Bottom line: Conan is more important than Lord Stanley

My morsels for today:

NHL: All the hand-ringing and teeth-mashing over the decision made by the NHL and NBC to schedule the first two games of the Stanley Cup finals on back-to-back nights really isn’t necessary. Even though these will be the first back-to-back finals games since 1954, the NHL isn’t high on NBC’s priority list and everyone should understand that and deal with it. Scheduling Game 1 and Game 2 between the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday and Sunday nights in Detroit means the games won’t interfere with NBC’s weeknight prime time schedule next week and the first week that Conan O’Brien hosts the “Tonight Show.” Versus will carry Game 3 and Game 4 on Tuesday and Thursday nights from Pittsburgh. By the way … I’m switching back to David Letterman for my late night viewing. How about you?
MEDIA: I’ve collected hundreds of professional and college team media guides in my 30-plus years in the sports writing business. Why have I saved them? Good question. I haven’t looked at the majority of the guides for years. Now I finally may have a good reason for not throwing out the guides. The University of Michigan and Ohio State University athletic departments announced Thursday that they won’t print team media guides any more. The key word is “print.” The guides will still be on-line. The decision is understandable, given the economic climate. The two schools estimate they’ll each save about $250,000 per year. If more pro teams and colleges follow suit, will my media guides become collector’s items? Have my pack rat ways finally paid dividends? I don’t think my North American Soccer League guides will bring much in the open market, but how about my guides for dozens of Super Bowl, World Series, NBA and Stanley Cup champions? Intriguing question.
MLB: Here’s an update on Detroit Tigers radio play-by-play announcer Dan Dickerson, who was injured while jogging outside the team hotel earlier this week in Kansas City. He flew home to Detroit to have surgery on a ruptured tendon in his left quadriceps muscle and is expected back on the booth for the Tigers’ game Tuesday against the Boston Red Sox at Comerica Park. Detroit manager Jim Leyland talked about sending Dickerson to Triple-A Toledo for a rehab assignment, but it looks like Dickerson is headed straight back to the big leagues.

That’s all for now. See you later.

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