Thursday, July 5, 2012

"Cohesive Hockey Interested Group" As Believable As "A Million Little Pieces"

Like Columbus? Nashville? St. Louis? What's your definition of small? (Via)
Sports talk radio.  You listen to this stuff?  I try not to, but, alas, my working environment permits it, more or less.  Oh, don't get me wrong, it's not all bad.  Sometimes they have good interviews.  Like Kansas City mayor Slyyy James on 610 Sports this morning with Bob Fescoe.  That Sly, he's real pumped about that All-Star game.

Of course, that's not important.  Oh no.  Toward the end of the interview, Slyyyy was asked about the status of an NBA or NHL team at the Sprint Center (as he should be in every interview ever until it happens).  Annnnnndddd here's what he said!


"I'd say, if anything, we're closer on the hockey front than we are the basketball front.  There's a cohesive hockey interested group."

Click here to listen to the interview (important part starts at about 14:20)

I'm unsure what part of that to not believe more.  Sure wish we had more info... great job by Fescoe following up on that lead!!!  Anyway, it doesn't matter because who knows what he is talking about.  I can't imagine he is referring to someone Paul McGannon's NHL21 has found, because he apparently has a new name and mission.  It could be the super-duper double secret international investment group vying for the Coyotes a few months ago.  Or it could be the reanimated corpse of Andrew bleeding Carnegie.  Who knows.

After the interview, Slyyy Fox clarified his comments.  He basically says the city's NHL prospects are the tallest midget, but still a midget nonetheless.  
"2b clear.  Nothing even close" – Sly James
Later on, Danny Parkins and Carrington Harrison talked about these comments on their show and gave their input (because that's what they do for a living).

Here is the extent of hockey discussion on Kansas City talk radio.

Carrington Harrison: "Whenever the NHL playoffs were going on...very few people were saying 'talk NHL.'"

Danny Parkins: "Hockey isn't wildly popular outside of Canadians" (then goes on to list wild popularity in major American cities)

These are both somewhat myopic views, only because people don't text you or call you about hockey because YOU NEVER TALK ABOUT IT.  The only personality who actually does initiate hockey talk on the radio here is Gary "G-D" Lezak and that's only over the past month and because he's an LA Kings fan (it should be noted that whenever he did this, 810's Border Patrol became visibly ill).  Hockey fans will go where they can talk about hockey.  They won't sit around and wait for you guys to talk about it.  They are smarter than that.  Hockey has as large of an online presence as any major sport.  Just look locally, there are zero KC-specific basketball blog sites, yet just look at "The Locals" section on the right side of this page for those here in the area talking about hockey.  A very, very small-scale example, but KC doesn't even have a team and people are talking about it.

The main take away here is Parkins stating his willingness to start talking hockey.  So...do it.  Interview people who want to talk about it.  Devote ten minutes of your show once a week.  Something.  It's a chicken and the egg scenario.  You don't talk about it, so people don't ask you about it.  Look, this isn't a discussion of whether Kansas City can support a team or not, just talk hockey.  We can support hockey talk.  Radio personalities don't even have to learn anything about it.  Have experts come on and talk about it.  There are hockey writers all over North America that would love to talk hockey to the Kansas City audience.  Teaching them about the players, the game.  You don't even have to LEARN THE NAMES!!!

Also, as an aside, and they touched on this, but Bill Self's opinions on anything other than Kansas basketball is like asking Eva PerĂ³n about military strategy in Norway.  NO. ONE. (SHOULD.) CARE.

"It's one hell of a Wednesday Kansas."  Okay, that's funny.

Man, I knew this post was coming, but I hate talking about sports radio.

2 comments:

  1. I ignore them because when they talk hockey, they usually say something stupid.

    One of the numbnuts on 810's Border Patrol said, "What network are they on?" I bet they had no trouble finding NBCSN for the Olympic Trials. I bet they'll have no trouble finding NBCSN when USA Basketball games are on the NBC Sports Network.

    At one point, the "sportstalker who shall remain nameless" said Kansas City's chance of getting an NBA team was 50/50 when the NBA took over the Hornets. His crummy little toady producer, said it was 65%.

    Nice prediction. Don't play Vegas, boys.

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  2. Yeah, when they open their mouths to talk about hockey, it's usually misinformed or stupid anyway. So, it's a bad thing they don't talk about it, but it's somehow worse when they do.

    And, I have never understood the willing ignorance from someone whose job is to talk about sports for a living. "What network are they on?" is not an excuse to not know anything about the sport. I can't watch European rugby here (easily), but they invented this thing called the Internet that allows me to stay up to date on the sport fairly well. Then again, it's like self-handicapping for dummies.
    "If I say I can't find the sport on TV, then I won't look like a total slug when people ask me about it, thus I will look good for having knowledge of very little."

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