Pens sweep way to Final, Why NBC/Versus Suck

May 26, 2009   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

Well, it’s all over but the screaming and shouting in Raleigh. The Pens got an empty netter from Craig Adams to go up 4-1 in Game Four despite a solid effort from the Canes.

As soon as they showed Mario Lemieux’s box with his awful beard, I shut it off. Their annoying team once again advances to the Final awaiting probably Detroit, who look to finish off the Blackhawks tomorrow. Hopefully, they will so there’s no ridiculous nine-day layoff thanks to the joke known as NBC. That’s right. If Chicago extends the series, the Stanley Cup doesn’t begin till June 5. Would anyone even remember to watch?

I’ve had enough of NBC and you know damn well what I think of Versus. NBC has been a disaster as a network. They can take their ratings and stick it where the sun don’t shine. It’s blatantly obvious how little they care for our sport when you have Doc Emrick forced to preview their precious horse racing and even the French Open. Can anyone say awkward? When the league got the contract with the network, everyone thought it would be good. But they just don’t put enough into it. So little of the regular season is shown. And hell. Only two Conference Final games. Aside from that, they foolishly go up against the NBA because the games are moved to Sunday. As the Church Lady might say from SNL, “Well, isn’t that special.” The only positive is they’re showing five Stanley Cup Final games instead of two. Though not being able to air Games 3 and 4 kinda sucks. They better pray for a classic series.

As it turned out, the worst thing that ever happened to this league was leaving ESPN/ABC. Who ever would’ve figured? For as much as they were treated like extra crumbs, at least fans knew where to find the games and the coverage was halfway decent. Versus has failed miserably. They make way too many mistakes that insult the hockey fan like not even realizing Sidney Crosby had a hat trick last round. If you can’t even know that about the NHL Golden Boy, what exactly does that say? On top of that, they have the most dull intermission/postgame that’s ever existed. Keith Jones doesn’t have an exciting bone in his body and Bryan Engblom, who is generally okay is stuck in quicksand. Bill Patrick is alright as host but he seems to have caught the Bill Clement bug when they go to air and you hear that disturbing sound like he doesn’t even realize they’re about to go on.

Should I even mention the awful replays where sometimes, they show the wrong one with the broadcasters put in the unenviable position of breaking down a play that’s not even shown? It makes them look totally unprepared when it’s not even their fault. Sadly, it’s just way too easy to pick apart this unwatchable trio. Somehow, the NBA got it right with their Emmy Award winning TNT postgame featuring the much more personable trio of Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith. Why is that such a good watch where as with our network, it’s like watching paint dry? Because they do this thing called have fun. Imagine that. What a concept! It helps when you have the right mix with the always entertaining Barkley making an ass of himself and Smith chiming in. But also, Johnson is a great studio host. The kind any hockey fan would die for. Unless you’re living in Canada, you’re stuck.

It would be easy to place the blame on Gary Bettman for making such a poor choice. However, if we just whine about the commish entirely, that takes some of the focus off Versus which is wrong. They have had enough time now to improve. Not even sending a B Team for the one Game 7 last round that went to sudden death was flat out embarrassing. They didn’t even show any extra bonus coverage between periods with viewers stuck with boring segments. Well, at least those that didn’t have Center Ice. Fortunately, I did.

When the season concludes, it will have been four years since the league returned from the lockout abyss. The NHL has stuck with Versus. Isn’t it about time they paid back that faith? It’s almost insanity.

It’s high time our game moves forward instead of being stuck in neutral.