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
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