Not ready for prime time observations

Once again, faced with a Twitter-sized amount of space for my weekend musings, I turn to the vast, wide-open spaces of the blogosphere to handle the overload.

LORD STANLEY'S MOMENT: Now that the Stanley Cup playoffs have come to an end -- and it's not even July! -- I'm left with one mystery that none of the high-paid analysts could solve: Just what is a penalty in the NHL? ... If the NHL is hoping to put a bigger dent in the American market, and maybe add a few more eyeballs in Canada, too, it might consider finding better camera positions in many arenas. Coverage of Friday's Game 7 from Detroit was severely handicapped by the fact viewers couldn't see what was going on when play was along the near boards. Pittsburgh's antiquated arena was no better. When the new arena is built there, let's hope somebody pays as much attention to camera positions as the designers of the Air Canada Centre did. ... During the third period Friday, NBC's man inside the glass, Pierre McGuire, showed why that feature is so invaluable. He noted that Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen had been caught on long shifts again, which might have explained why the Wings were cooked. A guy in the booth may not have noticed this. ... NBC and the NHL, citing contract stipulations, barred fans in Detroit from watching Game 6 in the arena, presumably because it might hurt ratings. Yes, this is how you build a TV empire for hockey, by depriving 15,000 hard-core fans of a great experience. ... D'oh! CBC's Jim Hughson told viewers that the Penguins were leading 2-0 with less than 5 minutes remaining in the game. In fact, it was 2-1. So Bob Cole's not the only one ...

OTHER STUFF: TSN should be commended for putting that Usain Bolt track meet on the air Thursday. But surely the event deserved better coverage. Camera angles didn't do much to show viewers what was really happening and the commentary was blase at best. ... Jeff Van Gundy emerged as a pretty solid analyst during the NBA playoffs. A perfect example came Friday when Orlando's Jameer Nelson gave up a three-pointer with 4.6 seconds left and the Magic leading by three. ``The players' IQ astounds me, of not knowing time, score and situation," Van Gundy said. ... Blue Jays television analyst Pat Tabler was right on the mark Saturday, when he pointed out Alex Rios' base-running gaffe in not moving to third from second on a deep fly to right. At times like that one, though, you wish Tabler wasn't such a nice guy and pointed out how often Rios does this sort of thing. ... Former Argo Orlondo Steinauer is aiming for a media job and by the way he sounded Friday on the FAN 590, he deserves one. ... Best line of the week came from the FAN's Jack Armstrong. Asked what he'd do if stranded on an island with two other radio guys -- okay, it was Bob McCown and Doug Farraway -- and one bullet, Armstrong replied: ``Shoot myself."  Admittedly, it was a set-up but a funny one anyway.

Comments

[Jim]

you're way too kind to TSN's coverage of Bolt et al. The commentary ranged from laughably entertaining (in a bad way) to third-rate. All around, it was embarrassing. The colour guy was dreadful and Gordo couldn't get through a race without a couple of hockey-isms. Well, i guess they go 3 years til London to get to passable.

[Tim H.]

Is it really a gaffe that Rios failed to move "from third to second on a deep fly to right." Why would he want to do that? :>)

[chris]

BWAH! Good one, Jack!

[Steve]

I, for one, am glad that Rios didn't move from third to second.

[Peter Brown]

Chris,

Shouldn't you point out that (as every NBA fan knows) Jeff Van Gundy is the brother of the Orlando Magic coach Stan? And doesn't that call into question Jeff's immediate observation that Nelson being out of position on Derek Fisher's three was a "player IQ" problem as opposed to poor coaching? Wouldn't it have been StanVan's direction during the timeout to double-team Kobe Bryant on the inbounds, which led directly to Fisher's opportunity?

To be fair, Jeff’s commentary seemed objective and professional to me throughout. But when criticism of a player comes so quickly in a situation where coaching could also be to blame, the potential conflict of interest should be pointed out. This is especially true when many, in both the mainstream media and the blogosphere, have taken Stan to task for various coaching failings, during that play and throughout the series.

Peter Brown

BLOGGER'S REPLY: You make some good points, Peter. I figured every kind of new there couldn't be two guys named Van Gundy who weren't related, but I thought for the most part Jeff avoided looking biased. But, I have to admit I only watched a couple of the NBA finals so maybe I missed something.
Chris Zelkovich