Greetings to all in blogland! For any of you who were kind enough to peruse my old blog 2-3 years ago, I thank you, and beseech you to give me another chance not to flake out!
At any rate, down to business:
For most Americans, the term "Super Sunday" means one thing only, but for our neighbors to the north, and some of us down here, today is infinitely more super than that 4-hr commercial/nursing home rock group/game between two teams you don't care about that you can never even really get to watching, because the folks around you who have suddenly become experts for the day won't be quiet.
Today, as it was so simply and succinctly put by Greg Wyshynski over at Puck Daddy, is Hockey Heaven: Russia-Czech Republic at 3pm ET, USA-Canada at 7:40pm ET, and Sweden-Finland at 12am ET. I could get into the implications of each matchup: there's the historic grudge match between Russia and the Czechs, two serious medal contenders (the Czezhs perhaps more than we might have imagined), the two great powers of the Iron Curtain, complete with the best player on earth on one end, and a one-time superstar in his swansong on the other end, who happens to wear the number 68 to commemorate the invasion of his country by that of his adversaries; there is the battle of North America, perhaps the only arena in which one sees Canada as "big and bad" and the US as scrappy underdogs; there is the Scandanavian matchup, between the reigning gold medalists and their formidable younger sibling. I could go into these implications, but I doubt I could really add much. For now, I'm going to whine.
In the midst of my crazed fit of excited anticipation for today, I almost forgot that when our countrymen, those donning the same uniform worn by a team that in 1980 accomplished a feat that produced a moment considered by many to be the greatest in the history of American sports, hit the ice tonight, against one of the most talented hockey teams ever assembled, BY THE HOST COUNTRY, THAT WE HAPPEN TO SHARE A BORDER WITH, nonetheless, it will be broadcast into living rooms everywhere, on MSNBC. MSNBC!!!!
In my eyes, NBC has embarrassed itself with this. If you so happen to tune in to channel 4, here in the NY area, channel 7 in Boston, channel 11 in Atlanta, or any other NBC affiliate across the country, at 7:40pm, you will not see USA-Canada. You will see Ice Dancing. Ice Dancing. I have no idea what Ice Dancing is, considering that I was just subjected to watching night after night of grown men in sparkly costumes do something that looked an awful lot like dancing on ice. I thought that part was done. Of course, the vast majority of US TV viewers, at this point, have cable, and so if they wish, they can switch that dial up to channel God-knows-what to MSNBC, but by making this choice, the network has made a conscious decision to marginalize hockey. Most Olympic viewers, for better or for worse, flip on NBC around dinnertime, watch whatever's on, and hoot and holler for whoever's American, which is fine, but these people won't even know to switch to MSNBC, and thus they will miss what could be the highpoint of these Olympics for the sport of hockey. Perhaps that's an overstatement, considering that we are only in round robin play, but there is no guarantee that we'll see Canada again, who, though there is no shoo-in with the sort of offenses and goaltending out there that there is, are certainly the deepest team in the pool, and you'd be hard pressed to find a more loaded team, anytime, anywhere, in any era.
Secondarily, NBC is stupid. They have the NHL on sundays, and when Vancouver has come and gone, there won't be any Olympic Ice Dancing, or Women's Speedskating, or Men's 2-Man Bobsled, to put on, and what better way to generate interest in a sport and a league who's major weakness is probably lack of exposure than to showcase that sport with some of its leagues finest players in a wildly emotional grudge match (World Juniors, anyone?) that any Joe Football can get into?
Did I mention, speaking of paying no respect to USA Hockey, that tomorrow is the 30th anniversary of that day in Lake Placid?
Would they do this to one of those hardwood Dream Teams, who either rout teams in boring exhibitions, or lose so inexplicably that it's barely worth watching?
Disgusting.
That said, I encourage all of you to give NBC its ratings, MSNBC or not, and watch every last minute of USA-Canada tonight. Maybe they'll notice.
Anyways, here's some inspiration, go get 'em boys:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSmqeQNEV44
Mike Emrick just had to explain offsides. The Olympics.
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