I hate to do this (okay, maybe hate is a bit too strong), but before I get to the Monstars/Non-stars of the game, I have a complaint. Specifically, I can’t believe this game was only shown on tape delay on Versus. This certainly isn’t the first Versus game that’s aired several hours after it actually ended, in fact that was the norm during the regular season. Although, I think we’ve all learned quite a bit about bull-riding this year, so that’s a plus. There have been some live televised games during the playoffs, though, which is what you want for the playoffs. You’d think the league would want that for the Finals, but apparently nothing doing.
I understand that Versus signed their deal with the NHL before their D-League deal, and that it’s currently the playoffs for hockey as well, but come on. If the game can’t be shown live on TV, there must be some way for people to follow what happened in real time some other way. The options for tonight’s game were to: a.) watch a box score update without any images or video, and only guess as to what was happening, or b.) wait seven hours and go on a self-imposed media blackout until then. I couldn’t visit the D-League website at any point this evening because I didn’t want to know the outcome before I watched the game. Twitter also was out, because the league, teams and even some broadcasters have been doing a good job of using that platform to interact with fans, meaning I’d be getting updates there.
This is pretty much the opposite direction that most sports leagues are moving in these days. It’s obviously too late to fix for this season, but for next year may I humbly request that any game not shown live on television be presented live in some other format. I’m sure the league will find that this will enable a broader engagement with people watching.
So now that I’ve said that, let’s look at who played well and not-well last night on tape delay.
Tags: rgv vipers, tulsa 66ers, versus, will conroy
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