Monday, November 26, 2007

WRIST SHOTS: HAPPY 90TH BIRTHDAY, NHL!

Back in 1917, 90 years ago today, some drunk Canadian guys formed something called the National Hockey League (or the LNH) at a meeting at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal. I'm sure a lot of Seagrams 7 was consumed (shots all around!) for them to come up with this bright idea. Back then there were only 4 teams, and the Original Six didn't come about until 1942. Now there are 30 teams scattered all over creation and the current commissioner, Bettman, sucks. Anyway, I don't know how valid this "birthday" really is, and they don't even seem to mention it on their own site. Just forget I mentioned it.

Interesting fact: less viewers have the NFL Network in this country than have VERSUS (about 39% vs. 59% of all households). Shocking, isn't it? This is mainly because the NFL has shut the cable companies out of the DirecTV-only Sunday Ticket package, and they in turn have refused to buy the NFLN (that, and the fact that cable owners like Dolan are major league asshats). This week, the NFL has chosen to air the biggest NFC matchup this season, 10-1 Dallas vs. 10-1 Green Bay, on Thursday night on NFLN. But I somehow doubt that there will be a similar avalanche of negative publicity like there was against the NHL when they chose Versus, who despite the odds has actually continued to grow and even has a HD channel on many cable systems. No, most sports reporters will take a pass on criticizing the NFL's choice; they only dog pile on the NHL because they don't know shit about hockey.

For some reason, the NY Rangers/Dallass Stars game was on free broadcast TV (Channel 9) for the first time since 1989 (not including NBC, etc). But of course, there was probably no one watching, because it was on Sunday afternoon during the Giants game! What the hell were they thinking? And why did they choose that station? Did "My9" run out of infomercials and King of the Hill reruns?

Meanwhile, all I have to do is slag the Sabres and the Devils, and they run off 4 wins in a row each, including another Marty shutout. Nice of you guys to show up! (Update: make that 5 wins in a row for the Sabres. What the Hecht is going on?)
Eric Lindros has finally retired after 13 seasons and 873 games lost to injuries. Despite a career that never lived up to the hype, he has been endorsed for the Hall of Fame by Don Cherry and Bobby Clarke. Great to see he got the jackass vote! Sadly, that's not enough to get him in; you need actual numbers for that.

On my personalized iGoogle page, I have a section for RSS feeds of the latest CBC hockey headlines. Until now I've ignored their punnery, but after these latest two I have to draw the line and say enough is enough:

Oilers try Jackets on for size
Listless Leafs mauled by Coyotes

Get it??? Wow, that's so stupid. *deleted*

Now it's time for another ugly RBK moment: the All-Star sweaters!



The cartoonish letters, the hideous silver accented sleeves, and those sassy stars simply EVERYWHERE! Sweet fancy Moses. Even the WNBA's Utah Starzz wore more manly uniforms than these (okay, maybe that's not shocking). Who would want to be voted onto the team and have to wear these things?

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