Hi this is Fred Wallace with Off the Wire…..brought to you by your local Auto Logic….the Logical Choice.
I left Canada for the United States prior to the 2015 Stanley Cup between the Tampa Bay Lightning & Chicago Blackhawks.
While cruising on the Norwegian Jewel to Alaska, I was somewhat fortunate to have ESPN available ( at times ! ) in my cabin.
However, the volume of coverage the Cup Final received was dwarfed by all things American, including the College World Series of Women’s Fastball.
Compared to TSN, Sportsnet or The Score, ESPN’s coverage would never be characterized as in depth.
Furthermore, the reports were often juvenile, and I felt did little to sell the excitement of the NHL Championship.
Then again, no matter what the announcers did on air was likely to sway the American public.
Case in point; later in my junket I was in the San Francisco airport awaiting a flight and I picked up the Chronicle.
As expected with Golden State in the NBA Final, the Warriors and Cavaliers got front page coverage plus 9 additional pages of coverage which was disbursed around the Giants and a no-hitter, Major League Baseball, the Major League draft, College Sports and then on PAGE 10, was a 6 inch article from Associated Press previewing Game 3 of the Hawks-Lightning series.
Where we live, NHL hockey is king. Throughout most of the United States, I’m afraid, pro hockey is Page 10.
I’m Fred Wallace