Wow… remind me never to piss off ESPN… or hurt their tender little feelings. After reading the book “Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN” I know that the so-called “worldwide leader” can be petty, the stories recounted by authors James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales clearly indicate that. I really found their “dog in the manger” attitude toward the NHL to be pretty funny, especially given the book was published before the $2 billion contract with NBC was announced. Joni Mitchell said it best, “you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” ESPN continues to try to cover the NHL, but their claim to hockey fans has long been gone.

The funny part is that they almost seem to be whining that the NHL doesn’t recognize them as the end all be all of sports. Some of Steve Levy’s quotes in the book reflect an almost “how dare they not want to accept what crumbs we are willing to throw at them” attitude. The comparisons of the NBC/Versus deal to the Sports Channel America deal is ludicrous. A point proven by the new contract that clearly shows the NHL doesn’t “need” ESPN.

And now comes their ridiculous NHL organizational rankings, attempting to rank the talent in the pipeline of each NHL team. I just shake my head that ESPN clearly just doesn’t get it, and frankly, never will.

The NHL and ESPN may choose to come together again, but it will not be the way ESPN wants it... it will be as equals.

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Random Notes

- Waking up to a cool morning this morning for the first time in a few months…

- Interesting analysis on the Shea Weber arbitration across the interwebs this past weekend, and the transcript of the hearing is a fascinating read.

- Got together with members of the 310 family to watch game six on Saturday night. Season is just around the corner.

- In the “You Can Tell It’s August” department… a controversy over a watch party from the Islanders… really? Tell you what, let's pick a game where nothing happened so we don't insult anyone...

- Those silly ESPN rankings have the Predators at #26… Hockey’s Future has them at #3… Which source do you believe?

- The Sidney Crosby “When Does He return” saga continues… He’s working out, but not taking contact… ummm… OK. We’ll see what happens in early October.

- So let me get this straight… Mike Comrie stated that he will return to the NHL when he is healthy.” Apparently he’s performing well in other areas though… congrats to him and his wife Hillary Duff as they have announced they are expecting a baby.

- 31 days till training camp opens.

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