Wait, there was a game last night?!?!

Thanks to the Bettman and his idiotic deal with Versus/NBC, I had no idea that they were actually playing hockey again last night. I'm a pimp for the puck (if I can steal a line from Jim Rome) and I absolutely LOVE the sport.

You can ask my fiancée who puts up with me and the sport all season and longs for the days of summer when I actually pay attention to her. Her situation is much like Drew Barrymore's character in Fever Pitch. If you haven't seen it, Drew falls in love with a baseball freak in winter when he's appears normal and questions her decision when spring training starts and the real him appears (this also allows me to run a picture of the lovely Drew for visual effect).

Raised during the MTV generation (when they actually showed videos), my attention span is admittedly short. So when the Ducks finished off the Wings LAST Tuesday, I was ready to see the battle for the Cup. It would start by the weekend, right? Saturday would be a great night to start, right? WRONG!

Game 1 was scheduled for a Memorial Day Monday. Now, while I was back from a short vacation to enjoy a late afternoon BBQ at the folk's house, I wasn't in the mood (like many Americans) to come inside and enjoy some hockey. It's still nice at night here in Phoenix so we enjoyed the evening pool-side.

So, I guess I missed a pretty good game as the Ducks beat the Sens, 3-2. Hell, there were five days between games! I had almost forgotten that someone hadn't drank from the Holy Grail yet....seriously, five days between games? Who's scheduling these games - the NBA? Damn you, Bettman. You pay someone to show your games and you're still some one's bitch when it comes to the schedule?

At least I now know Game 2 is on Wednesday on Versus (hopefully, you get that channel, but probably not) and Game 3 is on Saturday on NBC.

At least there are no major horse races scheduled for that day.

Captain, My Captain

Last week, Mr. Shane Doan (Captain of the Coyotes, for those not in the know) himself called into KTAR, 620 on your AM dial here in Phoenix, during the Gambo and Ash Show to give his thoughts on the whole NHL-NBC debacle that occured during Game 5 of the Buffalo-Ottawa series (a moment of silence for our fallen ex-Coyotes, Briere and Numminen...I was SO pulling for you guys!)


One, how cool was it that Doaner just called in to a sports radio show? He said he was listening and wanted to give his thoughts on NBC changing over to Preakness pre-race coverage. And two, as the owner of a ranch and multiple horses, Doan would be able to provide good insight from both sides of the fence (ok, there's a bad horse joke there that I'm not going to make).

Doan said that it was a big time slap in the face of hockey. He did point out that if it had been two traditional teams, say like Chicago or New York, there was NO way NBC would have changed to the horse race.

He also pointed out that Phoenix (which is often listed as one of the cities that doesn't support hockey) would support a winner. He said that the Suns are currently a hot ticket as were the Dbacks during the World Series run. He remembers the good ol' days at the America West Arena when the Coyotes did good business (the Tkachuk/Roenick years) and the Suns struggled to put any butts in the seats.

That's a good point. I hate to say that we're a town of bandwagon jumpers, but if the wagon fits, jump on, right?

The hosts brought up evil Emperor Gary Bettman and the problems that the NHL has had during his reign of incompetence - over expansion, two work stoppages, the NBC deal, not being on ESPN, etc.

Doan did not want to bad mouth Bettman directly, so he talked about the NHL being on a down swing and thought things would pick up with all the young talent in the league (Crosby, Ovechkin, et al). He pointed to the Sports Illustrated cover story that asked if the NHL would rise above the NBA.

One of the hosts asked him when that issue came out? "1994," Doan said.

And when did Bettman become the commish? "I believe in 1994," Doan replied.

Well, he actually took over in '93. But point well made, Captain. This is another reason why I'm glad Doan wears the 'C' for the 'Yotes.