The NHL "may have touched bottom this weekend when
again it tried to reach out to a profoundly indifferent
American public" with ESPN's "NHL Rules!" presentation of
Sunday's Avalanche-Blackhawks game, according to Ed Willes
of the Vancouver PROVINCE, who wrote under the header,
"Hokey Night In America." Willes: "This is hockey, not
American Gladiators or Roller Jam. People get the game or
they don't. And, despite the NHL's desperate and
undignified attempts to expose itself to a larger audience,
they don't get it in most parts of the U.S." Willes wrote
MLB announcers Tim McCarver or Joe Morgan would be "laughed
off the air" if they "explained concepts" like "the hit-and-
run" or "the sacrifice bunt" during a baseball broadcast.
Willes: "Hockey is and always will be the fourth of the
major team sports in the U.S. ... You'd think by now the NHL
would accept this and move on but there remains the wild
hallucination that, one day, hockey will be accepted all
over the States. That's why the league continues to
prostitute itself for American TV while it continues to
alienate its most loyal fans" (Vancouver PROVINCE, 1/11).
But in L.A., Helene Elliott commended ESPN announcers Bill
Clement, Darren Pang and Bryan Lewis for doing a "nice job"
during the "NHL Rules!" presentation. Elliott: "They
answered some good questions, submitted over the Internet,
and explained nuances without condescending." Elliott:
"Occasionally the screen got too cluttered when graphics
popped up to illustrate terms, but it was a worthwhile
effort that should be repeated" (L.A. TIMES, 1/11).
ESPN TOUTS THE ONLINE NUMBERS: USA TODAY's Rudy Martzke
reports that ESPN's strong rating for the Mercedes
Championship "probably affected" ESPN2's "much-publicized"
instructional telecast, as Sunday's game earned a 0.3
rating, the net's NHL average. ESPN's Mike Soltys: "We're
talking about doing it again. You can't judge a five-year
contract in three months" (USA TODAY, 1/12). ESPN.com
received 10,304 questions from users during the three-hour
telecast, and more than 17,000 unique users visited the
ESPN.com chat room set up for the game (ESPN.com).
