John McEnroe Wants To Know When Stanley Cup Final Puck Drops, NOT When Pregame Coverage Starts
Not many would have the stones to call that out on the same network they work for, but fortunately, McEnroe doesn't care.
With the Stanley Cup Final between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers getting underway on Wednesday night, there will be plenty of hockey fans tuning in, and many of them will have the same complaint as tennis legend John McEnroe.
McEnroe and Brian Anderson were on the call for TNT's coverage of the French Open quarterfinals match between Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic when Anderson did his duty as a broadcaster and read a promo for the Stanley Cup Final, which will be on the same network later in the day.
However, McEnroe had a problem with it.
"I'm thinking time-wise, and I've got a match tomorrow, but that Stanley Cup Final, does that start at 7 Eastern or is that the pre-game show?" McEnroe asked.
"That's when you wanna start watching; at 7 Eastern for the build-up," Anderson replied.
By now, if you're a hockey fan, you know what McEnroe is getting at: the habit some networks have of telling you a game starts at a certain time, only for that to be when the pre-game show starts.
"The puck drops when?" McEnroe asked.
"No, no, we're gonna hold that information," Anderson said. "9:30, it said. A lot of things you've got to know before then, John."
Alright, good for McEnroe. He's a big Rangers fan and has even jammed in a band with former Rangers goalie and current TNT analyst Henrik Lundqvist, so he knows as well as anyone that networks do this to us all the time.
Is there anything worse than rushing home because you think a game starts at 7, only to sit on the couch, flip on the TV, and have them go, "Let's take a live look at warm-ups."
Maddening.
Not many would have the stones to call that out on the same network they work for, but fortunately, McEnroe doesn't care.