Hi, Ken from Fang’s Bites coming over to talk one of my favorite sports as Steve is away for a week. While he’s gone, you’ll be taken care of here at Puck The Media through various guest columns.
Yesterday, NBC showed the New York Rangers yet again on its NHL Game of the Week. The network decided to showcase little fireant Sean Avery who after his infamous “sloppy seconds” comment about Calgary’s Dion Phaneuf and his girlfriend, Elisha Cuthbert was suspended in December then dropped from the Dallas Stars. We all remember the story. After a brief rehabilitation tour in Hartford, Avery returned to the NHL and the New York Rangers.
Well, it appears all is good with Avery and the NHL once again. Garth Woolsey of the Toronto Star says NBC focused one of its cameras solely on Avery and visitors to the network’s website could see his every move for every shift on the ice.
Woolsey adds:
NBC, if it can, seems to want to treat the Rangers like its home team for featured games of the week. Its website offers video banks of Avery in action, as well as a slide show of no fewer than 55 photos of him on and off the ice. In a league that sometimes appears populated by interchangeably bland characters, Avery has personality. Much as it generally cultivates and trades off its fighting “tradition,” the NHL also specifically loves the attention he brings in the media capital of the world.
While I’m not a fan of his style of play, New York seems to love Avery and Avery seems to love New York. He’s a fashion plate, he’s a man about town and he gets his name in the papers. For the NHL, it’s like a don’t ask, don’t tell policy for Avery. He’s in New York, he gets attention, but as long as he doesn’t cause trouble, he’s a media magnet in the number one market in North America.
But how long will it be before he gets into trouble again and at what cost?
Thanks to Steve for allowing me to post today. Don’t forget to visit Fang’s Bites for the latest in sports media news including NBC, Versus, CBC and TSN in regards to the NHL.
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