Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Blackhawks and Bruins last night was, in a word, awesome. Three overtimes, skilled play, and drama by the bucketload made for one of the most entertaining hockey games in recent memory.

However, there were some people who weren't exactly thrilled with the game. There were plenty of viewers who were more than upset that the long NHL game was delaying their viewing of Jay Leno and Jimmy Fallon. The overreactions and complete ignorance to the situation was a site to behold. As always, these are Real Tweets from Real People...

Kevin Hart's on the Jay Leno show tonight...and I'm missing it because of this stupid hockey game

— Adam Larivee (@_Larivee_) June 13, 2013

Hey look, Chris Berman is back doing golf again!

In other words..

And now for the rest of your US Open coverage details, which should be much more palatable to the golfing public...

2013 US Open, Merion Golf Club

Thursday, June 13 - Sunday, June 16

NBC & ESPN/ESPN Radio

NBC

Host: Bob Costas;
Commentators: Dan Hicks & Johnny Miller (18th Hole)
Hole Reporters: Gary Koch & Peter Jacobsen
On-course Reporters: Roger Maltbie, Mark Rolfing & Notah Begay
Interviews: Steve Sands; Jimmy Roberts

ESPN

Co-Hosts: Chris Berman & Mike Tirico
Commentators: Berman & Roger Maltbie; Tirico & Paul Azinger (18th hole)
Hole Announcers: Curtis Strange, Sean McDonough, Scott Van Pelt, Terry Gannon
On-course Reporters: Andy North, Judy Rankin, Dottie Pepper, Bill Kratzert
Interviews: Tom Rinaldi

Thursday, June 13 & Friday, June 14

First & Second Round

ESPN - 9AM-3PM & 5PM -7PM
NBC - 3PM-5PM
ESPN Radio - 10AM-4PM

Saturday, June 15 & Sunday, June 16

Third & Fourth Round

NBC - Noon to 7:30PM
ESPN Radio - 2PM-8PM  

H/T Sammy!

Expectations were high heading into Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday between the Blackhawks and Bruins. The triple overtime thriller delivered in spades for NBC, drawing a 4.8 overnight rating that is the highest the NHL has seen since 1997's Final between the Red Wings and Flyers on Fox.

Locally, the game crushed all other competition. In Chicago, the game drew a 25.1 overnight, up 49% from Game 1 of the Blackhawks' 2010 Final with the Flyers. In Boston, it drew a 28.1 overnight, up 10% from Game 1 of the Bruins' 2011 Final with the Canucks. 

After a pair of Conference Finals that did ridiculously well for NBC and the NHL, they've got to be happy with the start of the Stanley Cup Final. The overnight for Game 1 actually ended up topping the Belmont Stakes on NBC (4.6), was even with Game 4 of the Heat-Bucks Eastern Conference Quarterfinals on ABC, and was a hair below Game 1 of ABC's Pacers-Knicks Eastern Conference Semifinals. Considering the weaker than predicted viewership numbers heading into the NBA Finals on ABC, I wouldn't be surprised if the Stanley Cup Final games that aired on NBC continued to perform very well in comparison. If this series gets anymore games like last night's classic it could lead to some of the biggest ratings the NHL has ever seen.

A time warp has apparently transported the world back to 2008. At least, that's the most logical explanation for NBC Sports' executive producer Sam Flood's comments to SI's Richard Deitsch about critics of Pierre McGuire before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, which sound like they could have come from Buzz Bissinger circa that earlier era: 

Back in March, we told you about a defamation lawsuit that former Syracuse assistant Bernie Fine filed against ESPN. Fine was the subject of an ESPN report indicating him in sexual abuse allegations, but was not charged after a yearlong investigation.

The details of Fine's lawsuit at the time were a bit vague, but now CBSSports.com is reporting that Fine is seeking $11 million dollars and has expanded his suit to include ESPN as a whole, rather than Mark Schwartz, the reporter who covered the story.

CNYCentral.com broke this latest development:

All Times Eastern

College Football
College Football Live -- ESPN, 3:30 p.m.

Cycling
Tour De Suisse
Day 6: Leuggen to Meilen -- beIN Sport, 11:30 a.m.

Golf
U.S. Open, Merion Golf Club, Ardmore, PA
First Round -- ESPN, 9 a.m./NBC, 3 p.m./ESPN, 5 p.m.

Live From the U.S. Open -- Golf Channel, 7 a.m.
Live From the U.S. Open -- Golf Channel, 7 p.m.
SportsCenter at the U.S. Open -- ESPN2, midnight

Who’s it gonna be? Bruins or Penguins? Tell us! #NHL #Bruins #Penguins

— Papa John's Pizza (@PapaJohns) June 12, 2013

I'm going to say... Blue Jackets!

This tweet is easily explainable if you just look at this picture and imagine Papa John himself manning the Twitter account for the evening.

H/T bostonsports123

ESPN's corporate layoffs that were reported to be in the hundreds were given a disheartening public face on Wednesday when it was reported by John Koblin that longtime stats guru Howie Schwab was one of the longtime ESPN employees cut loose by the company.  Schwab had been with ESPN since 1987 when he started as a freelance researcher.  He famously moved in front of the cameras with the trivia show Stump the Schwab and had appeared on air as recently as last month as part of UNITE's Schwab Tournament.  Ironically enough, UNITE and its staffers are also reportedly on the ESPN chopping block.

I had a chance to talk to Howie Schwab a couple weeks ago for this profile piece in the lead up to the UNITE final.  Schwab was everything you wouldn't expect from his TV persona - soft spoken, genuine, and very complimentary of all the college students that participated and got the chance to visit Bristol.  In fact, he noted that his favorite part of the entire experience was the time off the air showing the finalists around the ESPN campus and spending time taking to them about a future career in the business.  Most of all, Schwab spoke of his joy of working at ESPN - from stats research, to Stump the Schwab, to his work with Dick Vitale, and even MCing the ESPYs red carpet.  

After the news broke, Schwab posted this message to his Facebook page, which received numerous positive comments from in and out of Bristol.  If you visit the link, you'll see several recognizable names leaving their condolences and well wishes.

The Stanley Cup Final

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Boston Bruins

NBC/NBCSN - Mike Emrick, Eddie Olczyk; Pierre McGuire (Behind the Glass)

Game 1: Wednesday, June 12 @ United Center, Chicago (NBC 8PM)

Game 2: Saturday, June 15 @ United Center, Chicago (NBCSN 8PM)

Game 3: Monday, June 17 @ TD Bank Garden, Boston (NBCSN 8PM)

Game 4: Wednesday, June 19 @ TD Bank Garden, Boston (NBC 8PM)

Game 5*: Saturday, June 22 @ United Center, Chicago (NBC 8PM)

Game 6*: Monday, June 24 @ TD Bank Garden, Boston (NBC 8PM)

Game 7*: Wednesday, June 26 @ United Center, Chicago (NBC 8PM)

*If necessary

H/T Sammy!

If you weren't aware of ESPN's 3D channel, don't worry, you're not alone.  The channel launched in 2010 has been marred by two things that ruin any capitalistic venture - high cost and low demand.  3D television hasn't quite taken off as was expected a couple years ago and instead has to be put in the class of flying cars and teleportation devices as futuristic trends that are sadly relegated to the future.