Ya Know ...

Even when ESPN deigns to cover hockey, they screw it up. This morning's Sportscenter had Josh Elliott mediating between Matt Barnaby and Barry Melrose during a short season-preview segment. Barnaby (the former Ranger) picked the Blueshirts as the sleeper in the East. So, as ESPN is apt to do, they ran b-roll over his explanation. The video they ran? Scott Gomez skating with the puck and Colton Orr winning a fight. Really?

We already get mediocre, half-assed work from Versus - we don't need it from the self-styled "world-wide leader." Go talk about football, baseball, soccer - the sports you own the rights to and have hired people who actually know about the games - we can toil in 'anonymity' without the condescending coverage. We moved on a long time ago.

Worldwide Leader My A--

First day of NHL free agency and hockey wasn't even teased in the open of the 6pm SportsCenter. The lead stories? ESPN properties NBA and Wimbledon.

Nice.

Edit: In PIT's Big Finish 18 minutes into SportsCenter they finally mention NHL free agency to which the smug vacation replacement host said "the NHL has free agency? How cute!"

ESPN Is The Devil

As much as we want hockey to be back on ESPN, I have to say that they suck. I know, I know, that is a broad statement that includes many of the horrors that they perpetrate, but the one that is really bothering me right now is the awful fantasy game that they host.

Why do I hate it, oh let me count the ways:
1 - The game is made live later than any other on the internet.
2 - The pool of players includes guys that have been long retired or are even dead.
3 - The interfaces to rate said players is horrible - both the Java which goes slow as hell and the html which is incredibly inaccurate.
4 - Now that the season has finally started, the live drafts have been screwed up. I have a team that was due to draft two days ago and the computers crashed/froze/who knows so the league didn't draft until tonight - and as near as I could tell no team was able to access it.
5 - ESPN's solution to the problems? Give you another free team ... like people want twice the trouble.
6 - The live drafts are done through html, which makes them astoundingly frustrating and hard to follow.
7 - I am in the third and final year of a keeper league that clearly has owners who haven't checked since the beginning of the first year yet the service hasn't done anything about it.
8 - Team logos are limited to a pathetic goalie mask template - no I don't want a goalie mask with horns or one that looks like a pumpkin to represent my team.

So all this boils down to the fact that ESPN should be avoided at all costs for fantasy hockey. I've heard that CBS Sportsline's service is ok but a bit limiting. The NHL's in-house game is mediocre. TSN's is alright, but I highly recommend Yahoo!'s as it has the best interface, quality mediators who keep track of players, and great customer service, even though the game is free. Trust me, I know from experience and have 14 teams heading into this season across four services.

I am a geek.

Big Busts (Get Your Mind Out Of The Gutter)

Quasi-respected columnist for ESPN.com Terry Frei wrote a ridiculous column today that calls Eric Lindros a "bust" who was "under-achieving and starcrossed."

Now as those close to me know, I really hate the bastard. (Lindros, not Frei.)

But I find myself in the uncomfortable position of standing up for the non-jersey wearing, hated wash-up. But while I cheered louder than many when he got creamed by Scott Stevens, by no means was Lindros a bust.

One of the many definitions of bust, and the most appropriate one in this case, is "A failure; a flop". Now Eric Lindros never won a Cup and never lived up to the hype he had when he came into the league, by no means was he a failure. Lindros averaged more than a point per game for nine of his 14 NHL seasons. He also had eight seasons of over a hundred PIM, befitting a power forward of his nature. I mean, his numbers are pretty surprising (check 'em out here) but by no means those of a failure.

Frei harps on him saying that he had "unrealized potential" but you can say that for thousands of hockey players. Lindros, much like Cam Neely, Pavel Bure and Keith Primeau, had his career basically ended by injury and yet they are all lauded as heroes while Frei is dogging Lindros. The only difference I can see is that they knew when to hang up the skates and Lindros didn't.

When the former Legion of Doomer came to the Leafs and the Rangers, he was clearly a shell of the player he had been. The number and severity of concussions he endured made the powerful force of nature into a timid child crossing the blue line and working along the periphery. It was infuriating to watch as a Rangers fan and I prayed he would be knocked to his senses and get the hell off of the Garden ice. He didn't and now it looks like he will be forced into retirement. But looking back how can anyone in their right mind combine the word 'bust' with Lindros?!??!

I mean, here are five guys who truly were busts right off the top of my head:
*Pavel Brendl (4th in 1999 - I walked out of the Rangers draft day party when they announced that one)
*Alexandre Volchkov (4th in 1996 - he didn't like American and ran back to Russia)
*Jason Bonsignore (4th in 1994 - A Glen Sather special - proving he lost whatever magic he had when he drafted the cornerstones of the dynasty back in the 80s.)
*Alexander Daigle (1st overall in 1993 - god what a waste, I saw him play an AHL game and he was incredible - natural talent but nothing else)
*Dave Chyzowski (2nd in 1989 - nice work Islanders)

Now I think you would agree that a Hart Trophy winner doesn't exactly fit in that company. Now I don't agree with those who see him in the Hall of Fame (which rapidly became the Hall of Very Good prior to the lockout) but those inside of the game think that he still has a lot to contribute as part of the Players Association so should he rightly (finally) call it quits, I will wish him good riddance, I mean, good luck in his new position.

I will remember him not putting on the Nords jersey when he was drafted, I will remember him as the powerful force that hammered the post-Cup Rangers and I will remember him as the impotent sissy when he donned a Blueshirt. But one thing I will not remember him as is a bust.