The Bastardization of Hockey In Boston Sickens Me

Written by Greg Ezell

Wednesday, 09 December 2009 08:54

lockout

The bastardization of hockey in this town sickens me.

I want to preface this post by stating that I am a big fan of the NBA and to a lesser extent the NFL. I love watching the Celtics whenever I get the chance because I've been playing basketball since I was able to shoot the ball. This year, my interest in the NFL has hit rock bottom. I could care less if I miss the Sunday slate of games because I'm doing something and if I am home on a Sunday, I'm usually gaming and checking my fantasy football scores with no interest in what's on the TV.

With all of that said, I am sick and tired of listening about the New England Patriots or the Boston Red Sox over and over and over and over and over. I listen to 98.5 The Sports Hub every day at work via my iPod and the coverage of these teams sicken me.

For a radio station that is the official sports station of the Boston Bruins, there is very little Bruins talk on there. I know there is always a sprinkling of interviews with Pete Chiarelli, Shawn Thornton and Milan Lucic, but where is the actual hockey talk? Where are the radio personnel talking about players, plays, recapping games and where are the calls with the questions? I know Damon Amendolara will talk hockey, but even that's a rarity.

To keep with The Sports Hub, on Sunday the Patriots get about 9 hours of football coverage while on the day of a hockey game, you will get 30 minutes before the game of pre-game coverage then the game itself. Unlike the Patriots, there is no 4 hour post-game show, there is no one or two hour pre-game show. You get 30 minutes to talk about hockey and that's it. On Wednesday night, you get "The Hockey Show" for 1 hour. Wow, thanks.

Look past 98.5 The Sports Hub and change the tuner on your radio. WEEI won't sniff the Bruins until the playoffs because "that's the cool thing to do." They're a joke of a radio station anyways and I can't stand their personnel.

It's not just radio though. Looking locally, the Bruins are a distant fourth in terms of hockey coverage. The Patriots and Red Sox tangle for first place throughout the YEAR while the Celtics sit at third.

So what happened that caused the Bruins to fall so behind its sports brethren in terms of media coverage? Some people will look towards the years of mediocrity by the Bruins, but in the same breath when the Celtics were terrible in the late years of the 90's and early years of the 2000's they still got their proper coverage.

Was it the NHL lockout? That COULD be the answer because when you look at the MLB lockout in 1994, attendance took a major hit, but the media coverage was still there. The Red Sox were still covered and the "Red Sox Nation" that we know today was in full cultivation.

Last season the Bruins caught everyone, including the fans, by surprise with their amazing play and you STILL heard little to nothing about them. Once the season began this year, you heard fans buzzing about last season's record and subsequent exit to the Carolina Hurricanes and after a month into the season all you heard was "this team sucks".

Nationally the coverage is even more abysmal. ESPN, or as I call them Lucifer of sports coverage, barely shakes a wooden stick towards the boys on the ice. Hell, they would rather show you women's volleyball or MLS soccer over the NHL. SOCCER! NBC does show hockey games (once or twice a month?), although if you're not a fan of the New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins or Phildephia Flyers you are shit out of luck. Your last resort is either:

a) Local broadcasts like NESN (which sucks if you're not a fan of the team in your local market).
b) Center Ice (which sucks if you're poor).
c) Versus (which just sucks in general).

If you want good Boston Bruins news or analysis, you better learn how to scour the internet. I believe the Bruins have some of the best, knowledgeable bloggers in the hockey world and there is a diversity from the well-known sites like Stanley Cup of Chowder and Hub Hockey, to the grass roots style of start-up and humor related hockey talk.

But doesn't anyone see a problem in this? You have to use the Internet to get your major dose of hockey in Boston. Instead of shows like Patriots All-Access or Celtics Now, where the hell are the hockey shows? Yeah, we get The Buzz, but it's not the same. There isn't hockey talk, per se, as there is just what's going on with the Bruins around the community. There's a big difference between having people banter about the power play and watching Patrice Bergeron shop at Toys-R-Us.

I'm just sick and tired of a hockey fan having to play 4th fiddle because the Bruins aren't at the level of the Patriots and Red Sox. The hockey fan in Boston, especially the hardcore fan, is as passionate as a Red Sox or Patriots fan, yet gets pushed aside.

The bastardization of hockey in this town sickens me. I want to hear your opinions on the subject, please.

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Comments (13) Add Comment

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written by TexasGal, December 09, 2009

Well, we do get The Instigators on NESN... but that's still nothing like the extensive coverage given other sports.

Heck, Notre Dame Football gets a weekly show on NESN!

agreed...
written by Mat W, December 09, 2009

It would be nice to hear more than the score (if we even get that some mornings) on the commute. I would love to hear some on-air discussion about contracts, trades, injuries, call-ups etc and how it affects the lineups. I mean, I get more info from the Bruins themselves via email and their site. When the Bruins re-signed Savard to a long term deal, I think I maybe heard on one 5 second sidenote about it on the radio. Plus we have a great college hockey teams and you almost never hear them mentioned and they've won national championships.

While I am a big Pats fan, I really don't care for baseball or NBA basketball (NCAA is another story). However I do find the "franchise" aspect interesting where you're trying to build the team to win. But please, can we just have a little more hockey news?

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written by CameronFrye, December 09, 2009

They need to win a Cup or there has to be something epic going on for people to really care. Easier said than done, but it doesn't take a rocket scienctiest to figure it out.

And even though they were proven as 'cheaters' in the end, but the McGwire/Sosa run to break Roger Maris's homerun record helped bring back a love of baseball on a national level and it certainly helped putting people in the seats.

No question
written by MHCranberry, December 09, 2009

You are absolutely correct and it infuriates me. I guess we do have the Buzz, but that's hardly in-depth hockey talk.

And let's be honest. The Instigators is just a way of letting Mike Milbury spray his crap all over everything in sight because he is Mike Milbury. Honestly, I'd watch the show if it was just Jack and Brick.

I'd like to advocate FREE THE BRUINS tshirts, by the way.

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written by MHCranberry, December 09, 2009

Cameron--

The fallacy in your logic is that people DON'T care. There are a lot of hockey fans in the region, more than enough for at least minimal market share on local radio. As far as radio, if it's worth it to pick up the games, there's no reason they shouldn't be doing other hockey-related broadcasts as well.

But there's also the issue of media as a way of building the market. One reason why the Bruins got no recognition last season is because no one knew it was happening! No one was saying anything on sports highlights shows, talking about them on the radio, nothing. And as soon as Red Sox spring training started, the Bruins vanished. Last season was record-breaking for them; there's no excuse for this. It's called marketing.

Those ads? With the bear? Those were a really big step. People noticed those. But ads on TV are not enough.

I think it's a sad commentary on sports in this city if one of the oldest sports franchises out there needs to win a Cup to get media attention. That's stupid.

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written by tetreaultvision, December 09, 2009

Part of the problem I think is the demonstrable lack of Championship success as the other teams int he market won titles. In the late 80s & early 90s, when the Bruins went to two Cup Finals in three years, Hockey bordered on king of beantown. The problem was that Harry followed Jacobs' orders to keep the team competitive and not go for it all. Neely's injury was bad luck, but the middling ways of the Bruins allowed the Patriots, Red Sox and Celtics to reassert themselves in the media, by winning. Apart from Dale Arnold, how many recognizable radio voices have (had) an attachment to the club and to hockey in general? The market moved away from hockey, because the Bruins stopped being a draw of new listeners.

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written by CTGray, December 09, 2009

Oddly enough we have the same radio station for Sharks coverage here in the Bay Area. (98.5) We are fortunate enough to get a small pregame, the entire game and a small post game on the radio. Our radio folks are top notch too, and if it wasn't for the allure of watching the game (and Randy and Drew), I'd listen to them all 82 games in the season + playoffs.

98.5 is a classic rock station here though, so once the games are over, so is the coverage. KNBR is a big sports talk radio station, that does cover the Sharks in a minimal capacity. There are fairly regular interviews with players or the GM, but most of the talk will surround football and baseball.

We have a lot of what I call "the self fulfilling prophecy" here; the sports talk shows keep saying hockey has a small market so they won't talk about it, but by refusing to talk about it they potentially are helping keep the market "small." It's a shame because there really are a good number of hockey fans here in the Bay Area, both for the Sharks and for other teams across the league.

The local news stations only cover the team come playoff time. Maybe a week or two before. Occasionally scores are mentioned in passing on the late night sports coverage. KFOG always mentions Sharks scores, and even had a blogger come on one season to talk about the Sharks, but again, they're a rock station, not sports.

We could use better coverage. Hockey is still the best kept secret in the Bay Area.

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written by BCJM76, December 09, 2009

It's the same here. I listen to 97.1 the ticket out of Detroit every day at work. Their programming consists of 90% Michigan, Michigan State and Detroit Lions football, 5% Detroit Tigers, 4% Detroit Pistons and 1% Detroit Red Wings. Yes that's right, the 2-11 Detroit Lions, 5-7 Michigan Wolverines and 6-6 Michigan State Spartans get 99% more coverage than a team that went to the Stanley cup finals a year ago.

Personally I place the blame on Bettman. He's done little in the way of marketing this league and keeps pushing non traditional markets on us. The League needs to aggressively market this league in it's established cities and start from the bottom to try to get this league back into the media.

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written by BCJM76, December 09, 2009

To continue on what I just said. NHL stop force feeding us Sidney Crosby. He is not the best player in the NHL and he is not Wayne Gretzky. No one outside of Pittsburgh likes Crosby or respects him. At least when 99 was around, you may not have liked playing against the great one but everyone respected him. No one respects cry baby Sidney. Instead of concentrating every penny of marketing money the NHL has on this douche, start spreading it around. Guys like Kovalchuk, Ovechkin, Thornton, Savard, ect are not marketed like they should be and in any other sport would be. If the league would get their head out of Crosby's ass, maybe hockey could get a bigger share of the market in other cities. Boston doesn't care about him, Detroit doesn't care about him, Chicago doesn't care about him so why sell him there? Start marketing local players in local markets and you'll see market shares go up.

Bruins dont get respect and..
written by Joe Gill, December 09, 2009

They wont until they win a Cup. I am a long time Bruins fan. If you were around in the mid 80's to the early 90's this was a hockey town. However, they havent even had a sniff at the finals in 20 years.

At least 985 hub has the hockey show every Wednesday at 6pm. Granted its only for a hour.

Win and you get more attention.

Joe Gill
http://boston.sportsthenandnow.com/

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written by sconnors37, December 09, 2009

The fact that the internet is the first place I have to turn to get any sort of Bruins coverage is maddening. As someone who worked at one of the "big 2" papers in boston, I can't tell you how many times, even during spring training and the football offseason, that hockey consistently got ranked 4th, 5th, 6th on the nightly sports budget. Even for the paper's website - which means it often gets relegated to the corner, below stories about baseball speculation and tom brady's relationship struggles. I mean, really. If the media is going to treat hockey like a second-rate sport, what's going to prompt people to start watching?

I'm relatively new to the fanbase, and the only reason I became a fan was because my dad, who was already a fan, took me to a game. That isn't the case for 99% of current non-fans. I agree with Margaret that the bear ads were a step in the right direction. Now the media needs to take about 10 more steps. More advertisements. More promotions. Don't take down my giant shiny billboard of Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara and replace it with some stupid HBLI ad (much as I love Tedy Bruschi) as happened on I-93 north of Boston last year (they took it down RIGHT BEFORE PLAYOFFS, too! That KILLED me.) If the boys make it to the playofs, TALK ABOUT IT! Make the internet a second source BEHIND news broadcasts, TV OR radio!

Oh and for the record, Center Ice still sucks even if you have the budget - half the time we don't even get homerific Jack and Brick, but whatever homer jerkfaces work for the other team. That second Pens game? I wanted to tear my hair out, for reals.

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written by CharM , December 11, 2009

The Bruins could win the Stanley Cup this spring and draw 5 million people for the parade and hockey will STILL be ignored here because the local radio guys are ignorant about the sport, and, in the case of guys like Glen Ordway, PROUD of their ignorance. Ever listen to them talk about hockey? They don't just dismiss it, they ridicule it.

And seriously, when someone like Mazzarotti deigns to discuss hockey, it makes me uncomfortable, because they're so damn clueless. All in all, I'd rather they just keep on ignoring it. I mean, 90% of the Boston sports media to this DAY still can't pronounce "Lucic" or "Krejci" properly!

When Marc Savard re-signed, he cited the fans, not the media, in noting that Boston is a hockey town. I think he's got it right. I understand what you're saying about repsect and attention, but I don't need it to validate how I feel about hockey, and about the Bruins.

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written by Tuukka Time!, December 14, 2009

CharM has it right. WEEI's knowledge of hockey is painfully weak. I wince when I hear Pete Shepard or any in-studio meathead attempt to bark out anything approaching insight regarding hockey. Dale Arnold's still has his snoot out of joint for getting tossed overboard on Causeway Street -- but I, for one, was glad to see it. Beat it.

T&R on the 98.5 will run with the ball and Felger claims to be a Bs fan, but even he admits to not talking hockey until the playoffs. Maybe he's pouring over the media guide, cramming for spring finals. This is simply moronic in terms of 98.5's own marketing strategy. Now is when they should start building the base vis a vis non-Bs fans who otherwise listen to Brady worship and Moss bashing.

As far as the rest of us, it may be that the lines don't light up when talk turns to 5-hole Thomas vs. Tuukka the Great, but it may also be that the hockey fans have already tuned out the radio. It may be time for the fans to storm the lines at 98.5 and demand hockey talk. Money talks at sports radio. If they think we're out there,attention will be paid.

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