NHL Television Coverage - Really?

(Note to the reader - the post below is all about hockey and I've been told may be very reader specific. I would love it if you took the time to read, but I understand if you're just not interested this time.)

Alright, everybody knows how much I love hockey. I define myself as a hockey player. I believe life is a lot like hockey, (i.e. When you really break the game down, and assume a basic skillset, it's really just about hard work and goaltending, just like life. You work hard, you accomplish much, and you have somebody in your life who makes the saves you can't. - Hey, it's a metaphor go with me.) I even named my blog using a nickname my hockey team tagged me with. So, when I see something about hockey that really bothers me, well, I have to speak up. Monday night (1/12/2009) I saw, or rather I heard it. Watching the Red Wings' game on Versus Television, I listened to some of the most pathetic announcing I have heard for a sporting event in, well, I can't remember how long. Now, no true hockey fan really loves the Versus coverage. A large majority of us are fans of CBC having grown up on Hockey Night in Canada. Many younger fans became accustomed to ESPN's hockey coverage through most of the 1990's, and others watch only their hometown announcers, and their hometown team. Unfortunately, there are also a whole bunch of folks who don't watch hockey at all. Okay, they might not think it's unfortunate, but I do. I'd like to see the National Hockey League reach out to these people and at least let those who might want to, "learn about the sport." With Versus - that ain't happening, although from Monday night's game some speculate that they might at least be trying. I'm not so sure. Watching in our online chatroom with my fellow Wings' fans from across the land, (Yes, I chat online while watching the game) we often lament what we perceive to be a lack of good announcers on Versus. "To be honest," I always say, "I don't generally hear the announcers. I'm just watching the game and chatting." Monday night we all heard them. How bad was it? Here, I'll let you "listen" in to our discussion. (I'm using online monikers for the sake of privacy.) About halfway through the first period, announcers going back and forth on which team is doing what, and generally being wrong about all of it. From Detroit River we hear: "These Vs announcers are about as much fun as snot on a door knob." I think he overestimated - moving on... Much discussion of how Versus, the former Outdoor Life Network came to be the home of NHL coverage. From Jimbro, (that's me): Come on - nothing screams hockey more than "the former" Outdoor Living Network. ;-) From Hockeytown101: Wasn't it Life? Jimbro: You might be right Hockeytown, I don't remember Life, Living - it's all just the rodeo waiting to happen isn't it? Hockeytown101: I don't remember Jim, I thought I heard "Life" either way yea, it is a giant rodeo station. Getting back to the game I'll share these quotes from our discussion of the announcer's word choices. Yeah, it seems I was running my mouth more than most, but I couldn't help it. Jimbro: Did he just say Ott went fondling? What the heck? WingsfaninTN: fabulosity ? Jimbro: How do you author a goal? "It was a dark and stormy ice rink..." Jimbro: He ran into the knot, as the idiot announcers called the tie up in front of the net. Jimbro: Mastadonic glove grab? What the heck is that? Hockeytown101: That was a wooley mammoth save????? Jimbro: Jimbro to the announcers: "redacted" DtownDinah: Got him right in la bouche... (Yeah the announcer said that) I think the entire French nation and all it's French-speaking allies just had simultaneous aneurisms. Jimbro: Dallas had no tourists on the forecheck. WingsfaninTN: I wonder what kind of words 3rd period will bring us? DtownDinah: lmao...only time will tell! But I bet they'll be scrumtrulescent! And maybe some of our guys will author best selling goals to later appear on the New York Times list. Jimbro: It was the best of ice, (Detroit) It was the worst of ice, (Dallas) Jimbro: Get through the herd? DtownDinah: That was like sorcery, apparently... (Dats goal)

(reference to Red Wings' star center Pavel Datsyuk.) Jimbro: Wired it short side high-up where your Momma never does? Did I hear that right? DtownDinah: LoL Jim we are on the same page... Hockeytown101: Dats would be valedictorian at the school of awesome...lol Jimbro: That's definitive. Bounced straight down. A whiff in tight makes sense, but everything sounds weird now. Jimbro: Goaltending paraphernalia? Jimbro: Nice work Ozzie. Lotta "stuffin'" though. Detroit River: Jim- I can name two Purple Barneys in the Vs booth Hockeytown101: I was thinking mastadon Jim and Wooley Mammoth came to mind DtownDinah: Well whatever they are...no you know what I can't even come up with a witty retort. They just suck. Multiple levels of sucktitude. Jimbro: Pure Ginsu of the 4 man box? Wow! I got nothin. That sucked! DtownDinah: Dropping anchor and bunting one home...uuuh...which sport is this again? Jimbro: Titillating contest. Yeah, that's what I was thinking. OMG! We did try to give the announcers a little bit of a break -

WingsfaninTN: My husband is convinced they have a "key word" list for the evening.

jlewings: I have one good thing to say about the announcers tonight - at least they weren't downing the Wings and praising the opposing team. They may have been ludicrous with their comments, but I at least appreciate the Wing love. Also - I think they were trying to cater to "new" or "casual" fans. Not my cup of tea - I love some Mickey and Ken (Mickey Redmond, and Ken Daniels are the regular Red Wing announcers on FSN in Detroit.)

As is usually the case, the group didn't just discuss the announcers on Versus. We also have some issues with the commercials.

Rent-a-Car from Enterprise you say?

Jimbro: Sounds expensive? It is Mom, now get your a** in the car so we can get this thing back before they charge an extra day.

New Pizza Hut Natural Pizza your thing?

Hockeytown101: I wonder, now that Pizza Hut has that "natural Pizza" with "real taste" What the hell have they been making all these years? Fake pizza?

WingsfaninTN: Hockeytown- I was just wondering the same thing! and is it only this 1 pizza, and they will still sell the rest?

DtownDinah: Haha HockeyTown and WingsfaninTN that's what I thought when McD's was advertising their real all white meat chicken... Hockeytown101: I know WingsfaninTN -it makes sense that all their pizzas would be natural, I guess I'm wrong. WingNut1967: No because most everything Pizza hut uses is full of preserves... We'll let WingNut have the last word from the chat room. Seriously, please Gary Bettman on behalf of hockey fans everywhere - go to ESPN and do what you should have done after the lockout in the first place. Beg them, pay them, do whatever you have to do to get NHL games back on their network.

Then go find some sponsors that can make commercials that make sense and have fresh material for their ads.

Failing to do so could result in the most dire consequences for our sport – Do you really want to be as irrelevant as rodeo?

Oh the Weather Outside Is...

YEACH!

Somebody mentioned to me yesterday that having grown up in the cold and rain and snow of Michigan and Ohio I should love Winter.

I think she was kidding.

Winter? Really?

Again - YEACH!

Is there anything good about Winter besides hockey season? We know how to make ice indoors now you know.

Oh wait - something called Christmas? and New Years you say and the warmth of a fire and Oh alright, alright - I don't hate winter for the cold or the snow or the rain anyway.

Here's why I hate winter -

I can't drive in it.

Really, that's it. The one and only reason I hate winter.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of shoveling snow - but I remember building caves in the snow mounds our shoveling had created during a good old fashioned Michigan winter. I also remember a couple times we made some serious dough shoveling snow. (Hey, check me out - I'm a poet. Wish I'd done that on purpose.)

Sledding, snow men, snow angels, (Hey a little I.G. for the man, it hasn't been out in a while), hot chocolate, marshmallows, big woolen socks, big strong and heavy boots, Tuques, mittens, idiot mittens, Gloves and yes even special gloves.

All crazy cool stuff - until you have to drive in it.

Some folks are better than others driving in the snow. Some folks are crazier than others, and some folks are just plain stupid. Yeah, it had to be said.

Me - I'm just not good at it. Never have been. Not sure I ever will be.

Frankly, at this point in my life I have a hard time driving in a hard rain storm. Out traveling in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike last fall a gust of wind hit the car. I drove straight across 3 lanes of traffic and gave the steering wheel to my lovely wife.

That's right - I'm not just bad at driving in the snow, I'm also afraid.

I wasn't always afraid, but one morning last winter coming into downtown on I 670 I got caught in some stop and go traffic in the middle of a snow storm.

My little truck, (which weighs about 3 pounds on ice) and I were having some difficult to begin with - a little fishtail, a little tirespin, and a little sliding and then...

Cresting the top of the 670 turn into downtown my truck decided it was going to not just fishtail and not just slide. No, instead we were going to slide sideways entirely.

Now, I'll grant you that I was only going about 5 miles an hour and there were plenty of cars and barriers around to break our fall as it were. I wasn't worried about that.

I was worried about the semi that was bearing down on my passenger door as I started to slide sideways back across traffic.

I did what I think anyone would have done. I slammed my foot on the accelerator as fast as I could, caught some semi dry pavement and gunned my way to the exit ramp, horns honking at me all the way.

I made it to work, but had to sit in the truck for 10 minutes while I stopped shaking. I took a little inventory, calmed myself down and thought I would be fine.

I've never been the same behind the wheel of a vehicle again.

So there you have it. It's not winter I hate after all.

It's the wintry roads.

How do you feel about winter?

Friday Features - Comments

A friend told me a few weeks ago that he follows my blog and he follows my resume tips.

Resume tips? Huh?

"You know, that video about exporting your resume," he said.

Ah, that video - necessary information passed along quick and dirty with emphasis on dirty - that video is a mess. In fact, it has been redone and will come out with other CML Job Help Center Info. Additionally that video is pretty software specific - and no I'm not posting it on my blog.

Still, my friend got me thinking - I've been looking for more of a focus for my blog -or- Do I need another blog specifically for jobs and resumes I wondered?

I started asking folks who might know or have an opinion and the general consensus for a number of reasons is "No." An additional blog is not necessary or necessarily a good idea at this time.

Hmmm... Well, I still sometimes you know have more than just a story to share, and there are some subjects of interest to job hunting or coaching or teaching that I'd like to post on.

What to do? I mulled it over for a few days and decided that I would incorporate something new into my blog. A series of tips, tricks, shortcuts, advice or whatever you'd like to call it that I want to share.

After all - It is all about me right? (Kidding)

In reality this part of my blog will be all about you - I'm calling it my Friday Feature. Why Friday Feature you might ask? Well it's Friday and this is the first in the series so there you go.

(Note: Not all Friday Features will come out on Friday, but all Friday Features will be called Friday Features.)

In today's Friday Feature I want to talk about COMMENTS, or to be more specific the importance of comments as feedback which is so integral to not only our growth and learning as individuals, but also in many cases - one's self-esteem.

I'm not suggesting that anybody is responsible for somebody else's self esteem, but I think it's fair to note that feedback certainly has an affect on that aspect of our personality.

Now reading blogs isn't about coaching, but it is about the give and take of feedback or commenting.

As Chris Brogan writes:

"It’s hard to keep writing when you feel like no one’s watching, or that they’re not engaged."

As a coach, as a leader I have found that the best way to get results, the best way to enhance improvement, the best way to get more of what you like to see your players do is to give them feedback.

And - sometimes I've found that if I didn't give that feedback that's exactly what I got in return. i.e. Nothing for nothing.

I've had a few posts of my own that I labored over for hours and I knew folks were reading because I have that little feedjit traffic feed at the bottom of my blog. What I didn't know was what people thought. I admit at first that bugged me quite a bit.

"Wow!" I thought. "Do I suck that bad?" (If you know me you know there was some serious smoke coming from my head.)

But then I had some posts that generated a lot of feedback.

"Cool!" I thought, "I must be the greatest writer ever." Not really, but I was obviously much happier, more confident.

Then I finally got it. I joined the community at NHL Connect, The National Hockey League's online fan site. I have some friends there who blog about hockey and I was always reading their blogs and watching the incredible number of comments they had, the give and take, the conversation.

Well I love the conversation. So I joined. Just for kicks I threw up a hockey blog - something I just happened to have on hand. I wasn't there to blog as much as I was there to support my friends, but I didn't want to be the guy with no content and I had the story so there you go...

Of course my Connect friends immediately commented and welcomed me, (Thanks Juice, Jess, Kiki and everyone else) but then something happened that I had never anticipated.

The next day, (and still today so they must not update very much) I got blog of the day. It's true. You can see it here. One paragraph, but enough emotion for 10,000 words. Or if the link is broken I do have a picture. (I couldn't figure out a way to show the link's progression.)

Of course I was very proud and I posted on Twitter and Facebook and called Annette and the girls and Woo Hoo for me. But how the heck did that happen and why did I feel so darn good about it?

Well it happened because my writing touched somebody, and I felt so darned good about it because that somebody, those somebodies, let me know.

I gave this plenty of thought and I decided a few things.

First, I decided that while it's cool to write to touch somebody it's not always necessary. With that though goes the fact that while you've written for yourself you are just as likely to have to comment for yourself. Not a bad thing if you expect it. So I decided not to put so much pressure on myself if a post turned out to be more about me or for me and I didn't hear very much back from my readers. Still I would have to reconsider it that was what I truly intended.

B, I decided that when I was touched by what someone wrote I would be sure to comment or even - OMG Hold your horses there young man - share that moment - that piece with others.

I know, I know - Hey, women and children first okay.

III. I went out and commented on a lot of the blogs I read regularly, not nearly as many as I would have liked, but a whole lot more than I had been. I even commented on blogs I hadn't read previously and added new friends in the process. (Thanks DrLori)

4th. I tried to share blog posts I had read with my Twitter and Facebook community and tell them why. Here is a good New Year's resolution post. Here is a good Fashion post, and here is a good post on the NHL's Winter Classic.

In every instance of sharing I received a positive comment from someone who had gone to the post from my link or some positive feedback from the writer themself.

The give and take of feedback.

So the next time you go to a blog, maybe even one that you read regularly - before you do a quick read and move on, I would ask you to pause and consider giving at least some feedback to the writer.

A quick "good job," or "I liked this about your post," can go so much further than you may ever consider possible.

If you're a blogger and you don't get a ton of comments or feedback or you're worried about lack of feedback, stop and consider why. But no matter what, with credit to Chris Brogan:

Keep trying. Persist. Try new things. Experiment. Comment elsewhere to build relationships. And don’t give up. Blogging is more fun when there are comments, but your ideas are still just as valuable just being out there.

I'm glad that you share, and I'm glad I get to share with you.

Resolutions

I'm not working tomorrow. In fact, January 2nd is the one day of every year I try not to work. It's too depressing.

Now you might think I say that because it is the end of the holiday season, but that's really not it. Well, my reasons for not working January 2nd have a lot to do with one particular holiday tradition, so maybe it is true. I'll let you be the judge.

Across the land last night hundreds, heck, millions of people watched the clock strike midnight and made their New Year's resolutions.

This means that tomorrow at the library we, (well not me) will see people who are going to exercise more, lose weight, quit smoking, learn about technology, build a resume and get a better job, and on and on and on.

Now, I hope (today's WOTD), that a large number of these folks are successful in their endeavors. The reality though is that a larger number will fail.

In just a few weeks, the treadmills at the gyms will once again be empty, the restaurants will once again be full, and the junk food and tobacco business will once again be booming.

I just think that's depressing.

A few years ago, I decided I wasn't going to do resolutions anymore. I was sick of the failure, of saying things like, "I'll try again in the spring," or "I'll do it for Lent."

Instead I set about finding a way to actually accomplish something instead of revisiting failure.

I began by working on True Intent. As I've talked about before, that goal is to:

Always try to consider peoples' true intent when interacting with them and respond accordingly and without bias.

Now this is an ongoing exercise, so I can't say that it's a "resolution" per se, but I do remind myself each year to stay true to that goal and I take a little inventory to see how I've done during the course of the preceding year.

This year, I think I did okay. I still lost my temper more than a few times, was less than patient in a couple of situations, and probably added some sarcasm that wasn't necessarily called for.

It's always a work in progress.

Today, I am asking myself if there is an end goal from that progress, and while I don't think there is as human interaction will never end, I do think it is part of something larger that I have been working on without even knowing.

That would be the process of self improvement. Yeah, I'm putting it all together now - the Year of Inventory, the desire to get along better with others, wanting more people to know the real me. In general, the need to tackle some things I've been avoiding for years.

Duh, Jim - the process of self improvement. Good for me, but darn I can be slow sometimes.

Okay, so I'm asking myself, "what's next? What do I want to work on improving in 2009?"

Heck I don't know. I've been pondering that question all day long, walking around the house, staring at the t.v. screen, watching football and hockey, looking at my cluttered desk. You know - taking inventory.

I'd like to read more. I'd like to have better sleep habits, and maybe even make myself into a morning person. (Is that possible?) I'd like to refinish a couple pieces of furniture that have been sitting in my garage for far too long. I'd like to finish a few projects at work that have been sitting in my "to do box," for quite a while. I'd like to blog more, and write more effectively.

That's just the list of things I've come up with today. The total number of possibilities are really probably endless. Self improvement is not something that we ever finish or check off a list. Nobody is perfect as they say.

But where to begin? How do I "not fail?"

I have my lovely wife to thank for providing the answer to this question. Netter always says:

"Just do something. As long as you are doing something you are making progress and that's really all that's important."

And so I begin - that pile of clutter won't be there for long.

What's your New Year's resolution?