A Bunch of Nice Guys

This week's guests were some really nice guys! We had: Rob Delmundo who runs the www.tmlfans.ca site; John Shannon, who was with CBC for a long time, and is now with Leafs TV; and Mike Ulmer, a writer with the Toronto Star. As usual they were all really passionate about hockey, but I think the great thing about these guests in particular was that they talked more--how do I put it?--intellectually about the game. It's hard to explain, but Mr. Shannon and Mr. Ulmer especially reminded me of Ken Dryden, and the way he talks about hockey. You know, not just as a fan, but as someone who's thought about the game at a deeper level.

Anyway, there was some pretty good discussion going on this class, which was cool. I even finally worked up the nerve to ask a couple of questions! And they weren't completely idiotic either! =P Okay, I think the first time I actually asked a guest a question was last week, but this time was more memorable for me, for some reason.

So yeah, both questions were directed to Mr. Shannon: 1) What has the fan reaction been to the news that Leafs TV will be carrying 12 Leafs games next season? 2) From a tv producer's perspective, what type of rule changes would you like to see?

For the first question, well apparently he got a whole bunch of nasty emails and two death threats (okay, so the death threats were an exaggeration), but he emailed everyone back personally to explain his position. It's kind of silly for people to complain about having to pay for Leafs games, since they're already doing so! I mean, to get TSN (which carries most of the weeknight games) you have to pay for cable anyway! The only hockey you can get without paying extra cable costs is Saturday nights and the playoffs from CBC. Actually, it's funny because he was saying Leafs TV would cost like $2/game, which would be $24, and that's actually cheaper than Leafs TV is right now! When I got it for the pre-season games, I think it cost $2.95! =P

His answer to my second question was pretty interesting, actually. He said that it was the tv producers who had to change/improve for it to view better on tv, not the game itself! He was saying how producers need to learn hockey better so that they can know when to place commercials (like when they're going back for an icing call) and interrupt the flow of the game less. That was pretty neat to hear, especially from a tv producer! I mean, usually what you hear is either that hockey simply doesn't televise well, or the game needs to be changed to better suit television audiences.

Well, I'll end off here with a couple of little quotes from our guests:

"Sports is guys' soap opera"

"Hockey is the original reality tv."

"A hockey player's ethos is: 1) don't complain; 2) fight through it; 3) do as you're told."