I was at the game, so this didn’t effect me. I hear that it also didn’t effect people in the Buffalo area, which would have caused an even bigger mess. But NBC does have a mess on their hands none-the-less.

Yesterday’s Sabres/Senators game started at 2 PM EDT on NBC. It was to be on until 5 and then NBC’s coverage of The Preakness was to be on from 5-7. But the game went into Overtime. So what did NBC do? Did they stick with the game for a little bit? After all, the race was not set to go off until 6:15 and 75 minutes would have given the viewers at least one period of OT - maybe two if there were no TV timeouts. Nope. Not NBC. They went to the pre-race show right at 5.

The game ended at 5:15 about 1/2 way thru the 1st OT period. Based on that, even if NBC decided to stick with the game for 1 OT, they would have been able to air their precious horsey race pre-show for 45 minutes. Hell, anyone that’s familiar with hockey would be able to tell you that they’d be able to air at least one OT period and have plenty of time to get to the race.

NBC Sports is pathetic, especially in their coverage of hockey:
- pre-game & post-game shows are online and not on TV
- they only air 9 regular season games each year
- they do not air playoff games when their’s golf on in the afternoon or if the games are in prime time
and now you can add to the list:
- they leave a game that’s going to overtime for the pre-show of a horse race.

THE PRE-SHOW! Not the actual race, but the PRE-SHOW!

I’ll be watching the Stanley Cup finals on CBC in HD via my over-the-air antenna, since it’s obvious that NBC doesn’t care if they show hockey or not.

sources:
palmbeachpost.com
si.com

From Time Warner Cable

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For Further Information Contact:
Robin L. Wolfgang
Vice President, Public and Government Affairs
716-558-8642 (Phone)
716-289-1810 (Cell)
Robin.Wolfgang@twcable.com

TIME WARNER CABLE ADDS VERSUS HD FOR HOCKEY PLAYOFFS
Digital Cable Customers Will Receive Versus HD May 10th on Channel 708

BUFFALO, NY- May 8, 2007 - Time Warner Cable, the nation’s second-largest cable television operator, today announced the temporary addition of Versus HD to its HD offerings for digital cable customers on Channel 708. The addition of Versus HD will allow hockey fans to enjoy the hockey playoff games beginning Thursday, May 10 until the end of the hockey season. Versus will not black out any more games in this region and has pledged to cover two games of the Stanley Cup. Versus offers the Golf Channel from noon until seven and then begins its Versus hockey coverage at seven.

"Time Warner Cable has heard the clamor of our customers for Versus HD in order to see the hockey playoffs through the best picture available. We are pleased to have the technology and the ability to offer this great opportunity for the next month," stated Gordon Harp, Buffalo Division President, Time Warner Cable. "Behind the scenes we have had to work very fast and juggle some other commitments but we felt this was important to our customers in Western New York. As a company Time Warner Cable strives to provide the best products and services every day."

Versus will remain available on Channel 71 to standard package customers after this temporary viewing of Versus HD ends. Versus is the national cable home of the National Hockey league (NHL) and the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Now in more than 72 million homes, the network is a destination for sports fans, athletes and sportsmen to find exclusive, competitive events that audiences can’t find elsewhere.

As one of the customers that clamored about being able to see Versus in HD, this makes me so happy!

But it does make me wonder if they only did this because you can pick up CBC’s HD signal out of Toronto & all the games from here on out will be on CBC. I hope they prove me wrong & keep it past the playoffs.

The NHL Conference Finals will start this weekend, but you won’t see any of the action on NBC. Why? Well, it seems that NBC cares more about Golf, Law & Order, and Shrek.

Saturday is Game 2 of the Sabres/Senators series. NBC will be showing Golf from 2:00-7:00, then Dateline (which is pretty much on every day now) & 2 of the many Law & Order spin-offs.

Sunday is Game 2 of the Ducks/Red Wings series. NBC will be again showing Golf from 2:00-7:00 and 2001’s Shrek at 8:00 (who hasn’t seen this 6 year old movie?)

Why does the NHL put up with this? They let NBC push them around when it’s convenient for them. NBC made the NHL completely screw up the Senators/Penguins Round 1 series by moving Game 2 in Ottawa from Friday to Saturday afternoon, even though Game 3 was Sunday night in Pittsburgh. Why? Two words: Sidney Crosby. I bet if Pittsburgh was still in the playoffs, they’d be showing that game on Saturday or Sunday.

NBC has also left themselves open to potentially having no games to air on May 19th & 20th. Now, I don’t think that either of the series will be a 4-0 sweep, but if they are - or even if one of them is - that would leave the National TV audience with one or zero hockey games for THREE weeks (there’s no games scheduled for Memorial Day Weekend)

I don’t write this as a Sabres fan, I write it as a fan of hockey. I want hockey to succeed on a National level, and for that to happen, NBC has to step up & do what they can to make that happen.

I’ve got 4 run-of-the-mill motion activated flood lights in my yard & even on the lowest settings, they still go off when a leaf blows past them. It’s really horrible in the winter because they are pretty much on & off all night long.

But then I found this little beauty:
Motion Activated Solar Flood Light
And I have to admit, I just ordered 3 more. This thing is GREAT!

The purpose of a motion activated flood light is to give you some temporary light (otherwise, you’d just turn the light on when you needed it) This light completely charged in 2 days & it’s perfect. 30-60 seconds of light & it’s all free

The only downside is that now I need to call my electrician buddy & have him put the 4 old lights on a switch - but that’s a downside I can deal with!

Here’s some more sites to use to waste away your day

Cultural Learnings Association of Production
Ms Dewey
Antiquarian Angler
Ninja, Pirate or Gladiator?
How to Win at Rock-Paper-Scissors
The Tailor Of A Cat
The Pillow Fight League

Now remember, all the Stupid & Silly Sites are still here on BlinkerFluid.com (even the really old horribly designed version). Yes, the site has undergone a dramatic change, but nothing has been removed (but a lot has been added) So when you tell me that the site sucks & it’s not interesting I say to you to bookmark this page and you won’t have to look at my mindless ramblings about HDTV or Hockey or Recycling or whatever else rattles thru my head.

Also remember that most of the sites are submitted by surfers just like you. So go thru your bookmarks & send me some links to sites that are just a complete waste of space.

Thank you & have a nice weekend!