Local hockey fans can be generally grateful to Prime Sports for its coverage of the recent IHL playoffs - particularly the Turner Cup finals between the Utah Grizzlies and Orlando Solar Bears.
It was not, however, quite as comprehensive as we were originally led to believe. Games 1, 2 and 4 were seen live on PSN - but Game 3 was on tape delay. The Grizz had announced that all the games would be seen live on PSN.(This is what we get for believing what a hockey team tells us.)
And why wasn't last Thursday's Game 3 on live? Because the local PSN is programmed out of Denver - and the folks in Denver decided it was more important to do a special about the Colorado Avalanche than to do the Utah-Orlando game live.
The PSN folks in Utah weren't exactly pleased.
But, still, it was nice to see the local team on TV. And PSN deserves an extra pat on the back for sticking around after the conclusion of Utah's Turner Cup-clinching win on Saturday night - long enough for the fans at home to witness the celebration that followed.
JUST TOO BUSY: The folks at KSL-Ch. 5's "SportsBeat Sunday" tried to get one of the Grizzlies players or coaches as an in-studio guest this past weekend. But they were told that everyone was tied up at a party.
Bad answer.
KSL ended up with the team's executive vice president, Tim Mouser. And Grizzlies coach Butch Goring did a live-remote appearance on KUTV-Ch. 2's "Dave Fox Sports Den."
But being "too busy" to do Ch. 5's show is ridiculous.
The Grizzlies have not been known as a media-friendly team since they arrived in Utah from Denver last summer. And, like it or not, media exposure helps sell tickets.
Sure, they drew a big crowd on Saturday. But their attendance figures were considerably lower than they'd hoped for during the regular season. The Grizz won't even release figures on how many of their tickets were given away.
Sure, the media is annoying at times. (Particularly TV critics.) And, yes, the local stations didn't go out of their way to give Utah's latest hockey team a lot of air time.
But the Grizzlies should be sent to the penalty box for this gaffe.
QUOTABLE: NBC sportscaster Bob Costas: "Do you get the feeling that if he wasn't such a great basketball player, Dennis Rodman would be just another pathetic exhibitionist looking for his 45 minutes on `Ricki Lake'?"
SILVER LINING: There is at least one good thing about the Jazz being eliminated by the Sonics from the NBA playoffs.
We haven't had to listen to Antoine Carr barking on KSL for the last week or so.
(Word around town is that KSL paid the Big Dawg as much as $15,000 to bark and do lame "analysis" during the playoffs.)