Lord Stanley’s Cup and a ponder of sports coverage…

The Los Angeles Kings have won the Stanley Cup, defeating the Devils in Game 6 to win it at home.

Pause…confirm residual bitterness from that hit on Pietrangelo during their series with the Blues…continue.

***fixes face***

Congrats, Kings fans!

Longtime readers know that I adore NHL hockey and watch even if my beloved Blues aren’t playing.  But I’ve got to tell y’all, I’ve noticed a trend in sports broadcasting that tends to piss in the Cornflakes of viewers.

The trend?

Pre-game announcing that used to set the stage for games now sets a stage of “why did Team A even bother to dress for this game when Team B is going to whoop that ass and why are you even watching when anyone with a brain knows that Team A doesn’t stand a chance?”

Don’t get me wrong…I get that the Devils weren’t playing the kind of hockey that the Kings were going into the series.  But the Devils were playing the kind of hockey that beat everyone they faced to get to the Finals…so announcers had something to work with, which is why I couldn’t understand why they focused so much on their eminent defeat.

The Devils may have lost the first three games, but they played well.  Hell, the Devils played better in the first three games than they did in Game 6! 

As a viewer who isn’t a fan of either team, I was so turned off by the broadcast coverage that I almost skipped watching. 

And that’s saying something, because I’m the fan who re-watches games all summer so I can keep my hockey buzz going.

Sigh.

This trend isn’t limited to NHL hockey, either. I’m also a tennis fan and Lawd knows John McEnroe can talk down a match better than any NHL hockey announcer ever could!  If McEnroe is calling a Nadal match you can bet your ass that you’re going to hear why [insert player here] should have stayed home in extreme detail.

I just don’t find that exciting.

Maybe its because I’m a St. Louisan…and even though I’m not a baseball fan, even I know that my hometown Cards provided a case study in how a team can exceed expectations while their on the way to winning it all.

That brings me back to the Kings…the same Kings who no one was picking to accomplish a damn thing during the first half of the season…yeah, those Kings that turned it around and made history by winning the Cup.

Kind of makes the case for broadcasters taking a break from emotional predictions of total annihilation and maybe doing some fucking analysis, doesn't it?

Just sayin’.

***logs off to begin the long wait for hockey to start again***