December 16, 2008
by Stephen M. Lepore

We finally got VERSUS HD up and running at our house this week, so we were excited to watch our first HD hockey broadcast since last year’s Stanley Cup Finals. See, Verizon has been blocked from getting MSG and MSG Plus in HD by Cablevision, and that great visionary of televised arts in the tradition of Marconi, Jim Dolan. Also, HDNet stopped televising hockey (which we’ve been meaning to investigate into) and NBC doesn’t starting airing ’til WCII: CB (Winter Classic 2: Chicago Bugaloo, as if you needed to have it spelled out). So we were locked out of VERSUS as well as Devils, Rangers and Islanders broadcasts in HD.
Until this week. With the split-up of VERSUS/Golf Channel HD, the good folks at Verizon have decided that VERSUS is worthy of being on the same HD package as ESPN and The Big Ten Network here in New Jersey, where as you know, no Big Ten teams play. So, we had the fancy VERSUS channel in the sparking glory of HD. We figured it was time to re-review “Hockey Central”, the network’s post-game show. The last time we had VERSUS HD, the show was not yet actually produced in HD. So while you could watch a two-and-a-half hour hockey game in hi-def, the 30-minute post-game that followed would be in standard def.
Having all those problems out of the way, we have some nice things to say. Overall, however, the show is still really, really plodding. By plodding, we mean really freaking boring! Gosh, I think the show literally put me to sleep tonight. There’s pieces of a show there, but they’ve made a mess of it, and a boring mess at that, not an Amy Winehouse mess.
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