Not All Players Are Broadcasting Material

I'll preface this by saying I respect Brad May and his playing abilities, I respect the tenure he has given to the NHL, and I think he's an upstanding citizen-- however, I'd liked to respectfully ask TSN to get Mr. May off the broadcasts, please.

There's a certain type of player who is cut out for a broadcasting position when their careers are done. Most goaltenders are cut out for this (IE: Darren Pang, John Davidson, Chich Resch), as well as players who were big yappers on the ice (IE: Ray Ferraro, Nick Kypreos); but it seems that most of the agitators aren't very big on this whole concept. We saw that the Tie Domi experiment with TSN didn't go as planned, as he went from the desk at intermission to his own two minute segment pre-game, then went into oblivion...and I don't mean Sportsnet.

It's hard to watch May out there on the broadcast because of the fact he was never into broadcasting schools or never seemed to be one for the whole big post-game quotable you'll find plastered all over the news. This was probably a chance given out by TSN and he just figured, "Ah, what the hell, how bad can it be??" When I watch him, it's very cringe inducing, especially when you figure that they probably told him right before he went out he'd be on-air to most of Canada and those with the Center Ice package and it make him look like a deer-in-headlights.

Yet, unless you are used to that kind of broadcast pressure everyday, no one can be prepared for it and will probably freeze up, I know I would and I've been doing my amateur gig for almost eight years now (08.08.01 was our first show). And I while I envy the exposure that May is receiving, the thing I don't envy is that he has to go out there cold and try to be entertaining. I only did some public access TV and I was scared out of my gourd. It's not an easy thing to do and kudos to May for having the balls to do something like that, but know it's hard to watch at all times because he's out of his element.

One thing I will say is that May is starting to turn a corner and get better with it all, trying to find his niche. If he can settle down before the end of the first round, then I may change my mind, but it could be time to cut his losses and maybe take a hack at it next year, much like a young, inexperienced playoff team would do after a quick exit. Definitely, the redeeming quality to all of this is that he hasn't pulled a Roger Millions type gaff.