Back in Business

Finally!

I am just really happy that the whole thing is over. And yes, I will be right there when play resumes. I love the NHL, and the Flyers, and the fact that the players made a huge mistake by sitting out a year doesn't change that fact. Now, I do think that every team needs to lower ticket prices, at least a little bit, just to say, "Hey, sorry we screwed around for a year and could afford to do it." I'm not even one for fan appreciation, I guess that comes with being a Flyers fan, but I do think some gesture would go a long way to laying the foundation for the return to NHL glory. The NHL will remain a very small player in the big dollar world of Sports on TV, especially if ESPN doesnt pick the NHL back up. I still believe the high cost of entry to play ice hockey, combined with the lack of minority stars will keep the NHL as more of a culture or "cult" hit.

Hockey does have a few intangibles that could be used to push revenues higher. It has to be a goal for the NHL to achieve a TV contract with broadcast rights that rival those of Major League Baseball or the NBA. I'm not even mentioning the NFL, those rights are unthinkably high and understandably so. I think the NHL has begun their strategy for increased popularity already, with the Sidney Crosby Sweepstakes set to take place later this month. The thought of the Flyers winning with their 2% chance and putting Crosby, Jeff Carter and Mike Richards on the team next season is exasperating. Player transactions are the first tool that the NHL has to build an extended fanbase. The excitement of free agency, young players taking roster spots, it's a good thing.

The second tool that the NHL has already used are rule changes. No more ties, two line passing over the red line, touch-up offsides, and most importantly the decreased size of the goalie equipment will have a positive effect on fan reaction to the game. The third tool that the NHL can use is technology, and there are many subdivisions for this point: 1. broadcasting games on the internet for free for one season would be a good way to generate buzz. 2. (let me preface this with the statement "I'm being serious") The NHL and NHLPA hold a good license to sell to videogame makers. NHL videogames are almost as, if not more popular than the sport itself. If the NHL were to dive in to the promotion of a new game or games before the upcoming season, that's a real good way to draw in fans in key demographics that were lost in the last 300 days, if not before that. It may be impossible to recreate Madden-type buzz, however, sinec the popularity of the NFL has far surpassed that of any other sport in the United States.

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I watch a lot of crap on television, and one of my favorites this summer has been Hell's Kitchen, for no other reason than the fact that I work in a kitchen some times. The show is actually terrible, and I am a reality TV junkie saying this with authority. The fact that the show takes place in a restaurant is great. Gordon Ramsey is great. Gordon's BBC hit, Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares, is excellent. The U.S. show seemes forced for Ramsey. He does not, in the time that he is on screen, seem comfortable or react to the audience at all. Ramsey is not Jeff Probst, the role doesn't seem right. If the show is about winning your own restaurant, why is the kitchen, kitchen execution at that, the only highlighted skillset? Still, it is one of my favorites, just watching these boring characters go through one awful shift after another. It is funny at times and just plain harsh at times, and it has gotten the job done, but I am already waiting for Survivor and The Amazing Race and The Apprentice. And no, dont even get me started about Laguna Beach.

Sitting and thinking about it, if I had to come up with a reality stars version of Survior (14 castaways):
1. Jenna M. from Survivor: Amazon
2. Abram from Real World/Road Rules Challenge
3. Raj from Apprentice 2
4. Kendra from Apprentice 3
5. Jessie from Apprentice 1
6. Elisabeth from Survivor: Australia and The View
7. Tara from Paradise Hotel
8. Ace from Real World: Paris
9. Veronica from Real World/Road Rules Challenge
10. Dave from Survivor: Amazon
11. Carrie Underwood from American Idol 4
12. Colin from The Amazing Race 5
13. Jon from Survivor: Pearl Islands
14. Sarah from Survivor: Marquesas

Those aren't necessarily my favorite characters, but put together would make a show to end all shows. Again, I always have to say that the beauty of reality television is that it is completely unreal. Totally fake and artificial. I love it. Researching that list I saw that Donald Trump has possibly lost his mind. Oh, now there's a bad idea. Oh so bad.