Jack Edwards had an epic rant about Black Friday

[Fenway]

As I post this NESN has not made the video available online.

On 'The Instigators' that aired after the Bruins/Flames game, Jack Edwards just ripped the NHL and NBC for taking away the Bruins Black Friday matinee tradition. Nobody in the NHL wanted the slot and the Bruins made it their own. The NHL said NBC wanted other teams in that slot and for the money they are paying the NHL agreed.

Then Jack went for the jugular.

He said can you imagine if FOX, NBC or CBS told the NFL we don't want Detroit or Dallas playing on Thanksgiving Day? The NFL would never allow it. Then Jack added - 'If you want to know why Gary Bettman gets booed everywhere he goes, here is another reason why.'

A big part of the problem is that NBC did not control local advertising in Boston and that will change on January 1 when NBC starts their own station and leaves Channel 7.

I have been told the Bruins will get it back next year with a Noon or 12:30 start and then they will air a second game from Chicago as the Blackhawks have evicted the circus after this season.

NBC's plan for the channel switchover includes flexing the Patriots final regular season game to Sunday Night Football on January 1 and viewers will quickly learn that NBC has moved to another station.

Moving the Bruins to Black Friday night is devastating to North Station area bars. The matinee Bruins game and the Celtics at night made for the busiest day of the year - flipping it not so much because Celtics fans do not eat and drink like Bruins fans do.

Server at the Fours told me they were down 40% from a year ago.

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[Coach Parker]

Solid point but it feels like a deflection to me away from the real frustration Bruins fans have right now with the team in general and the on ice product.

Hell, a better argument could be made for bar that are suffering from Bruins fans who aren't taking in home games this year.

 

[CharasLazyWrister]

Everyone at NESN needs to be a little more honest and upfront with the fans about what we're seeing on the ice. I don't really care to be distracted by Jack's clownshow about "things the NHL/Bettman is ruining". It's incredibly amateur to me. It's like the Bruins struggling mightily, yet people not being able to resist somehow slipping refereeing into the conversation.

Jack and Brick, especially, have a lot of actual knowledge to bring to the table but are clearly choked off by NESN for fear that some sort of honesty and opinion about the state of the team will hurt the station.

Listening to the broadcasts is becoming unbearable. Okay fine, Dale Arnold can be your puppet. But Jack Edwards getting excited over the Bruins flipping the puck to the opposing team's goalie because they " earned an offensive zone faceoff" is where I draw the line.

Like...how in the hell have neither Brick or Jack brought up the question of Jimmy Hayes being present in the lineup. You're telling me that topic just "slips by" day after day? Maybe I'm asking too much, but it would be nice if, between the Jacobs family telling me they're "expecting a deep playoff run" and being told at intermission that the Bruins played a great road period tied 0-0 after 1, I could not be spoken to like a complete idiot.

 

[incidental otter]

Everyone at NESN needs to be a little more honest and upfront with the fans about what we're seeing on the ice.....

Imma go out on a limb here, and suggest that Delaware North (JJ) owning 20% of NESN might have a tiny bit do do with that.

 

[Fenway]

Jack and Brick, especially, have a lot of actual knowledge to bring to the table but are clearly choked off by NESN for fear that some sort of honesty and opinion about the state of the team will hurt the station.

Jack, Brick, Dave and Bob are all in an awkward spot as they travel on the charter and they see and hear things they can not report.

 

[Coach Parker]

Everyone at NESN needs to be a little more honest and upfront with the fans about what we're seeing on the ice. I don't really care to be distracted by Jack's clownshow about "things the NHL/Bettman is ruining". It's incredibly amateur to me. It's like the Bruins struggling mightily, yet people not being able to resist somehow slipping refereeing into the conversation.

Jack and Brick, especially, have a lot of actual knowledge to bring to the table but are clearly choked off by NESN for fear that some sort of honesty and opinion about the state of the team will hurt the station.

Listening to the broadcasts is becoming unbearable. Okay fine, Dale Arnold can be your puppet. But Jack Edwards getting excited over the Bruins flipping the puck to the opposing team's goalie because they " earned an offensive zone faceoff" is where I draw the line.

Like...how in the hell have neither Brick or Jack brought up the question of Jimmy Hayes being present in the lineup. You're telling me that topic just "slips by" day after day? Maybe I'm asking too much, but it would be nice if, between the Jacobs family telling me they're "expecting a deep playoff run" and being told at intermission that the Bruins played a great road period tied 0-0 after 1, I could not be spoken to like a complete idiot.

Exactly what I was alluding to. Every fanbase has this situation so it makes it hard to take them objectively when they are making constant excuses for the poor product.

Listen to Jack's goal call on Pastrnak's goal tonight and you'll get what I'm talking about. I was waiting for 'hearts of lions!' to come out of his mouth after they scored their first goal (and only second in two games) against a poor Calgary team, at home, on Thanksgiving weekend in the third period. What about that goal screamed HEART to anyone?

 

[Coach Parker]

Jack, Brick, Dave and Bob are all in an awkward spot as they travel on the charter and they see and hear things they can not report.

Understatement of the century there.

They are owned by the Bruins. These two are employed by the Bruins when you look at the money flow. They just shouldn't be at all surprised when people don't tune in to their 'INSTIGATORS' show to have them pull punches when it comes to what is really upsetting the fans. I think more people are upset at the crappy product on the ice at home than they are the start time once a year.

Too much irony there.

 

[pierre gagnon*]

Games are better when I do not have to hear him or the guys towing the company line. I usually take the other teams feed or turn it down. I forget more about hockey then a guy like Jack trying to tell me something.

 

[Fenway]

Understatement of the century there.

They are owned by the Bruins. These two are employed by the Bruins when you look at the money flow. They just shouldn't be at all surprised when people don't tune in to their 'INSTIGATORS' show to have them pull punches when it comes to what is really upsetting the fans. I think more people are upset at the crappy product on the ice at home than they are the start time once a year.

Too much irony there.

Brick was pretty candid on 'The Instigators' tonight saying if they can't win at home they are NOT a playoff team.

Amalie Benjamin covered the team well for the Globe but left when the NHL offered her more money and less travel. The Globe has not replaced Amalie but KPD is now back covering the team fulltime. The Herald has the two Steve's (Conroy and Harris) who generally break more stories than the Globe does and CSN has Hags.

 

[smithformeragent]

1. When in doubt, follow the money trail.

2. Jack comes off as a petulant child most of the time. I appreciate his enthusiasm for the team and the sport, but wish he'd be replaced. I'd like to see the entire broadcast overhauled. Brickley is a shell of his former self as an analyst and serves more of an Ed MacMahon role, laughing at Jack's nonsense.

3. If they keep playing the way they have and miss the playoffs again, and it won't matter what time they play on Black Friday because nobody is going to give a damn.

 

[Bmf316nhl]

Here's the thing that Jack is missing... Philly has had the tradition of hosting Black Friday matinees as well. This is the 6th season that NBC has had the rights to this game. The Bruins have played in 3, the Flyers have played in 2 (game was not played in 2012 due to the lockout). Interestingly, the Rangers have been the road team for all but the first "Thanksgiving Showdown" where the Bruins hosted the Red Wings.

On the years that the Bruins have played in the NBC slot, the Flyers played at 4:00pm as they don't have the doubleheader tradition that the Bruins and Celtics do.

I love Jack and his epic rants, but in my opinion he's wrong on this one. The Bruins are not the center of the universe.

 

[Blowfish]

Jack was trying too hard last night...it was sad but with this team what the heck is he supposed to do?

 

[chizzler]

Here's the thing that Jack is missing... Philly has had the tradition of hosting Black Friday matinees as well. This is the 6th season that NBC has had the rights to this game. The Bruins have played in 3, the Flyers have played in 2 (game was not played in 2012 due to the lockout). Interestingly, the Rangers have been the road team for all but the first "Thanksgiving Showdown" where the Bruins hosted the Red Wings.

On the years that the Bruins have played in the NBC slot, the Flyers played at 4:00pm as they don't have the doubleheader tradition that the Bruins and Celtics do.

I love Jack and his epic rants, but in my opinion he's wrong on this one. The Bruins are not the center of the universe.

No they are not. So just let NESN have the matinee.

 

[Bmf316nhl]

No they are not. So just let NESN have the matinee.

You can't "just let NESN have the matinee". NBC's contract with the NHL states that they have an exclusive broadcast window, meaning no other games game be televised during that time frame (1:00 thru 4:00 in this case). So the Bruins have 2 options:
1) Play the game at their traditional matinee game with no TV coverage...
2) Play the game in the evening

Which option do you think will anger more people?

 

[the overrated]

I honestly do feel bad for the bars & businesses that lost money because of this change.

But Jack is stretching it when he compares the B's Black Friday tradition to the Lions & Cowboys traditions. If you ask football fans which two teams are best known for playing on Thanksgiving, I bet 100% would know the answer. If you asked hockey fans the same question about Black Friday, my guess is the % that would know the answer was much, much, much lower.

I have to admit, Jack and Brick have reached a point that they're a deterrent to me enjoying the games. More often than not lately, I mute the TV and just listen to music while watching ... that's how little I enjoy listening to J&B do their thing, and I don't like monkeying around to get the radio feed to line up.

My presumption is that NESN has asked them to be more "character"-driven, because both were once really good announcers, doing national broadcasts and seeming like actual announcers. Now they just come across like sideshow acts & shills for the team & network.

 

[talkinaway]

I can't be too mad at Jack and Brick being softer than they should on the team. Even if NESN wasn't owned by the Bruins (and, of course, it is), Jack and Brick still have a product to push - Bruins games. "The Bruins suck. Coverage starts at 6:30!" isn't the best tagline to get eyeballs to the TV set.

Yes, it's disingenuous - which is why you have to recognize the NESN broadcasts for what they are. If you want the "real" story, there are plenty of other sources of sports media out there to supplement the Bruins games themselves.

And I imagine traveling on the plane is a big reason why they have to be very careful what they say. They probably know a lot more about injuries, inter-player tiffs, who's getting yelled at by Clode, etc. But because of non-disclosure agreements, they can't talk about it. That and overhearing something is a lot different from being an active participant and interviewing someone.

As far as the Black Friday evening game - please. Who cares? I have sympathy for the NESN folks who were forced by the NHL to work Thursday's game instead of spending time with family. But I don't really care that the game was later. I wonder if some of it is that Jack/Brick get a nice mini-holiday when NBC takes the Black Friday game, and the Bruins don't play on Thanksgiving. This year, they got the opposite, but I'm more annoyed at the Thanksgiving game.

If anyone wants to see the rant from 2 years ago, here you go:
http://daysofyorr.com/the-locker/video-jack-edwards-black-friday-rant.html

 

[Caper Bruins fan]

Games are better when I do not have to hear him or the guys towing the company line. I usually take the other teams feed or turn it down. I forget more about hockey then a guy like Jack trying to tell me something.

I watch about 50 % of the games with the sound down as I am usually watching those games on my tablet at work during the downtime . It can be a refreshing experience.

 

[Bruinsfolife]

Good for jack rippin` on them instead of others who are afraid to give their true opinion.

 

[Kovi]

Jack doesnt have as much hockey knowledge as Brick and it shows a lot of the time in his "rants" and some of his commentary. I dont mind him as a play by play guy, but hes not a student of the game. Hes a personality--to see him as anything more is faulty. He gets loud when he cant come up with anything to say about the team.

Someone said it already, it's a distraction.....

The NHL is about money....it's a business. You can be angry at Jack, but really, where should you be putting your angry energy?