Quick Hits: How dare you have an opinion

He may know his stuff about Hockey, but he doesn’t have to be a pompous ass.

I read Puck Daddy regularly and I look forward to Lambert’s articles, but he constantly makes me want to smash him in the teeth with a brick when he starts exaggerating about Wings fans.

They’re obviously homers, but they are far FAR from the worst out there. It’s really irritating to read Mr. Lambert “example” of Detroit, because in my opinion they’re one of the more objective crews out there (ever listen to a San Jose or Anaheim broadcast? Or a Pittsburgh one? Or Chicago? Or Columbus? They’re not any better than Ken and Mick!)

They go out of their way to compliment the other team at times, and do a good job of pointing out crappy calls ON BOTH SIDES. Yes, they praise Datsyuk a lot…but I mean, duh, he really IS that good, and if you watch him each and every night (which I assume Lambert doesn’t), you’d realize how good of a hockey player he really is, especially when the stats don’t show it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTyBm2qrFrw

I personally don’t think – even with the new headshot rule – that Thorton should have been suspended. Wasn’t blindsided from behind or the side…Thorton cam at him from the front. Perron’s head was twisted away receiving a pass, had his head down, and due to how freakishly tall Joe is his head gets hit by Thorton’s shoulder. What’s Thorton supposed to do there? I don’t like it.

It always amazes me when Ken Daniels and Mickey Redmond are called homers. First of all Ken Daniels talks more about opposition players than most play by play guys, second Mickey Redmond complains about ALL weak penalty calls… not just ones on the Red Wings. The fact is when you are watching a team you hate, and watching it with their broadcasters, then of course you are going associate everything as homerism. I’ve watched the broadcasts of MANY of the teams and have to say Ken and Mick are SOO much better than most out there. The only ones that can hold a candle to them is some of the TSN broadcasts in Canada. The absolute ‘worst’ are San Jose and Chicago. I put worst in quotes because in reality why is it bad that your hometown announcers are “homers”? While they should be objective when it comes to game play, the actual chit chat and everything else should go along with the home team. As a Wings fan, I could care less about the players on the other team. I don’t want to see interviews with them and other than the occasional stat update on the other team… I don’t need to be schooled in the daily life of a team I couldn’t care less about.

My problem with homer broadcasts is when it is a nationally televised broadcast. Eddie Olcyk has a hard time hiding the fact that he is a Chicago man when calling their games on Versus or NBC. EVERY game the Hawks play the Wings on national TV he basically comes out and calls the Wings a bunch of cheaters. He’ll make a huge point of the Wings running interference on a play, but say it as a backhanded compliment like “they are best at getting away with those little interference plays”. Then Chicago will do the same thing, but says nothing. He’s done that SOO many times, and you can just hear the disappointment in his voice when the Wings beat the Hawks on national TV.

As far as the San Jose guys, well they are just awful at commentating. So are the Colorado guys. We are very fortunate to have Ken and Mick on TV and Ken Kal and Paul Woods on the radio. Best in the business.