Yesterday the NHL made the welcome announcement that Center Ice would be carrying the Bruins vs. Carolina Game 7 on their service and on their on line package.This was a bonus for hockey fans as Versus actually had the rights to the games and only planned on cutting to the Bruins game once the Ducks vs. Red Wings game was over.
As an Eastern Conference fan, I was more interested in the Bruins/Canes game even though the Ducks had a great story going for themselves. I was ready to watch one and keep an eye on the other.
When I got home from work, I checked the Center Ice package channels (that are now all MLB channels now boo hiss...) and found the lower screen banner indicated the game was to air at 8 pm on SP1. I was content, turned on Versus at 7 pm and started watching their coverage.
At 7:55 pm, I went looking for the game. It was gone. The channel it was supposed to air on was blank. Other MLB/NHL channels were dark. There were scattered baseball games on some of the other channels but no Bruins.
I freaked. I tried to call the evil Dolan Empire and got the automated call answer that had no choice for programming information. Only BUYING more, reporting an outage or making an appointment. Talking to an operator was not an option.
I tried all the choices and some they didn't give me. "I'm sorry, I did not recognize that choice." And back to the original message my call went. The clock ticked by and by 8:15 pm, I was resigned to the fact that I was screwed. I decided to e-mail NHL's Center Ice about it, just for my own satisfaction.
I was reduced to web streaming the radio audio of the game from the Bruins website and keeping an eye on the Hurricane's live blog, watching Versus and expressing my disgust on Twitter.
Five minutes ago I received my answer from NHL Center Ice:
Thank you for your email. Cablevision had a technical error in their systems and did not air the game in NHL Center Ice. We apologize for this inconvenience. Please contact Cablevision in regards to this matter further.
Thanks,
NHL Center Ice
Dear Center Ice:
Cablevision's only technical error is they are a technological monopoly that reserves the right to disseminate entertainment in my area. Oh.... and if it ain't the Rangers, they don't give a crap.
Hello... Verizon? Let's talk Fios.
Congrats to Paul Maurice and the Hurricanes on a great win. THAT was a game 7! Too bad I had to listen to it instead of WATCH it for the first two periods of play!
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3 comments:
Sam told me they were swamped because there was an outage - they did not purposely black it out or anything, someway somehow there was a problem with center ice.
If you really want to see how much better those of us who no longer are subject to the Dolan's whims vis-a-vis what we get to watch on the television because we have already gotten FIOS then go to a website that lists channel selections and input that you 'have' FIOS of Massapequa - yes there really are over 1000 channels, over 150 HD channels plus you get Sleuth, Smithsonian channel, Palladium and several independent HD Movie channels as well. Don't turn green with envy, just kick the owners of the stRangers where it hurts - in their respective wallets and move on to FIOS.
Im sorry but I simply do not believe that this was "someway somehow a problem with center ice." Cablevision are the ones who shoved the Isles on ch14 and even blanked out actual chunks of Islanders games this season. I do not trust them regarding their coverage of anything not owned by Dolan.
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