This week’s editorial focuses on 3 sports-related topics. It’s a rant and rave about those topics. I’ll try to make this a weekly column in the future. I hope you enjoy.
NHL IN OUTDOOR LIFESTYLE
Gary Bettman’s project took a bad turn this year when ESPN stopped covering NHL hockey. I guess ESPN finally caught on to the fact that the NHL isn’t popular anymore and didn’t want to pay exorbitant fees for a cast product.
With player salaries through the roof, the only way the NHL can pay its hackers (aka hockey players) is to form scandalous relationships with the television networks.
During the first round of the playoffs, the only network that covered NHL hockey on a regular basis was OLN. NBC covers the games on weekends.
OLN? That’s a real laugh. Speaking of taking a step back when it comes to exposure. The NHL has become a third-tier sport when it comes to television audiences. The NHL remains a Canadian sport when it comes to loyalty to the sport and when it comes to television ratings.
Bettman should take all the blame for poor television ratings. His grandiose plan was to take the NHL into the sunbelt, all in the hope of getting more TV revenue. While it lasted about ten years as critics had predicted, Bentman’s plan is beginning to unravel.
The one thing we can all bet on is that Bettman is not fit to run the NHL.
KOBE OR SHAQ?
While Kobe can get billions of points per game, can he lead his team to victory? Unfortunately, the answer is no. This was shown last weekend when his LA Lakers blew a 3-1 series lead and were defeated by the Phoenix Suns in the final game of their first-round series.
Shaq, on the other hand, led his Miami Heat to the second round. Shaq is a dominant player, the guy I’d like to build a championship team around.
I laughed when the so-called pundits said that shows LA made the right call when they decided to keep Bryant over O’Neal. That’s when the Lakers were up 3-1. Where are those same experts now?
DODGE BALL STYLE TWINKIES
The Minnesota Twins (Twinkies) are playing dodge ball this season. Instead of hitting the baseball, they appear to be dodging the ball. They can’t win ball games and are having a hard time hitting the ball.
Maybe the Twinkies need to start playing ball hitting instead of dodging. Minnesota’s pitching also needs to improve if the Twins are to recover from a terrible start to the season.
We’ll have to see what kind of baseball they decide to play for the rest of the season.
Well that’s all until next week. I will try to write a weekly column ranting and raving about various sports related topics.
If you have any ideas for theme material, email me at [email protected].
