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NHL whoring out to NBC, no surprise here

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Det. Jimmy McNulty, May 28, 2009.

  1. Was expecting to see a thread on this already, but the NHL (i.e. Bettman, in his infinite wisdom) decided 50 years of not playing back to back games (and three in four nights) was a stupid fucking idea. Let's do it for this year's Finals! Yeah, I know, June 5 is a little long to wait for the series to begin, but Lord Almighty, let's just torch both teams to get the series started early.

    Cue up shit-eating Michigan based sports talk hosts: "THE NHL AND NBC HATE THE WINGS!!!!!"

    Someone just break Bettman's knees already. Jesus Christ.
     
  2. GB-Hack

    GB-Hack Active Member

    Outing alert: The good Detective is....

    http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/michael_farber/05/28/cup.shedule/index.html
     
  3. 2muchcoffeeman

    2muchcoffeeman Well-Known Member

    A little? No. It's far too fucking long. If there was any momentum gained by the playoffs to this point, waiting NINE! FUCKING! DAYS! between the end of the East and West finals and the start of the Cup finals would absolutely kill it.

    It would also have the NHL head to head with the NBA finals, which would be absolutely suicidal even if they played the two series on different alternating nights.
     
  4. GB-Hack

    GB-Hack Active Member

    Personally, I don'd see why it has to start on Saturday. Go Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday for the first four, and then finish off however you like.
     
  5. Clerk Typist

    Clerk Typist Guest

    NBC should have wised up and taken games 1-4-5-6-7, leaving Versus with 2-3 instead of 3-4. (Or did Versus have a deal that guaranteed a possible clinching game this year?) Then the usual Saturday-Tuesday-Thursday lineup would have worked. And GB-Hack, Saturday's important because that's CBC's traditional slot for "Hockey Night in Canada."
     
  6. Hank_Scorpio

    Hank_Scorpio Active Member

    Or how about Saturday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

    No need to have two days off between some games. Go every other day.
     
  7. GB-Hack

    GB-Hack Active Member

    I know, but I'm not sure HNIC was given any consideration in this. That NBC wanted it because it's the deadest night of the week in U.S. TV probably had far greater weight in the decision.
     
  8. imjustagirl

    imjustagirl Active Member

    NBC has Conan starting that Monday. They won't do anything to fuck with that.

    Everything else has to work around it.
     
  9. 2muchcoffeeman

    2muchcoffeeman Well-Known Member

    Yeah, you don't want to fuck with a barbarian.
     
  10. GB-Hack

    GB-Hack Active Member

    And, brilliantly, there's no chance of overtime hockey on NBC in Conan's first five nights on the job.

    Great point, IJAG.
     
  11. JR

    JR Well-Known Member

    As someone pointed out, the NHL bending over for NBC is like the casino comping the guy playing the $5.00 blackjack table.

    NBC pays not one fucking cent for the broadcast rights, yet CBC who pays $100 million for their rights is left on the sideline holding their dicks.

    It should have been Saturday, Monday, Wednesday, etc.
     
  12. PCLoadLetter

    PCLoadLetter Well-Known Member

    No, this is more like a bum begging for change, and they can only get it on the weekends.

    NBC will never, ever put a hockey game on a weeknight unless it has a chance to be the final game. They'd be crazy to do it. The numbers are awful. By putting weekend games on NBC the NHL maximizes its exposure in far and away its biggest market.

    Meanwhile, the CBC knows they could play the finals at 3am Wednesday and get people to watch.

    The NHL has no bargaining position here. If you're begging for scraps you can't be selective. At the same time, they can't just blow off the US audience. So, you end up with back-to-back games. I suspect the Red Wings will survive this.
     
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