tj’s profile

see what happens when you cut and paste all willy-nilly?

posted at 01:27 AM on April 23

Wings in 6, maybe 7. Sharks in 5. Lightning in 5. my heart is with the Habs, but Flyers in 6.

posted at 01:23 AM on April 23

Let me expand on that so I don't seem like an idiot. The Bertuzzi-Moore hit put the spotlight on the sport near the end of one of the best seasons in a very long time. As much as I hate Bettman, the league's reaction was quick and the sentence was handed soon enough for the nonfan to remember seeing the clip on Sportscenter, and made it a lead story-- which pushed the NHL coverage, of quite some very close races to get into the playoffs, earlier in the show. And now people are getting hooked. Like I said, just a thought.

posted at 01:12 PM on April 20

Hmm, just throwing out a thought here... is it possible that the Bertuzzi incident may have actually *helped* the ratings?

posted at 01:05 PM on April 20

Hockey had it's chance early on in the 50's with televised games in the US, but the ownership of the 6 team league thought it affect the ticket sales too much. (I would quote the passage in Net Worth, but I can't find my copy) Playing the game and being exposed to it at an early age are two different things. Knowing the history and culture of the sport is what creates fans. But then, I grew up in a house with shrines to the numbers 1,7,9,10 and 12 in the basement (with a 19 being added in the 80s). Ratings (not neccesarily ticket sales) in this area have always been decent, even when the team was horrible. The NBA, NFL, MLB, and now NASCAR all have done huge marketing pushes that have worked. The NHL on the other hand tries to let the game sell itself, which is suicide. There was a push there with Gretzky in LA (who guest starred on an episode of SNL). But when wayne retired the league did little to build on the recognition, other than pepper the south of the country with expansion and reloated canadian teams. I had a point here somewhere, I think I could have just said: "The NHL has always had a problem selling itself, and needs to get it's head out of it's rear"

posted at 02:24 PM on March 19

This is horrible for the sport. Remember, this wasn't done by a thug this time, but one of the "Premier All Star (thugs)" of the game. He needs to have his ass handed to him by the league.

posted at 01:00 PM on March 09

I would like to point out that Illitch may just be trying to rebuild the Tigers in the same way that he did the Red Wings (without the car giveaways, though). A little history lesson in Detroit sports for those who are not familiar with the story... In the 80s, Illitch bought the Wings (then referred to many around here as the Dead Things). Through moves and long term commotments, as well as some creative marketing brought the team to what it is today. Illitch went on the record saying that he would be willing to spend money to get the team in order, but he didn't want to waste it. If the Tigers do not show MAJOR improvement this year, Dombrowski (the GM) will be gone) side note-- The Pudge signing may not affect the number of season ticket holders as much as the fact you have to be a season ticket holder to get a decent chance a All Star game tix when it's at Comerica.

posted at 02:24 PM on February 03

People have expected Federov to take off this year for a long time. Many of the fans here (in Detroit) just didn't warm back up to him after his hold season in 98. Federov wants to the one and only superstar of a team, something that wasn't going to happen with the Wings. The only thing that shocked me is that he wnt to Anaheim and not LA.

posted at 12:58 PM on July 21

This is bad for the sport in general (in the US). The potential stoppage may alienate casual fans, and a slightly better than beer league lineup isn't going have a draw like the NHL. And as for lack of kids, the last 5 games I've gone to, people have had their rugrats there, jumping about. I can't think of how many times I've had parents of kids have to walk their kids right in front of me during the damn play.

posted at 01:21 AM on July 17

Welcome to the Bizarro playoffs. Anaheim knocks off Detoit, Minnesota knocks off Colorado.

posted at 10:36 AM on April 23

Danny Gare? He retired due to back problems. link

posted at 11:49 AM on April 17

As a "smug" Wings fan. I had a bad feeling about this series from the get go. The Wings' started looking shaky back in the second to last game in the regular season when they struggled to tie Columbus. The loss to Chicago in overtime was a harbinger of this. I don't think the blame for the sweep should relly fall on CuJo, either... he put up the second best numbers in the first round of all teams. Giguere is on fire, and is going to be a tough nut for any team to crack. Honestly, the Wings were not playing playoff hockey. There was definitely something missing, and I'm not sure that you can point the finger at Lewis either. They lost as a team. Defensive miscues, and Dandenault generally playing with his head up his a**. ah well, I can finally say this: Go LEAFS!

posted at 11:34 AM on April 17

fabulon7, I don't know. I think Grapes would be giving that guy at least one forearm shivver-- it'd be worth it, if they televised it.

posted at 03:15 PM on October 01

alex_reno, I'm a little insulted by that. I've been watching coach for years. (and Grapes is everybody's Don Cherry.)

posted at 07:15 AM on October 01

ttrendel-- now you know what it feels like to be a Lions fan.

posted at 07:30 AM on September 30