Post by NHLWinnipeg on Oct 21, 2011 12:57:57 GMT -6
Avalanche on a hot streak, but who knew?
By Hank Siegel | FOX31 Sports | Commentary
Story posted 2011.10.19 at 10:58 PM MDT
DENVER -- I was looking over my favorite website’s sports section and noticed that hockey games were being played. In fact, the NHL was a couple of weeks into the season.
The regular season is so irrelevant that there’s more news about the NBA which hasn’t started play and isn’t even going to. Regular season hockey is like waiting for Christmas to come…and it’s only July. The NFL’s “Mr. Irrelevant” is more relevant than the NHL season.
In fact, the NHL isn’t very compelling until the winning team skates around with the Stanley Cup, and that’s only because you’re hoping one of the players drops it.
OK, maybe I’m exaggerating. But just a bit.
The Colorado Avalanche are off to their best start in years--maybe ever--but I don’t see throngs of reporters descending on the Pepsi Center to catch every word the comes off the tongue of Matt Duchene or Milan Hejduk, or local TV newscasts leading with news of their new goaltenders.
The Avs are in first place, tied for the league lead in points, and may have already won more games than the Broncos might all season.
So, why the lack of interest?
Here are some theories:
The season is too long.
Too many teams qualify for the playoffs.
Nobody really understands when or why there’s a stoppage in play.
It’s too difficult to appreciate on TV.
Geographically-challenged Americans can’t locate some of the cities on a map.
It’s impossible to correctly pronounce the names of a significant number of the players.
Although half the players are Canadian, only seven of the 30 teams are located to our northern neighbor and about 20-percent of the players are American.
Well, it’s all the above but perhaps the last reason means most. We are very jingoistic when it comes to sports.
Do we embrace the true Olympic spirit and appreciate the skills and sacrifice of Olympic athletes? No, we root for Americans and recognize only those who are winners—first place winners, at that.
Quick, name the winner of any of the current Grand Slam champions in tennis. No? I thought so.
Tennis was once enormously popular and at that time tickets to the US Open in New York were more difficult to acquire than the Super Bowl or NCAA Basketball Tournament, back when it was Jimmy Connors and McEnroe vs. the world.
There are only three male players ranked in the top 25, with highest being #8 Mardy Fish.
That’s right, Mardy Fish.
When’s the last time you set the DVR to watch one of his matches?
What about golf? It was all Tiger all the time until his demise. Three of this year’s golf “majors” were won by non-Americans and was reflected in the TV ratings.
However, there is one very curious note.
It’s still often “whispered” that the NBA’s popularity is limited by the league being more than 80-percent black. By that logic, the NHL should be the most popular league in sports since of its 690 active players, only 29 are black.
Talk about Vanilla Ice!
android.localwireless.com/wap/news/text.jsp?sid=241&nid=1257543405&cid=4881&scid=-1
By Hank Siegel | FOX31 Sports | Commentary
Story posted 2011.10.19 at 10:58 PM MDT
DENVER -- I was looking over my favorite website’s sports section and noticed that hockey games were being played. In fact, the NHL was a couple of weeks into the season.
The regular season is so irrelevant that there’s more news about the NBA which hasn’t started play and isn’t even going to. Regular season hockey is like waiting for Christmas to come…and it’s only July. The NFL’s “Mr. Irrelevant” is more relevant than the NHL season.
In fact, the NHL isn’t very compelling until the winning team skates around with the Stanley Cup, and that’s only because you’re hoping one of the players drops it.
OK, maybe I’m exaggerating. But just a bit.
The Colorado Avalanche are off to their best start in years--maybe ever--but I don’t see throngs of reporters descending on the Pepsi Center to catch every word the comes off the tongue of Matt Duchene or Milan Hejduk, or local TV newscasts leading with news of their new goaltenders.
The Avs are in first place, tied for the league lead in points, and may have already won more games than the Broncos might all season.
So, why the lack of interest?
Here are some theories:
The season is too long.
Too many teams qualify for the playoffs.
Nobody really understands when or why there’s a stoppage in play.
It’s too difficult to appreciate on TV.
Geographically-challenged Americans can’t locate some of the cities on a map.
It’s impossible to correctly pronounce the names of a significant number of the players.
Although half the players are Canadian, only seven of the 30 teams are located to our northern neighbor and about 20-percent of the players are American.
Well, it’s all the above but perhaps the last reason means most. We are very jingoistic when it comes to sports.
Do we embrace the true Olympic spirit and appreciate the skills and sacrifice of Olympic athletes? No, we root for Americans and recognize only those who are winners—first place winners, at that.
Quick, name the winner of any of the current Grand Slam champions in tennis. No? I thought so.
Tennis was once enormously popular and at that time tickets to the US Open in New York were more difficult to acquire than the Super Bowl or NCAA Basketball Tournament, back when it was Jimmy Connors and McEnroe vs. the world.
There are only three male players ranked in the top 25, with highest being #8 Mardy Fish.
That’s right, Mardy Fish.
When’s the last time you set the DVR to watch one of his matches?
What about golf? It was all Tiger all the time until his demise. Three of this year’s golf “majors” were won by non-Americans and was reflected in the TV ratings.
However, there is one very curious note.
It’s still often “whispered” that the NBA’s popularity is limited by the league being more than 80-percent black. By that logic, the NHL should be the most popular league in sports since of its 690 active players, only 29 are black.
Talk about Vanilla Ice!
android.localwireless.com/wap/news/text.jsp?sid=241&nid=1257543405&cid=4881&scid=-1
