OT: Hurricanes Lounge XL. 99 Luftballons

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I remember those ads, and the rise of fantasy, etc. I know it's been there for a long time.

But since 2018 it has risen very very quickly. This industry article cites a 22% increase from 2021 to 2022 alone. In Q1 and Q2 (playoff season in 3 of the big 4 sports) it was more like a 50% increase year-over-year.

The article also predicts that the next phase will be to shift away from these all-encompassing media campaigns and focus more on their digital presence among established gamblers, so maybe there's some relief ahead for those of us who just want to watch a hockey game for its own sake.

Since 2018 you say?

carolina-hurricanes-sold-to-tom-dungon-for-420-million

sure it has grown more rapidly recently, but my point was this was in the making for a long time and making it "popular" and "mainstream" was in the works for quite a while. It was slowly gaining foothold until it would eventually just take off.

Kind of like how legalizing Marijuana was in the works for a long time and the first state was 2012 for recreational use. For the first 8 years, 11 states made it legal. In the last 3 years, 11 more states made it legal and eventually, every state will likely have some sort of legal, recreational use.

 

[raynman]

Since 2018 you say?

carolina-hurricanes-sold-to-tom-dungon-for-420-million

sure it has grown more rapidly recently, but my point was this was in the making for a long time and making it "popular" and "mainstream" was in the works for quite a while. It was slowly gaining foothold until it would eventually just take off.

Kind of like how legalizing Marijuana was in the works for a long time and the first state was 2012 for recreational use. For the first 8 years, 11 states made it legal. In the last 3 years, 11 more states made it legal and eventually, every state will likely have some sort of legal, recreational use.

Not sure about legal recreational unless it’s done at the federal level. Oklahoma just voted no the other day, a couple others have as well.

 

[LostInaLostWorld]

Not sure about legal recreational unless it’s done at the federal level. Oklahoma just voted no the other day, a couple others have as well.

Give it time. When they see the surrounding states siphoning off tax dollars from their citizens it will happen. Just like the lottery. All those moral/religious/etc. objections go out the window. $$$ win every time.

ETA Just like the behind the scenes action of the NC Republican legislator taking it's sweet time in restricting or outlawing abortions like other "conservative" states. Lots of out of state $$ coming here. Behind NYT paywall:

How the Fall of Roe Turned North Carolina Into an Abortion Destination
The state, which is near others with abortion bans and restrictions, has had a 37 percent rise in abortions since the constitutional right to abortion was overturned.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Since 2018 you say?

carolina-hurricanes-sold-to-tom-dungon-for-420-million

LOL. This was the same guy who bought a whole football league to get his hands on their gambling software. Dundon knew which way the wind was blowing.

Kind of like how legalizing Marijuana was in the works for a long time and the first state was 2012 for recreational use. For the first 8 years, 11 states made it legal. In the last 3 years, 11 more states made it legal and eventually, every state will likely have some sort of legal, recreational use.

Good comparable. I 100% support legalized marijuana. That being said, unleashing it has created some negative outcomes that are everything from seriously concerning (cancer rates will rise) to a nuisance (you can't go anywhere without walking through skunky smoke) to just sad (one of the coolest local groceries became a generic dispensary). I don't want it to be illegal, but things seem a little shittier because of the lack of boundaries now that it's legalized.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

I wonder if, like certain other things that were made obsolete and then rebounded, SportsCenter would have come back around if they had just stuck with it.

They had to change somehow. They (correctly) assessed that people wouldn't want to wait around 43 min until they got to the Padres highlights when they can have them on their phone within 2 min. They just couldn't (and still haven't) thought of anything better to shift to.

It's just the same shift that's happening around the rest of media. A contest to get the most views and clicks doesn't care about the content. Inflammatory things sell even better than measured analysis. Most people aren't measured die-hards, they want to hear people yelling about who's good and who stinks and etc. First Take and their knock-offs do that very well. It also just doesn't appeal to me in any way.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Good comparable. I 100% support legalized marijuana. That being said, unleashing it has created some negative outcomes that are everything from seriously concerning (cancer rates will rise) to a nuisance (you can't go anywhere without walking through skunky smoke) to just sad (one of the coolest local groceries became a generic dispensary). I don't want it to be illegal, but things seem a little shittier because of the lack of boundaries now that it's legalized.

To be clear, I don't gamble and I fully recognize that there are a lot of negative aspects to it.

Just like marijuana. When I was back in Michigan for a funeral a couple years ago the hotel we stayed at had a drive through dispensary right across the street. Didn't matter if it was 8:00AM on a Sunday or 5PM on a Tuesday, there was ALWAYS a line of cars at the place. My sister, who, at the time, worked for a large electrical contractor said they were having trouble filling jobs, because many of the jobs still required drug screening and even though pot was legal, they didn't allow any in a person's blood in certain jobs and a lot of candidates were failing the drug test. That's going to be an interesting one to watch going forward as more and more states make it legal.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Good comparable. I 100% support legalized marijuana. That being said, unleashing it has created some negative outcomes that are everything from seriously concerning (cancer rates will rise) to a nuisance (you can't go anywhere without walking through skunky smoke) to just sad (one of the coolest local groceries became a generic dispensary). I don't want it to be illegal, but things seem a little shittier because of the lack of boundaries now that it's legalized.

So wait, it's the legalization of weed that's making everything "a little shittier"?

Because I could have sworn it was the nonstop polarization of our democracy by vested interests, a two-year long pandemic that has fundamentally changed a whole bunch of stuff, and skyrocketing inflation that's tanking our economy.

That cool local grocery probably took a beating during the pandemic and are super thankful that they've got a stable income stream.

 

[tarheelhockey]

They had to change somehow. They (correctly) assessed that people wouldn't want to wait around 43 min until they got to the Padres highlights when they can have them on their phone within 2 min. They just couldn't (and still haven't) thought of anything better to shift to.

It's just the same shift that's happening around the rest of media. A contest to get the most views and clicks doesn't care about the content. Inflammatory things sell even better than measured analysis. Most people aren't measured die-hards, they want to hear people yelling about who's good and who stinks and etc. First Take and their knock-offs do that very well. It also just doesn't appeal to me in any way.

To the bolded -- it's just such a short sighted way to attract customers. Back in the heyday of Sportscenter I could have rattled off the name of just about every QB, RB, and #1 receiver in the NFL... every ace pitcher and power hitter in baseball... the top 2-3 players on every NBA team... the top handful of golfers, tennis players, NASCAR drivers. And that was on top of hockey being the thing I actually cared about. It's precisely because I was waiting for hockey highlights that I was exposed to all that other stuff, which sticks in my mind even to this day. Whereas I no longer watch any ESPN content (outside of ESPN+ hockey broadcasts) which was a large part of why I dropped cable years ago, which permanently severed me from their stream of content (outside of ESPN+ hockey broadcasts).

I hear and agree that it's kind of inevitable and there's not really a better option on the table right now. I just think back to, for example, the way the music industry was dragged kicking and screaming into the digital era, to the point that it alienated a ton of long-term customers. And now that they're finally engaged with digital, every Wal Mart in the country has a big display of vinyl because people missed that connection with the "slower" side of the experience. There has to be a way to square that circle.

 

[MinJaBen]

So wait, it's the legalization of weed that's making everything "a little shittier"?

Because I could have sworn it was the nonstop polarization of our democracy by vested interests, a two-year long pandemic that has fundamentally changed a whole bunch of stuff, and skyrocketing inflation that's tanking our economy.

That cool local grocery probably took a beating during the pandemic and are super thankful that they've got a stable income stream.

 

[MrazeksVengeance]

So wait, it's the legalization of weed that's making everything "a little shittier"?

Because I could have sworn it was the nonstop polarization of our democracy by vested interests, a two-year long pandemic that has fundamentally changed a whole bunch of stuff, and skyrocketing inflation that's tanking our economy.

That cool local grocery probably took a beating during the pandemic and are super thankful that they've got a stable income stream.

Also Ru^^ians.

 

[tarheelhockey]

To be clear, I don't gamble and I fully recognize that there are a lot of negative aspects to it.

Just like marijuana. When I was back in Michigan for a funeral a couple years ago the hotel we stayed at had a drive through dispensary right across the street. Didn't matter if it was 8:00AM on a Sunday or 5PM on a Tuesday, there was ALWAYS a line of cars at the place. My sister, who, at the time, worked for a large electrical contractor said they were having trouble filling jobs, because many of the jobs still required drug screening and even though pot was legal, they didn't allow any in a person's blood in certain jobs and a lot of candidates were failing the drug test. That's going to be an interesting one to watch going forward as more and more states make it legal.

Yeah, I've heard of similar situations where people are failing drug tests even though they're legally buying pot on a doctor's recommendation. I don't know how that doesn't eventually end up in court, as a matter of companies not being allowed to dictate people's legal medical choices. Eventually I imagine there will be reconsideration of the practice of screening for THC in jobs where it's not really necessary in the first place (e.g. yes to screening heavy equipment operators, no to screening administrative assistants) and that will take care of a lot of it.

What's striking to me is how little there has been any insistence on ensuring any kind of quality control or health control over THC-based products. The gummies that people pick up at corner stores are coming from tiny companies that aren't regulated, so god knows what they actually have in them. And smoking is... smoking. It feels like, to some extent, we are all kind of playing dumb to what will predictably become a public health issue in about a generation. Much like people hemmed and hawed about cigarettes perhaps being harmful, then Pikachu face from the industry when cancer studies started showing a pattern.

So wait, it's the legalization of weed that's making everything "a little shittier"?

Because I could have sworn it was the nonstop polarization of our democracy by vested interests, a two-year long pandemic that has fundamentally changed a whole bunch of stuff, and skyrocketing inflation that's tanking our economy.

That cool local grocery probably took a beating during the pandemic and are super thankful that they've got a stable income stream.

Uh... all due respect but what the **** are you talking about? I didn't say anything about weed destroying our democracy or crippling our economy. I said it's kind of making some public spaces feel a little shittier.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

To the bolded -- it's just such a short sighted way to attract customers. Back in the heyday of Sportscenter I could have rattled off the name of just about every QB, RB, and #1 receiver in the NFL... every ace pitcher and power hitter in baseball... the top 2-3 players on every NBA team... the top handful of golfers, tennis players, NASCAR drivers. And that was on top of hockey being the thing I actually cared about. It's precisely because I was waiting for hockey highlights that I was exposed to all that other stuff, which sticks in my mind even to this day. Whereas I no longer watch any ESPN content (outside of ESPN+ hockey broadcasts) which was a large part of why I dropped cable years ago, which permanently severed me from their stream of content (outside of ESPN+ hockey broadcasts).

I hear and agree that it's kind of inevitable and there's not really a better option on the table right now. I just think back to, for example, the way the music industry was dragged kicking and screaming into the digital era, to the point that it alienated a ton of long-term customers. And now that they're finally engaged with digital, every Wal Mart in the country has a big display of vinyl because people missed that connection with the "slower" side of the experience. There has to be a way to square that circle.

This, this, and this.

"You know who loves Grady? The ladies."

And that's an example of why I, a non-baseball fan, can tell you about random Cleveland Indians outfielders from the mid-2000s.

I'm in the same boat as you. Now, part of it is that I'm not a child anymore and therefore can't spend as much time keeping track of these things (as much as I have very fond memories of watching 8hrs of the same SportsCenter hour during summer vacation I can't say I'd ever do the same today if it magically reverted to the way it was), but it's also because everyone out there is just trying to be a meme and talk about everything but the actual sport. The very few times ESPN is ever on in the background at my house (or at a bar or whatever), the maybe 4 or 5 times per year I get to watch a SportsCenter Top 10? Ooh baby. Nothing better. Actual sports highlights. On the sports channel. Damn, that's cool.

NHL Network in its own low production-quality kitschy way actually is fairly close to that old model. While the analysis is nothing compared to the smart people on Twitter or even here, you still at least see people talking about players, lines, showing highlights, etc. If I ever need background noise I use that.

 

[MinJaBen]

I don't know how that doesn't eventually end up in court, as a matter of companies not being allowed to dictate people's legal medical choices.

One way it doesn't end up in court (idiot lawyers aside) is that a lot of business that still do the testing in states where it is legal have some business relationship with the feds. Federal regulations still criminalize the use of weed.

 

[tarheelhockey]

One way it doesn't end up in court (idiot lawyers aside) is that a lot of business that still do the testing in states where it is legal have some business relationship with the feds. Federal regulations still criminalize the use of weed.

Good point.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Uh... all due respect but what the **** are you talking about? I didn't say anything about weed destroying our democracy or crippling our economy. I said it's kind of making some public spaces feel a little shittier.

Sorry it's inconvenient, but frankly I've got very little patience for the hand-wringing about marijuana, considering that its use was criminalized largely as an excuse to throw black people in jail. If folks now have to accept the occasional bongcloud, that's freedom for you.

 

[raynman]

I’d rather smell the devils lettuce while out and about than cigarettes or cigars.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

To the bolded -- it's just such a short sighted way to attract customers. Back in the heyday of Sportscenter I could have rattled off the name of just about every QB, RB, and #1 receiver in the NFL... every ace pitcher and power hitter in baseball... the top 2-3 players on every NBA team... the top handful of golfers, tennis players, NASCAR drivers. And that was on top of hockey being the thing I actually cared about. It's precisely because I was waiting for hockey highlights that I was exposed to all that other stuff, which sticks in my mind even to this day. Whereas I no longer watch any ESPN content (outside of ESPN+ hockey broadcasts) which was a large part of why I dropped cable years ago, which permanently severed me from their stream of content (outside of ESPN+ hockey broadcasts).

I hear and agree that it's kind of inevitable and there's not really a better option on the table right now. I just think back to, for example, the way the music industry was dragged kicking and screaming into the digital era, to the point that it alienated a ton of long-term customers. And now that they're finally engaged with digital, every Wal Mart in the country has a big display of vinyl because people missed that connection with the "slower" side of the experience. There has to be a way to square that circle.

Just start gambling more and playing more fantasy sports and you'll quickly learn all the QB, RB, receivers, hitters, BB players, etc...

 

[tarheelhockey]

Sorry it's inconvenient, but frankly I've got very little patience for the hand-wringing about marijuana, considering that its use was criminalized basically as an excuse to throw black people in jail. If folks now have to accept the occasional bongcloud, that's freedom for you.

Ok, but again I’m not arguing against legalization. The second sentence in the post you quoted said “I 100% support legalized marijuana”.

Part of having that legalized freedom is responsibility. That means recognizing the negative health and social consequences, which is not “hand wringing” but facing the facts which are our responsibility to manage. No different than the gambling topic where this started.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

One way it doesn't end up in court (idiot lawyers aside) is that a lot of business that still do the testing in states where it is legal have some business relationship with the feds. Federal regulations still criminalize the use of weed.

Even without that, carry it over to alcohol. In some jobs, you can't have even a trace of alcohol in your system, even though you legally obtained it and drank it. My brother in-law used to run heavy equipment in a construction job. They were randomly tested on a regular basis (he got tested 13 times one year) and if there was even a trace of alcohol or any other drug in his system, he was out of a job.

There's nothing stopping a company from doing the same for pot, when it's legal.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Ok, but again I’m not arguing against legalization. The second sentence in the post you quoted said “I 100% support legalized marijuana”.

Part of having that legalized freedom is responsibility. That means recognizing the negative health and social consequences, which is not “hand wringing” but facing the facts which are our responsibility to manage. No different than the gambling topic where this started.

Fair enough. I am easily triggered on this topic.

 

[Lempo]

Uh... all due respect but what the **** are you talking about? I didn't say anything about weed destroying our democracy or crippling our economy. I said it's kind of making some public spaces feel a little shittier.

Please don't all due respect a bro.

 

[MinJaBen]

I’d rather smell the devils lettuce while out and about than cigarettes or cigars.

Second hand smoke: doesn't just give you cancer, now can give you a buzz and get you arrested.

Yay.

 

[raynman]

Second hand smoke: doesn't just give you cancer, now can give you a buzz and get you arrested.

Yay.

May as well go down in a blaze of glory

 

[LakeLivin]

Even without that, carry it over to alcohol. In some jobs, you can't have even a trace of alcohol in your system, even though you legally obtained it and drank it. My brother in-law used to run heavy equipment in a construction job. They were randomly tested on a regular basis (he got tested 13 times one year) and if there was even a trace of alcohol or any other drug in his system, he was out of a job.

There's nothing stopping a company from doing the same for pot, when it's legal.

The big difference there is how long traces remain in you system. You can drink on a Saturday night with no worries about failing a test on Monday. Depending on the type of testing, isn't THC detectable for 30 days post use (urine test) or up to 90 days if they test hair samples?

 

[Sens1Canes2]

Sorry it's inconvenient, but frankly I've got very little patience for the hand-wringing about marijuana, considering that its use was criminalized largely as an excuse to throw black people in jail. If folks now have to accept the occasional bongcloud, that's freedom for you.

It’s more about being for losers, by and large. No offense to anyone, of course.