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The Roche Approach
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Last week Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos Jr. spilled belief that the current NHL holdout will wash the entire 2004-2005 season.
And possibly the next.
What is even more frightening for Karmanos and company? Currently the sports calendar is getting along just fine without it. But with NFL Playoffs finished in early February, the rest of winter looks awfully lonely. Besides hope for Kobe to lead police down the 110 in a white Bronco – it’s the only next logical step in this guy’s career – the NBA has little to provide sports fans before the college hoops tournament and Major League Baseball returns.
Apparently FOX is licking its chops.
On Feb. 20 they’ll roll out the checkered carpet for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series with the biggest race of the year – the Daytona 500. And if FOX has its way, the good ole’ boys from the N-OC are about to plunge hockey into sports oblivion next to the MLS and WNBA.
Already second only to the NFL in television ratings, NASCAR’s image and popularity is rising at a Levitra pace. Come on, admit the American Chopper marathons have turned you into a bigger motor head than ever before. Well then consider NASCAR a second cousin. America is in a renascence of speed; and FOX hopes it can launch stockcar racing into superstardom where Jesse James and Jerry Bruckheimer left off.
The change in the appeal of NASCAR has taken a million left turns from its start. With its roots dating back to prohibition, bootlegger’s weekend races have matured into the most scientific of all sports. Budweiser has replaced moonshine. Cell phone companies have replaced Cigarette sponsors. Can coolers have been replaced with – in driver Ryan Newman’s case – a University of Purdue engineering degree. This sport has cleaned up quite nice for mass appeal.
But the most refreshing aspect of NASCAR in recent years has been rule changes. For those still calculating the BSC numbers, the Nextel Cup Series quickly developed its own version of a playoff last year. It injected the once lengthy season with a last lap shootout for millions of dollars. And no act of Congress was needed.
If and when the NHL returns from their holdout, don’t assume that the American hockey faithful will follow. Last season spelled low ratings and a general lack of interest below the St. Lawrence. So while the Euros and Canadians fight over rubles, the NHL might not have anything left to survive. Do you really believe the red states will cheer some greedy Vladimir Whatever-ov from Slovakia before following names like Gordon, Stewart, and Johnson? If it wasn’t for Paris and her ‘Simple Life’, I’d say FOX knows what it’s doing.
Now before you run off to your Gordie Howe shrine and pray against this armageddon of a hockey-less America, remember the NHL is to blame for it’s own demise.
It made an attempt to over-saturate the market.
It tried to make a quick buck off American audiences.
It alienated the Canadian fans that worship their national game.
And just think; all the NHL had to do is cover their uniforms in sponsor patches and make a million left turns.
Mike Roche
Sports Columnist
