The NHL on NBC

I read the media columns in USA Today where they talk about how sports are covered on TV. Doesn't matter that I never see these basketball or baseball games that they're always writing about. The whole thing fascinates me for some reason.

Funny, but these media critics rarely if ever talk about the NHL on NBC. If they do, it's an off-hand comment or a pile-on to talk about how cool the Winter Classic was. Funny thing is that by not tuning into the NHL on NBC, these critics are missing something pretty damn good. In fact, as a veteran hockey fan, I am thinking that the current NHL on NBC broadcast is the best hockey broadcast team we've ever had since I have been alive.

When you begin the broadcast with Mike Emrick, you will never go wrong. It's almost too bad for Doc that he doesn't get the recognition in the industry that he probably deserves because there is no one of similar talent doing a higher profile event line the World Series or the Super Bowl. In fact, if you think of the best-known TV announcers in this country, Mike Emrick is so far ahead of his peers like Chris Berman and Bob Costas that it wouldn't even be a race. Berman is all shouty gimmicks and Costas has long given up actually calling a game for the viewers at home. He just wants to satisfy his smug sense of self-aggrandizing. While the others are out shilling and promoting, Doc Emrick still is working for the guy at home watching the game. And he's brilliant.

Think about it: how many times has Doc turned to either Eddie Olczyk or John Davidson and asked him to expound on something the color man has just said. Doc's ego is not getting in the way here. He wants the color man to explain his point as best he can for the viewer at home. It's so shockingly simple and selfless and a total team move. Emrick puts the game and the broadcast above the spotlight.

Plus, whenever Emrick reads those drop-in ads for V-Cast, he sounds less like he is shilling and more like he's honestly giving us an option to watch the game in a different way. I mean, I know that a plug is a plug but Doc has the gravitas to make even this most jaded consumer think that Verizon might actually get people to watch TV on really tiny phones.

Eddie Olczyk is, for my money, just a lot of fun to listen to. Sure, he is prone to clichés at times but his enthusiasm and obvious love of the game comes through. He sounds more like a fan than a guy who has played hockey at it's highest level.

Pierre McGuire has a bit of a reputation as a shouter in Canada but on NBC, I am buying whatever he is selling. I've only heard his color work sporadically on Center Ice and for the WJC, and the guy is not afraid to have an opinion. Remember when he said that the Islanders had no idea how the draft works when they picked Robert Nilsson over Zach Parise? Hard to argue with that now, isn't it?

McGuire and Mike Milbury between periods are just great. Sometimes it is clunky as they shift from topic to topic, but that's good. Makes it real. Both guys are opinionated and both are willing to stand behind their comments. The league and NBC are getting everything they wanted when they hired Brett Hull to butt heads with Bill Clement when McGuire and Milbury dish on the league between periods. Hull hated Clement for some reason and while there are times Pierre and Mike don't agree on a topic, they're both smart enough to let it breathe and it never gets personal.

This past weekend, while we were all making peace with the standings and the Islanders' place in them, NBC had a great game to show us: Pittsburgh vs. Washington. Crosby vs. Ovechkin. Ovechkin vs. Malkin...which I must've have missed as a rivalry because it was the first I'd heard of it!

Early in the first period--and this illustrates my point--Alex Ovechkin took what could charitably be labeled "a run" at Malkin; who saw Ovechkin and kind of turned out
of the full contact. This is how a finely-tuned machine works:

Doc called the play--Eddie said that he heard there was bad blood between them--And Pierre spilled the rumor that Ovechkin had once punched Malkin's Russia-based agent in the face.

It was beautiful. Not the hit, that was not a great one, but the explanation. Each guy let the others do their job and ultimately, Pierre gets credit for the goal. Eddie and Doc get the assists. That's how TV is supposed to work!

The whole thing works so seamlessly that the viewers are left thinking they are a part of something special. The emotion is real, the enthusiasm is real, and the game is selling itself.

Now all we need is for those knuckleheads at USA Today to actually watch a game and pay attention.

For more info on NHL on NBC:
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/22939561/site/21683474/

The Stanley Cup Finals on NBC

First, a little bit about me.

For whatever reason, I don't take very much personally. That's just how I am. Oh, sure, when I get pissed it is all but over, but for the most part, I just let a lot of stuff roll off of me. Overall, I think I am fairly easy going.

(OK, I just had a friend read that. He told me I am full of crap and wants to remind me that I can hold a grudge forever with a ferocity that is both blinding and violent. I think that is a winning combination. He thinks that it would be better to add that I am not reactionary--which is good--but that I am quite calculating, when I need to be. So there it is.)

Anyhoo, when (ahem) "people" rip the sport I love, I tend to get super-pissed. Why? Well, because most of these so-called experts are commenting on a sport for which they have no understanding...or, they have ulterior motives in doing so. Lazy potshots from a fat guy at a typewriter make for easy copy.

What do I mean? Well, for starters, we all can complain that ESPNBAFL treats hockey like it is all but irrelevant. And yes, the NBA is treated as the supreme be-all and end-all in the sports universe that is brought to you by ESPNBAFL and is sponsored by a million other things. Why is that? Well, ESPNBAFL owns the rights to show the NBA on their television networks and they bow to the almighty NBA commish, David Stern. Less people on average watch NBA basketball than do daytime soap operas. Is that for real? Doesn't matter as long as I say it enough because then people will start believing it. See--it's a lazy potshot from some dude sitting at a keyboard.

Which brings me to my point: instead of constantly worrying and whining about the people outside the game not watching the sport, maybe it is time for the freaking NHL to look toward and cater to the people who are already hooked. Some douchy USA TODAY TV reporter is never going to get over his dislike of hockey but the 2 million people watching the games on NBC in the US should not be forgotten. The standard newspaper media of old dudes who think baseball and Lebron are the only games in town need not apply. Nobody reads newspapers anymore except for ink-stained reporters who are only worried about their backsides and people in public toilets. I say, let them all take their lazy whacks at us all they want. We need to let it roll off of our backs. That includes the hyper-sensitive Canadian media as well. We know you think you're the caretakers of the game. We got it. But we love this game too. Shouldn't matter where you live.

NOW, that is a long way to go in an attempt to tell you that on Saturday night, I am pretty sure that I watched the most perfect TV telecast of hockey that I have ever seen in my life--and it was on NBC. Somebody needs to speak up and say that Mike Emrick; Ed Olczyk; and Pierre McGuire are probably the best announcing team the sport has ever had in the states. I will not argue this point.

I'll listen to Mike Emrick read the freaking phone book because I know that no matter what happens, he is going to put all he has into making that phone book seem exciting as hell. The love he has for the sport comes through so clearly when he speaks. He sets Edzo up to do his job and do it well. I mean, Ed pulled out the video chalkstick immediately and showed the viewers that Anaheim had only four men out there for a faceoff right before Anton Volchenkov scored the Senators' second goal. It was priceless, time-sensitive stuff--and Ed had Doc learning along with the viewers at home. Imagine the simplicity--actually showing us what happened!

Even the between periods stuff is gold. The tension between Brett Hull and Bill Clement jumps at the viewer while they are talking because body language speaks louder than anything either of them can say. Brett often comes off as dismissive of Clement, and he shouldn't be. Clement is way better at being the master of ceremonies in the studio than anyone ever thought he would be because, let's face it, Clement was an excellent analyst for years. And the third man in, Ray Ferraro, certainly told us all what he thought about Ottawa's Jason Spezza and his play in the first two games when he said Spezza had been "jittery, confused and intimidated." Wow. An indictment and extreme candor. Imagine any of the talking heads trying that in another sport. I don't think Chris Berman will be ripping Mike Vick for anything bigger than a loss of focus if Vick blows chunks in the Falcons first few games this year. And yet, Chicken Parm knocks this stuff night after night...and he is right!

Last--and certainly not least--is Pierre McGuire. Pierre has reached the exalted status of Budding Genius in my home. I rarely give anyone credit for just broadcasting a sport or the news but Pierre is just a freaking treat to listen to. His perch between the benches lends itself to some interesting points for Doc and Edzo; if only because of his proximity to the game. The interviews with players as they enter or leave the ice are great because they allow for actual emotion from the game and not the robot answers hockey players are apparently bred with. Plus, the guy knows exactly when to pop in between Doc and Ed and rarely, if ever, are any of the guys talking over each other. Most importantly, none of them are shouting unless the play encourages actual emotion from three guys who genuinely love the sport.

So, after ripping the network for leaving the playoffs to show some nags run around a dirt track dragging underweight midgets, it says here that we hockey fans have got to give it up for the men of NBC. The network might be stupid but no matter how you look at it, the way they present the game to the MILLIONS OF FANS IN AMERICA WHO LOVE HOCKEY, shows that whomever is in charge of these broadcasts loves the game too. And that is a very, very good thing.