Your End of Hockey Playoff Montages: Love These Videos

((ht: cbssports.com))

For whatever reason, one of the things that separates hockey coverage from other sports seems to be the video montages. And they separate even further with the American and the Canadian versions of said montages.

The reason we bring this up is because this is a snapshot of what we do for a living. We've done countless video highlight montages like this and to get them right is not nearly as easy as you'd think.

With that in mind we offer you montages done by both NBC Sports and the CBC (Canadian Broadcast Company) after last nights Stanley Cup Finals ended with a Los Angeles Kings win.

In this corner, NBC. NBC does a great job with their Hockey coverage and their lead announcer, Mike "Doc" Emrick is the best play-by-play guy in Sports today.

NBC put together their playoff wrap video using an excerpt from a Queen/David Bowie collaboration from the 1980's. "Under Pressure". And they mixed it with game highlights, cutaways and a ton of natural sound/broadcast sound.

It's very well produced and edited:



Now check out what the CBC did. Mind you, this is the end of their 60-plus year run televising the game.

Their montages have always been stellar, a mix of the current with an homage to hockey's past and history.

This is what you should consider a sendoff as much as a look back. We will miss the CBC and we will miss their production of this style video. Consider it a step above what NBC did and does, you know, next level stuff.

As a Video Producer by trade, we admire the editing, the research, the pacing and storytelling. And the music "Superstar", not as well known, but totally fits the story being told.

Enjoy the video and tell us what you think. Do you agree with our assessment? Or disagree....

This ALMOST Kept Novak Djokovic In The French Today

((HT: Seth Rosenthal's Vine))

The HQ isn't sure this is the kind of motivation we would need to stay in a major tennis tournament, but it may be enough motivation for us to get something done a little quicker than we would normally need or want to get something done...

We're showing this on a couple of different fronts:


Rafa Nadal won the French in four sets and it did look like Djokovic wanted to get out of town and have quick points to get to a fifth and deciding set.

But the other question is: Was the slo-mo too much for the average viewer or did you dig it...???

Andrew Shaw's Scary Turned F-ing Awesome Night At Game 6 Of The Stanley Cup Finals: From Taking A Puck In The Face To Raising The Cup

What a night for the Chicago Blackhawks and in particularly Andrew Shaw.

Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals in Boston began for Shaw experiencing a hockey players worst nightmare, taking a puck to the face.



A few hours later Shaw was on the ice skating with the Stanley Cup and to him is was f-ing awesome. 

Here's the clean version.



And here's Doc Emrick trying to drown out the F-bombs.




That my friends is a hockey player defined.

Sergio Garcia Whines about Tiger Woods Allegedly Distracting Him

We had a name for Sergio Garcia many years ago after he imploded during a round three at the Masters and proceeded to step up to the podium and blame the media for his bad round.

"Whiny Bitch"

That name reared its ugly head again during the 3rd round of The Players Championship when Garcia accused Tiger Woods of costing him a shot on the second hole by pulling a club out of his bag while Garcia was in the middle of his swing. Garcia claims that caused the crowed to gasp audibly, throwing him off.



However...according to all observers and the people watching on TV, it didn't exactly go down like that.

NBC Sports showed a replay that clearly showed Woods pulling his club while Garcia was still standing over and dwelling on his shot. And yes, there was a gasp by the crowd, but again, Garcia had not hit yet.

For his part, Woods didn't say much about it other than: 'Not real surprising he's complaining about something'.

((Video isn't out there as of this posting))

We suppose the premise of the whole thing could have shaken Garcia, but if it did, he...well, needs to man up. Short of someone yelling at him in his backswing, we don't know how such a thing could possibly have distracted him.

But that's Garcia's M.O. he tends to overreact and blame everyone else for his pratfalls and failures and this appears to be another example of it. Yes, he and Woods are tied at 10-under with a couple holes to play in the rain shortened 3rd round, but we fully expect Garcia to gag on Sunday.

It's what he does.

NBC "In Touch" With Michaels After Arrest

((HT: LA Times))

Spokesman Greg Hughes has acknowledged that the network has been "in touch" with Al Michaels after his DUI arrest and citation earlier Sunday morning. Michaels was cited for delivering a .08 on a breathalyzer exam over the weekend.

.08 is the high end of the legal limit for intoxication charges in the state of California.

Matt Stevens follow-up in the Times Monday morning has Santa Monica (CA) Sergeant Richard Lewis elaborating on the idea that they smelled alcohol and witnessed slurred speech:

“They pulled him over, detected the smell of alcoholic beverage, slurred speech, they did [field sobriety tests], arrested him, and then he was booked.”

Lewis said the department does not release the blood alcohol concentration of those arrested on suspicion driving under the influence, but added that Michaels was arrested on a violation of the vehicle code that includes driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 or greater.

TMZ is reporting that Michaels' BAC was just above .08
Michaels was booked on $5,000 bail and has a court date of June 26.
He was on the "Dan Patrick Show" a few days ago discussing stuff...
((HT: Dan Patrick Show))

It's Official: FOX Sports Takes On ESPN

((ht: bloomberg.com))

We aren't really sure how we feel about this, but eh...it's probably a good thing.

FOX Sports or more specifically, News Corp, made it official Tuesday afternoon and announced they are starting their own National Cable Sports Network.

They join a somewhat crowded field that includes the 4-Letter (ESPN), NBC and CBS Sports.

The new network will debut to over 90-million pay-tv homes and will run multiple FOX Sports properties and undoubtedly will feature it's own signature nightly newscasts and talk shows.

One of those hosts: Former morning Talker Regis Philbin.

Read the entire story from Bloomberg News RIGHT HERE

We've made no secret that we are among the growing chorus of sports fans who despise what ESPN has done to sports on most levels. Though we aren't sure how we feel about FOX, who's TV-News Network isn't exactly known for staying neutral or factually correct...about anything, we are hopeful about having an alternative.

But remember anything that will push ESPN to act like grown-ups instead of the babbling children who don't believe anyone will watch unless they fawn over Tim Tebow or create complaints where there weren't any for the sake of being the bad guy (Skip Bayless), has got to be a good thing.

If FOX accomplishes nothing else other than making everyone up their game, we'll be happy. If they are able to provide a viable option, that's fantastic. It's very painful and at times virtually impossible to watch ESPN these days without getting angry. They (ESPN) have been dictating the conversation too long and they seem to think other than a few players and teams, most of the country doesn't matter or exist.

That would be the best case, they make ESPN adjust to them. But FOX has a big hurdle to overcome. ESPN has many years and billions of dollars of a head start. FOX doesn't have to topple them. All we ask is they help change the game. Don't force feed non-NFL caliber players (Tebow) down our throat. Don't force feed us ex-writers who say stuff just to see if anyone will react to it (Bayless). Just tell us what happened, explain why it happened, tell us why it's interesting and do it in a creative way.

Good luck FOX Sports and NBC and CBS, we wish you luck and hope you can slay the monster.