41 replies to this topic

[Yzermaniacs]

So I come home from work every day and watch Pardon the Interruption, and thought that since we are now in Round 2 of the playoffs, we could start hearing more stories about the playoffs and stories about our team, the Wings.  Nope, not a single mentioning of hockey on Monday's showing.  I thought I would hear at least a Crosby or Ovechkin reference as all media loves to blow them any chance they get.  I thought it was a pretty big story that the President's trophy team had a chance of losing in the first round last night, I guess those ESPN guys have other things to discuss.  Of course, with Baseball starting and the NFL draft, Oh and even Ping Pong!  They talk about a neverending series between the Yankees and the Red Sox, and also talk about table tennis, but no, no love for hockey.  I know im just preaching to the choir here as all of us hockey people dont need media coverage to know our sport is the best, but come on, this is the Stanley Cup, the greatest trophy of them all.  I just wish the Wings, as being the most dominant team in all sports the last 20 years could get a little more media coverage, and leave the sorrow for the city of detroit to local newspapers and such.  Seriously, do i need to hear about Detroit's economy again, and how lucky i am to HAVE a job?   No, I wanna hear about my Wings!

[betterREDthandead]

If PTI is your definition of media coverage, it might be time to broaden the horizons a little bit.

[e_prime]

Michael and Tony never talk about hockey. Never. Ever. Ever.
They don't care about hockey. Even Mr. Chicago, Michael Wilbon will not talk about the Hawks until they are in the SCF.

If they didn't take the time to mention Torts getting suspended or Brashear getting suspended or Avery getting suspended... they ain't talking about hockey.


Of course, I have no idea if they talked about these subjects because I don't waste time watching PTI for hockey.
...or Around the Horn either.

[hillbillywingsfan]

do you really want Michael and Tony to talk hockey? they are 2 meat heads.

[C-TownWing]

Yeah, no offense, but you're going to be waiting a while for that hockey mention on PTI.

The good news is that this is 2009 and ESPN isn't the only place for sports coverage. It's all out there, you just have to go and get it.

[JayUp88]

They talk about hockey now and then. Today they'll bring up something about the Sharks getting knocked off.

People People People. Think about it hockey isn't on ESPN. they aren't going to hype the hell out of it when they don't even have it. They talked about hockey a lot (lets not forget NHL2Nite). Now they don't have it. Its like being mad because Pepsi isn't hyping up Diet Coke in their commercials.

[b.shanafan14]

The ONLY time I have EVER heard PTI mention hockey, its was the biggest joke ever: Discussing which event that happened the night before was more significant, Crosby's first fight or Gaborik's 5 goal game. PTI is the most classic case of sports media in the USA snubbing hockey, preferring to talk about baseball players who sit and text message for 3 hours and get paid ridiculus amounts or the latest T.O. me-fest.

Haven't watched much ESPN this year, it will always bother me how a goal you'll see once a year will be 6th of the Top 10 behind 5 catches in baseball/dunks in basketball you will see 3 times a game.

Edited by b.shanafan14, 28 April 2009 - 08:37 AM.

[softshoes]

I like the show, they are fun to watch but it's entertainment. Ovie is Korn's daughters favorite player so he gets a nod from time to time. It's pretty much an Ovie/Crosby love fest if hockey gets mentioned at all.

Bottom line is watch for what it is.... this show is why the E is in the name of the network.

[VM1138]

So I come home from work every day and watch Pardon the Interruption, and thought that since we are now in Round 2 of the playoffs, we could start hearing more stories about the playoffs and stories about our team, the Wings. Nope, not a single mentioning of hockey on Monday's showing. I thought I would hear at least a Crosby or Ovechkin reference as all media loves to blow them any chance they get. I thought it was a pretty big story that the President's trophy team had a chance of losing in the first round last night, I guess those ESPN guys have other things to discuss. Of course, with Baseball starting and the NFL draft, Oh and even Ping Pong! They talk about a neverending series between the Yankees and the Red Sox, and also talk about table tennis, but no, no love for hockey. I know im just preaching to the choir here as all of us hockey people dont need media coverage to know our sport is the best, but come on, this is the Stanley Cup, the greatest trophy of them all. I just wish the Wings, as being the most dominant team in all sports the last 20 years could get a little more media coverage, and leave the sorrow for the city of detroit to local newspapers and such. Seriously, do i need to hear about Detroit's economy again, and how lucky i am to HAVE a job? No, I wanna hear about my Wings!

Haha, yeah, that Yankee-Red Sox series has been going on for years now.

What gets me is how often they talk about baseball when it's the middle of the off-season. I can understand NFL coverage for the Draft, but other than that there's not much to talk about in that department. They could give hockey a little love, but at least on their radio side, the hosts often admit they know nothing about hockey and then proceed to make a joke about it, despite it being about as popular as the NBA which they talk about non-stop.

[betterREDthandead]

Haha, yeah, that Yankee-Red Sox series has been going on for years now.

What gets me is how often they talk about baseball when it's the middle of the off-season. I can understand NFL coverage for the Draft, but other than that there's not much to talk about in that department. They could give hockey a little love, but at least on their radio side, the hosts often admit they know nothing about hockey and then proceed to make a joke about it, despite it being about as popular as the NBA which they talk about non-stop.

Not bloody likely.

[F.Michael]

What channel is PTI on?

Oh wait - it's on ESPN

[95MadeMeCry]

They did a piece on Franzen last year when he was scoring all those game winners. I remember being amazed that they knew who he was...... I even took a picture of the tv screen with my phone so I could show people

[heed316]

If you're talking about PTI from Monday the 27th, they DID talk about hockey. They did a piece on Torts and his suspension and how it may have lost the Rangers the game because they didn't have their coach. They talked about how its going to a game 7 and they think the Caps will win. It wasn't very long, but they did talk about hockey, mostly Torts suspension and a little tiny bit of NYR/WAS.

[RedSea]

Not bloody likely.

About halfway through this past regular season NHL attendance was above NBA attendance. Don't know how it ended up, but I'd like somebody to do the stats on North American attendance and TV ratings for this year comparing NBA and NHL.

I know that last year's SCF had higher ratings in Detroit than the Pistons Conference Final letdown. That says a little something, especially since the Palace has bragged about selling out but doesn't pull in the same ratings when hockey is finally on network TV.

Since the NHL is still recovering from the lockout, I'd say in a few years it won't be "not bloody likely" and very possibly the same. I'm assuming that TV ratings for NBA are skyward compared to the NHL, but I'd like to know what kind of ratings playoff hockey draws on NBC compared to playoff basketball. The media screws the NHL out of ratings by simply not giving it the same consideration throughout the season. All hockey gets is a few Sunday after church time slots until the playoffs get down to brass tax. Maybe they've done the market research, but I think hockey has real potential to eclipse basketball for a North American audience (Canada semi-balances out the ratings for the southern states with no NHL team).

I love hockey so much, I hate that so many people make fun of it simply because it's the cool, ESPN thing to do. I have grown to hate ESPN so much. Spring baseball gets more air time than hockey. I can understand the tradition with baseball, but come on people, the sport should've decreased in popularity like movies when TV came out. Hockey actually has non stop action. I did a write up on why US audiences like baseball, football and basketball more than the international favorites like hockey, soccer and rugby.

Basically, I think the pace (easier to follow what's going on) has a lot to do with why either it's stop and start action (football, baseball) or a non stop scoring fest (basketball) for U.S. audiences. Either we need clear cut direction or a spectacle of dunks. Hockey and soccer have a similar pace to each other (for god's sake don't think I'm considering them similar sports) and it's just way too different than the U.S favorites. You have to actually understand the strategy as it plays out and pay attention at all times or you'll miss the great plays. Football and baseball have carefully planned strategy that has pauses so attention isn't always needed. Basketball has so many awe-inspiring scoring opportunities that if you miss one you're bound to see 10 more.

Sorry for the rant, I just wish more people respected hockey. It's one of the toughest sports out there and should appeal to an American audience if only they could pay attention long enough. I could go on and on, but I'll just save it for some random essay. Datsyuk picking somebody's pocket is as exciting to me as LeBron dunking. I guess Datsyuk just suffers from the lack of a booming sound when he executes his magic.

[SoDakWing]

ESPN covering anything hockey???? good freakin luck. They should change their name to Baseball, Basketball, Football and anything else except hockey channel.

[Echolalia]

As long as the NHL continues to hold out on ESPN for coverage, the vast majority of ESPN will ignore/downplay/insult hockey. Think about it. Should they decide to give unbiased coverage of hockey like they do other major sports, they're essentially promoting VS and NBC, rival sports channels (albeit weak ones), and potentially making it more difficult for the NHL to want to sign with ESPN. It's in ESPN's best interest to continue to ignore hockey until the NHL decides to give them some games to cover. At that point, you'll see more ESPN extracurricular in PTI and other shows, because then they'll be advertising their own product, so to speak, but I assume for that to happen, VS/NBC will have to drop many or all of the games that they cover.

[Yzermaniacs]

Hockey and soccer have a similar pace to each other (for god's sake don't think I'm considering them similar sports) and it's just way too different than the U.S favorites. You have to actually understand the strategy as it plays out and pay attention at all times or you'll miss the great plays.

True true to that. Hockey and indoor soccer have many similarities including on the fly substitutions and using the boards to move the puck/ball. When i used to play indoor soccer you get a delay of game for hitting the ball out of bounds from the defensive third, it didnt result in a penalty but a direct kick close to the goal. Many soccer fans also love hockey because its so similar

[Echolalia]

True true to that. Hockey and indoor soccer have many similarities including on the fly substitutions and using the boards to move the puck/ball. When i used to play indoor soccer you get a delay of game for hitting the ball out of bounds from the defensive third, it didnt result in a penalty but a direct kick close to the goal. Many soccer fans also love hockey because its so similar

Are you from the Metro Detroit region? Where did you play indoor soccer? Do they have amateur adult leagues?

[betterREDthandead]

About halfway through this past regular season NHL attendance was above NBA attendance. Don't know how it ended up, but I'd like somebody to do the stats on North American attendance and TV ratings for this year comparing NBA and NHL.

The lowest rated NBA Finals ever were in 2007 at 6.2. The highest-rated Stanley Cup Finals this decade were '02 and '08 (imagine that) at 3.6 and 3.2, respectively.

Last year, the NBA was at 9.3 and the NHL at 3.2.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not disrespecting hockey. But the cold hard facts are that the NHL just can't touch the NBA for ratings.

[StevieY9802]

They talked about Tortorella the other day. But like some have said PTI shouldn't be what you are using to judge coverage either. And yeah the NHL isn't even on espn so what incentive to they have to hype it up? It sucks, especially since espn is the only legit national sports channel, but thats the way it is. NHL playoffs from last night weren't even touched in the first half hour this morning before I had to leave for work while like 6 baseball games were.