Blais to Minnesota?

[ticklethetwine]

sounds like wooger is speculating about the end of his time was because of the sioux-gopher series and the ratings were down

well when ur team sucks ratins will go down!

That's not Doug and the Rugs fault.

[Knickball2]

I'm thrilled to see Blais sign the extension with Omaha, he will build that program into a power and the people of Nebraska will love him, just like the people of North Dakota still love him. A great coach, as good as there is!

[redwing77]

If Woog was right, that does provide some humor to the situation:

When the team is struggling, fire the COMMENTATORs. If they only did their job with more passion, the team would've scored more and defense wouldn't have sucked.

[The Whistler]

If Woog was right, that does provide some humor to the situation:

When the team is struggling, fire the COMMENTATORs. If they only did their job with more passion, the team would've scored more and defense wouldn't have sucked.

The ratings also sucked because FSN kept delaying the Gophers for other sports.

Now maybe that's a good business decision but I wouldn't blame the commentators for the drop in ratings.

(Or maybe it's a cost savings move because of the lower ratings...)

[redwing77]

The ratings also sucked because FSN kept delaying the Gophers for other sports.

Now maybe that's a good business decision but I wouldn't blame the commentators for the drop in ratings.

(Or maybe it's a cost savings move because of the lower ratings...)

That's why I find it amusing.

It's kinda like this:

Bob owns a pizza company. He hires a staff to run his facility. They do well. Bob suddenly gets an itch up his crack to make more money, so he replaces all of the ingredients in his pizzas with extremely low quality, if not bad, materials. People soon start to realize just how ridiculously bad his pizzas are and go to another place instead.

In a fit of rage over dropping sales, Bob fires the staff.

Makes sense right? If the STAFF had been better salespeople, what the executive side of the company put in wouldn't matter.

If Woog and Mazzocco had been "better" (meaning, I guess, that they wore cheerleading costumes and danced around doing all sorts of acrobatics and hoop jumping for the execs) the fact that the execs dinked around with the schedule and made other production errors wouldn't make a difference, right?

And drug use isn't a problem among the white collar worker.

[82SiouxGuy]

That's why I find it amusing.

It's kinda like this:

Bob owns a pizza company. He hires a staff to run his facility. They do well. Bob suddenly gets an itch up his crack to make more money, so he replaces all of the ingredients in his pizzas with extremely low quality, if not bad, materials. People soon start to realize just how ridiculously bad his pizzas are and go to another place instead.

In a fit of rage over dropping sales, Bob fires the staff.

Makes sense right? If the STAFF had been better salespeople, what the executive side of the company put in wouldn't matter.

If Woog and Mazzocco had been "better" (meaning, I guess, that they wore cheerleading costumes and danced around doing all sorts of acrobatics and hoop jumping for the execs) the fact that the execs dinked around with the schedule and made other production errors wouldn't make a difference, right?

And drug use isn't a problem among the white collar worker.

Sorry, but it isn't like that at all. In your example you have 1 person, Bob, who has control over everything. He owns the company. He hires the staff. He make the decision about the materials.

With the change in broadcast team in Minneapolis you have 2 different organizations. They have a working relationship, and one has influence on the other, but you have 2 different people in control. Maturi decides on who is in charge of the hockey program. But he doesn't make the actual decision on the hockey announcers for FSN. And the execs at FSN control who they have broadcasting games, but they don't control who coaches the team.

The hockey program at UMTC has run into more than its share of challenges lately. Lucia is responsible for that. But the broadcast has also been worse over the past few years. Now is a good time to make a change on air. That's why FSN has chosen to do something at this time.

[redwing77]

Sorry, but it isn't like that at all. In your example you have 1 person, Bob, who has control over everything. He owns the company. He hires the staff. He make the decision about the materials.

With the change in broadcast team in Minneapolis you have 2 different organizations. They have a working relationship, and one has influence on the other, but you have 2 different people in control. Maturi decides on who is in charge of the hockey program. But he doesn't make the actual decision on the hockey announcers for FSN. And the execs at FSN control who they have broadcasting games, but they don't control who coaches the team.

The hockey program at UMTC has run into more than its share of challenges lately. Lucia is responsible for that. But the broadcast has also been worse over the past few years. Now is a good time to make a change on air. That's why FSN has chosen to do something at this time.

Meh.

Bob is a metaphor.

Ok, ok, I see what you're saying again.

I understand that there are more than one entities involved in the decision process, but I see viewership in sports (and to a certain extent overall) depending upon a number of factors:

1. Success. Like live viewership (aka ticket sales), Minnesota is victim to the "What have you done for me lately" mentality. Not every team is like the Wild or Cubs or Yankees (aka "We'll sell out the stadium regardless of record"). The better the team is doing, the more people want to watch. This goes double when another local sport is doing poorly. People like watching winners. Look at the Blackhawks in the last 5-10 years. Wirtz blacked out the TV coverage locally until such time as more people came to watch the team play live. Well, no one came because there wasn't a winning product on the ice. He passed away (unfortunately, seriously) and a winning product is now on the ice. Viewership is up live and the TV blackout was lifted (may not be directly related to ticket sales). If the Gophers had played better the past few years, I'm sure the ratings wouldn't have been so bad, regardless of the quality of the FSN broadcasters. You could also point out the Twins a few years back... no one came to the games... Radio stations giving away tons of tickets in groups of 4 (That amounts to approximately $120 in ticket sales). Not an exciting product.

2. Consistency in scheduling. If you dink around the time slot or start preempting even part of the broadcast in favor of something else, you could lose viewership. Look at Family Guy during its 3rd season. Fox tried to dink around its time slot and even moved it to Thursdays. Viewership crashed and burned and they cancelled the show. The uproar was such that the show returned and was returned to its Sunday primetime time slot, but Fox won't dink around with that show any longer. And it's not always big name shows that suffer. Just ask Joss Whedon about his Firefly and other shows. Fox is NOTORIOUS for doing these things. People like watching what's scheduled to be on. If you preempt it for something else, you lose interest.

3. Promotion. If you make it look like it is worth watching or pique the interest of the casual viewer, you could gain viewership. However, if your promotion is uninteresting or vague (see #2) you'll lose viewership. This is, for college hockey, a mixed bag because college hockey already isn't a big event on TV. FSN did a pretty good job of promoting what hockey events I happened to catch their commercials for. However, if there is no consistency, there is no viewership.

Maybe this is oversimplified. Maybe my examples aren't as good as what you could think up. But it's how I see it.

I see Woog and Mazzocco's release more a victim of the factors above rather than any perceived lack of competence or whatever.

[NorthDakotaHockey]

The moves at FSN are purely financial. Nothing more, nothing less.

They can get LaPanta, or however he spells his name, at a fraction of what Frank was earning.

Same for Woog's replacement, although Woog may have some health concerns as well.

New young blood at 2/3 the price in today's economy. Combined with the Rug and Doug Show

growing a bit lame.

It was all FSN's call, and probably the right one from a business standpoint. Maturi ain't gonna

pressure the hand that feeds his program.

[redwing77]

I wonder who replaces Doug. It's going to be interesting if they just go cheap and forget about knowledge.

[Big A HG]

I wonder who replaces Doug. It's going to be interesting if they just go cheap and forget about knowledge.

Lucia might be a good candidate when he becomes available closer to the start of the season.

[SiouxFanatic]

I wonder who replaces Doug. It's going to be interesting if they just go cheap and forget about knowledge.

Anything, Anything BUT Kevin Gorg.

[fightingsioux4life]

Anything, Anything BUT Kevin Gorg.

Agree 100%. I think Darby Hendrickson will get it, with Gorg doing the player/coach interviews between periods and after the game.

[redwing77]

Anything, Anything BUT Kevin Gorg.

He'd fit the bill.

He's cheap. He can easily step into the Uber Homer role....

Just for spite's sake, I'm going to say this is a pretty good guess as to who steps in.

[The Sicatoka]

My prediction:

Darby and Anthony L-P in the booth. Gorg at ice level.

Marnie G. doing intermissions with Doug Woog taking on a "Don Cherry" like role beside her.

[Goon]

My prediction:

LaPanta and Hendrickson in the booth. Gorg at ice level.

Marnie G. doing intermissions with Doug Woog taking on a "Don Cherry" like role beside her.

You might be right and that would be tolerable.

[redwing77]

Does Doug Woog have the suitcoat stylings to make it stand up like Cherry?

[Old Barn Guy at Home]

I have to comment on Red Wing's statements regarding the Blackhawks.

The situation in Chicago only changed for the good with the passing of "Dollar Bill" Wirtz. Unfortunate (and cold) as that may seem, it would not be what it is today if the old man was still in charge. He refused to spend the money to keep top end talent that could put a winner on the ice in Chicago (just check the departures of such talented former Hawks....Roenick, Amonte, Belfour, etc.)

Then, to top it all off, Wirtz refused to televise home games (this is actually the way to drive a program into the ground). The marketing opportunities lost by his stubborness and the tight wallet he used in running this team (along with allowing Bob Pulford to control the hockey operations of the team) all contributed to the demize of the Blackhawks.

When the old man died, his son (Rocky) was named to the top office of the Hawks and he cleaned out the operational network and started over, so to speak. Rocky also quickly moved to put all home games on tv in Chicago. That move, along with paying the top-end talent a competitive contract has made the Blackhawks the hot ticket they have become. I would say that Rocky and his team have turned around the Hawks faster than any could have imagined.

So Red Wing, you better hold your comments on the Hawks resurgeance and confine them to the Red Wings' situation.

[Goon]

I have to comment on Red Wing's statements regarding the Blackhawks.

The situation in Chicago only changed for the good with the passing of "Dollar Bill" Wirtz. Unfortunate (and cold) as that may seem, it would not be what it is today if the old man was still in charge. He refused to spend the money to keep top end talent that could put a winner on the ice in Chicago (just check the departures of such talented former Hawks....Roenick, Amonte, Belfour, etc.)

Then, to top it all off, Wirtz refused to televise home games (this is actually the way to drive a program into the ground). The marketing opportunities lost by his stubborness and the tight wallet he used in running this team (along with allowing Bob Pulford to control the hockey operations of the team) all contributed to the demize of the Blackhawks.

When the old man died, his son (Rocky) was named to the top office of the Hawks and he cleaned out the operational network and started over, so to speak. Rocky also quickly moved to put all home games on tv in Chicago. That move, along with paying the top-end talent a competitive contract has made the Blackhawks the hot ticket they have become. I would say that Rocky and his team have turned around the Hawks faster than any could have imagined.

So Red Wing, you better hold your comments on the Hawks resurgeance and confine them to the Red Wings' situation.

I am glad the times have changed. Currently the Blackhawks are thriving and making strides in the right direction... You can't turn on the NHL channel without seeing Toews and Kane. They are also my pick to come out of the Western conference this season for the Stanley Cup Finals.

[krangodance]

Motzko is an SCSU alum. He's not going anywhere.

blais is a gophers alum, but that didn't stop him from coaching at und or signing an extension with uno after having his water tested by umn.

i realize it's not the same scenario since motzko is already at st cloud, but my point is: coaches want to coach where they'll get the most exposure/money/success. motzko might feel umn is a better candidate in those regards compared to st cloud.

then again, maybe he just really wants to see his alma mater win a national championship and believes he's the man to deliver on that.

[krangodance]

I'm thrilled to see Blais sign the extension with Omaha, he will build that program into a power and the people of Nebraska will love him, just like the people of North Dakota still love him. A great coach, as good as there is!

me too. not only because i didn't want to see my beloved blais coaching my team's biggest rival, but because blais coaching at uno gives me another college hockey team to root for, which means more college hockey games that i have a pony in.

let's see, that gives me und, msu, uw, bsu, uno, notre dame, and uaa. plus a few others depending on the scenario. that's a lot of teams to follow, which makes college hockey season just that much more fun.

[krangodance]

The ratings also sucked because FSN kept delaying the Gophers for other sports.

Now maybe that's a good business decision but I wouldn't blame the commentators for the drop in ratings.

(Or maybe it's a cost savings move because of the lower ratings...)

yeah, that was lame. i usually watch the gophers' games when und has a bye week, but this year they were only on tape delay during the sioux bye week. what a joke. this is supposed to be the state of hockey and you can't even watch the largest university in the state's hockey games live?!

thank God fssn will show all sioux home hockey games whether they're 20-0 or 0-20. i suppose that says something about the two fanbases though.

[ScottM]

I have to comment on Red Wing's statements regarding the Blackhawks.

The situation in Chicago only changed for the good with the passing of "Dollar Bill" Wirtz. Unfortunate (and cold) as that may seem, it would not be what it is today if the old man was still in charge. He refused to spend the money to keep top end talent that could put a winner on the ice in Chicago (just check the departures of such talented former Hawks....Roenick, Amonte, Belfour, etc.)

Then, to top it all off, Wirtz refused to televise home games (this is actually the way to drive a program into the ground). The marketing opportunities lost by his stubborness and the tight wallet he used in running this team (along with allowing Bob Pulford to control the hockey operations of the team) all contributed to the demize of the Blackhawks.

When the old man died, his son (Rocky) was named to the top office of the Hawks and he cleaned out the operational network and started over, so to speak. Rocky also quickly moved to put all home games on tv in Chicago. That move, along with paying the top-end talent a competitive contract has made the Blackhawks the hot ticket they have become. I would say that Rocky and his team have turned around the Hawks faster than any could have imagined.

So Red Wing, you better hold your comments on the Hawks resurgeance and confine them to the Red Wings' situation.

Very good analysis of the 'Hawks resurgence. I highly doubt Dollar Bill would have forked over the money for Toews, Kane, etc. He would have traded them for some over the hill guys or prospects. And there's no way he would have changed any of the broadcast restrictions, even with some prime local deals. And I still chuckle when I remember 'Hawks fans booing him during the Moment of Silence for Dollar Bill. Rocky's done a great job devoting talent and resources to making the 'Hawks a contender again.

[krangodance]

Sorry, but it isn't like that at all. In your example you have 1 person, Bob, who has control over everything. He owns the company. He hires the staff. He make the decision about the materials.

With the change in broadcast team in Minneapolis you have 2 different organizations. They have a working relationship, and one has influence on the other, but you have 2 different people in control. Maturi decides on who is in charge of the hockey program. But he doesn't make the actual decision on the hockey announcers for FSN. And the execs at FSN control who they have broadcasting games, but they don't control who coaches the team.

The hockey program at UMTC has run into more than its share of challenges lately. Lucia is responsible for that. But the broadcast has also been worse over the past few years. Now is a good time to make a change on air. That's why FSN has chosen to do something at this time.

i think he was just saying that the organization is targeting the wrong people in their quest to pass blame from themselves.

[redwing77]

I have to comment on Red Wing's statements regarding the Blackhawks.

The situation in Chicago only changed for the good with the passing of "Dollar Bill" Wirtz. Unfortunate (and cold) as that may seem, it would not be what it is today if the old man was still in charge. He refused to spend the money to keep top end talent that could put a winner on the ice in Chicago (just check the departures of such talented former Hawks....Roenick, Amonte, Belfour, etc.)

Then, to top it all off, Wirtz refused to televise home games (this is actually the way to drive a program into the ground). The marketing opportunities lost by his stubborness and the tight wallet he used in running this team (along with allowing Bob Pulford to control the hockey operations of the team) all contributed to the demize of the Blackhawks.

When the old man died, his son (Rocky) was named to the top office of the Hawks and he cleaned out the operational network and started over, so to speak. Rocky also quickly moved to put all home games on tv in Chicago. That move, along with paying the top-end talent a competitive contract has made the Blackhawks the hot ticket they have become. I would say that Rocky and his team have turned around the Hawks faster than any could have imagined.

So Red Wing, you better hold your comments on the Hawks resurgeance and confine them to the Red Wings' situation.

Ummmmmm.....

I think we're saying the same thing essentially.

You state that the Hawks weren't winning because the "Dollar Bill" Wirtz wouldn't make the Hawks relevant. This means that he naturally wouldn't spend money on the team (which you state). This would mean no one would want to go and watch them because everyone they have or had that has talent will or has left. Couple that with removing the team from local programming (except when it is covered nationally by ESPN, NBC, or whatever) and voila... Disaster. I agree completely, and I thought I expressed as much. Apparently not. By the way, ESPN analysts at the time called that "Old school hockey ownership." I call it just plain retarded.

I'm lost as to how you thought what I said to be incorrect regarding the Hawks.

I think Rocky's leadership has done nothing but make the Hawks relevant and less of a punch line. Heh. I used to look forward to Detroit vs. Chicago because Detroit always could use more points. Now, well, if we get points at all, we're going to have to work our backsides off for them.

As for my "Bob" analogy, krangodance has hit the nail on the head.

[Iceman778]

Nice post, noob.

Who are your sources?

even i wanna know this