ESPN and the NHL coming back?

[flyersfan4706]

Versus May Face Competition For NHL From ESPN As Bidding Opens

Originally from the swamp. Fuck you, I still go over there.

 

[naslundfan19]

If it gets Thorne and Clement back in the booth together, then do it, ESPN!

 

[h X c Chris]

I hear this EVERY year...never happens.

 

[flyersfan4706]

Yeah if it does happen theyll fuck it up somehow.

 

[flyersfan4706]

 

[Destroydacre]

If it gets Thorne and Clement back in the booth together, then do it, ESPN!

Thorne and Clement are pretty much unbeatable when it comes to announcing hockey games, but I still have reservations about ESPN getting NHL games back. I'd like to see the NHL show some loyalty to Versus as they were the only station willing to give the NHL a TV contract that guaranteed some money after ESPN basically laughed in the NHL's face. ESPN's piss poor coverage of the NHL since the lockout coupled with erroneous information published on their website weekly, most of which would take 2 minutes of fact checking to verify, leads me to believe they still don't take the NHL seriously. Personally I say fuck ESPN.

 

[ritari330]

I really wonder if it would help hockey that much if it were on ESPN insted of Versus

 

[Comeds]

Old article. I'll believe it when I see it. If ESPN got a package of games in addition to the ones Versus has that would be fine with me.

If ESPN/ABC got the sole rights I think it hurts the NHL and its product.

 

[awaz]

the key here, IMO, is what everyone thinks the NBA is going to do next season.. they have to renegotiate their CBA and people have been talking of a potential lock-out for the past few seasons..

also read an article that the owners (NBA) say they lost like 350 million (or something like that) and the players are saying they probably made a profit (sales and stuff were up)

if the NBA locks out, and hockey has a deal in place with ESPN for their lockout season.. that could be HUGE for the NHL.. and a deep gash to the NBA.. i'm not sure which is better

that being said.. a little loyalty shown to versus would be alright with me.. IMO their coverage has improved tremendously over the past couple years.. they just need to work on showing replays of penalties so i can stop breaking things over calls that might have actually been legit, but didnt look like it live

 

[dash]

Thorne and Clement are pretty much unbeatable when it comes to announcing hockey games

What about the team of Lange and Lange (Mike and Ted)?

Personally I say fuck ESPN.

Somebody should mess up Colin Cowherd...

 

[Automattic]

the key here, IMO, is what everyone thinks the NBA is going to do next season.. they have to renegotiate their CBA and people have been talking of a potential lock-out for the past few seasons..

also read an article that the owners (NBA) say they lost like 350 million (or something like that) and the players are saying they probably made a profit (sales and stuff were up)

if the NBA locks out, and hockey has a deal in place with ESPN for their lockout season.. that could be HUGE for the NHL.. and a deep gash to the NBA.. i'm not sure which is better

that being said.. a little loyalty shown to versus would be alright with me.. IMO their coverage has improved tremendously over the past couple years.. they just need to work on showing replays of penalties so i can stop breaking things over calls that might have actually been legit, but didnt look like it live

I like what you're saying about some loyalty being shown towards Versus. People often forget that it was an outdoor life channel one day and the US hockey flagship the next. A new station, trying to bring new fans, trying to keep old ones, and still make some dough. I'm all for hockey on ESPN if we don't lose Versus. If that happens, then we are back where we began, imo, waiting for one game on one channel.

 

[davnlaguna]

in the mind of ESPN
hearing themselves talk>>Football>Baseball> cheer-leading >strongest man>hockey>chess

During the lockout I was part of a fan panel thing for the Kings. They asked us questions regarding rule changes, web site, and other things. One of those was the planned switch to OLN/VS. I still hold the belief that I would rather be the most important show on a small station than the least important on the big station.

 

[awaz]

in the mind of ESPN
hearing themselves talk>>Football>Baseball> cheer-leading >strongest man>hockey>chess

During the lockout I was part of a fan panel thing for the Kings. They asked us questions regarding rule changes, web site, and other things. One of those was the planned switch to OLN/VS. I still hold the belief that I would rather be the most important show on a small station than the least important on the big station.

i agree.. but what i'm saying is if the NBA locks out, which seems like a legitimate option right now, the NHL would be very high on the list.. think about it.. we call espn, espNBA, because it covers so much NBA, which it does because they have the rights to the NBA.. can you imagine how much more coverage hockey would get if the NBA locked out, AND espn had the rights to the NHL? from the beginning of february through the playoffs hockey would be #1.. except for the month of march while NCAAB is important..

think about it.. the NFL already gets too much coverage for their off-season, so it cant get much more, early season baseball matters less than my opinion on shakespeare.. the NBA would be locked out.. college football gets very little coverage until mid august.. even if the hockey rights didn't belong to espn it would get a huge increase in coverage..

the last point is the reason i would try to do something like 'thursday night hockey' or something like that.. leave VS. to do its thing the majority of the time, and have espn have a game of the week like NBC does.. if you could guaruntee the NBA locking out next season though, i would sell out completely to espn.. the attention hockey would get would be astronomical in relation to the coverage its gotten since the lockout

 

[Eddie_Shack]

I personally don't care. I don't usually watch much of the pre or post game on Versus, and I'm sure I wouldn't on ESPN. I like highlight shows like NHL on the Fly and NHL2Night(RIP), but as long as I can watch the games I'm fine. I get ESPN and Versus, and while I think ESPN had a more polished broadcast I get the feeling there's less of a chance of games getting bumped while on Versus.

I agree with destroy, after the lockout ESPN told the NHL to piss off, and OLN/Versus took a chance. ESPN is basically a farce of itself, they take sports so seriously it's like watching a Fox News or CNN broadcast, just ridiculous. And if ESPN was CNN, the NHL would be the Libertarian Party. The more I think about it, fuck ESPN.

 

[evolver115]

i agree.. but what i'm saying is if the NBA locks out, which seems like a legitimate option right now, the NHL would be very high on the list.. think about it.. we call espn, espNBA, because it covers so much NBA, which it does because they have the rights to the NBA.. can you imagine how much more coverage hockey would get if the NBA locked out, AND espn had the rights to the NHL? from the beginning of february through the playoffs hockey would be #1.. except for the month of march while NCAAB is important..

I'm very uneducated when it comes to the NBA. When is their pending lockout coming? Is it next season?

 

[pixburgher66]

for me, i just want coverage. i don't care what channel it's on. i want coverage. as good as VS has been for the NHL in the past few seasons, you ONLY get coverage a few days a week, and there's nothing beyond pre and post game. IF it goes back to ESPN it would only bump up overall coverage because it's part of what they're trying to sell. although i hold harsh feelings for ESPN (have you seen their FA page?) i'd be happy if it went back because it would mean an increase in NHL coverage during their SC and other things.

 

[PenVolution]

I'm very uneducated when it comes to the NBA. When is their pending lockout coming? Is it next season?

This one.

 

[evolver115]

This one.

? what's your point?

I'm not ashamed about my lack of knowledge of the NBA.

 

[pixburgher66]

? what's your point?

I'm not ashamed about my lack of knowledge of the NBA.

i think he meant "this season"

 

[evolver115]

i think he meant "this season"

sheesh. right over the top. Figures it would be about an NBA topic.