda stylish about a coat of arms type logo. Maybe if Winnepeg ever gets their act together they could rock something like that. Their current logo is just kinda off somehow.
Observation 6: More whistling on an Amur power play. Dynamo up 3-1, but they got their cushion back. More American stadium rock music. Awesome/funny to hear stadium music in Moscow that I’d think was coming out of The Can here in Denver.
Dynamo up 4-1. Any bets on whether or not the Amur starting goalie gets a ballcap and a great seat for the third?
“Don Cherry, a well known hockey commentator…” This is a phrase that really tells me just how much the average ESPN watcher knows about hockey. When you have to say what Don Cherry is known for? Your audience is the casual-to-cluesless-about-hockey.
Random string of consciousness things – I think ESPN hates hockey fans. This stream is very iffy for me insofar as quality, and I have a decent rig here. And I’m really not doing much else here, no other streams or anything else hogging bandwidth. Just as a test, I paused it and went to check another thing on replay…and it’s definitely better. Sigh.
So for some actual quality, check out Matty Duchene’s absolutely sick spinorama pass for a goal.
So that said, I think I’m done watching ESPN for a day or 2. Maybe I’ll rock something a little better for the next game.
Opening Not.This was supposed to be the night I’d been waiting for since April 8th, after watching last years Avalanche club go out with a whimper 6 months ago. There was a feeling that things were going to be different. Despite the horrorof things, it felt like this year was going to be the start of a climb back to being a club that the division wasn’t going to simply look at as 2 more points. New captain, with the wily veteran Hejduk (and believe me when I say that felt weird to write) stepping back to take an A for his sweater. Things were looking up from a mile high.
And then the lockout. It’s like the ownership group doesn’t want people to invest emotionally or financially in their franchises, because every time people start coming back, they have a snit and start keeping their shiny ball away from us. The owners and their representatives start making noises about how they feel so terrible that this has to happen, but the game’ll be better in the end. The world will be better, hockey will be back, and magic unicorns will fart rainbows across the sky.
It doesn’t have to happen. Look around. Baseball didn’t have a work stoppage. They got a deal done, and not even a whisper of it in the press. Just a note that there was a new deal for 5 years. NFL had a stoppage, but they got their act together and got a deal done in time for a full season. The NBA had a harder time of it, but they got their deal and a half-season.
It’s becoming a ritual for the NHL. Bargaining agreement ends, and the schedule gets interrupted. This doesn’t have to keep happening, but realistically, there’s no substitute for the NHL. I like hockey in general, but there’s a certain cachet about the NHL that makes it just a little bit better. Maybe it’s the cup. For now, I’ll content myself with writing and sipping the diet soda that is the Denver Cutthroats and the KHL. And when the NHL comes back, I’ll be watching. But there’s going to have to be something really good from the NHL for them to earn my forgiveness. And more importantly to the NHL, my money.
You know…I’m watching the ESPN showing the Dynamo Moscow and HC Lev Praha game, and really, the lockout talk is making me want to go up the wall. I mean, honestly, it felt like I was at the bar with a couple guys – which is good, in that I felt comfortable, and bad in that I couldn’t say “Guys, shaddup and lemme watch game!”
All in all, here’s some of the things I noticed right off:
That said, I’m writing this between periods, so it may get a little funky.
Breaking out the discussion of the announcers themselves – they do know they’re supposed to be calling the game, right? Start of the third, and they’re giving me a how-to on Twitter. Really? Annnd more lockout talk through the third. I mean, there’s so much better filler – once again, shaddup and call the game. I’ll give them some credit for trying, but overall they really aren’t making me think that hockey is a sport that the 4-letter-network can really handle broadcasting. Which does a terrible disservice to their web-team, those writers are flipping sharp. Damn shame, Barry Melrose and Steve Levy missed a decent game.
Another Lockout?Son of a bitch. Didn’t we just do this thing? I mean seriously, we lost a whole year to this crap last time, so I really have to wonder if the owners as a group know what they’re doing. Last time we (the fans) got sold this line of Cost Certainty, and how those two magic words would make ticket prices lower, improve the on-ice product, and bring us the long-term peace we’d all hoped for.
I remember last time. At my workplace, following the lockout news as I could, all the way up until the fateful day when Bettman announced the cancellation of the entire season.
It really bothered me. But when the game came back, so did I. Life was good, even if my team kinda stunk it up. Now it just seems like we’re back on the same track again. New faces on the players’ side, but the verse from the owners sounds pretty much like the first. We’re broke, we can’t keep operating like this…it would be believable if they didn’t keep operating like this all the while crying poverty. (Oh, and bragging about record revenues.) I mean, I’ve been broke a few times in my life, and one of the first things I did when I was broke was, wait for it, I stopped spending money like a drunken sailor on shore leave. I mean, at some point you gotta own that contract you signed. Owners have general managers, I completely understand that. But if your GM is doing things you don’t want him to do…you fire him, just like you would any other employee who’s not performing to the standard you set.
I guess the point in this rambling tirade of invective and bad word choice is…to the owners. This is on you.
Praise be!Okay, so Hockey season really gets going tomorrow. Yes, we’re talking about the Avalanche. Retiring a number is always a bittersweet time, but…this guy deserves it. Here’s a video.
What year is it?Seriously, Raiders week this year finished with an impressive thud. I mean seriously, how many sacks and miscues is it going to take for people to realize we need an offensive line. Everyone’s going to watch this film and go “that’s how you beat the broncos this year. Stop their run game and make them air it out, because they can’t pass.”
Meanwhile, the Tebow screamers have alllllllllllll week to call in to the radio station and cry about how bad Orton was and how everything would just be sunshine and ponies if Timmy Christ was starting. Honestly, this town has been looking for a John Elway replacement for years, and nobody can fill those shoes – for good reason on both counts. Without Elway, there’s years and years of mediocrity in both directions. Sadly, there’s only one Elway, and he’s currently in the front office.
On the up side, I like the way the rookie starters are coming in.
IntriguingSo I’m kinda watching a few things from here and there – saw Alfred Williams as a TV broadcaster for the first time. Insanely fun to listen to him. Also, who the hell is Merril Hoge? I keep seeing his name.
So every once in awhileI wind up coming back to this noise. Weird things afoot. Amy Winehouse is apparently dead, thus making it harder for comedians to make fun of some poor drug-and-booze addicted schlub. And my cat keeps sitting on or near my mouse in a desperate plea for attention. Very weird weird day. All this and I have to go to work shortly.
Still no word on the NFL front. Eh. When they actually start losing money, then they’ll come to the table and deal.
New Winnipeg Jets logo is out. It feels like they went with a very safe design, but fans are incensed, mainly because it’s not the old logo. Best comment on the subject I found.
Slow dayreally not much going on at the moment, which is only faintly mindboggling to the universe. Plunking at the google+, seems to be working out.
NFL looks like they might actually have an agreement here soon, which is good – My poor local sports station is about dry right now with the Rockies being in the tank.