Mac Products for Her...

Hey Guys! With Valentine's Day fast approaching, why not treat her right this year?

NeuralNet is a Mac-Dealing computer store in Saskatoon, and it looks like they've got it all figured out this year:


Their website has a section called "For Her". Pink iPods, frilly iPod cases...a sequined mouse maybe?

Nope, even better! Chocolates, and a 50" Plasma!

I guess the idea is to order 1 of each, and she'll be so busy eating chocolate, she won't even notice (or will forgive) the new giant TV...

Leipold buys back into NHL...I didn't see him leave!

Well well well.  Former Nashville Predators owner Craig Leipold, who by his own admission lost 70 Million Dollars on the Preds over 10 years, is now back as an NHL owner.  For some of us, he never left.

No sooner did the controversial Nashville sale finally go through, then he's suddenly announced as the new majority owner of the Minnesota Wild...this is a team that actually makes money, in an actual hockey market.  Go figure.

More explanation at the Globe and Mail here.

I guess once you're in Gary Bettman's club, everything just works itself out.  Hmm...wonder what Jim Balsillie thinks of all this.  Personally, as a Canadian and a life-long hockey fan, I find it reprehensible.  But hey, that's our Gary!

EDIT:  What I mean by reprehensible, is just that Bettman will (seemingly, unconfirmed) make any deal he can for his 'fellow' men, like Leipold...but he (seemingly, unconfirmed) killed any and all deals with Jim Balsillie, maybe because of Canada, maybe because of Toronto/Buffalo broadcast rights, who knows.

However, I've no beef with Leipold himself...hey, if somebody loves hockey, welcome aboard!

If you didn't boo Gary Bettman before...you will.

Here's the pitch: Gary Bettman hosts a weekly radio show on XM Satellite radio, called "NHL Hour". He is the first commissioner in pro sports to do so, offering an unprecedented way for fans to interact with the commissioner of their favourite sport, through emails or phone calls.

I actually enjoy the show, maybe I like hockey a little too much. I think it is a good thing for the NHL to do, get themselves out there, speak directly with fans, etc.

However, if you think any of those people calling in to the show are real, last week the show offered up pretty much iron-clad proof that they are not.

It all started on the January 10th episode...(that's the iTunes link to the episode)

I downloaded the mp3, and at the very end of the show, co-host Bill Clement signs off, they play the 'end music' and it fades out...then, you can hear a slight shuffling of papers as a microphone is left on, THEN you hear league disciplinarian Colin Campbell's voice saying, and I quote:

"...for these people to get on the phone, do they have to say that lead-in..." at which point somebody abruptly fades the microphone off!

So, there you have it, I am NOT making this up. The callers this week were particularly fake sounding, one guy even started off with "I think you're the best commissioner in sports!"...OH COME ON! They hadn't been that absurd up to this point, mostly it's just "Hi Gary, thanks for doing this, you're doing a great job", etc etc. I think there's been a couple "it's an honour to speak with you"'s that I found fairly questionable.

Plus, I used to work in talk radio, and fake callers for us were merely a tactic to fill the hour...on the music stations, if no one was calling in (perhaps because of the wretched music they'd play), fake callers requesting Britney Spears were fairly common, or they'd make the receptionist call in or whatever and conveniently request the popular songs of the week. Or, the callers are actually real, but they're so excited to be on the radio that they'll say whatever you tell them.

I think Colin Campbell didn't believe for a second, as none of us do, that anyone, anywhere, anytime would have that much admiration for the most hated commissioner in pro sports, Gary Bettman. So Colin felt compelled to ask if the callers are forced to pile on fake praise for Gary, before they are let on the show. I think we know the answer to that question. Maybe he should have asked that question in the elevator, instead of ON THE AIR!

Shame on Bettman, what an ego this man has. And he wonders why he gets booed everywhere he goes...even expansion cities boo this guy, remember the Columbus draft?! Fortunately, Gary wasn't on the air anywhere at the Winter Classic, the outdoor game they had on New Year's Day. I assume it's cause he didn't want to get booed on international television, with so many new hockey viewers watching for the first time.

Download the mp3 today and see for yourself. I cut that part of just the ending for myself, so I can enjoy it over and over! I'd post it here, but I think it's against Google's policy or something, dunno I only got to page 2 of 75 of the user agreement.

I'm surprised no one at the NHL caught it and edited it out before posting the show on iTunes, but maybe it's a rogue sound editor who hates Gary as much as we do just letting it through, cause it's an easy fix to cut that off. I'm assuming the same audio went out live over XM, but I don't know. Either way, embarrassing stuff.

If Gary Bettman really was the best commissioner, or at least half as good as he thinks he is, wouldn't I be posting about his latest brilliant move to help the game of hockey, instead of his latest public embarrassment? I just like knowing that Colin Campbell didn't believe it either.

Can't wait for this week's show...

TV shows now on iTunes Canada

No, you're not dreaming!  After what seems like about ten years (probably closer to two), TV shows are now available for purchase in the Canadian iTunes Store.

Not much there yet, of course, but hey, lest we forget, the US Store only started with a handful of shows back in the day (2005).  Plus, since the Canadian broadcast culture absolutely depends on simulcasting US shows as I've discussed before, it might be a good long while before we see The Daily Show, 24, Heroes or any of the other big name shows.

However, it's nice to see the price is the same as the US, at $2 an episode.  I assume the quality is the same, not quite DVD.  Also, Canadian hit shows Corner Gas, Little Mosque on the Prairie and other homegrown hits are on there for those who never realized sometimes we do make our own shows.  In a fit of irony, Canadian networks could thank themselves at this point for the lack on content on there.  Make some more of your own shows, fellas.  Then you'll own the rights!

And what Canadian video store would be complete without a smattering of NHL content?!  Well you're in luck, as there's even some 'Stanley Cup Classics' up there.  5 old-skool Stanley Cup games, back in the days before the Salary Cap was King.  They look to be full length games, no ads.  While I assume we're still a long way from next-day highlights or current game downloads, this is a good move for the NHL, kudos.  And anyway, if you're a Leafs fan, there's lots of content already up in the Podcast section...check out "Game in Six Minutes", and the LeafsTV post-game show is also available:

One more point:  If I was a Canadian film or TV producer, I would absolutely be phoning Apple this morning to find out how I can get my content on here.  Bypass the broadcaster completely and get your show in front of people on their computer or their iPod.  No brainer.

Anyway, we'll see where this goes.  Interesting to see when/if movies get added, but again, if I had a Canadian film, I'd skip fighting tooth and nail trying to get it into 3 screens across Canada opening weekend competing with Harry Potter and Spider-Man, and just get it online where everyone can find it and buy it for dirt cheap.

Personally I'm hooked on Blu-Ray since the PS3 came to stay at my house, but the online download world has not yet begun to fight, not in this country anyway.  Well, ok, now it has...as of today...

Skates have changed...

So, it's that time of year again...hockey season in full swing, and it comes time to don my own pair of blades and hit the local arena.

I don't think I made it out even once last year. My main issue was how freakin' cold the arenas are. These are indoor arenas, yet my face felt darn near frozen, and even with a decent Therma-something toque on, it was too much for my ears to take. So I quit going.

This year however, I've decided to fight the good fight, and make my way back, if not into shape, then at least to a point where lacing them up doesn't wear me out!

After searching high and low for my old skates, and not finding them, I made my way over to Canadian Tire to have a look at new ones. Maybe I was just too early, but no one seemed interested in helping me out, so I trucked off to SportChek, where I had a good experience buying new shoes a month ago.

Wandering around SportChek, it makes you feel for parents whose kids want to play hockey...this stuff is expensive! Gone are the days of wood sticks, black skates, and one size fits all jock straps. No, we're now in a world of $100 helmets, $60 elbow pads (you'll need two of those!), $100 composite sticks (cause yeah, like those never break!)...and, you can spend as much as you have in the world on skates!

Fortunately, being the non-competitive, public skating participant that I intend to become, the options sort of limit themselves. I don't quite need skates built for Crosby or Ovechkin.

So here's the ones I got: Easton Synergy 500 SC

The salesman was very knowledgeable and helpful, which is rare these days.

However, you don't just buy a pair of skates and head out to the rink! SportChek puts them in the oven, bake 'em for 5 minutes, and then you put them on as tight as you can and wear them in the store until they cool down. This molds the boot and padding to the shape of your foot. It sounds believable, until you try it, then it's just weird. But it works, my ankles carved themselves a nice spot in the sides.

While I was waiting for the oven, I wandered over to the hockey jerseys and t-shirts and had a look. There were a couple Leafs shirts on sale, but for the first time ever, I paused for a few minutes, and realized that I refuse to put more money into the hands of MLSE (who care more about condos than championships) until they put a decent team on the ice. That starts with the Leafs making the playoffs this season...we'll see.

It's a weird feeling, falling out of love with your favourite sports team. Let me put it this way: On Tuesday I watched Montreal vs Florida, and Wednesday I watched Pittsburgh vs New Jersey...and I was much more entertained than on the previous Saturday when I watched the Leafs give up several leads to lose 6-4 to the Penguins. Watching the Leafs is just too upsetting these days...anger, followed by misery, but they hook you with a burst of excitement here and there. I'm much happier watching Crosby set up (or finish) beauty goals, or even just marveling in the speed of other teams. And since I don't care who wins, the stress and anguish are gone.

We'll see. Also helps that those other two games were on TSN HD, which production-wise puts CBC to shame...but I think I've harped on that before, and likely will again.

Anyway, I've got my new skates, so I'll make sure to dress warmly this time, and I'll see you at the rink!

Ok, one more NHL Centre Ice outrage

So I'm on NHL.com having a look around, and I click on the banner ad for Center (US spelling) Ice Online, thought I'd see if they've lowered the price at all (laughs)...

"Sign up for a Season Pass today for only $169 USD!"

$169? What a minnit...it's $219 CDN? Isn't the CDN Loonie worth more than the USD greenback? WTF?

Sure enough...CDN currently should be $164 then...sigh...$55 more for what, exactly?

Memo to NHL: Cut the bullshit!

Course, this is nothing new, Canadians are being hosed all over by various retailers...cell phones, books, cars, you name it, we're paying too much up here. It's just extra annoying when it's an online product that has no physical product to ship...and when it's the NHL doing the hosing. Shame on them.

NHL Streaming, now on Sportsnet.ca

Sportsnet.ca will be streaming Leaf games now, but they just link to the NHL Centre Ice Online package. They claim it's $60 for 50 games...that's a good price. I guess that just gets you the Leafs games...which is all I'd want. I'll watch other teams (Edmonton, Vancouver) on TV, but no great desire to stream them.

The free preview of NHL Centre Ice has ended...I thought it was until the end of October, but it ended on Tuesday...during the Leafs game, just before the 3rd period...although they were already down 5-1 to Carolina, so I suppose I was done a favour. :)

$219 CDN they now want for the Online portion of the Centre Ice package. If you streamed 15 games per month (3 games per week, October to March), that's $2.08 per game.

But, you wouldn't need Centre Ice for that many, cause CBC is streaming all their games for free (plus they're on TV nationally, but we'll leave that for now). So, if you minus 1 game every Saturday (2 if you watch the double header), that's 88 games at $2.49 per.

And oh yeah, you wouldn't even get Leaf games, unless you spoof you IP, cause you don't live in the proper Leaf region...sigh, we're back to that again.

So, yeah, basically I can't see any possible reason why to give them one goddamn cent! I enjoyed watching the free games on my TV that I was able to, but in that case you're better off with the cable/satellite Centre Ice package, which is the same price, but much higher quality...

So, perhaps that concludes my coverage of NHL Centre Ice Online. I give it Two Swollen Thumbs Way the Hell Down! At the same time, I have to thank the NHL sincerely for trying, but they are far from where they need to be.

NHL Centre Ice Online - I'm Logged In!

Ok, so literally whilst I was drawing up an email to the NHL with several questions re: Centre Ice Online (price, blackouts, Mac support, etc), they went and updated their site! Man, I'm on the forefront of change! (There's no games on tonight, if you're wondering what the deal is with that screenshot).

So I got my answer about price...get this...you can sign up for the Free Preview, which ends after the first week of the regular season. OR, you can sign up now for the entire season, for the low low price of $200 CDN!!! ROFLLOLWTFNHLBBQ!

Now, I'm no finance wizard, but I'm starting to know a rip off when I see one! For one thing, I could sign up through my cable company for less than that, $170 for the season, $150 at the Early Bird price! Maybe I'm stupid, but I think a cable feed to my TV is a helluva lot better quality than low grade Windows Media over the Internet! How can the Online price be anywhere NEAR the broadcast one?! That's ballz.

Not only that, but they're missing the entire 'secret' of Internet commerce: Micropayments! Ok NHL, I'm gonna say this once: $2 per game. That's what you're going to get from me. I'm not gonna watch every single game this season, therefore, I want to only pay for what I watch. And that's ONLY if I can log in from Saskatchewan and watch Leafs games...again, it's not clear.

Now, I thought I saw, during the sign up process, a reference to something called "Day Pass". I didn't get a screenshot of it unfortunately. However, that sounds like a much more reasonable option. Maybe a Day Pass option will roll out at some point and be about $2.

The NHL is seriously over-valuing its product in this case. I cannot believe it's more money than the actual cable package...that's lunacy!

Anyway, one step forward. I'll enjoy the free preview, and see where we go from here.

On a related note, the CBC will be streaming all its games online this year. They can do that because they have National rights to the games. The LeafsTV only have rights for their "region". Anyways, props to the CBC. I assume they'll use the despised Windows Media as well, but that's what Flip4Mac is for...

It's not that I want everything to be done my way all the time...it just seems like it. :)

Easy Come Easy Go

Ah, now we're seeing the true colours of the Blue & White (and the NHL): So much for my Leafs preseason games on the iMac...Today I need an account!

Ok fine, where do I sign up? Oh, the "Sign Up Now!" button...ok, my pleasure...click...oh, gosh, wait a sec here, seems they've turned on my favourite Web 2.0 feature - Geofencing:


Well, thanks for the 3 games this week fellas, but I guess that's all she wrote. Unless/until I sign up for NHL Centre Ice Online (which I previously mentioned has NO signup info on their site, no price points, nothing)...damn they're making this difficult.

NHL Centre Ice is in fact online

http://www.nhl.com/nhlhq/centerice_online.html

Ok, I was referred to that link for more info about Centre Ice Online. Now, if someone can point to me where on that page is the price, or sign up information, cause I don't see it. I'll guess they haven't set the price yet, since my local cable provider doesn't have info for the Centre Ice TV package either.

After watching two Leafs' preseason games online this week (and a third coming up tonight!), I'm not sure what I'd pay for the season. A lot of times it might be handy, since I'm usually in front of the iMac, love to have a little window open with the hockey pouring in. And I think they just give you a log in, which I could use anywhere, if I'm out of town for example, but I'm not sure about that...doesn't mention it on their site.

On the other hand, there is an HDTV where I live, so ideally you want to watch games on that baby!

It's also not the highest quality stream I've ever seen, and the Mac support is somewhat there, could be better...like I said, it does work in Safari, although last night I had to close and restart it a couple times, and by the end of the game the audio was kind of out of sync. Among the Mac requirements it says "Pentium III 1GHz"...lol.

So yeah, how much would you pay is the question. Like I said before, I'd like to see a "per game" micropayment like iTunes, but I bet they're looking for more of a $40 a month or something, judging by the cable/satellite package prices. Also, it's not clear if you can just get the Online package without getting the cable package, unless I missed that somewhere.

Anyways, I'm glad to see the NHL moving in this direction. Wouldn't hurt them to buy a few banner ads on Canadian websites, letting people know that online is now an option, get the word out. Hell, put up one on their own site, be a good start!

NHL streaming Centre Ice?

Jackpot! As you can see in the pic above, the NHL is finally got its Centre Ice package online, and that means Streaming Live Games!

Details are sketchy, I can't find anything about this on the NHL web site, I basically stumbled on it. Here's some instructions on how you to can see these games on your PC (or Mac! Even works in Safari, although it warns about lack of support):

http://www.nhl.tv/team/

You launch the 'console', then click the right tab, "Centre Ice". Then you can click on the game(s) you want to watch, I think up to 4 at a time! It will likely complain that the URL is invalid. Doesn't matter! Click the little button on the top right, it looks like a square within a square. This should maximize the prefered game screen to the whole pane, and then it will start streaming the game!

Obviously the NHL will want to make money off this (and I'm not even saying they shouldn't). I thought I remembered reading something about Centre Ice being available as on online package, but then I read how much of a rip off it was. Plus, I thought you could only get it if you subscribe to the cable package, you can't just pay for a single online game...which is insanity. They need to move to a "$2 per game" micropayment model. I think (and hope) perhaps they're streaming all the preseason games, in order to wet our appetites. Consider it wetted.

Here's the link for what little info the NHL has, but like I said, nothing about online games here: http://www.nhl.com/nhlhq/centerice/

So, we'll see where this goes. But for now, it's nice to watch a live Leaf game on my Mac! (Plus they're muting the ads for me!) :)

Couple stupid gaming related things...

Found this slice of stupidity at the Apple.com store the other day. I was searching for the Mac versions of the EA Sports games that EA promised to deliver day and date with their console counterparts (which surprise surprise didn't happen). Anyway, go there and search "Madden"...here's what I got:



Hmm, guess I'll have to wait for "Hidden NFL 08" to arrive for the Mac. Actually, I'm not even a bootball pan, I just lant SenHL OhAte to come bout, and then Greed Four Speide.


Not to be outdone...Best Buy is running this exciting promotion on their web site:





How dost one prepare thyself for such 'faming'!? You famer. Get your fame face on.

Regina Getzlaf the Cup!

Today was Ryan Getzlaf's day with the Stanley Cup. Ryan brought The Cup back to his hometown, Regina, Saskatchewan.

Here's a link to a Flickr set of photos. Enjoy!

RUWT...coming to Canada

So, have you ever checked out areyouwatchingthis.com? It's a site where you can let other internetters know what sports event you're watching. It's kinda like Digg.com, but for sports television.

It's cool because they provide links to NHL highlights on YouTube right next to scores from the games, so you don't have to go find them yourself. Also has TV listings as to what games are on what channels, etc. And I suppose there's the whole social web 2.0 aspect, where you can shout to other people watching the same games. Oh, and it'll alert you when the Canucks and Stars game is going into overtime...

Anyways, it's currently US listings, but plans for Canada are in the works....just got this email today!

Thought it deserved a mention here. So, there you go.

More wind power, down under...

Well, this Australian guy gets it...

Sidney Crosby - TIME's Person of the Year needs DIGGERS!

Vote Sid the Kid up and he could make it on the cover of TIME magazine. Then you can tell all your friends "That is because of me and my fellow diggers!!!"Not only that, but they're mistaken on his "Con" list! There's no way he lead the NHL in penalties in his rookie season! Seemed low to me...so I looked it up...sure enough, Sean Avery, 257 PIM for 2005-2006. Crosby is 45th, with 110 PIM. He didn't even lead the Rookies in PIM that year (4th!). Especially since his rookie year was the first year after the lockout, with the new 'standard' being called, everyone was taking even more penalties than usual. Can't deny he whines to officials though.Unless...perhaps for some reason whatever stats they looked at, maybe they're only counting 2 minute minors, and the 3 rookies ahead of him took more 5 minute majors, so on paper it looks like he took more penalties? I dunno, that's bizarre.He's one place above author J. K. Rowling! Since when is the NHL more popular than Harry Potter?! Is this another "Vote For Rory" campaign I'm not aware of?



read more | digg story

Wind Power. Gimme.

It's windy as sin around here the last week or two, and whenever I question why we don't have those wind turbines on every street corner, I'm laughed at and scolded about the supposed "expensive" costs. Well, it seems like I'm not the fool here. It'scost effective to make, way less footprint on the enviroment, and they're just fucking cool to look at. Saskatchewan, time to step up and harness your greatest foe!

SaskPower's doing their part, but this part of the world doesn't show up on Google Maps.

Not much on Flickr either.

I want one in my backyard...now.

NTFS on OSX, ask me how...

Dunno if anyone else was aware of this, but it was a revelation to me: It is now possible to read and write NTFS volumes in OS X! For those of us with Boot Camp, it's a good ability to have.

I installed Boot Camp a couple months ago, and made the partition as FAT32, so I could read and write to the Windows drive from my Mac desktop. Comes in handy when find something on the web I want to try in Windows, but don't want to have to save the bookmark (or download) in my Gmail, reboot to Windows, log in and find it again...just drag n drop the thing to the Windows desktop folder.

Anyways, as everyone who cares to know knows, FAT32 limits your partition to 120GB, and your biggest files to 4GB. Which is pretty much useless these days if your doing video or any other giant file stuff. While my Boot Camp partition is only 32GB, I don't use it enough to make it bigger at the moment.

Which leads me to the new solution (as usual, it's brought to us in part by our Google overlords, all hail!). As I understand it, there's this thing called "FUSE" in the Linux world, and it's some sort of mechanism, that allows stuff to work (I know, pretty technical). Anyways, some brilliant folks have ported it to the Mac, to create MacFuse. MacFuse allows us to run Fuse-compatible things in Mac OS X...in particular, NTFS-3G, the package that allows reading AND writing to NTFS volumes.

So, all I had to do was download the MacFuse Core installer, and the NTFS-3G (contains two installers). Install them in that order, reboot, and my Boot Camp drive now shows up with full read and write ability (after converting it in Windows to NTFS). Slick.

Survey Says....

So, a poll of NHL players was conducted, courtesy The Hockey News. On newstands now, or you can buy it online and read it on your computer...see, that's what I'm talking about, Big Business, the internet is your friend! You can even get single issues...like iTunes for magazines.

Anyways, for some insightful analysis of this survey, check out this entry on Mike Chen's Hockey Blog, where I first read about the poll. For some irreverent analysis, however, stay right here.

Just want to highlight a couple of the funnier answers...particularly those given by only 1 player. The fun is trying to guess who said what.

"What’s the worst thing about your job?"...At least one player answered each of these:
"Protein shakes, watching video, late nights, filling out forms, fighting, autographs, missed childhood, girls, money, Cam Janssen, getting yelled at, pre-game skate, coaches and being booed"

"Cam Janssen"...I can just see Tomas Kaberle hunched over his stall in the dressing room, madly scribbling in his answer. Or perhaps Janssen himself wrote it, after all the Dr. Phil he watched during his 3 game suspension?

"Filling out forms"...yeah, can't the NHLPA just hack our email and read the relevant ones to us? Why do I gotta put in my name and password every time?!

"missed childhood"...well, couldn't be Sidney Crosby, it's too soon. Chris Chelios? Likely didn't miss it at all, just forgot...it's been a lot of years since then.

"getting yelled at"...well, nobody likes that. However, I'll say Bryan McCabe...I know I'm constantly cursing his name after each turnover, giveaway, or blown chance...sigh.

Hockey Rights in Canada, plus streaming!

Well, I wouldn't have thought it possible, but the word has come down today, CBC will keep Hockey Night in Canada coming on Canadian TV sets Saturday nights for six more years. More coverage here.

To be honest, I was kinda in Bell Globemedia's corner (CTV, TSN) for the past couple years, ever since I found out the rights were up for renewal. I've grown exhausted of the overall quality (or lackluster) of CBC's production. Don't get me wrong, I love Bob Cole and Harry Neale, may they live to be 1000 years old. And Ron MacLean and Don Cherry are Canadian staples, although if I never have to watch Ron interview Colin Campbell again, I'd be alright. But, I'm talking about PRODUCTION...sound (mixing, levels, quality and creative use of), music beds, graphics, stats, interactivity, etc. On these fronts, CBC is about 15 years behind TSN, 30 years behind NBC. But that's just me.

On the other hand. CBC recently, maybe 6 weeks ago, updated all their graphics (except the GIANT in-game time clock, the most needed upgrade), some newer music here and there, and new voice overs for their production. Most of it is crap, but hey, it's newer. Here's hoping they have even newer stuff planned for next year, and keep it fresh for another 6 years. Basically, if you watch a game on NBC, and then watch CBC (or vice versa), you'll know what I'm talking about. NBC takes full advantage of the 'new NHL', including much better access to the players during games. There's an on-ice interview at the end of each period, generally you can hear the mics that the refs wear to announce penalties, and every period or so they do the "Verizon Sounds of the Game", where we get to hear what Sidney Crosby talks about on the bench. Full marks NBC!

Here's another highlight from the NHL.com article, from league commissioner Gary Bettman:

"...this coming Saturday, when Hockey Night in Canada will begin a new tradition which will only enhance the viewing pleasure for hockey fans in this country: Both games of the double-header will be provided in high definition."

Sweet, it's been low-def Oilers, Flames and Canucks for too long! Well done! Hopefully this doesn't mean they've stolen some HD cameras from the Leafs and will continue to offer 'fake HD', where the main camera is HD, but any side or opposite angles are decidedly standard definition. Anyways, you take what you can get in this country.

The article mentions that the CBC's beloved "Hockey Day in Canada" (the annual triple header featuring all six Canadian teams) will continue...hmmm, last I heard, the NHL was committed to its current ridiculous schedule, which doesn't even have each Canadian team meet next year!

But wait there's more. And this is the biggest news, if you ask me (from the CBC article):

"Also, a multimedia package including live and on-demand video streaming of all CBC's hockey broadcasts will be available online at CBC.ca in the near future. That means fans in Canada will be able to watch any Hockey Night in Canada broadcast on CBC.ca, regardless of what game is being broadcast in their area of the country."

Hallejujah!!!! I streamed a game off Comcast's site Friday night, and it was awesome. The game wasn't on anywhere locally, but since I was able to stream it, it DOESN'T MATTER WHERE I LIVE (unlike LEAFSTV)! I get the feeling I'm gonna be watching a lot more hockey now that I can just go to CBC.ca and click on the feed I want. Damn, I think I'm drooling. Here's hoping for a decent resolution, 30 fps, and Quicktime (Please Lord, don't let them fall into the Windows Media trap that NHL.com lives in). CBC currently uses Quicktime and Real Media (yikes...but I think that's just for the older Linux crowd).

Ok, well that's about all I have to say on this at the moment. Gotta let it sink in. I think I'm fine with CBC having the rights (not that I can do anything anyways), as long as they step up and prove that they deserve it, instead of winning it just cause they're the incumbent and "Canada's Network", despite what the numbers say. Richard Stursburg is the newly minted head of CBC Sports, so hopefully he's watched a few other broadcasts in his day (he used to run the show over at TSN, so there's hope!). Let's see some more HD cameras and much much better production. Truth be told, I didn't want to pony up to the extra tiers from my cable company just to get TSN HD (your area may vary). I'd rather cancel the cable outright, and live off the 'tubes, which as of today, has become a lot more realistic.

No, the main victory from today is the streaming games. Looking forward to it...I wonder when it takes effect, probably not until 2008? I was hoping this week, the most exciting playoff race (in the Eastern Conference) in years! Go Leafs Go!