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Fri Mar 30, 2007
NHL And NBA Are More Equal Than You Think
Here's an interesting article on globeandmail.com regarding some facts and numbers of how the NHL is doing on television compared ot the NBA (found courtesy of Kuklas Korner:
The National Hockey League is widely perceived to be a sport going nowhere in the United States.
Hockey? Hardly worthy of a place at the table with football, baseball and basketball.
But audience results from last Sunday afternoon suggest otherwise.
The NHL telecast on NBC (Boston Bruins-Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers-New York Islanders regionally) drew a larger national audience than ABC's National Basketball Association telecast (Phoenix Suns-Sacramento Kings).
Each network earned a 1.0 rating (percentage of households tuned in), but NBC pulled in a larger audience share (percentage of time that people spent watching the telecast), 3 compared with 2. In total viewership, NBC outdrew ABC 1.31 million to 1.26 million...
...From the perspective of the NHL, the numbers show that, on a good day, hockey is in the same ballpark as the NBA and even capable of posting a win.
As I've stated for some time, the NBA is not in a healthy situation, and the very nature of the sport of hockey would result in a rebound in fan interest. And now with playoff time fast-approaching and the games taking on a new edge, I fully expect to see better numbers still. The NBA playoffs simply can't dream of having as good a product as the NHL playoffs can.
The NBA's resurgence seems to be basically over, and that means something else can step in and take over part of that void. As it always has, it will be the NHL. With so many good, young, marketable stars now again the NHL is going to be very attractive here over the next 5 years or so.
-- Primis.
[2] comments (7682 views) | link | Category: Prìomh Pucks
Mon Mar 26, 2007
301 Days, 10 Years Ago Today.
10 years ago today, March 26th, 1997, 301 days of anger and pain were sorted out at Joe Louis Arena, and revenge was served in full.
It's really difficult to put into words what happened that night unless you were an Av fan or a Red Wings fan. Even so though, NHL fans around the league acknowledge it as one of the the defining hockey moments of the 1990's, and even the modern hockey era as a whole. This wasn't simple goonery, or silliness... it was what happened when a player gets away with hurting another player and receives no punishment from a league that didn't respect the team or the game.
This is why little, mild-mannered Igor Larionov snapped after being manhandled by Forsberg and responded by bloodying up Forsberg's face in a fisfight, and why it triggered such an emotional response from the players who then fought, and the fans watching in the stands and at home.
Earlier this year on Feb. 22nd, a Sabres-Senators game erupted in a similar fashion after Chris Neil of the Senators gave Chris Drury a cheapshot in open ice. In some ways it is dissimilar to the Wings-Avs brawl because the Wings waited for the league to come down on Claude Lemieux and they never did. In this case, the Sabres didn't even wait and took matters into their own hands in the moments afterwards. However, I can completely understand why -- you don't elbow someone like that at full-speed, in open ice, and expect there to not be retribution. You unfortunately can't rely upon the league still today to mete out worthy punishment for needlessly-violent acts.
However the Sabres-Sens brawl can't really match the pent-up frustration, pain, and anger that comes after waiting 301 days for your chance. And that's why 10 years ago today is a seminal point in not just Detroit hockey lore, but really in NHL history. If you don't get it,. that's ok. Plenty of us do, and
plenty of us remember watching, and still feel it was the turning point for the Red Wings franchise not just that year, but ever since.
Has it REALLY been 10 years? It feels like just yesterday...
-- Primis.
[0] comments (288 views) | link | Category: Prìomh Pucks
Tue Mar 20, 2007
The BuzzDash
Do you like quizlets? Do pie charts and bar graphs make you giddy? Has there never been a poll you didn't consider voting on? Then you, my friend, would really like The BuzzDash.
The BuzzDash is where today's important issues are addressed. Issues like "How do you like your eggs?" and "What is the most-effective tactic in a fighting video game?". Issues the world can't stop ignoring.
So head on over to the BuzzDash and get yourself ed-ju-ma-cated on all the latest things YOU, the inquiring mind, need to know about.
-- Primis.
[0] comments (287 views) | link | Category: Silliness
Thu Oct 19, 2006
The Hockey Recap
Sometimes you don't want the pictiures or ads or other filler. You just want a single page with all the NHL info you can possibly imagine, and then some. An NHL crib sheet if you will, of any info you might possibly want.
Welcome to the Hockey Recap.
Sometimes I REALLY love the Internet. This is definitely one of those times...
-- Primis.
[1] comments (344 views) | link | Category: Prìomh Pucks
Mon Sep 11, 2006
5 Years
I've been asked to make some comments here on the 5 year anniversary of what's become known ad nauseum as 9-11. This really isn't my thing and I've deliberately avoided reading anything about the anniversary because of my own personal feelings about it but... OK, well here they are, by request.
More... (384 Views)
[0] comments (360 views) | link | Category: History
Sun Sep 03, 2006
Guitar Hero II Takes Shape
Sorry for the lack of updates lately.
As the set list for Guitar Hero II begins to take shape, I suppose it's high time for some comments on where it's heading.
More... (315 Views)
[0] comments (578 views) | link | Category: Gaming
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