"They Don't Count" - ESPN, Owner Of The NHL Broadcasting Rights, Couldn't Give Less Of A Shit About The New York Rangers If They Tried
Okay so I understand this is the internet. And on the internet there is very little room for gray area. It's always "my opinion vs your opinion". There's no discussion, no nuance, no room for compromise.
But let's just, for a moment here, assume that two things have the ability to be true at the same time. Let's just consider the fact that maybe hockey is so far and away the 4th major sport in America that it could get overtaken by soccer at any moment here. You don't walk into work on Monday morning and talk about the Coyotes vs Wild the same way that you'd walk into work talking about the Sunday Night Football game. It's just the reality of the situation. It's not like they're 1000% wrong.
*extremely Stephen A. Smith voice* HOWEVA....
At the same time, Stephen A. Smith and Molly Qerim can be the biggest dipshits on the planet. Because if the New York Rangers don't count, then what the fuck is their employer doing paying somewhere near $400 million a year for NHL broadcasting rights? Disney signs their checks every other week and they have the audacity to get on the air and basically say their employer is just pissing away $400 million each year? Perhaps it would behoove them to try to broaden hockey's reach a little bit by discussing the sport on First Take. But no. These dipshits can't see the bigger picture here.
"No disrespect to the New York Rangers and Patrick Kane" though.