How to make the NHL more popular

I hear the complaints from Hockey fans left and right.  Why do we not get any love on ESPN.  It is a very similar complaint I have living in California, why must they always talk about the Yankees, Red Sox and Cubs?  Last week the Dodger still had the best record and the league and took a series from the reining World Series Champs.  Yet all we saw was Big Papi still suck at the plate, and the Yankees hit another home run out of their band box.  I know I can’t change what Sports Center reports but I know what Hockey can do to change the popularity of their sport. Stop competing with the NBA finals.

Out here in California, majority of the people could care less about hockey.  It is foreign to us and it is played on the VS network.  They are those teams that get to use Staples Center when the Clippers and Lakers do not have a game.  Mainly the only connection to Hockey as a child for us is from the movie Mighty Ducks and Airbone.  Yes, I know it is pretty sad, but out here in the west we just don’t care.

So I propose to the NHL and fans world wide to change their seasons start and end.  It would work wonders for the sport.  Check it out.

Super Bowl Sunday is the first week of February, the NBA finals take place in mid June, the World Series is played in October.  Lets assume that the postseason lasts a month.  This means the month of January, October, and June are taken.  Hockey should change their season schedule to end and have playoffs at a different time then trying to compete with the NBA finals.  I would recommend April or August.  That way there is nothing to exciting happening with the big three.  If hockey was on during these times when the other sports were “slow” they would not have to televise games on VS.  It could be done on ESPN or TNT.  Possibly attracting higher ratings and getting people to follow hockey.

Trying to compete with the NBA they lose tons of potential fans.  If I had my choice to watch LeBron and Kobe or Syd and Ovie, I would chose LeBron and Kobe.

I think if hockey wants more fans to see their unreal post season, which this post season has been, then they need to change the schedule and dates of when they start and end.  They will never get more coverage then the NBA.  It just wont happen.  Time for a change NHL.

Bobby Jenks and Phil Jackson

The Major League Baseball Association needs to take a page out of the NBA’s book.  Just this past week after a game four loss to the Denver Nuggets, Phil Jackson commented on the performance of the refs.  The complaint was due to the lack consistency in regards to the way the game was called.  He said that his players did not know what a foul was or was not.

Ensuing the following day Phil Jackson was slapped with a $25,000 fine.  To say this fine is a bit hefty would be an understatement, yet by issuing such stiff penalties it cleans up the post game banter in the press room, and keeps the conversation for the most part on hoops.

Lets jump over to the MLB now.  About a month ago Bobby Jenks, and his Chi Town White Sox, got hit six time from the Texas Rangers.  When Jenks came in to close, the very first pitch he threw behind Ian Kinsler.  Jenks got his point across along with a warning.  After the game Jenks admitted he did it on purpose.  The very next day Jenks was slapped with a seven hundred and fifty dollar fine.

What is the MLB doing in regards to protecting its players?  If Phil Jackson can get a $25,000 dollar fine for verbal banter in a post game conference then a pitcher should get that for throwing at a player purposefully.  Even the flagrant foul penalty or the technical foul penalty in the NBA is much stiffer than the throwing at a player penalty.  The MLB needs to get some sort of policy in order for fining a player, that amount is just ridiculous and quite laughable.

For a more comical approach on this category check out Zach from Lost Angeles blog HERE

More East Coast love for sports

Ridiculous, I just finished reading that FOX and the MLB plan to hold and start World Series games 45 min earlier.  The sole reason for this is so the East Coast does not have to watch these games until one and two in the morning.
My question to FOX and the MLB is, does everyone live on the East Coast?  Do you realize that moving a 5:10 game ahead 45 minutes earlier will mean that anyone living on the West Coast misses the first three innings due to the fact that we have work.  It is already a struggle to make it home by the end of the first inning with a 5:10 game.  Now you are making it

The last time I checked the average work day ended at five.  The average bed time?  Well I think that is a little more flexible.  This is a huge fail for the MLB, FOX, and the East Coast.  Sack up and go to bed that fourty-five minutes later.  I did not realize that the whole east coast was a huge elderly home?  Whats next, are you going to complain that the pre game show cuts into Bingo and dinner time?

The MLB is trying to increase their ratings by making these games earlier.  According to ESPN “Philadelphia’s five-game victory averaged an 8.4 rating, down 17 percent from the previous low, a 10.1 for the five-game St. Louis-Detroit series in 2006.

Are the people with the MLB serious?  Come on.  The reason the ratings were down 17 percent from the previous low was not because of the start and end time of the game.  It was the teams.  Who gives a shit about the Rays or Phillies other than Tampa Bay and Philidelphia.  I love watching Rain Delays, dont you?  You had no major market teams in the series, and what made it even worse was it was the most losing team in baseball history, and a team that celebrated its 20th birthday last year.  Woo Hoo drinking age this year…

I guarantee if the Dodgers and the Red Sox or Yanks made it to the series you could start a game at 7:00 PST and it would set a record for ratings.

MLB, FOX, East Coast……FAIL

Baseball players Juice?

I woke up this morning to a text from a friend of mine saying “wow 50 games”.  The first thought that ran through my head was who on the Dodgers is injured.  I then walked out to the kitchen to make some breakfast when my girlfriend said Manny tested positive for steroids.  I could not believe it.  I turned on ESPN and sure enough they were playing Manny’s statement how he did not know.

As a Dodger fan I want to believe him and think that he did not know.  Yet how many times have we heard this from the guys who got caught juicing? Endless amounts.  Then I started to think, how could he have done this to the city, the club, the sport of baseball.  It is a very interesting time in the city of Los Angeles and for Dodger fans.  We are coming off of the best season start ever setting a major league baseball record yet we have just given the sports nation a chance to put an asterisk on this start.  An asterisk I will not deny.

It sucks to lose the Dodgers best hitter, yet it is not time to hit the panic button in LaLa land.  Last season the Dodgers had Manny for 27 games.  The Dodgers then made the playoffs.  When he came to LA we embraced him and accepted him with open arms.  He was brilliant and put on a hitting show only Ted Williams could rival.  When Manny’s suspension is up that will be July 3rd.  This means we will see him in the field wearing Dodger blue for the second half of the season, a much longer time than 27 games.

Chances are that when he comes back I am guess Manny will be clean and on a mission to prove that he is a great hitter minus the roids.  Aside from Manny the Dodgers already have a deep lineup, we will now have Juan Pierre start in left field which will bring us defense.  Pierre obliviously not the hitter Manny is yet a ok replacement.

How about the gipper Joe?  Torre has dealt with this situation in New York many times.  Clemens, Giambi, Petit and the list goes on.  If anyone knows how to handle a team with a player on steroids it is Joe Torre.  Over the next fifty games we will probably go 500.  When Manny gets back, well we will see what happens.

It is time for Either to prove that he can still hit without Manny, or that Matt Kemp is as good of a player without Manny.  This will be the one time that a team rallys around Manny and shows that they have his back through the good and the bad.  Manny will see that this city still loves him and that we know he messed up.  When Manny gets back, I am guessing it is going to be game on and we will all be able to see if he is truly a great hitter or if it was just the juice.

Until next time-

Power Rankings

You know it is a great time to live in LA when the Dodgers and Lakers are both number one in the power rankings and it is 75 degrees outside. Yes it is ok to be jealous rest of the country. Have a happy Monday.