We here at Detroit Sports Weekly don't often hold our tongue. The whole reason I wanted to set up this site was because I am unhappy with the kind of coverage the local and national media gives my favorite teams. I can do a week's worth of blogs ranting about how bad ESPN has gotten since it's heyday, and probably just as many on the local sports writers and sports anchors. Bernie Smilovitz still has a job?
Anyway, Gary Bettman has been on my most disliked list for quite some time now. So long that it really isn't notable....it's just a way of life. I've never met the man, and maybe he's a really nice guy. That however could never change the way I feel about how the man does his job. Again, I could go into a dozen rants about the way he has hurt the NHL over his tenure, but this one will stay on one specific topic. Scheduling. Actually, I am going to go one step further and say scheduling of the Finals games this year. I also took issue in at least one earlier round too, but I'll just keep it to this round for now. Specifically the first three games of the Stanley Cup Finals.
It's no secret that the NHL has viewership issues, and the attendance issues in Detroit were big news very recently. With that in mind, why on Earth would you schedule the first three games on the same day, and same times as the Detroit/Boston NBA games? To make matters worse, the first two games for the finals are in Detroit, at the same time you have the Pistons and Celtics playing at the Palace. WHY? Why choose to go head to head with only possible same-city NBA conflict you have for the Stanley Cup Finals? I know people who will now have to choose between attending the Wings games or the Pistons games because they have playoff packages for both. Why not offset the games a day, or at least a few hours for the first two, so no one has to make this choice?
Forget the people who have tickets for both teams. How about the casual fan? Detroit may be Hockeytown USA, but that doesn't mean the Wings will automatically take precedence over the Pistons. Even if the Wings are playing for the championship and the Pistons are only in the conference finals. This would be a great chance to lure in the casual Detroit sports fan, or even some Boston NBA fans through a little cross-promotion, by having the games on alternating nights.
Maybe my ideas are a little too far-fetched for the NHL. Maybe the concepts Detroit Sports Weekly would bring to hockey are a bit grandiose. I guess we'll never know, but I do know that come Saturday, I will be thankful for picture-in-picture.
Highlighted Link of the week: www.firebettman.com
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Good News, Bad News for Pistons
So the bad news is obvious. About 4 minutes into the game last night, Chauncey went down awkwardly under the basket, pretty much doing the splits after getting his left leg tangled with that of a falling Jameer Nelson. Billups didn't return to the game and is currently listed as day to day with a strained right hamstring, but watching him walk down the tunnel to the locker room (thankfully under his own power) it doesn't seem that this injury is going to be one to heal quickly.
Chauncey's injury is the real bad news, and losing game three in Orlando can also be lumped into the bad news category but I was encouraged by the way the team fought back without their captain, one of the best point guards in the league. The Pistons got within 3 points of the Magic late in the 3rd after being down as much as 18 in the first quarter, and trailing by 12 at the half. Of course Orlando didn't seem to miss a shot the rest of the way, starting the 4th quarter with 11 straight points before the Pistons scored at all. By the time Sheed hit a couple free throws two and a half minutes into the final quarter, it seemed as if the wind had been taken out of the sails for Detroit.
More good news. Rodney Stuckey played pretty well in his 34 minutes last night. Getting a lot of time on the court during the season will really come in handy now. And let's not forget (which I had until about 20 minutes ago) that game 4 isn't until Saturday. An extra day of rest for the older/injured players, and an extra day for the young bench contributors to get the game plan down. Unfortunately we still have to play in Orlando, but a veteran team like ours should be able to handle another day away from home too.
Chauncey's injury is the real bad news, and losing game three in Orlando can also be lumped into the bad news category but I was encouraged by the way the team fought back without their captain, one of the best point guards in the league. The Pistons got within 3 points of the Magic late in the 3rd after being down as much as 18 in the first quarter, and trailing by 12 at the half. Of course Orlando didn't seem to miss a shot the rest of the way, starting the 4th quarter with 11 straight points before the Pistons scored at all. By the time Sheed hit a couple free throws two and a half minutes into the final quarter, it seemed as if the wind had been taken out of the sails for Detroit.
More good news. Rodney Stuckey played pretty well in his 34 minutes last night. Getting a lot of time on the court during the season will really come in handy now. And let's not forget (which I had until about 20 minutes ago) that game 4 isn't until Saturday. An extra day of rest for the older/injured players, and an extra day for the young bench contributors to get the game plan down. Unfortunately we still have to play in Orlando, but a veteran team like ours should be able to handle another day away from home too.
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