Robert Ballot

Sabermetrician-turned-whatever-the-hockey-equivalent is. Fascinated by the art of goal scoring and the great number of ways in which they are. Scored, that is.

[Robert Ballot @GoalDiggingNHL]

@OnlyJome I think it's only the home-team announcer who has the power to jinx a goalie or pitcher. I believe national announcers hold an exemption. Might be wrong.

[Robert Ballot @GoalDiggingNHL]

@stancapp @awfulannouncing Not

[Robert Ballot @GoalDiggingNHL]

@spittinchiclets Is the reason it's offside is that Howden was totally in the offensive zone before any part of the puck was? Not certain how the rule works.

[Robert Ballot @GoalDiggingNHL]

@JohnForslund John -- You are must-hear radio, now that there are two full days of immersion on what I've missed ahead. Can I get your calls of the first three games anywhere?

[Robert Ballot @GoalDiggingNHL]

@BeardownCuz @enterprisetimee Nah. You're underappreciating the demands made on the TV viewer. This is not a social sport, with stars and heroes and villains. The players don't embrace that. You can go long stretches without a dopamine surge, unlike basketball. Look at that, the ball's in the hoop!

[Robert Ballot @GoalDiggingNHL]

@enterprisetimee @BeardownCuz I think everyone involved in the game is content with the way it's growing. Probably a lot of revenue streams that it excels in are overlooked -- Jersey sales, foreign rights to broadcast all over Europe, etc. Also -- Canada should absolutely be counted in the TV ratings.

[Robert Ballot @GoalDiggingNHL]

@BeardownCuz Nope. Requires too much attention from the fan. Not to be elitist, but that's just the way it falls.

[Robert Ballot @GoalDiggingNHL]

@TDChrisG What the heck? Sports is definitely not one of those arenas that benefit from only talking about warm and sunny topics.

[Robert Ballot @GoalDiggingNHL]

@bronnybarnacle @Braylon_Breeze I know. Still incredulous at how he's doing it with, as you say, so little advanced preparation.

[Robert Ballot @GoalDiggingNHL]

@tommylugauer Bonkers for Bockers!

[Robert Ballot @GoalDiggingNHL]

@awfulannouncing Sean is comfortable announcing hockey, trust me. At Syracuse Universitity in 1982, I sat alongside him and his posse watching the Bruins in the playoffs at a bar. I still remember his exasperated "Swiss Pete!" cry after Peeters let one in through the five-hold. Knows the game.

[Robert Ballot @GoalDiggingNHL]

@jdsj080 You can also hear the PA announcer shouting over the action, something he could have done before the puck was dropped on the PP. I'll never understand why this distraction is permitted to continue.

[Robert Ballot @GoalDiggingNHL]

@BillSchulz People love Vegas as a part of America. Huge college disapora year after year from Raleigh Durham. Huge ratings not that surprising when viewed this way.

[Robert Ballot @GoalDiggingNHL]

@liam_mchugh For 50 minutes there was nothing worse than playoff hockey.

And then things regressed to the mean.

[Robert Ballot @GoalDiggingNHL]

@paulsen_smw I can deal with it. What is inexcusable -- and incomprehensible -- is that animated giant puck circling the end boards, but only when as play is headed in that direction, you get completely distracted and confused for an instant by it. What is the defense for that? Not even an ad

[Robert Ballot @GoalDiggingNHL]

@KeithOlbermann He rises to the occasion, that much is obvious, and that much everyone can't do. But he's a very indifferent player during the the regular year.

[Robert Ballot @GoalDiggingNHL]

@jimrome For 50 minutes there was nothing worse than playoff hockey. And then things regressed to the mean.

[Robert Ballot @GoalDiggingNHL]

@HawkEye08521912 @gbellseattle Sad indictment of the hockey fan. Just a local yokel, in the end.

[Robert Ballot @GoalDiggingNHL]

@KyleVH1990 @gbellseattle You should watch a Stanley Cup playoff game sometime if you have any interest in disabusing yourself from this thought.

[Robert Ballot @GoalDiggingNHL]

@gbellseattle It's how I got back into the game, moving to Seattle in 2009 after an absence for about 15 years (to be fair to myself, I also didn't have cable during that stretch). But loved hearing the perspective from the country where hockey is the national sport.