Canucks & Beyond
Next entry: Morrison's NHL Iron Man Streak at Risk?
Previous entry: Luongo Conference Call Transcript
Hockey Players Can’t Act
by Alanah McGinley on 09/27/07 at 12:02 PM ET
Comments (5)
As a hockey fan, I’ll admit that I have a tendency to act morally superior to fans of all other games—as if “my” sport and “my” players are better than all others.
I’m told I suffer from Arrogant Hockey Fan Syndrome to some extent (which might be defined as: “the rabid belief that no other sport is anywhere near as fun as a hockey game” or “hockey players can do no wrong” or “everyone seems to hate us, but we know we’re better than you” etc). But who can blames us? If nothing else, the NFL, NBA and MLB certainly make it easy for an NHL fan to feel morally superior lately.
But there is one arena in which being a hockey fan really doesn’t provide one with much to brag about: acting. And nearly all related efforts at self promotion have been downright scary. Which brings me to Exhibit #1…
Over at the Sun-Sentinel’s Panthers’ blog, I spotted this today:
Yeah, that would be Olli Jokinen, Nathan Horton and Mike Van Ryn selling… bread. (For more of this type of embarrassment, you can see last year’s Panthers’ team video… sweet geezus.)
I swear, every time I see Jokinen in one of these things, I keep expecting an Arnold-voice to come out of his mouth - “I’ll be back.” God, I wish it wasn’t so.
Contrast that sorta thing to NFL star Peyton Manning’s appearance on SNL last year:
I guess the truth is that it’s not just bad acting skills that afflict NHL players’ appearances, but also the frightful production quality of anything they get involved in.
Perhaps SNL producers could be persuaded to do some vignettes with hockey players? I mean, producer Lorne Michaels is Canadian, for godsakes—he should be ashamed of himself for not having NHL players on at least once a month. Just think about it: there’s gotta be comic-gold just waiting to be mined in a regular skit titled “Sean Avery’s Guide to Conflict Resolution” or whatever. (And lord knows, even non-hockey fans know Sean Avery; I think the guy must have his own dressing room at MTV at this point.)
Anyway, I should add that some of the NHL’s own promotional adverts last year were actually pretty good. And the magic ingredient? To make sure no freakin’ acting was involved… just bad dancing.
I’m a bit biased, but this was one of my favorites:
Filed in: business of hockey, dumb stuff, hockey media, vancouver canucks | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: florida+panthers, media, vancouver+canucks,
Comments
I dunno, Alanah, that ad with the Sedins dancing for a stag party creeps me out.
The one with Ovechkin making the fake room service order for Crosby is a classic. No?
Posted by the sieve on 09/28/07 at 02:44 PM ET
Ordinarily, I hate Maple Leafs like a root canal, but this is also a gem:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1u-XtTql1c
Of course, Sundin doesn’t really do much in it.
Posted by the sieve on 09/28/07 at 02:48 PM ET
Hey baby, wake up from your asleep!
We have arrived onto the future, and the whole world has become ...
Cam Neely’s ‘Sea Bass’ role in Dumb and Dumber was hilarious. Sure, Gretzky bombed on SNL, but Neely made up for it, and more, by his Oscar-worthy performance.
Posted by Jes Golbez on 09/29/07 at 09:20 AM ET
I dunno, Alanah, that ad with the Sedins dancing for a stag party creeps me out.
Posted by Narrowboat holidays from romania on 01/14/08 at 10:21 AM ET
Add a Comment
Please limit embedded image or media size to 575 pixels wide.
Add your own avatar by joining Kukla's Korner, or logging in and uploading one in your member control panel.
Captchas bug you? Join KK or log in and you won't have to bother.
Most Recent Blog Posts
Wellwood Returning to Vancouver
In Defense of Dany Heatley (sort of)
Sedin’s Agent Not Optimistic About a Vancouver Deal, but is Anyone?
Mike Keenan Joins the Canucks?
GM Place Keeps its Name; Disaster Averted
What’s Trevor Linden Been Up To?
About Canucks & Beyond
Alanah McGinley has been blogging hockey since 2003, sharing opinions, rants and not-so-deep thoughts with anyone who will listen. In addition to writing Canucks & Beyond and helping manage Kukla’s Korner, Alanah is one of the founders and co-hosts of The Crazy Canucks Podcast, as featured at Canucks.com.
She has contributed pieces to FoxSports.com and the New York Times Slapshot blog, as well as other stray destinations in cyberspace.
Email:
Alanah’s Twitter: Not really hockey-ish. [LINK]
Other Canucks Blogs
c’mon… what about Cam “Seabass” Neely???
Posted by Todzilla on 09/27/07 at 05:23 PM ET