Canada's Stanley Cup Coverage puts NBC to shame

As in many things hockey, the Canadian Broadcasting Company is putting NBC's lackluster approach to the Stanley Cup Finals to shame.

Time to admit that yes, even with these guys, Canada does it better.

Evidence?  Exhibit A and B, from the CBC, below.  From the opening night (Saturday) of the Stanley Cup Finals...

Sinatra, the history of both franchises, and one of the wildest arenas in all of sport? Well done.  And from last night's coverage of game two of the Stanley Cup Finals...

My favorite part?  About 1:10 in, where you can see Patrick Sharp yelling from the bench at pulled Flyers goaltender Michael Leighton.  The production firepower for NBC's Stanley Cup Finals broadcasts don't even come close.  This is all I could find online from Game 1, and I can assure you that Game 2's intro video was just as short and lame.

I guess that should be expected, considering how low hockey is on the totem pole in the United States, but still - if the Stanley Cup is your property, NBC, wouldn't you give it half the consideration and production power of that overblown, completely out-of-touch venture you call Sunday Night Football?

Well, remember, this is NBC we're talking about.  Still, NBC network executives are probably ecstatic with the Stanley Cup Finals, considering their coverage on Saturday night produced the highest overnight ratings for the opening game of Stanley Cup Finals in 11 years and a 12% jump over last year's opening game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings.  While national viewership figures won't be available until tomorrow (Wednesday), we already know that the overnight figures for game 2 produced the highest-rated game 2 numbers in 35 years and a 21% jump from last year's game.

Still, couldn't they put a bit more effort into their production?  As it stands, CBC's coverage is all the more interesting because they are formulating an actual narrative.  A narrative - with all of the dramas, twists and turns, and so on - sells the broadcast.  Seems like common sense.

Tom Rinaldi goes Emmy-hunting

ESPN's long feature master Tom Rinaldi, a 2007 Sports Emmy winner in that category, goes hunting again (like he does every week).  This time, the piece tells the story of the hero of the 1950 US men's national soccer team, Joe Gaetjens, who scored the lone goal in the US' 1-0 miracle win over England.

Touching, as always, from Rinaldi.

Creating the bond between city identity and team

Exhibit A, regarding the new logo for the Portland Timbers, set to join Major League Soccer in 2011:

Creating that bond is, obviously, crucial to ensuring the team's viability.  Considering that the city of Portland has given $31 million to upgrade the Timbers' PGE Stadium, one might suggest that there is a lot of (local) vested interest in the new MLS franchise's success.

The redeveloped PGE Stadium won't be brand new, but it will have 

character, charm, and a downtown location.

Turns out that PGE Stadium - in its various incarnations - is an 85-year-old facility whose eccentricity lies in the fact that it has been used as a football, baseball, and soccer stadium during its lifetime.  Rather than redevelop the stadium to mirror the likes of Red Bull Arena or Toyota Park, the J-shaped, downtown PGE Stadium will rely on a quirkiness that the team hopes will draw on the familiarity of older stadiums and, thus, become the MLS-version of Fenway Park or Lambeau Field.

In soccer, as in any sport, pretty girls = good ratings

While it may be the oldest TV broadcasting maxim in the book, it is still interesting for me to hear it so prominently proclaimed.  In this short behind-the-scenes video from Fox Soccer Channel's Football Fone-In, we see male co-hosts Eric Wynalda and Nick Webster tout the addition of former Arizona State University soccer standout Temryss Lane (twitter) for boosting their show's ratings.  Again, it's an obvious connection, but it's almost flaunted by her male counterparts in the vid below.

The boost in ratings, furthermore, has not gone overlooked by Major League Soccer and their website - which produced an article on Lane's rise, put together a photo gallery of Lane that dates to her playing days at ASU, and featured her - along with the rest of the Football Fone-In cast - on yesterday's MLS video podcast.

What is Lane's role on the Fox Soccer Channel's prime call-in show, you might ask?  She is charged with breaking down highlights for the WPS as well as responding to e-mails and Tweets - not altogether unlike the role currently held by another female in the realm of cable sportsdom...that is, the role that Jenn Sterger plays on Versus' The Daily Line, a nightly sports talk show where Jenn blogs, conducts a live chat, and reads Tweets during the telecast.

The Daily Line hosts. And I ask, why is Jenn's head 

so disproportionately tilted?

I guess these women are just another pair in the long line of women relegated to the sidelines of sports broadcasting, seeing as both are typically shown (by themselves) to the fair right or left of the show's main desks.  But in the digital age, it's interesting to see that the sideline - for these two shows at least - is now the Internet...a place where both Lane and Sterger - as aspiring models - have their own followings.

New Nike World Cup Commercial

Deadspin called it meta-referential.  Why else would they include Kobe Bryant and Roger Federer?  I'd say that applies, as does hyperbolic.

The following is a result of Nike's tireless effort to make the grandest statements in their commercials.  Though, in the case of an England victory in the World Cup, I dare say you'd see plenty of Wayne-babies in England in the coming months.  So, perhaps that's not an exaggeration.  One mistake that's made, however, is the inclusion of Brazilian star Ronaldinho, who did not make Brazil's World Cup roster.

In the end, Nike just doing it like only they can.

New Philadelphia-area MLS Stadium almost ready

The stadium, located 15 miles from the center of Philly in Chester, Pennsylvania, is getting close to being completed.

You know what they say about waterfront property.

Even better news according to the MLS Insider blog and the Philadelphia Business Journal, the Philadelphia Union - who will make the new facility, dubbed PPL Park, their home - have sold out their limited allotment of 12,000 season ticket plans for the 2010 season.  I'm certain that a large number of those season tickets have been sold to the fan support group, the Sons of Ben (as in, Franklin), which already boasts over 5,000 members.

The stadium will apparently have a special entrance for the Sons of Ben.

 
The team decided to cap the number of season tickets in the 18,500-seat stadium so that single-game and walk-up tickets could be sold for home matches.  The stadium is slated to debut on Sunday, June 27th, when the Union take on the Seattle Sounders at 5 pm on ESPN2.

And both MLS and the team expect the new building to be filled to capacity throughout the remainder of the home schedule.  Why?  Because the Union - in their two home matches in Lincoln Financial Field - have drawn 34,870 (for the franchise debut) and 25,038 (for a game against FC Dallas last week) fans.

The team has already had good support at cavernous

Lincoln Financial Field.

Seems like a good start for MLS in Philadelphia, but it remains to be seen whether the new stadium will be the locus of job creation and neighborhood revitalization that both the league and team promised.

Want to Buy Michael Jordan's (Slightly Used) McLaren?

It's only $449,000, currently listed at auction on eBay.  Actually kind of a steal since Mercedes only built 150 of these, at a price (in 2007) of around $480,000 and since Jordan put it up for sale on eBay last year for $599,480.  The current price, therefore, is a sweet $150k discount.

As GM for the Wizards and Bobcats, Jordan was adept at 

running the team into the ground.  With just 951 miles on the odometer, 
thankfully, this car was spared that fate.

More good news, besides a Michael Jordan signed title, is that the car is actually a "722 Special Edition" 2007 Mercedes McLaren SLR, which means it can go from 0-60 in a paltry 3.6 seconds.

Better yet, because the top speed is 210 mph, you should be back from the grocery store in no time.  So put your Ford Fiesta in the garage and get to bidding!  Just five days left!