BOWL SEASON RESPITE

Like many of you I spent New Year’s Day locked onto NBCs coverage of the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field.

Overall thoughts? It was OK – just OK - but that's cynical old me.

Smaller view nit picking?

Well...

The ceremonial puck drop was a broadcast mess. The individuals involved were never identified with graphic support and the whole thing was sloppily presented in the booth as a couple of Chicago sports greats were embarrassingly mis-identified.

On a lighter note, I thought Bobby Hull was a wax-curled mustache away from being a dead ringer for Rip Taylor.

The game cameras were too far away and too shallow which made the rink look like a frozen bowling lane and the puck look, well…what puck?

I thought the access would be better when it came to getting "inside" the spectacle of the event. Instead, NBC seemed more like a casual observer. If you were able to catch any of the NHL Network coverage it was a lot more intrusive and interesting.

Rinkside yak-a-palooza artist Pierre McGuire seemed fixated on wind conditions throughout the day. Lacking the same elevated aeronautic expertise as him, I struggled to understand how the wind was only aiding attacking players yet ignored backcheckers and backward skating defensemen? Very selective indeed. I hope he wasn't just making that up. And thank god he was there to inform the guys "upstairs in the booth" about what was transpiring at ice level, for they had to be at least 40 feet behind him on an open-air platform.

I wanted to hear "Outdoor" Ty Conklin explain his indoor potty break in the third and Dan Cleary talk about getting toppled into the Blackhawk bench during their interviews, but they were never asked.

I did enjoy the Weather Channel guy. He seemed to get the idea of the day - not too serious, just the facts and have some fun with it.

Bob Costas is awesomely professional but seemed unsure at times during this one -and I always felt he was a segment away from debating Bud Selig via satellite on the merits of ending All Star games with the score tied and the bane of baseball –steroids.

Mike Milbury looked like a math professor in his beige sweater.

The fedora wearing Red Wing coaching staff looked like they’d been parachuted in from Graz, Austria. Not a good look.

But who knows, maybe my observations were just clouded by the New Years Day “fuzzies”

And where do I think Winter Classic IV will unfold? My money is on Beantown with the Bruins hosting Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. (Rebounds off the Green Monster anybody?)