slangin' knowledge... since 2003.
For those of you who loved the clip as much as I did, you can now celebrate with the commemorative t-shirt. The same design is available on a thong, as well, for female readers… or male readers with unusual habits. And just so you know, I didn’t mark the price up at all… it’s not possible for me to make any money. I just thought the world would benefit from the existence of this shirt, much as it has benefited from the existence of this clip:
Check this out. In the previous game back in Anaheim, the fans booed the Canadian national anthem. Here’s how they responded in Edmonton…
I’ve been to my share of live sporting events. Not a ton, probably fewer than most of you, but I’d say I have about my share. And the things I remember most aren’t big plays or big shots, but those moments when you really feel something… and yes, that can come from a big play in the game, but it can also come from a shared sense of pride, or a shared sense of anything, really, and knowing that thousands of other are sharing it with you… that’s what makes it worth going. The actual watching of a game, you can do anywhere. A moment like that one… that’s why you go. I doubt that many of the people in the audience are going to forget that.
Fuckin’ A, Canada. Credit goes to a lot of people. Whoever thought of it, of course. And then, all those who jumped on the bandwagon, and helped spread the idea. And to all of those who sang their healthy Canadian lungs out. And especially to the guy who was hired to sing the thing, but got the idea quickly, did the right thing, and just let the fans take over. A very slick move. My hat is off, Canada.
This sort of thing just couldn’t happen in America. One, no one really has that much nationalistic pride. Just having a magnetic ribbon on your car doesn’t qualify. And two, I doubt that many people really know the words to the national anthem. Myself, I prefer the Enrico Pallazzo version.
Anyway, big big thanks to “oiler” in The Sports Frog‘s Swamp for the find.
By almost all accounts, the NHL has been fantastic to watch this year. The flow of the game is much better, there are exciting young players, and scoring is up, and those things are great. But ratings? I knew it was bad, but… I didn’t know it was this bad. Some factoids from a Darren Rovell article at ESPN.com…
• OLN averaged 117,000 viewers for their NHL games this year.
• In 2003-2004, ESPN’s games brought in 416,000, while ESPN2 games brought in 209,000.
• The Heads-Up Poker Championship, the lead-in to hockey, more than doubled the ratings for playoff hockey on NBC.
• More people watched WNBA games on ESPN2 last year.
It’s one thing to have low ratings… it’s quite another to be outdrawn by the WNBA. The WNBA, man. Let that sink in for a minute. ABC could broadcoast 2 hours of Hubie Brown reading aloud from an Ayn Rand novel after seven apple martinis, and I’m more likely to watch that than a WNBA game.
I don’t know what this means for the future of hockey. I hope most clubs were at least profitable this year, under the new CBA. I hope this was anticipated. You’d have to think that they were prepared for pretty low ratings. But if their viewership doesn’t start to grow, I think you can expect the NHL to be covered on SportsCenter less and less, and get less general mainstream media coverage in general. It’ll become the kind of thing that gets mentioned in the second half of SportsCenter broadcasts, after “The Ultimate Highlight,” and Stu Scott’s super-dope poetry jam.
My suggestion to improve ratings? Players mic’d at all times, and Brian Bellows always hovering somewhere nearby. 114 viewings later, and I still can’t enough.
I know I also ran this over the weekend at Deadspin, but… it has strangely captivated me, and I can’t stop watching it. I’m not sure what that says about me, but it can’t be good. I feel like I should send the Airing of Grievances a Hallmark card for finding it. I love how Brian Bellows just stands there and takes the abuse like the titfucker he is. I’m not sure I know what that means, by the way. Enjoy, and… you know, turn your volume down if you’re at work.
I have a new favorite hockey player… Tampa Bay Lightning right winger Evgeny Artyukhin. In a fight last night, he pulled Antoine Vermett’s helmet off… and then beat him in the head with it.
That’s the most creative thing anyone’s done in the NHL since Gretzky retired. The NHL is back.
You know, our Olympic hockey team didn’t catch a lot of flak for their horrendous performance in Torino. I realize that it’s because no one cares about hockey, but still… I think it’s a little unfair that when our basketball team comes home with bronze, everyone calls them a bunch of lazy, selfish, pussbags… and no one says a word about the hockey team. And I thought about complaining that that was unfair, when I thought, instead… I could just call our hockey team a bunch of lazy, selfish, pussbags.
And so, Mike Modano… you, my friend, are pussbag numero uno. Mike had this to say after the Olympics:
“Basically, we were on our own as far as arrangements, flights, hotels, tickets. Normally, that’s something you don’t have to think about. That’s something that should be taken care of so we don’t have to worry about it and can focus on hockey and get ready to play.”
Is that really your excuse, man? You were thinking of scoring some goals, but it was too hard, because you had to call a travel agent a week ago? What the fuck? Come on, man… make up an injury or something. Say that there was poor ice in Torino. Say you had too much pasta, say you lost your lucky jock strap… but you had to make arrangements to get there? That’s your big problem? Fuck. You.
Teemu Selanne heard his excuse and responded:
“Everybody has to do it. There’s no help. Nobody had direct flights here. It’s not easy for anybody. You have jet lag and then you play six games in eight nights.”
Translation: “I did all that, too. But I’m undefeated. Why? Because I am not a pussbag like Mike Modano.”
Because they’ve never had a fight like this one. Good Lord. The Romanians know how to brawl. You can combine the worst of Marty McSorley, Todd Bertuzzi, Tie Domi, and Dave Schultz… and it still won’t come close to this. Swinging sticks, punching guys who are just laying on the ice… these are just some cold-blooded Romanian bastards. Check this out, from Off Wing Opinion, via Mister Irrelevant.
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