Versus Is Incompetent...Film At Eleven

Just when I begin to feel a little ashamed that I am missing the NHL Awards, I happen upon the following, and give myself a pat on the shoulder...

"It would have been nice for American fans of the NHL to watch these awards and theoretically the broadcast was supposed to be available on Versus at 7pm, buuuuuuuut….in true NHL on TV there was a snafu and Versus game it’s viewers a boxing match between…well, who the hell cares. Here’s a version of what went wrong from James Mirtle who was blogging the awards for AOLfanhouse:

“Here’s what happened. Versus was using the CBC signal from Toronto. However CBC is tape delaying the awards and showing them at 8pm local time. Apparently Versus just got the schedule from the NHL (which had the whole thing starting at 7) and never looked at the CBC schedule. Because the CBC feed from Toronto was delayed that would push the broadcast past 9 o’clock when Versus is scheduled for a live boxing match. Thus the decision was made to push the already taped award show to 11 and air the live sporting event.”

The reason that Food Network can beat the Stanley Cup Finals game one in the ratings? Because when Food Network says that “Build a Better Burger” is on at 7pm, it’s flippin’ on at 7pm. Versus is clearly run by chimps; chimps with a drinking problem."

*sighs* To paraphase one of my most favorite coffee mugs my family had growing up, which featured a bunch of cartoon orange tabby cats making a HUGE mess in a kitchen: "My league, LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT."

Obviously, I love it...otherwise, I wouldn't be here blogging about it whenever something postworthy comes along. But man...not only is Versus run by chimps, but so is the NHL, especially in marketing AND considering that SOMEONE at the home office in Toronto agreed to a deal with the aforementioned network.

And as I post this AND am scouraging the Net for more NHL Awards tidbits, my eyes embrace this...

"11:45 and they (*still*) haven't started handing out the hardware."

Yikes!! Thank ye gods for the Internet AND leaks...thanks to those, I have found out the following...

Rod Brind'Amour wins the Frank J. Selke Trophy for the second season in a row. - Yay for Brindy...and one of the few times I am quite glad to be wrong. I had him pegged for his award coffin being nailed shut by not making the playoffs. BUT, leave it to #17 to be mighty in not only muscle power, but also defying the odds AND media.

Lindy Ruff DOES NOT WIN the Jack Adams Award!! - Not totally official yet...but the moment it becomes that at one of my stomping grounds, you bet your sweet bippy I'll update this post.

Current Music: "That's Entertainment" by The Jam

Edit as of June 15th, 1:35 AM: To quoteth the great John Forslund...hey, hey, hey, what do you say?! The rumors were TRUE!!!

Hart Memorial Trophy, MVP - Sidney Crosby.

Vezina Trophy, goaltender - Martin Brodeur.

James Norris Memorial Trophy, defenseman - Nicklas Lidstrom.

Calder Memorial Trophy, rookie - Evgeni Malkin.

Frank J. Selke Trophy, defensive forward - Rod Brind'Amour.

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, most gentlemanly - Pavel Datsyuk. (aaah)

Jack Adams Award, coach - Alain Vigneault.

King Clancy Trophy, humanitarian contribution to hockey - Saku Koivu.

Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, perserverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey - Phil Kessel.

~~~

Art Ross Trophy, points scoring leader - Sidney Crosby.

Maurice Richard Trophy, goal-scoring leader - Vincent Lecavalier.

William M. Jennings Trophy, goalies with fewest goals against, minimum 25 games - Nicklas Backstrom & Manny Fernandez.

---

Lester B. Pearson Award, outstanding player - Sidney Crosby.

All is right with the world...and I'm so happy, I just may not sleep for another couple of hours.

Current Music of the edit: "True" by Spandau Ballet

Odds and Sods

- With this year's NHL awards nominees announced, Rod Brind'Amour finds himself a finalist for the Frank J. Selke Trophy for a second year in a row.

Brindy may or may not win this thing again...what I am factoring regarding both aspects of that:

May Not Win:

Not on a playoff team.

Not on the media darling New Joysey Devils.

May Win:

Has the highest +/- of all the Selke nominees, the other two being Samuel Pahlsson and Jay Pandolfo (hence my Devs comment).

Of the three nominees, has the most goals scored.

Interestingly enough, even though the Selke is for defensive play, it more often than not goes to the man with the most goals scored. That said, Brindy should have this thing in spades. But that remains to be seen...especially if (does her best Putty from Seinfeld) THE DEVILS(!!) and Jay Pandolfo continue with their usual playoff reign of terror.

- On the other side of the player spectrum...Anton Babchuk has most likely signed with a Russian club, Avangard OMSK, to be precise.

No surprise at all to me there...Anton was not the Canes' greatest defenseman this past season. AND, there were (thanks to this revelation, I highly suspect more than) rumors that Babs was not thrilled with his use on the team. Not to mention all the talk of him being potential trade bait...at the risk of showing off how un-savvy I am about contracts and such mess, I wonder if the Canes can still trade Anton's butt for either a (hopefully) better defenseman or at least a prospect of sorts, should Anton ever return to the NHL...

- In better Canes news, the Canes announced that 2007-08 season ticket prices will remain unchanged from the 2006-07 season's STH prices. After all the speculation from PLENTY of fans, including myself despite not getting to attend at least one game this past season, about the Canes having the audacity to increase prices after such a rugged season, three cheers and a tiger for the Canes' brass for not doing what would have been a stupid move. Of course, I suppose setting an attendance average record (17,387 fans per game) AND a season sellout game record (NINETEEN!!) *really* helped. Who *still* dares to say hockey doesn't belong in NC? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

- For anyone consuming mass quantities while reading this, I highly recommend that you skip the following couple of paragraphs...

As I was enjoying my lovely breakfast of a Kashi TLC bar, milk, and coffee; the most unnecessarily disgusting ad embraced my television set. It was for the umpteenth new pregnancy test...no big deal, right? Oh, wrong...SO. VERY. WRONG. After the ad got through closing in on the pregnancy test device, it backed away to show URINE SPLASHING ONTO THE DEVICE!!! It's a freakin' miracle that I did not do a spit take with my coffee as my eyes went as wide as dinner plates in a "Did I just see THAT?!" manner. BUT, I did end up having a flashback to when I went and saw Apollo 13 at a theatre, and right when I took my very first bite out of a Reese's cup (Back then, I had a habit of not eating my candy until the movie "started getting *really* good"...in this instance, it was when the astronauts shot up into space.), a nicely sized glob of vomit floated across the movie screen. Um, yeah. o_O

As I've had to make clear here before, I am not a prude. BUT, I like to maintain a sense of decency. I'd love to think that people know what pee is AND how you make such a substance. But then again, such a statement more than likely underestimates the stupidity of this nation. o_O

- And I feel very safe saying that last sentence after reading the following this morning...

"Britney Spears just played live, for the first time in three years, at the House of Blues in San Diego. She performed for about 10 minutes.

SOURCE: It was the top story on the Fox 6 News tonight. And they've had continuing coverage throughout the newscast. *sigh*"

That blurb does not even mention how people actually paid $200 for that "performance". O_O

I don't know what melts my brain more...that, or the fact that the said "performance" was actually considered news to the point that they had CONTINUING COVERAGE OF IT. I would say "Only in California.", but what (almost prevented) me from doing that is keeping in mind that if Clay Aiken were to ever perform in Raleigh for the first time in three, five, ten, whatever years; there is no doubt that WRAL and/or other local TV news outlets down there would have continuing coverage of such an "event".

Between all of that, and Anna Nicole's baby's daddy (say that five times fast), it really, REALLY scares me what counts for actual news, locally AND nationally, these days...

Current Music: "Electric Clouds" - Chrono Trigger OverClocked Remix