While Gary Bettman continues to prove his ineptness through his unique vision of Stanley Cup Finals scheduling and player/media availability, some interesting numbers are coming out regarding ratings.

 The NHL’s ratings for Game 3 on NBC was up over 250% compared to last year’s Game 3 OTT/ANA Cup and the numbers look great for the VS network as well. It’s easy to write off the ratings success to Sidney Crosby and the enormous popularity of the Wings but if you look even deeper, Detroit may be at the forefront of a growing trend. The Pistons scored a 18.2 rating locally vs the Pistons’ 16.2 rating on Wednesday night. Personally, I would love to see an NBA Eastern Conf Finals game on ESPN go head to head with a Stanley Cup Finals game on ESPN2 to get a good look at where the national attention is. Of course the NBA ratings would win but my gut feeling is that the NHL would be pleasantly surprised at how much ground they have gained since the lockout. People want to watch again (or begin watching), I can only hope that Gary Bettman can take whatever momentum he can out of this post-season and parlay it into a TV deal that all sports fans deserve.

The biggest criticism of the Detroit Pistons is that they take nights off. This even includes games during the playoffs. They’ve been know to have the mindset that they can turn it on and off whenever they choose. That they will occasionally take nights off for no reason at all. This is not true of Antonio McDyess.

Antonio McDyess is the only member of the starting five that has not won a championship and it shows. McDyess runs down loose balls, dives on the floor and plays with so much emotion it’s clear he leaves everything he has on the court. He plays as if hes trying to win a championship. No one on that team takes a loss harder than McDyess…no one. I don’t know about you but if the Pistons end up losing the series to the Celtics I’m in favor of letting him play for Boston just so he gets another chance at the ring he’s working so hard to get.