If you’ve followed our media critiques over the years, you know that we’ve no warm and fuzzy spot for the World Wide Leader in Loudmouth, Arrogant, and Puck-Indifferent Broadcasting. But it’s one thing to take shots at the heavy in Bristol and quite another to do what Puck the Media did this week – get a prominent former ESPN personality to reflect, on the record, about what a mess that once cutting edge outlet has become. And more importantly for us, how pernicious its hockey hatred is.
Puck the Media interviewed NESN’s Jack Edwards, and what Edwards said about ESPN’s hockey sensibilities — ones that now date back some years — is something every hockey fan ought to take note of. We wish the good-hockey-hearted still in residence in Bristol would follow Edwards’ lead and get out of their 4th-class berth, but we also know that Daddy’s got put food on the table.
This is important insider stuff PTM has provided, and it’s a powerful reminder that not only should the NHL savor the broadening coverage that new media is affording the sport but that some ex-girlfriend media entities don’t merit Christmas cards, let alone coy flirtations with a future together in mind.
“PTM: Following up, because of that, are you kind of glad that ESPN doesn’t cover hockey anymore?
JE: Well, I think that all you need to know is — for those who wish that hockey was back on ESPN — last Saturday, which was probably the single most amazing night of the NHL season. Just in terms of teams switching places, dramatic things happening, crazy games, that kind of thing.
We went from Toronto to Philadelphia, we were in (Bruins radio play-by-play man) Dave Goucher’s room, having a couple cold ones. Now, the Sweet 16 is going on in college basketball at the same time, the only hockey we saw in the entire sportscast of “SportsCenter” was about 45 seconds of the UNH-North Dakota game, which was the one UNH tied with one-tenth of a second to go, that went into Overtime. That was 56 minutes into the telecast. There was nothing on the NHL in the entire show.
So, for those of you that hope that hockey gets back on ESPN, that’s what you’re gonna get. That’s where it belongs in ESPN’s hierarchy, because there are some bozos sitting in the accounting department in a bunker in Burbank, California running Disney, who look at the numbers and completely ignore the passion of hockey fans. They say “Poker gets better ratings because we can attract more compulsive gamblers to the screen than we can passionate hockey fans, so just for the sake of that number, we’re gonna’ run poker instead of hockey. We’re gonna run women’s basketball instead of hockey.”
We saw highlights of the Division II NCAA basketball championship, we didn’t see a single NHL highlight in that entire “SportsCenter”. Case closed.
PTM: Well Jack, you’re gonna’ be a big hero to a lot of hockey fans when this goes up…
JE: I’m not a hero, I’m just telling you the facts. I mean, that’s what it is and you know, this whole idea that hockey will do better if you put it back on ESPN is a delusion. It is completely delusionary. It’s more convenient, certainly. But it’s not going to be better for the sport, because it’s going to be behind golf, it’s going to be behind women’s basketball and, you know, I’m not dissing those sports.
But what I am saying is, if it were my place, if it were my call, I know where the passion is, and I’d rather have 1% of the audience is totally nuts about the sport, than I’m just gonna’ watch it because it’s on. But the people who make the decisions in the accounting department, who see the ratings numbers, are going to go purely on the number. The context of what it means to people has nothing to do with their judgment, and their actions speak much more loudly than their lip service on that.”
At this risk of libeling America’s organized crime syndicates with a comparison with ESPN, this is the equivalent of “Sammy the Bull” Gravano turning informant against John Gotti.
ESPN and its various television iterations return to cover hockey the next couple of days with its broadcast rights to the Frozen Four. We’d do well to remember that the ex- who dumped us to shack up with another guy and comes along once a year to whisper in our ear is still a slut.
Great, great stuff, PTM.
2 Comments
Wow. Why hasn’t anyone at ESPN realized how great of a sport hockey is? It is the kind of sport that works so well. If someone watches just a little (making them a temporary fair-weathered fan), they can’t help but watch more! This game is so great. I mean, I started PLAYING hockey less than a year after I started following the NHL. And I have a great time. All ESPN has to do is run hockey for a larger portion of SportsCenter (no stupid fights, I mean the finesse skating, big hits, great goals, and great saves). Then, in only a short bit of time, the people wired only to espn will become hockey fans. And guess what. that means if ESPN puts more focus on hockey, they will have a great audience to work with. It is all about breaking the ice (it is the best expression for this situation, not a corny joke). Once sports fans realize that fighting is not equal to hockey, and that hockey is a great sport, they will love it. I mean, I saw my sister get a huge change of view quickly. My family went to the Capitals-Lightning game on 1/1/09. She LOVED it. What a great sport. She never followed hockey before. I have so many friends who have become true hockey fans in the past year. They went from “Who really cares about hockey” fans to complete, true, hardcore hockey fans in just a few weeks. So try and get as many people as you can to go with you to capitals games (the caps are great because they’ve got the most exciting brand of hockey). Be open to answer their questions about the rules. They will probably have only about 5 anyways. Once you understand power plays, offside, icing, and goals, the game explains the rules by itself.
–ú–æ–ª–æ–¥–µ—Ü, Jack Edwards.
–ú–æ–ª–æ–¥–µ—Ü, OFB!!!!!
P.s. If anyone at espn needs proof that hockey needs more coverage, throw a ton of Washington Post Sports Sections from this past season at them. Make them see those huge color photos of the capitals. Make them see those capitals mini-stories that start at the TOP FRONT of the section on days that don’t follow game nights.
Make them see today’s section (Friday, April 10, 2009): College hockey at the top.
Seriously. the capitals consistently get the main story of the sports section after game nights, and it usually continues to the back page (color=probably considered higher priority).
I honestly can not remember the last time I watched ESPN.
Once upon a time I was hooked on NHL2Nite, Wednesday Night Hockey, Chicken Parm, Bucci, Melrose, all of it. I spent many a long night in college studying and watching west coast NHL games on ESPN.
Then ESPN was bought by Disney and the rest is sad sports history.
Let ESPN have their Paintball shows, reality shows, poker shows. All fads must come to an end. ESPN will want the NHL back at some point, I just hope the NHL has the sense to say “no thank you.”
WTG Edwards on speaking the truth. Now if you could just convince Bucci to leave.. I feel sorry for him sometimes.
I am sure the NHL Network could find a place for him. (The NHL Network is why I havent watched one second of ESPN in ages, I can see all the highlights and scores morning or night.)
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