More Fuel For The J.R. Hate Fire

[IPostedWhat]

Sidney Crosby returned on Monday night, and the ratings on national TV in the United States were horrible. Makes you wonder: Was Jeremy Roenick right when he said we're all sick of hearing about The Kid?

As noted by Puck the Media, the game drew fewer than 200,000 viewers on Versus Monday night. Now, it's worth noting that the game aired locally in Pittsburgh and New York. Because Versus picked up the game on such short notice, it was not an exclusive broadcast. It's not unusual for non-exclusive games to take a dive in the TV ratings, which is why NBC worked hard to get more exclusive games for its cable outlet in the new NHL television contract.

I'm not a big reactionary, so I'm not about to proclaim that the NHL is dying again. I'm also sick and tired of hearing the "Nobody can find Versus on their TV" garbage. If you're a hockey fan, you actually have Versus on your television, and you "can't find it," you're not much of a hockey fan.

I was honestly surprised to see this low of a number, even taking into account Versus' non-exclusivity. Once I saw it, my brain started churning about what it could have meant.

My wife is biased (can't stand Crosby, and has never really liked him), but she has been steadfast in her stance that "Joe hockey fan" -- for lack of a better term -- is just sick and tired of hearing about Crosby.

What if she's right?

What if Jeremy Roenick was right?

But it's hard not to think that Roenick had a point amid all the madness. Maybe people are just tired of hearing about Sidney Crosby. There are 29 teams and nearly 700 active players in this league who aren't named "Sidney Crosby," and maybe fans would like to hear about the other really good ones once in a while.

Sidney Crosby's Return Draws Awful TV Rating; Was Jeremy Roenick Right? - SBNation.com

 

[PhillyPhaithful48]

Woo J.R. is playing in the alumni game!

Is Crosby back yet?

 

[awaz]

He's right. Why can't we hear more about ovechkin?

 

[TiLoBrown]

I read PTM and agree with what someone said, I was looking forward to watching Bos/MTL. But once it became the Crosby show, I just didnt care. Hockey fans love hockey because its still a team sport, the NHL and the networks are trying to make it a superstar league and most of us dont want that.

 

[Jimmy_the_Tongue]

JR isn't anti-Crosby...he's anti-Pens...still pissed off about 1992!

 

[pixburgher66]

Whenever I hear JR/Milburry talk about the Pens, I take it as a grain of sand. Both are bitter still. And there's a lot of factors going into the Sid thing. I mean, they had about a day to prep for it. Zero time to market it, plenty of other games going on in the league that most NHL fans were probably watching...you know, their own teams. If this was a WC type thing, only game on, plenty of publicity, it's different. Personally, I don't care. 2nd highest regular season rating in Pittsburgh, behind only the return of Mario.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

As a non-Pens fan, I kinda like JR. He's anti-establishment in a way, he thinks how hockey fans think. We don't want the ESPN version of "We Need a Superstar to Focus On!!!!". I don't think he's a Crosby hater, he hates that Crosby is scene by many as bigger than the team, or the sport.

 

[Jimmy_the_Tongue]

As a non-Pens fan, I kinda like JR. He's anti-establishment in a way, he thinks how hockey fans think. We don't want the ESPN version of "We Need a Superstar to Focus On!!!!". I don't think he's a Crosby hater, he hates that Crosby is scene by many as bigger than the team, or the sport.

Like you said, 46...that's not Sid's fault....I guarantee that Sid is much more focused on being the best player that he can be than he is on being "the face of the NHL"...the kid gets a bad rap for a lot of things that are beyond his control...and I can't help but think that JR, in some way, feeds that fire...he seems, to me , to be the face of the anti-Sid "the kid" image that the NHL pushes...I don't think JR has anything against Sid personally...but I also don't think he's doing Sid any favors either...

 

[Eddie_Shack]

The ratings for this game weren't low because people "hate Sid" or are sick of seeing him, that's preposterous. The game was thrown up on short notice, most people thought it was going to be Boston/Montreal, and it was being shown locally in NY and Pittsburgh.

I do agree that people are sick of having Sid rammed down their throats (see the front page of NHL.com or the daily concussion updates on TSN). Not saying he doesn't deserve coverage, but I'm in the boat that wants to hear more about Seguin, RNH, etc.

That said, when Sid's playing I tune in. The guy is one of the most entertaining players in the league and I watch him every chance I get. You can be sick of Sid all you want, as am I, but if you don't want to watch him, or Datsyuk, or Stamkos, or any of the other amazing talents we're blessed with then you just aren't a hockey fan.

 

[Bizzle McDizzle]

watched On The Fly last night

before break, they talked about the Pens game like something amazing happened.. a couple of times said "Just WAIT til you see what the Pens did in the FIRST! After the break"

I watched expecting something ... they scored 4 goals. that was it? They built it up like there were 4 hat tricks, 6 penalty shots, a goalie goal, and a dance number at center ice.
I thought that was a tad over the top.

I watched the highlights. Of course. I like watching Sid play. Who wouldn't?

But then when the highlights were done, ALL they wanted to talk about was Sid.
<click>

 

[Eddie_Shack]

watched On The Fly last night

before break, they talked about the Pens game like something amazing happened.. a couple of times said "Just WAIT til you see what the Pens did in the FIRST! After the break"

I watched expecting something ... they scored 4 goals. that was it? They built it up like there were 4 hat tricks, 6 penalty shots, a goalie goal, and a dance number at center ice.
I thought that was a tad over the top.

I watched the highlights. Of course. I like watching Sid play. Who wouldn't?

But then when the highlights were done, ALL they wanted to talk about was Sid.
<click>

Who do they think he is, Jeff Skinner or something?

 

[Bizzle McDizzle]

Who do they think he is, Jeff Skinner or something?

no joke

he's dreamy you know

 

[TiLoBrown]

I dont think any fans hate Sid (besides Flyers fan of course) but I also dont think many cared about his return. Mario's return was different, the man told cancer to kiss his ass. Sid got hurt on hockey play, so it wasnt a big deal to me.

 

[Destroydacre]

I read PTM and agree with what someone said, I was looking forward to watching Bos/MTL. But once it became the Crosby show, I just didnt care. Hockey fans love hockey because its still a team sport, the NHL and the networks are trying to make it a superstar league and most of us dont want that.

Pretty much this. I watched a little bit of the NYI/Pittsburgh game, but it didn't keep my interest not because of Crosby, but because the game was terrible. The Islanders suck (sorry Bolts) and the game was practically over before it even began. What sucked even more was that the Boston/Montreal game ended up 1-0. I think just about every hockey fan out there would rather have watched that game.

I can understand why the league would preempt the scheduled game to show Crosby's return. Although a lot of people find it off putting how the league likes to shove him down your throat it, him coming back was a big deal. It's just too bad he came back against a really bad team. No one should be surprised that the ratings for this game sucked.

 

[SLY]

I'm sick of hearing about him, not gonna lie. I'm happy he is back so I dont have to hear the endless interviews about when he is coming back. I think most non-Pens/Isles fans wanted to see Bruins/Habs more. It was much better quality hockey played that night. If it was Sidney coming back against the Flyers or Capitals then I can see pulling the B's/Habs game for that, but, dumb move.

 

[PhillyPhaithful48]

I dont think any fans hate Sid (besides Flyers fan of course) but I also dont think many cared about his return. Mario's return was different, the man told cancer to kiss his ass. Sid got hurt on hockey play, so it wasnt a big deal to me.

This is exactly what pissed me off. I watched a segment where they compared the returns of Crosby and Mario. Not that it is Sid's fault, but Jesus Christ why on earth would you do that?

Again, not Sid's fault but still


I hate him

 

[Bizzle McDizzle]

I hate him

Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.

 

[PhillyPhaithful48]

Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.

If hate leads to him suffering, then hate on haters

 

[DChero]

I'm a little late to the party, but here's my two cents:

I actually missed the first period because my Comcast guide said that the Boston game was being shown. I was really disappointed that the game wasn't being aired at my home, so the wife and I went out to the bar to see if it was on there. Luckily, the game ended up being picked up on Versus, as the bar we went to didn't have NHL Center Ice. I'm sure there were a lot of people that may have missed the game do to it being a last-moment pickup for Versus..