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Bad Time For The Olympic Break
by Paul on 02/09/10 at 08:00 PM ET
Comments (12)
from Mike Wise of the Washington Post,
... now we’re face to face with the most dangerous opponent they will face from now until the Stanley Cup playoffs: Dick Ebersol, the president of NBC Sports. In the selfish interest of padding his Olympic programming this month, the NBC executive is about to take away our joy for 17 days.
Just so he can have the best hockey players in the world playing for gold in Vancouver, Ebersol could end up hijacking the Caps’ scintillating season, without so much as delivering a mid-ice check.
Ebersol is kidnapping five of our best hockey players, including Alex Ovechkin, for 2 1/2 weeks. Beginning Sunday, he is taking them to western Canada, right in the middle of the greatest regular reason in, oh, the history of North American sports.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Washington Capitals | KK Hockey | Permalink
Comments
wow. overstate things much, Mike? geez.
right in the middle of the greatest regular reason in, oh, the history of North American sports.
he hasn’t watched much in the way of sports, apparently.
they’re on pace for 55 wins, or thereabout. Wings hold the record with 62. plenty of other teams in other sports have had more brilliant seasons.
Posted by PaulinMiamiBeach on 02/09/10 at 09:05 PM ET
Cute story but one crucial mistake. Ebersol has nothing to do with it, at least as far as Ovie is concerned. He already made it clear that he would skip the NHL season to play in the Olympics if the NHL didn’t participate. I wouldn’t say that the gold is more important to him, but it’s equally important, both for his personal success and his legacy to his country.
Posted by GoSharks on 02/09/10 at 09:17 PM ET
Ok, I’m super tired so brain not function well but…why is he blaming the Olympics on Dick Ebersol?
Posted by Shane from Saskatoon on 02/09/10 at 09:20 PM ET
Shane, at least he didn’t blame Bettman, ha.
Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 02/09/10 at 09:21 PM ET
GoSharks already said it but…how exactly is it “kidnapping” the players when they’re the ones that chose to go in the first place?
Posted by K24 from NYC on 02/09/10 at 09:53 PM ET
I know Wise is a tool but people on here need to learn sarcasm. He’s tweaking the people he upset with his “it’s just hockey” statement calling this season the greatest ever and the other over the top hysterics. On his lame radio show he’s already asking where he gets to sit on the parade float. Be like the rest of DC and ignore him.
Posted by eric on 02/09/10 at 09:53 PM ET
Who started the whole pros in the olympics movement anyways? Was it the USOC or a general olympic consensious? I can’t remember.
Posted by UMFan from Denver, Colorado on 02/09/10 at 09:55 PM ET
I so much preferred when the DC media wasted all of their time covering the Redskins. Now that they are paying attention to hockey it shows how ill informed theyreally are.
Posted by hockey1919 from montreal on 02/09/10 at 10:17 PM ET
@ UMFan -
It was the NHL itself, after they saw what professionals in the Olympics did for the international profile of basketball.
The NHL decided not to allow all players to participate in 1988, 1992 or 1994 because the Winter Olympics typically occur in February, during the league’s regular season. To allow participation, the NHL would have been forced to take a break in its schedule. In 1992, National Basketball Association (NBA) players participated in the 1992 Summer Olympics. The American “Dream Team” dominated the tournament, and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman (an NBA executive in 1992) commented that the “[NBA]‘s worldwide awareness grew dramatically”. He hoped that NHL participation would “get exposure like the world has never seen for hockey”. The typical NBA season is held in the winter and spring, so the Summer Olympics do not conflict with the regular season schedule. Bettman “floated a concept of moving hockey to the Summer Games”, but this was rejected because of the Olympic Charter. In March 1995, Bettman, René Fasel, IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch and NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow met in Geneva, Switzerland. They reached an agreement that allowed NHL players to participate in the Olympics, starting with the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan. The deal was officially announced by the NHL on October 2, 1995. Bettman said: “We’re doing this to build the game of hockey, pure and simple, we think whatever benefits are recouped, it will end up making this game bigger, stronger and healthier.”
(emphasis added)
From here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hockey_at_the_Olympic_Games#Use_of_professional_players
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 02/09/10 at 11:50 PM ET
Bettman “floated a concept of moving hockey to the Summer Games”,
what a *#$%@& moron.
Posted by PaulinMiamiBeach on 02/10/10 at 01:46 AM ET
Wahhhh, I’m pretty excited for the Olympics. I think the hockey will be far better, generally speaking, than your average NHL game.
Posted by Nathan from the scoresheet! on 02/10/10 at 08:44 AM ET
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Mr. Wise needs to relax. Go out and enjoy the different perspective that snow gives to everyday scenery. Oh, and get ready to enjoy one of the greatest two week tournaments in all sports; olympic hockey.
Posted by UMFan from Denver, Colorado on 02/09/10 at 08:48 PM ET