Lynne Kiesling
Long-time KP readers know that I am from Pittsburgh and I am a hockey fan. Newer readers may not realize that, because I don’t write as much about hockey here as I used to. In part that’s the disillusion and ennui that set in during and after the lockout. In part it’s been the light TV coverage, even though Versus has a contract with the NHL; they don’t show that many games. Once the late season kicks in and NBC starts showing some Sunday afternoon games, then I’m more likely to catch one. But I’m not likely to go out of my way to watch a game any more.
But the economics of technological change is reviving my love of hockey. When we moved back into our renovated house at the end of March, we also bought … a 40″ LCD 1080p high-definition TV. We hooked it up on a Sunday, and what was the first thing we saw when we turned it on? A Penguins-Rangers game. In Pittsburgh. And the Pens won.
All I can say is this: woof. Hockey is fabulous in HD. Of course I’m watching my Penguins (and I got home from my woolly weekend in enough time yesterday to see them win the series against the Rangers in overtime, yay!), but I’m also watching the other series. Because it just looks so freaking awesome in HD.
The increasing image quality of television, and the Moore’s Law-like continuous increase in value-for-money as the technology gets cheaper, has reinvigorated my lifelong love of hockey. If this is the perennial gale of creative destruction, bring it on, baby!