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CableWorld (http://\"http://www.cableworld.com/cgi/cw/show_mag.cgi?pub=cw&mon=022006&file=januaryratings.htm\") says GSN prime time did 0.4 240K in January. So-so by the network's historical standards but the best since August, when the world was young and Amazing Race was new. At least it's a step up from, gulp, 0.3 193K in September.
The January numbers are still below the year-ago month's 0.5 268K. Those January, 2005 numbers stand as the network's best performance since CableWorld started publishing the averages in December, 2004.
Off-topic: NBC has been putting out press releases that curling is getting the best ratings in a long time for MSNBC and CNBC. I can believe it from the CableWorld stats. CNBC doesn't even make the list, and MSNBC comes in with 0.3.
Maybe GSN could try Extreme Curling, where the contestants throw the rocks at each other.
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[quote name=\'CaseyAbell\' date=\'Feb 20 2006, 08:40 AM\']Off-topic: NBC has been putting out press releases that curling is getting the best ratings in a long time for MSNBC and CNBC.
[/quote]
I don't see why people are so surprised at this. Curling is a GREAT game. It's about time Americans figure this out.
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Feb 20 2006, 03:31 PM\']I don't see why people are so surprised at this. Curling is a GREAT game. It's about time Americans figure this out.
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I think my sarcasm detector is broken again, but did you just say that you like curling is a great game after posting this. (http://\"http://gameshow.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=9764&view=findpost&p=108079\")
WHOOSH me if need be.
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I enjoy curling. I don't care if Chris did have a sarcastic tone, which I don't think he did. Little too slow for some American audiences, but it's a great thinking game. I've watched as much as I can. Go Team USA!
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[quote name=\'PYLclark86\' date=\'Feb 20 2006, 11:42 AM\']I think my sarcasm detector is broken again, but did you just say that you like curling is a great game after posting this. (http://\"http://gameshow.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=9764&view=findpost&p=108079\")
[/quote]
Yes, I did. Please to be researching the concept of being "all over" something.
(In fact, find me a post here (aside from the cited one that you clearly misunderstood) where I have said ONE negative thing about the sport.)
Mitch: Absolutely not sarcastic at all in any way, shape, or form. I fell in love with the game when it was a demo event at Calgary in 1988, and I have loved it ever since.
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Feb 20 2006, 02:31 PM\']I don't see why people are so surprised at this. Curling is a GREAT game. It's about time Americans figure this out.[/quote]
I concur. I've been watching curling for two decades now, thanks to a cable system in the mid-80s which carried CKCO, London ONT's CBC affiliate. It's a great game which, even in this part of the Great Lakes region, is difficult to find locations which offer curling. My sister was interested in trying out curling but the only place reasonably close (less than 25 miles away) from here which offers curling is a country club. I guess she'll have to settle for playing on a frozen over driveway and lobbing frozen turkeys towards the street...
ObGS: Curling, Deal or No Deal and Jim Cramer--the trifecta which will save CNBC. Booyah!
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Yeah, now I feel silly. I was going on the assumption that "SO" was sarchastic. Sorry about that Chris.
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Feb 20 2006, 02:31 PM\'][quote name=\'CaseyAbell\' date=\'Feb 20 2006, 08:40 AM\']Off-topic: NBC has been putting out press releases that curling is getting the best ratings in a long time for MSNBC and CNBC.
[/quote]
I don't see why people are so surprised at this. Curling is a GREAT game. It's about time Americans figure this out.
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Allow me to be the next person in line to agree with this. I like watching it, but the next step is to visit Wikipedia to find out the official rules and scoring on it so I can be as well educated as possible.
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[quote name=\'aaron sica\' date=\'Feb 20 2006, 12:12 PM\']Allow me to be the next person in line to agree with this. I like watching it, but the next step is to visit Wikipedia to find out the official rules and scoring on it so I can be as well educated as possible.
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The scoring is cake. Basically, once all of the rocks are thrown, the team with the rock closest to the button, they are the only team who can score, and they score a point for each rock that is closer than the OTHER team's closest rock. That's all. Team that scored in the last end throws first in the next one. Repeat ten times.
The Wiki article will likely be a good read for the small details like the free-guard zone, but ultimately it is a very simple game.
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I don't mind curling, either. The sport or game or whatever you want to call it has a nice sense of humor about itself. There's supposedly a curling movie called Men with Brooms (http://\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_With_Brooms\"). At least that's what Wikipedia says. Nice babe in the movie poster, and Leslie Nielsen shows up!
Not to mention that the US men's team made it to the medal round, and the US women's team looks okay even when they lose. But let's not get too excited. The reason NBC can brag about enormous increases for curling ratings on MSNBC and CNBC is that these networks' usual numbers are so microscopic.
One of these months MSNBC might slip behind GSN in average households. They only held a slim lead in January because their household availability is so much greater. MSNBC was actually behind GSN in the household rating last month, and CNBC tumbled off the chart long ago. You might say Nielsen (A.C., not Leslie) peeled away CNBC with a perfectly placed takeout.
EDIT: Now that I look at the numbers, MSNBC did slip behind GSN for a couple months in average household count. Ouch.
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Feb 20 2006, 03:24 PM\'][quote name=\'aaron sica\' date=\'Feb 20 2006, 12:12 PM\']Allow me to be the next person in line to agree with this. I like watching it, but the next step is to visit Wikipedia to find out the official rules and scoring on it so I can be as well educated as possible.
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The scoring is cake. Basically, once all of the rocks are thrown, the team with the rock closest to the button, they are the only team who can score, and they score a point for each rock that is closer than the OTHER team's closest rock. That's all. Team that scored in the last end throws first in the next one. Repeat ten times.
The Wiki article will likely be a good read for the small details like the free-guard zone, but ultimately it is a very simple game.
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The scoring might be cake, but as new viewers, the lovely Hayley and I were sitting last week, watching a USA/Norway men's match, and had the following conversation:
M: "Team USA has last rock."
H: "What?"
M: "They get to throw last, which I think is an advantage, because they keep talking about it."
H: "Oh."
[Team USA throws last rock.]
M: "Look, I think we just scored, like, five points."
H: "But the score only says we scored two."
M: "WTF. I'm gonna break out Wikipedia."
H: "And why do we lose last rock if we just scored with it? And what the heck does 'blank end' mean, and why is that a good thing?"
M: "Hold on, I'm looking."
Once we figured it out, cake. Haha. Now don't get me started on cricket, a sport that I ignorantly make fun of (WICKETS?!) simply because I don't understand the rules.
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[quote name=\'CaseyAbell\' date=\'Feb 20 2006, 12:48 PM\']I don't mind curling, either. The sport or game or whatever you want to call it has a nice sense of humor about itself. There's supposedly a curling movie called Men with Brooms (http://\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_With_Brooms\"). At least that's what Wikipedia says. (Nice babe in the movie poster, and Leslie Nielsen shows up!)
[/quote]
I saw it not long ago, in fact. Formulaic, but pretty good. About what you would expect. Dude's tiny podunk rink takes on flashy multi-world-championship team and eventually beats them. Nielsen plays basically the same role that Rip Torn (ObGS) played in Dodgeball.
[quote name=\'MitchGroff\' date=\'Feb 20 2006, 12:50 PM\']M: "Team USA has last rock."
H: "What?"
M: "They get to throw last, which I think is an advantage, because they keep talking about it."
H: "And why do we lose last rock if we just scored with it? And what the heck does 'blank end' mean, and why is that a good thing?"
[/quote]
Is the lovely Hayley not a sports fan? Because to anyone who is, or anyone who plays games of any sort, I can't think of a reason all of that (with the possible exception of the transfer of the hammer) wouldn't be complete common sense.
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Add me to the curling fans on the board. The strategy and thought put into the moves entices me, and, speaking as a woman, it doesn't hurt that Pete Fenson isn't too bad-looking (some of you guys must enjoy looking at the ladies team, right?). Too bad the only curling club in my immediate vicinity is a "paper club".
Also, I think I would be likely to watch such a creature as Extreme Curling, complete with cheesy sound effect for the hammer.
Curling loaf, anyone?
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I'll bring the butter for the loaf! Well, curling has a cult appeal in the US and the Salt Lake games REALLY helped its popularity in this country. I mean, all we need is Jim Cramer doing a mid-game Lightning Round, and I'd be issuing a "'Mon Back" on CNBC Curling. (HITS Bull Market button)
I've always had one idea...have Mike Lange of the Penguins do play by play for curling. It'd be a great way for him to use some of those hilarious lines of his. "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE SHOOTS AND SCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!"
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[quote name=\'FOXSportsFan\' date=\'Feb 20 2006, 02:34 PM\']I've always had one idea...have Mike Lange of the Penguins do play by play for curling. It'd be a great way for him to use some of those hilarious lines of his.
[/quote]
Somehow I don't see "GET IN THE FAST LANE, GRANDMA, THE BINGO GAME'S ABOUT TO ROLL" applying well to curling.
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Not to mention that the US men's team made it to the medal round, and the US women's team looks okay even when they lose.
The US women's team was out of competition by Friday, but the NBC's continued to show their play instead of shifting to more significant games/matches/whatever. Totally pointless.
Also, it might just be me, but it seems that the US teams are doing an awful lot of preening and posing for the TV cameras. Much more so than the other teams.
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[quote name=\'melman1\' date=\'Feb 21 2006, 12:25 AM\']
Not to mention that the US men's team made it to the medal round, and the US women's team looks okay even when they lose.
The US women's team was out of competition by Friday, but the NBC's continued to show their play instead of shifting to more significant games/matches/whatever. Totally pointless.
Also, it might just be me, but it seems that the US teams are doing an awful lot of preening and posing for the TV cameras. Much more so than the other teams.
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Quite a disappointment to me since the women's team was a Home Depot majority.
(Okay, Shuffield, what the hell are you talking about?)
Three members came from Bernidji, MN......Have you not been watching the commercial?.....Oh, that's right, you don't watch commercials.
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Y'all might want to check out the current (February 21) Google (http://\"http://www.google.com\") page.
As for showing too much of the US women's team...you CAN'T show too much of that team. Truth to tell, there's a curling calendar (http://\"http://www.cbc.ca/story/sports/national/2005/10/31/Sports/curling-calendar051031.html\") that shows, um, very much of female curlers from several countries. Talk about preening and posing for the camera (wink).
Anyway, when the US women got clobbered last night, CNBC did switch to the much more meaningful Denmark-Canada game. A good match that went down to the final rock.
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Feb 20 2006, 04:24 PM\']The Wiki article will likely be a good read for the small details like the free-guard zone, but ultimately it is a very simple game.[/quote]
Actually, the free-guard zone was the "missing link" for my understanding of the game. I didn't understand why the team with last rock couldn't just whack every stone out of the way every time, blank nine ends and win on the tenth.
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From what I understand of curling (not much) that's exactly what teams tried to do before the free guard rule was put in. I remember Don Duguid saying on CNBC that all the games were 2-1, 3-2 before the rule. Even a hopeless newbie like me can see how the rule creates a lot more scoring by letting teams hide rocks in the house behind the guards. And the real interest in curling for me lies in those intricate, chess-like patterns that build up in the house.
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Feb 20 2006, 05:40 PM\'][quote name=\'FOXSportsFan\' date=\'Feb 20 2006, 02:34 PM\']I've always had one idea...have Mike Lange of the Penguins do play by play for curling. It'd be a great way for him to use some of those hilarious lines of his.
[/quote]
Somehow I don't see "GET IN THE FAST LANE, GRANDMA, THE BINGO GAME'S ABOUT TO ROLL" applying well to curling.
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It was meant as a joke...I should have added the "LOL".
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[quote name=\'hmtriplecrown\' date=\'Feb 20 2006, 02:59 PM\']Curling, Deal or No Deal and Jim Cramer--the trifecta which will save CNBC. Booyah!
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Jim Cramer. Now that's who should've hosted The Weakest Link.
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[quote name=\'CaseyAbell\' date=\'Feb 21 2006, 10:04 AM\']From what I understand of curling (not much) that's exactly what teams tried to do before the free guard rule was put in. I remember Don Duguid saying on CNBC that all the games were 2-1, 3-2 before the rule. Even a hopeless newbie like me can see how the rule creates a lot more scoring by letting teams hide rocks in the house behind the guards. And the real interest in curling for me lies in those intricate, chess-like patterns that build up in the house.
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What also didn't help was the chant of "boring" during the 1991 Canadian finals.
This is pretty much a problem only at the elite levels. One year, we were battling for first place in my league and needed to win by 12. We "only" won by 11 when we failed to put our last rock in for 6.
My problem with Men with Brooms -- too much sex, not enough curling.
And can we pass emergency legislation revoking Fred Roggin's citizenship before he comes back here? I can't believe he has any form of broadcasting job, let alone a network gig. There is no talent, there is no knowledge of the sport he is hosting, there is no reason for him to be there. Hell, I know I could do a better job, including my face made for radio and my voice made for print. Thank God the CBC kicks in tomorrow.
--Mike
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ObGameShow: Alex Trebek was a CBC curling commentator.
"I'm sorry--you forgot to curl the stone in the form of a question."
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From what I've seen, they tend to curl the stone in the form of a very loooooong comma. Or sometimes an exclamation point...without the dot.
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I'll be damned if my co-workers aren't glued to the set watching MSNBC. I'm actually watching this on another TV, but it's something about this game that's strangely addicting. :-P
ObGameShow: Al Roker had a game show on MSNBC called "Remember This?"
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Now you know why NBC can brag about their numbers on cable for the Olympics. It's not often that many viewers are glued to MSNBC for anything.
By the way, congrats to Team Fenson for the medal. I followed the match on the Internet, and it looks like it was an interesting test of nerves.
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Query for you folks: If Countdown didn't have to go up against the Faux Factor on Faux News Channel, ya think that might increase primetime ratings for MSNBC?
ObGameshows: Countdown is a wildly popular British game show...blah blah blah. It might work in America if you tripled points and head Jillian's Barberies "dancing" to the think music.
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[quote name=\'FOXSportsFan\' date=\'Feb 24 2006, 12:37 PM\']ObGameshows: Countdown is a wildly popular British game show...blah blah blah. It might work in America if you tripled points and head Jillian's Barberies "dancing" to the think music.[/quote]
'Twould be a small price to pay for such a noble goal. ;)
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[quote name=\'CaseyAbell\' date=\'Feb 24 2006, 02:18 PM\']By the way, congrats to Team Fenson for the medal. I followed the match on the Internet, and it looks like it was an interesting test of nerves.[/quote]
Actually one of the rare times when The Networks of NBC (specifically MSNBC) let you watch it live.
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[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Feb 24 2006, 03:35 PM\']Actually one of the rare times when The Networks of NBC (specifically MSNBC) let you watch it live.
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Actually, quite a bit was done live. Almost all of the hockey (men's and women's) was shown live, as was a good chunk of the curling. NBC just hoarded a lot of the good skiing/skating/snowboarding stuff for tape-delayed prime time.
I don't think this will be as much of an issue for the next Winter Games, even though the games will be in the Pacific Time Zone.
Doug
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[quote name=\'SRIV94\' date=\'Feb 24 2006, 05:45 PM\']Actually, quite a bit was done live. Almost all of the hockey (men's and women's) was shown live, as was a good chunk of the curling. NBC just hoarded a lot of the good skiing/skating/snowboarding stuff for tape-delayed prime time.
I don't think this will be as much of an issue for the next Winter Games, even though the games will be in the Pacific Time Zone.
Doug
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But IIRC, didn't NBC do the hoarding for Salt Lake as well? Or am I thinking of some other Olympic competition?
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[quote name=\'PYLdude\' date=\'Feb 24 2006, 03:47 PM\']But IIRC, didn't NBC do the hoarding for Salt Lake as well? Or am I thinking of some other Olympic competition?
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Yes, but that's not the point. At least in Salt Lake, almost everything was shown live (whether on NBC or its cable partners). NBC hoarded much of the skiing and snowboarding for prime-time, but the figure skating and speed skating events aired as they happened (not to mention the hockey and curling).
So we won't know that Sasha Cohen (or the next big U.S. figure skating hope) fell twice before it actually airs next Olympics. That should translate to bigger ratings. As Teddy Greenstein so eloquently put it in the Chicago Tribune:
These days "tape-delay" translates roughly to "everyone already knows the result."
Doug
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[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Feb 24 2006, 01:35 PM\'][quote name=\'CaseyAbell\' date=\'Feb 24 2006, 02:18 PM\']By the way, congrats to Team Fenson for the medal. I followed the match on the Internet, and it looks like it was an interesting test of nerves.[/quote]
Actually one of the rare times when The Networks of NBC (specifically MSNBC) let you watch it live.
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That said, the Gold Medal Match is on right now on CNBC, tape delayed. I saw it live on CBC earlier this morning.
(And for once this is a blessing, as I turned it on this morning JUST in time to see...only the last rock of the sixth end. So I'm Tivoing now so I can see the entire end.)
[quote name=\'SRIV94\' date=\'Feb 24 2006, 01:56 PM\']So we won't know that Sasha Cohen (or the next big U.S. figure skating hope) fell twice before it actually airs next Olympics.
[/quote]
Speak for yourself. I have the utmost confidence that NBC will find a way to tape delay it for the West Coast, which is particularly disgusting to me considering the event will not only take place in my time zone, but three hours from me by car.
And CBC isn't gonna be there to bail me out, since the Olympic rights for 2010 move to CTV.
And now I think I need to go sob a little.
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Feb 24 2006, 04:28 PM\'][quote name=\'SRIV94\' date=\'Feb 24 2006, 01:56 PM\']So we won't know that Sasha Cohen (or the next big U.S. figure skating hope) fell twice before it actually airs next Olympics.
[/quote]
Speak for yourself. I have the utmost confidence that NBC will find a way to tape delay it for the West Coast, which is particularly disgusting to me considering the event will not only take place in my time zone, but three hours from me by car.
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Sorry. Forgot all about that aspect of it (obviously).
I assume everything in SLC was delayed for you? You'd think that if the networks would show MNF/SNF, the World Series, March Madness, the NBA Finals and/or the Stanley Cup (among others) live to the Pacific Time Zone that NBC would come up with a way to air the Olympics live to the West Coast as well.
Doug
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[quote name=\'SRIV94\' date=\'Feb 24 2006, 02:40 PM\']I assume everything in SLC was delayed for you? You'd think that if the networks would show MNF/SNF, the World Series, March Madness, the NBA Finals and/or the Stanley Cup (among others) live to the Pacific Time Zone that NBC would come up with a way to air the Olympics live to the West Coast as well.
[/quote]
I honestly don't remember. I wanna say the hockey was indeed live, but as with this tournament, it was easy for it to be so, as the midweek games were shuttled off to one of the cable channels, and the USA/CAN gold-medal game was on the weekend and therefore easy for NBC to air live, but I'm pretty sure that the figure skating and whatnot that NBC hoarded for prime time was not because NBC was so desperately married to the concept of it-must-air-in-prime-time-even-if-that-screws-the-West-Coast-by-tape-delaying.
That's the problem - NBC is so dependent on that stuff to do monster ratings (and I'm sure it gives them an excuse to suck even more money out of advertisers) that they feel it has to air in prime time nationwide. And it's probably a reasonable gambit, since the target audience for the figure skating are the soccer moms who don't read sports websites and whatnot and therefore aren't in a position to get it spoiled for them anyhow.
(I watched FAR more of the coverage on CBC anyhow, save for the mid-week hockey games, which I watched at work on either CNBC or MSNBC, I don't remember.)
My comment was more pessimism towards NBC over their interest in Doing The Right Thing than anything.
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[quote name=\'CaseyAbell\' date=\'Feb 24 2006, 11:18 AM\']By the way, congrats to Team Fenson
[/quote]
A curious way to refer to the US team, inasmuch as Mr. Fenson kicked his own brother (apparently the second best US curler) off of his team. NBC had only a superficial discussion of this - they allowed Fenson to get away with saying "it's a private matter".
http://www.startribune.com/120/story/241342.html (http://\"http://www.startribune.com/120/story/241342.html\")
Personally I'd like to see the brother cash in somehow. It appears he got screwed.
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[quote name=\'melman1\' date=\'Feb 24 2006, 04:38 PM\'][quote name=\'CaseyAbell\' date=\'Feb 24 2006, 11:18 AM\']By the way, congrats to Team Fenson
[/quote]
A curious way to refer to the US team, inasmuch as Mr. Fenson kicked his own brother (apparently the second best US curler) off of his team. NBC had only a superficial discussion of this - they allowed Fenson to get away with saying "it's a private matter".
[/quote]
All of that notwithstanding, that's what you do in curling, the correct way to refer to a curling team (if you're not going to do it by country, in the case of international competiton) is by the name of the skip. So the US team is Team Fenson, or Pete Fenson's rink, the Canadian team is Team Gushue, etc.
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The womens' team was Team Johnson, led by the Johnson sisters, Cassie and Jamie.
More info at Home Depot.......Huh? Home Depot??!! (http://\"http://www.homedepotteamusa.com\")
(edited because I can't type worth a damn......)
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[quote name=\'sshuffield70\' date=\'Feb 24 2006, 05:23 PM\']The womens' team was Team Johnson, led by the Johnson sisters, Cassie and Jamie.
[/quote]
USA Women's Curling: Come See Our Johnsons
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[quote name=\'sshuffield70\' date=\'Feb 24 2006, 08:23 PM\']The womens' team was Team Johnson, led by the Johnson sisters, Cassie and Jamie.
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Team Johnson: Come sweep with both of us!
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Curling Johnsons? I think a doctor's visit is in order.
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Sadly, the Johnsons didn't feature in that women's curling calendar. As for Team Gushue, their organization was a little unusual, from the little I understand of curling. Gushue threw the last two stones, but the skip's usual role of calling the shots was handled by the second, elder statesman and world-class hollerer, Russ Howard.
The CNBC announcers had a lot of fun with that voice. HARD HARD HARRRRRRRRRRD. Oh well, they got the gold.
EDIT: Oh dear, there's an obvious joke involving Johnsons and...forget it.
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[quote name=\'CaseyAbell\' date=\'Feb 24 2006, 10:34 PM\']Sadly, the Johnsons didn't feature in that women's curling calendar. As for Team Gushue, their organization was a little unusual, from the little I understand of curling. Gushue threw the last two stones, but the skip's usual role of calling the shots was handled by the second, elder statesman and world-class hollerer, Russ Howard.
The CNBC announcers had a lot of fun with that voice. HARD HARD HARRRRRRRRRRD. Oh well, they got the gold.
EDIT: Oh dear, there's an obvious joke involving Johnsons and...forget it.
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And now, today's curling fact: The player who does the line calling other than his own shots is the skip, no matter where the player shoots in the order.
So, for Canada, Russ Howard was technically the skip, even though the team has been referred to as "Team Gushue" the whold time. This does matter in some of the pesky ettiquite things that go on during the match, mostly to due with defensive sweeping.
And you never heard Russ before he mellowed. It sounded like you were curling against a pirate.
--Mike
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Yep, the Wikipedia article (http://\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curling_at_the_2006_Winter_Olympics\") on curling at the 2006 Olympics identifies Howard as the second...with an asterisk. It's so Roger Maris. When you click on the article about Howard, it lists "Team Gushue" with no skip. Just "Second Stones" and "Fourth Stones." But the Olympics article calls Gushue the skip, with no asterisk. Man, this is confusing.
And there are all the jokes about stones...
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[quote name=\'CaseyAbell\' date=\'Feb 24 2006, 10:50 PM\']Yep, the Wikipedia article (http://\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curling_at_the_2006_Winter_Olympics\") on curling at the 2006 Olympics identifies Howard as the second...with an asterisk. It's so Roger Maris. When you click on the article about Howard, it lists "Team Gushue" with no skip. Just "Second Stones" and "Fourth Stones." But the Olympics article calls Gushue the skip, with no asterisk. Man, this is confusing.
And there are all the jokes about stones...
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The super-technical term is "skip shooting second". However, this was unprecedented to have a team qualify for the Olympic trials and then change skips, so asterisks will fly and confusion will reign. This is also becoming much more common as it has only taken a mere 500 years to realize that the smartest player and the most skilled player is not always one in the same.
--Mike
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[quote name=\'FOXSportsFan\' date=\'Feb 24 2006, 03:37 PM\']Query for you folks: If Countdown didn't have to go up against the Faux Factor on Faux News Channel, ya think that might increase primetime ratings for MSNBC?
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[/quote]Off-topic, but: Bill O'Reilly, of all people, is petitioning for MSNBC to get rid of Keith Olbermann and replace him with the man Keith replaced: Phil Donahue. I don't have the raw numbers, but I've been told that Countdown is actually getting lower ratings than what Donahue was doing when he got cancelled. Talk about Most Ridiculous Item of the Day...
[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Feb 24 2006, 06:02 PM\']... NBC is so dependent on that stuff to do monster ratings (and I'm sure it gives them an excuse to suck even more money out of advertisers) that they feel it has to air in prime time nationwide. ...[snapback]111155[/snapback]
[/quote]Well, NBC did shell out over $600M for the rights to these games. They have to do what they do to turn a profit.
[quote name=\'CaseyAbell\' date=\'Feb 24 2006, 10:34 PM\']EDIT: Oh dear, there's an obvious joke involving Johnsons and...forget it.[snapback]111187[/snapback]
[/quote]You've all been watching too much MG98 again, haven't you? ;-p
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[quote name=\'GS Warehouse\' date=\'Feb 24 2006, 09:25 PM\']Off-topic, but: Bill O'Reilly, of all people, is petitioning for MSNBC to get rid of Keith Olbermann and replace him with the man Keith replaced: Phil Donahue.
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Considering what an utter ninny Olbermann makes him look like with his great Ted Baxter impression, I can't say this shocks me.
Well, NBC did shell out over $600M for the rights to these games. They have to do what they do to turn a profit.
Sure. And I can not watch if I don't like it. But I'm a realist and I know that a) that's not gonna happen, and b) it wouldn't make a bit of difference if it did, so pretty much all I can do is grin & bear it.
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According to this CNN story (http://\"http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/TV/02/25/donahue.ap/index.html\") Donahue was pulling an averge of 446K viewers on MSNBC just before he was canned. The latest number I can find on Olbermann was this story's (http://\"http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/?page=2\") 452K for February 22. So it's close between the two, though neither has ever come within a light-year of O'Reilly.
I'm not an unbiased observer because I dislike Olbermann. But he was fourth in his time period out of the five news nets, behind O'Reilly (FOXN), Zahn (CNN) and Grace (HLN). Of course, O'Reilly dominates the time period so much that fourth isn't much different from second. The real problem with Olbermann is that he loses a lot of his lead-in audience from Matthews.
By the way, the site (http://\"http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/\") observes that CNBC dearly wishes biz news could pull the same numbers as curling.
EDIT: Now that I page a little further down on the site, I see Olbermann pulled 353K and 329K total viewers on earlier days. So maybe he is averaging less than Donohue. Doesn't break my heart.
One surprise for me is that Dobbs is CNN's highest-rated show. I always assumed it was King.
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[quote name=\'CaseyAbell\' date=\'Feb 25 2006, 04:48 PM\']I'm not an unbiased observer because I dislike Olbermann. [/quote]
I'm likewise not an unbiased observer for completely the opposite reason. Though I know he has his detractors, Olbermann is the only prime-time host on MSNBC I don't find totally insufferable. Meanwhile, it's very, very easy to find O'Reilly insufferable. Olbermann needles him with actual stuff he's done and said, and since O'Reilly really can't defend himself on any of it, his only recourse is to beat the ratings drum, and now this bizarre concern over the "well-being of MSNBC", which is patently absurd on the surface. It's just so precious of Bill to tell MSNBC what they should air in the time slot against him.
During the Olympics, MSNBC obviously ran a ton of promotions for their shows. (Note to Dan Abrams: I really don't care what your position on anything is, but thanks for your "promise".) One spot says that Countdown's ratings are up while the others are down. That's a dangerous way to go with your promos when the other guys are still clobbering you overall, but if the spot is true, I'm glad more people are discovering Countdown.
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And CBC isn't gonna be there to bail me out, since the Olympic rights for 2010 move to CTV.
Personally, I'm kind of surprised that Vancouver's CTV station isn't carried in Seatte if CBC is. You'd figure with all the extra space opened up by the digital tier that eventually they'd add it. Go figure...
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[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Feb 26 2006, 01:24 PM\']Personally, I'm kind of surprised that Vancouver's CTV station isn't carried in Seatte if CBC is. You'd figure with all the extra space opened up by the digital tier that eventually they'd add it. Go figure...
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Don't EVEN get me started. :) Maybe between now and then it might be if there is enough call for it, as the landscape of TV is gonna change dramatically over the next four years, but apparently Comcast has decided that I need fourteen different Discovery Channels, all showing the same crap they run on the main one, instead of something actually interesting like CTV. (The fact that the mass majority of CTV's programming is stuff regurgitated from US networks probably doesn't help their case, either.)
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Feb 26 2006, 04:41 PM\'](The fact that the mass majority of CTV's programming is stuff regurgitated from US networks probably doesn't help their case, either.)
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It's probably that more than the desire for eighteen bazillion Discovery networks, actually. Under the FCC's network nonduplication laws, the local network affiliates can force the cable company to black out network programming from any out-of-market stations -- and as I learned when I lived in Buffalo, that includes Canadian stations as well as American ones.
Some cable operators decide that once they black out everything requested by the local affiliates, there's just not enough left to justify taking up a channel. That wasn't the case in Buffalo, where Toronto's CBC and CTV affiliates were (and, I believe, still are) carried even though the ABC and NBC affiliates requested nonduplication protection -- but Comcast Seattle may have a different view today than TCI/Buffalo did back then.
Too bad satellite's not an option for you -- a grey-market Expressvu or Star Choice system would get you CBC, CTV and Global from five time zones, plus A-Channel, TVA and pretty much every other Canadian broadcast network large and small (along with two sets of US broadcast networks, one from each coast, if you're so inclined).
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[quote name=\'dzinkin\' date=\'Feb 26 2006, 02:20 PM\']Under the FCC's network nonduplication laws, the local network affiliates can force the cable company to black out network programming from any out-of-market stations -- and as I learned when I lived in Buffalo, that includes Canadian stations as well as American ones.
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No, I agree. Right now, there just isn't nearly enough original programming on CTV that would make even carrying it just as repetitive as those 47 Discoveries, never mind the blackout issues. (And around here there is so much of a cock-waving dickfight among the local affils that you can bet your bottom dollar that all of those requests WOULD be made.
Too bad satellite's not an option for you -- a grey-market Expressvu or Star Choice system would get you CBC, CTV and Global from five time zones, plus A-Channel, TVA and pretty much every other Canadian broadcast network large and small (along with two sets of US broadcast networks, one from each coast, if you're so inclined).
Too big of a solution to solve what is really a relatively minor problem. And, remember, it's four years out in an industry that is going to see a WHOLE lot of change in four years, with HD taking over and the standard broadcast spectrum reverting back and whatnot. And I know the majority of sports fans around here watch CBC's Olympic coverage before NBC's, because CBC's is just better, so as we get closer and people realize they're not gonna have it anymore, there may be enough of a demand that Comcast can't ignore them.
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That wasn't the case in Buffalo, where Toronto's CBC and CTV affiliates were (and, I believe, still are) carried even though the ABC and NBC affiliates requested nonduplication protection -- but Comcast Seattle may have a different view today than TCI/Buffalo did back then.
Yes, Toronto's CBC and CTV affiliates still are carried by most Buffalo cable systems. In fact, Rob Lucas, morning man at WTSS Buffalo, was talking about the Olympic coverage recently, and almost always mentioned CBC's. I'm quite sure a few systems in Western New York pick up some of the other Toronto stations, as well as Hamilton's independent CHCH too.
CBC and CTV are also carried in Watertown NY (via Kingston and Ottawa, respectively), and Montreal's CBC and CTV stations are carried in Burlington, VT. I'm sure there must be other places along the border that pick them up too.
ObGame Shows: CTV carried a lot of Canadian game shows in the '70s and '80s.