We Be Puckin' on The Exchange

via Tampa Tribune

So if you missed the first three episodes of The Exchange, do yourselves a favor and take a listen to each. For quick recaps:

• Our debut featured Lahne Mattas of Steelergurl, one of the more popular Pittsburgh Steelers-themed sites going. We chatted on the NFL Draft that would take place later that week, including potential picks and the cloud that loomed over the festivities with the ongoing lockout.
  
• Our second show provided a lengthy conversation about the ongoing NBA playoffs, some quick points on the previous week’s NFL Draft and a quick moment to reflect on the death of Osama bin Laden.
  
• Last Tuesday’s show – extended to 90 minutes – gave us a fantastic discussion on sports ratings, the narrative of big versus small markets, announcers and the ‘Inferno of Idiocy’ thanks to Paulsen of Sports Media Watch.

Tomorrow, Sumit & I chat up hockey.

Say what?!?!

No, for real, we’re talking puck this week. We’ll have two guests this week:

• Angie Lewis (@LadyHatTrick) covers the Washington Capitals for The Hockey Writers as well as local high school teams for the Washington Post. She also runs All We Do is Puck. You can check an interview she did explaining more on the game with friend of Scribe, Mia Jackson of Sideline Pass.
  
• Andrew Bucholtz (@AndrewBucholtz) – who contributed to this Norman Einstein’s piece for me last year – is the editor of Yahoo! Canada’s CFL blog, The 55-yard Line. He also runs Sporting Madness, where he talks up pretty much anything where there’s a game, including hockey.

There are plenty of readers and listeners who are unfamiliar with the game, but find themselves caught up in it this time of year. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are arguably the best in all North American sports and these last few weeks have once again lived up to those lofty claims. We figured this would be a great time to give you a chance to learn a bit about the players, coaches, teams and other intricacies of the game.

Yet, the NHL has also made waves for other reasons in the last several days; Sean Avery’s (New York Rangers) public support of gay marriage & a few reactionary tweets that it inspired, relocation rumors involving the Atlanta Thrashers & City of Winnipeg, the shocking death of Rangers enforcer Derek Boogaard, etc. Whatever we can address in a timely manner, we shall as some of these matters might seem familiar to other sports.

So do yourselves a favor and tune in. If you haven’t, follow and get into The Exchange on BlogTalkRadio.

The Exchange - The 411 on the New Podcast

Last Tuesday’s post about the podcast actually provided the long-needed inspiration for its name. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, A Sports Scribe presents to you… The Exchange.

The Exchange?

Well, yeah.

See, when reading the final edited version of the post, chatting with potential guests and the likely co-host, it just made sense.

I’ve always believed that there’s no better social currency in the world than sports. You could drop me off in the middle of any foreign nation and if there’s some sort of game on, even a rather unfamiliar game, quite a few people are willing to strike up a conversation.

Business, politics and religion speak to a geographic identity while music and film speak to the individual psyche. Yet, sports are rather unique in that they can touch upon both in a manner that no other realm can.

Mention any local team or its rival and immediately, ears perk up, opinions are strewn about and some good-natured ribbing occurs. The conversation might drift a bit, especially when rival fans briefly come together to talk smack about a third team just for the heck of it. Yet, somehow, these people don’t forget each other, even if they don’t encounter one another ever again. There was a brief bond between people of disparate views on life and society because for a few hours a day or week, they cheer for laundry, as Jerry Seinfeld once quipped.

Now, mention that you’re not a Jay-Z fan. No one ever speaks to you about music again unless they want to a) try to convince you that you “aren’t really hearing him” but sending you his songs, b) examine your personal tastes like a snobby music critic and/or c) ridicule you for “being a hater”.

Movies? Please.

Religion? No comment.

Politics? C’mon, Man!

Business? You’re kidding, right?

It’s not that conversations on sports are perfect; in fact, after a loss, some fans and media tend to be saltier than the ocean and spread that unfocused anger to whoever has the nerve to mention their team’s name. Yet, we all come together to discuss who, what, when, where, why and how these insanely talented people move around some oblong object for a couple of hours.

As discussed before, The Exchange will try to pool together fans of varied interests, including all of those who drum the beat of “who cares about sports when we have real problems in this world?”. However, we will do so not only in discussions between the hosts, but with interviews with fellow writers, sports and media industry professionals and eventually current and former athletes. The analysis we will bring is rooted not only in our research and intrinsic knowledge, but just like Scribe, a mix of the business and culture that give sports such a unique gravitas.

So, who is ‘we’? At some point, Sumit Dasgupta will introduce himself formally. Hopefully, he'll become a significant contributor on the writing side, but when it came to launching the audio component, there’s not another person in the world I would have done so with. Sumit has one of the more brilliant game analysis minds I’ve ever encountered, but like me, his curiosity for what surrounds the on-field action will shine through in each show. Sumit lives in the Boston suburbs, but also like myself, doesn’t exactly follow the script of the local beat. Think of this show as a testament to the power of the internet; actually bring these brother cities together for 60 minutes.

If you were one of the three people on earth that remembered our program at Babson College, "I Dunno, but..." (shout out to the alma mater), you know that we will never have an issue filling up time. However, for the rest of planet Earth, all you need to know is that our show was the inspiration for my career.

As for our first edition of The Exchange; we will be talking about current happenings with the NBA and NHL playoffs, an introduction of ourselves individually and the seemingly forgotten NFL Draft.

Geez, NFL? Really?

Well, yes. We won’t just discuss picks and projections, but we will also talk about the different air around the Draft this time around thanks to the lockout. We expect as many questions from you as you expect answers, so our first guest – and wonderful friend to Scribe – Steelergurl, will chat with us about what’s truly going on. The well-respected blogger on the AFC Champs will be in New York next week for the Draft, so she’ll give all of us a tremendous look into all the hubbub before the lights come on Thursday night.

Of course, you will have an opportunity to interact on the show as it will be hosted on BlogTalkRadio. You can participate by calling into the show live as well as joining the chat room. You can follow The Exchange here and for questions you might have in advance, please feel free to send them through all things Scribe.

The podcast itself will be available for download the following morning.

Say What?!?!: Many thanks to the homies at Ed the Sports Fan for allowing me to plug the show last night. You can consider us the Tuesday night appetizer to their Wednesday evening supper called The Unsportsmanlike Conduct Show.

Rant

The Memorial Day holiday created an unintentional blogging hiatus, yet, admittedly, there has been a lot of other external matters that have taken away time and focus. Expect far more in the coming days.

Regardless of those matters, something that has not gone ignored over the past few days has been the officiating during both the NBA and Stanley Cup playoffs... well, more the NBA.

Instead of delving into it and soliciting opinion, I'm leaving this as the time for YOU to rant.

Okay, let me rephrase that.

See, there are no rants here. However, that word seems appropriate considering how much histronics have been thrown around because of the men (and woman) in grey and black. It's been questionable to say the least, yet, truthfully, our views tend to be colored by the stars some root for or the stars many want to see fail (see Bryant, Kobe; Crosby, Sidney).

I ask you to leave your well-thought, coherent, clear and logical thoughts on anything in relation to what you've seen or have not seen, what you would like to change, superstar calls, etc.

Rising

On Wednesday, Sports Media Watch posed a very intriguing question: which league had the more impressive rise in ratings between the NBA and the NHL? It’s a question that’s much, much harder to answer if you’ve paid attention to both postseasons than in the initial glance.

Outside of the media darling that is the NFL, every sport has a significantly longer regular season with a greater emphasis placed on game-by-game attendance than what the former would announce (though having 25-year wait lists is an achievement in itself for the gridiron league). When ticket sales slump or are non-existent in other sports, teams will do everything possible to fill them with a barrage of advertisements, sponsorships and giveaway promotions to get the typical television viewer off the couch and into the seats.

Every league has a local blackout policy that essentially cancels TV viewing in order to further along any sales for underperforming teams. Yet, the television product is still a vastly cheaper option on a regular basis: a comfortable couch or bed, a six-pack that costs the equivalent of two drinks at the game (or less) and no transportation needed.

So, while seemingly nothing on television sets Nielsen records anymore, what has helped both leagues capture the attention of a fragmented audience?


NBA:
There are several elements that give the NBA the advantage here. First off, no league has tinkered with its product as often as the NBA over the past decade. Though the NHL made a drastic overhaul since returning from its 2005 lockout, the folks at Olympic Tower (read: Commissioner David Stern) have made tweaks big and small since the mid-nineties. As discussed last year in Antagonist, the offense was augmented and the defense was stripped down some in order to not only bring about new fans, but to recapture much of the audience that only watched the NBA to see Michael Jordan.

In the long run, it has paid off as the rules only helped enhance already-talented offensive players such Gilbert Arenas, Chris Paul and the league’s biggest superstars in Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. Despite the two-way dominance (mostly defensive) from the Detroit Pistons and the San Antonio Spurs, scoring seems to be the honey that attracts the bees.

As for those very stars, the last few seasons have provided player movement unlike any other time in league history. Whether it’s through free agency, trade or the June Draft, the depth of the talent pool in the Association is something to behold. Many of these moves gave fans across the country a reason to come out to the games, especially as some of those moves translated to playoff appearances and championships.

If not for free agency, Phoenix and Washington would have never signed Nash and Arenas, players who not only helped return their respective teams to the postseason over the past four years, but have reshaped the identity of their franchises (along with help from Amare Stoudamire, Caron Butler and others).

Markets such as New Jersey, Miami, Detroit and Boston were some of the league’s biggest benefactors of trades as Jason Kidd, Shaquille O’Neal, Rasheed Wallace and Kevin Garnett were the linchpins of Finals participants and Champions.

Then, of course, there were the 2003 and 2005 Drafts; drafts that gave Cleveland (James), Denver (Carmelo Anthony), Miami (Dwayne Wade), Toronto (Chris Bosh), Utah (Deron Williams), New Orleans (Paul) and other cities franchise cornerstones and postseason contention for years to come.

In other words, New York and Los Angeles don’t have to be at the party for everyone to have a good time.

Finally, for all of the slack that some fans and media have given the A for having the greatest global reach outside of football/soccer, the NBA is still an American product. While basketball was invented by a Canadian, the sport’s growth is a product of the American appetite for competitive timed sports (where baseball’s timelessness gives it a special place in Americana). Much of the reason why some sports fans dismiss and demean other sports such as soccer, hockey and tennis stems from nationalism. That the best players in those sports aren’t American gives the appearance of inferiority, even if that’s far from the truth.

Despite how ignorant it sounds (and really is), for many, it’s an undeniable fact. Sure, we tend to gravitate to something familiar in many aspects of life. Yet in American sports, being from ‘over there’ tends to be the copout some viewers use to not care or blatantly disrespect their efforts.



NHL:
Despite its heavy Canadian and northern US roots, just six of the 30 franchises (Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver) are Canadian. Of the twenty-four American teams, ten play in cities that did not have a NHL franchise before 1990, including the six oft-maligned southern depots [Nashville, Carolina (Raleigh), Tampa Bay, Florida (Miami), Atlanta and Phoenix]. The Dallas Stars have built a contender in Texas over the last decade, yet the NHL has struggled to gain a foothold in the south, despite the allure of larger American media markets (compared to Canadian).

Many have called for the relocation or contraction of those teams, even if means that most of those talented players may not see NHL ice for years, if ever again. Yet, instead of being contracted, five of those southern teams have made the playoffs in the last ten years, with Florida, Carolina (won title) and Tampa Bay (won title) having hosted the Stanley Cup Finals.

The 2005 lockout, though in many ways was necessary, only exacerbated the league’s problems. However, to rebuild itself for dwindling television audiences, the NHL stirred itself a potent drink; increasing offense with rule changes, making players and coaches more media-accessible and a broadcasting deal that for better or worse, has been the league’s safety net after being dropped by ESPN.

The 2005 lockout, though in many ways was necessary, only exacerbated the league’s problems. However, to rebuild itself for dwindling television audiences, the NHL stirred itself a potent drink; increasing offense with rule changes, making players and coaches more media-accessible and a broadcasting deal that for better or worse, has been the league’s safety net after being dropped by ESPN.

Just as their indoor roommates in the NBA, the NHL has benefited greatly from their drafts. While Sidney Crosby is its biggest name (the LeBron James of the sport), there are many other young stars that have helped the league emerge from the darkness of 2005. Alexander Ovechkin (Washington) and Evgeni Malkin (Crosby’s teammate in Pittsburgh) were drafted months before the actual cancellation of the 2004-05 season, but the Russian stars have made a difference in the fortunes for the Capitals and Penguins. Crosby himself was tabbed by the Pens in the first post-lockout Draft and has since carried the mantle of the NHL. Along with other young stars such as Rick Nash (2002 - Columbus), the Staal brothers (Eric, 2003 – Carolina; Mark, 2005 – NY Rangers and Jordan, 2006 – Pittsburgh), Vincent Lecavalier (1998 – Tampa Bay), Henrik Zetterberg (1999 – Detroit) and many others, it seems as if the game has been crafted to exploit their speed, strength and vision towards the goal. And not to mention the goaltending stars challenging future Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur as the best goalie in the league.

Along with the plethora of free agent signings made since the return from the lockout, teams were more poised for the new NHL with a premium placed on younger and faster players on offense. Of course, there are still enforcers and defensive specialists, but in opening up the ice for more puck movement, the game has endeared itself to fans disillusioned from the labor strife and has a growing appeal among those who are being introduced to hockey for the first time.

However, where ugly nationalism actually has helped the NBA in some circles, it continues to harm the NHL and hockey for a vast majority of the States. It has always been a league that has been predominantly Canadian (currently 52%), but there has also been a backlash against the European influence on the league. Even though the percentage has declined a bit (down from about 30% in 2002 to just above 25% this past season), you’d think that they took over the entire league. Just as their basketball counterparts, they have been labeled as soft and dismissed because their names are difficult for some fans and media to pronounce. Yet, when your team is winning, Andrei Kostitsyn can rattle off the tongue with ease.

The principal reason for the rise in ratings points to the US markets that have found steady success in the post-lockout era. This past year was the first season in some time where all of the Original Six teams were competitive at once, with Detroit having won the Cup. San Jose and Anaheim (last year’s champ) have built perennial Cup contenders in California while Philadelphia, Washington and New Jersey help solidify the northeast. Interest has grown steadily over the last three years as casual fans, some old-school purists and die-hard puckheads having embraced the new NHL. On the ice itself, Americans now account for 22% of the league’s talent (up from 14% five years ago). So while Canadians at-large will always love their sport, Americans will remain skeptical about the league’s success until their largest markets continue to host playoff contenders.


When you weigh all of these factors when answering the poll question, you might find that it’s even tougher than when it was first posed. Both have similar reasons for success, though there are stark differences in the audience size and demographics. Both have amazing talented athletes, many who are still in the formative years of what may become great or even Hall of Fame careers. Both have also made major changes to the games themselves in order to garner fan interest. Yet, the answer may still come down to personal preference.

Can you be more impressed by something familiar, even if it’s repackaged or by something you paid little attention to before?

Say What?!?!: The obsession with the nearing Beijing Olympics continues. BusinessWeek profiles various angles companies are taking for the upcoming Games; from the controversies to the catering with marketing sponsorships and video piracy questions in between.

Thirteen

For those who recall when music was (at least it appeared to be) a comparable passion to sports, consider this a slight return to those days.

Having a fulltime job is kind of getting in the way of keeping the sports gig fresh – I’m kidding, folks. Yet, because there is a ton going on at the moment, it was better to share a few thoughts in the same manner that I did a while back. The titles come from one of the few rap albums I cared to acknowledge over the past three years; One Hunid the debut album from The Product. Please acquire for your musical collection.

Thirteen thoughts, thirteen tracks. Consume.

Get Out: that was the rally cry of several General Managers since the end of the NBA regular season. The most discussed, of course, has been the exit of Isiah Thomas. It would just be wasted space to add any commentary to this – wasted that is if others weren’t so eloquently brilliant about it – but anyone who considers him/herself a Knicks fan should prepare for the media circus that will envelop the head coaching search. Yet, if there is one more that proves to be more puzzling, it is dismissal of Larry Krystkowviak from the Milwaukee Bucks.
While the Knicks have been the national punch line (funny they didn’t get this much attention when they were perennial title contenders in the 1990s), it seems as if the Bucks have gone unscathed outside of the greater Milwaukee area. They have had three different head coaches since George Karl left after the 2003 postseason (Terry Porter for two years, Terry Stotts for 2 ½ and just one year for Krystkowviak). They have more power forwards than a NBA Live free agency pool. They have a little bit of a consistency problem and made a few “WTF” trades (Charlie Villanueva is a nice player, but T.J. Ford – injury aside – was such a great compliment for Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut). If the Knicks weren’t such an albatross, more heads would be swerving towards Wisconsin. Yet, whoever takes over as the next coach will have to deal with an impatient owner who has a slightly more important day job (Sen. Herb Kohl), an injury-riddled roster and an identity crisis. This new coach will have to figure out what kind of team the Bucks want to be.

2 Real: More so about the 2. What’s with the early baseball scheduling? Can anyone recall seeing this many two-game series in April, or at any point in the season before?

In the Hood: Over the years, much has been made about the so-called tanking ratings of the NBA. Despite the fact that anything on network television not called American Idol or the NFL has experienced a dip in that three-digit number, the NBA was the one sporting entity that faced greater scrutiny. Yet, it was always strange to hear that apparently no one was watching the games because I came up in the ‘hood. Every conversation on every corner on every block will start or end with something about how San Antonio and Phoenix played a double-OT thriller or how Boston won’t make it to the Finals, let alone win them. If you are an NBA fan in the ‘hood, this may be quite possibly your favorite time of year.
Of course, you don’t have to be from the Polo Grounds, northeast Philly or Watts to appreciate this time of year. We like you, too.

Read this and this.

Hustle: Shameless promotion – if you are in Midtown, Harlem or anywhere with a somewhat decent newsstand, grab the New York Beacon. PLEASE! That is a major part of my hustle, you know.

G Type: As in John Gibbons, Toronto Blue Jays manager. Not sure if he’s irascible or there’s a very contentious mix up north, but somehow, another player critical to the team’s success has been booted from the team. However, Dave Bush, Shea Hillenbrand and Ted Lilly don’t have resumes comparable to Frank Thomas. If “Gibby” just has bad luck with a few players over a long managerial career, that’s not a big deal. Yet, he has managed to have four confrontations (that the public knows of) in just over three years in the big leagues.
Whoever picks up the Big Hurt won’t be too worried about that .167 batting average to start the season, but will focus on those three homers and eleven RBI in just sixteen games If he was right about Gibbons and GM J.P. Ricciardi purposely limiting his plate appearances in order to avoid paying him a bonus later this year remains to be seen. Expect him to be picked up within the next three days, but also expect him to spout off about his former employer. Just ask Kenny Williams in Chicago (White Sox).

Not a Word about Hopkins/Calzaghe… except that the former middleweight champion has one decision to make: stop BSin’ in the ring (Scribe says he won the fight until the tenth round) or start promoting outside of the ring.

I’m A fan of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Watch them.

Pride: No matter how much media attention, dollars or photo spreads she got, everything could have been deemed irrelevant if Danica Patrick didn’t win a race. Maybe after all the glitter, only pride remains for someone with such hype with little to no success to validate a career. Patrick finally took a race over the weekend with the Indy Japan 300, just at the start of her fourth season in the circuit. It’s been said that it takes three years to get a win under the belt, but many of her critics have said that she spent those years focused more on looking good than being good. It could be an unfair statement, especially having to work so hard to be one of the few women to successfully gain a spot in an uber-male sport. There was definitely some hard work along the way. Yet, the work's far from done. While it may be unrealistic considering the difficulty of the sport, Patrick should heed the words of one of the all-time great baseball managers, the fictional Cleveland Indians skipper, Lou Brown:
“We won yesterday. If we win today, that’s two-in-a-row. If we win tomorrow, that’s called a winning streak; it has happened before “.

The Love of Money: If I had a few dollars, I’d pay top dollar to see Deron Williams. Look, Chris Paul should win the MVP award and I’d Superkick someone if that’s what it took to see Kobe Bryant or Kevin Garnett. However, Williams is the truth. Pay close attention to the Rockets/Jazz series and see how difficult of a time Houston will have stopping or slowing him down outside of putting Shane Battier (more of a big small forward or small power forward) on him.

Dead Broke: Yet, this Scribe is dead broke thanks to MLB Extra Innings. Order it. Trust me.

Don’t Matter: “It don’t matter, I got a ring!” – Keyshawn Johnson, after winning his lone Super Bowl title as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Random, I know.

Life’s Been Good: Or at least manageable. Hope yours is going well.