Winter Classic

CBC's coverage was far better and at least they had the balls to say, "The ice sucks". Glenn Healy was particularly critical as only Glenn can be.

I'm so tired of the SC, a one time fun marketing gimmick by the Edmonton Oilers that has turned into an annual circus act for the league.

 

This. Really bad job by NBC. Especially noticeable when they tried blimp views on power plays.

 

You folks in the north are fortunate to have CBC. From what you've written over time it seems like they do a much better job on sports broadcasting then our domestic networks.

 

Well, yeah, but what do you do about the 68,000 tickets sold? Tell them to come back tomorrow?

That's the inherant risks of playing outdoors. None of the outdoor games have been great games. Yes, it's a gimmick. But when the regular season is six months long and boring enough to put insomniacs to sleep, you need a bit of novelty once in a while.

 

It was actually 35% last study I saw and if you think it's just Toronto Montreal you haave no clue the amount of money that the Canucks generate. The only Canadian team that remotely struggles is the Senators.

 

You can say that about the baseball and NBA regular season but they don't seem to need circus acts to keep people interested.

Maybe the Yankees and Sox should play a game of wiffleball in someone's backyard to liven up things--and make it count in the standings. Because backyard baseball is going back to the games "roots".

Outdoor hockey games are a blight on the sport. Professional hockey has been played in enclosed arenas since the late 1800's/early 1900's. Even the faux nostalgia for the Winter Classic is fraudulent.

 

The Jan. 1 date highly raises the likelihood of bad weather in most prospective host cities.

A quick look at climate tables (average temperatures) shows that the 4-week window from Jan. 15-Feb. 15 is when they ought to hold the games in most possible U.S. host cities. Otherwise they are just asking for 50 degrees and rain.

Why not do it the Sunday before the Super Bowl?

 

Just a guess: NBC wants Jan. 1

 

Because it will get worse numbers than the Pro Bowl.

 

They should just play the All Star game outside.

 

Ratings are in. Might just be a nighttime affair from here on out.

http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2011/01/02/winter-classic-ratings-positive-for-nbc/

 

Absolutely, though the homerism when a Canadian team plays an American team in a playoff series is way over the top. And Grapes should probably be taken in small doses.