On Mar 31,  3:31pm, [log in to unmask] wrote:
 
> Some people have made some good points about how tennis and golf audiences
> are much larger than college hockey (and I can't bad-mouth the tennis
> tournament that pre-empted the game TOO much since my parents are at that
> tourney!), but what about the BU-MINN game?  Why was this game on ESPN2
> and not ESPN?  I checked ESPN about the time the game was on and do you
> know what they were showing?  Some sort of car racing!!!  Now, I must
> admit I know lots of people who would rather watch golf and tennis than
> college hockey but car racing??? I don't know anyone who watches car
> racing.  Does ANYBODY actually watch this stuff?  What couldn't that be on
> the Deuce instead??
 
Oh boy, have you hit a nerve here.  I come back from Providence, and get
greeted with this while catching up on my email?
 
Well, my dear friend Steve, there are PLENTY of people who actually watch
"this stuff" called auto racing.  A lot of them are on this list itself.
I happen to know a lot of auto racing fans, so many in fact that I run an
Indy car fantasy league for people here at work.  And, believe it or not,
there are actually people like myself who may consider college hockey to
be their favorite team sport, but who consider auto racing to be their
favorite sport.  In fact, there are even people, *gasp*, like myself who
actually RACE cars.
 
It always amazes me that people who follow a minor sport are more than
willing to go out and blast another minor sport while at the same time get
all ticked off when others blast their minor sport.
 
FYI, auto racing on ESPN garners some of the highest ratings for that network
outside of their college basketball and NFL telecasts.  Also, FYI, that
"stuff" that was showing on Thursday night was their Thursday Night Thunder
show that is one of ESPN's highest rated weekly primetime shows.  There was
no way ESPN was going to pre-empt that ratings possibility for a college
hockey game, no matter how much we all wish it would happen.  In fact, auto
racing on ESPN and ABC got higher ratings last year than the NHL broadcasts
on those networks, including the playoffs!
 
So next time anyone feels obligated to blast a minor sport, remember the
story about glass houses...
 
[My usual hockey .sig replaced by my usual racing .sig for this post.]
 
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