For all the planning that goes into the Olympics, there are few things that actually go according to plan.
However, it is a virtual certainty that if you get Mike "Doc" Emrick to call a hockey game, viewers at home are going to be in for a treat.
Emrick has been broadcasting since 1973, when he got his start in minor league hockey. Since then, Emrick has established himself as arguably the greatest hockey announcer -- maybe the best in all of sports -- of the modern era. When he's not calling games for the New Jersey Devils, he's NBC's go-to guy for nationally televised games and the Olympics.
This year is no different -- Emrick was once again tapped to call the games on the world's biggest stage -- and Emrick has been at the forefront of these Vancouver Games.
Sunday evening's game between Canada and the United States may have been the single-most hyped hockey event leading up to the opening. And there couldn't have been a better man for the job. From the opening faceoff, Emrick waxed poetic, yet called the game with a brilliance and objectivity that is seldom seen in today's sports world.
His knowledge and understanding of the sport is encyclopedic, and although he has an impressive vocabulary, viewers never get the sense that he is talking down to them. Through it all, Emrick remains erudite, but never pedantic.
While some broadcasters would be content or pressured to appeal to the lowest common denominator, Emrick doesn't seem to worry, and he still manages to find a way to communicate the action to a variety of viewers.
The game itself was perhaps the most thrilling of the Olympic tournament thus far; Emrick's presence certainly helped elevate the attention the game received. For instance, Emrick took what seemed to be an errant play of the puck by Canadian goalie Martin Brodeur, and instead identified it as the cause of a subsequent goal scored by the Americans. Replays showed to the casual observer that what ordinarily would be a simple clearing attempt was in fact a major miscue in Brodeur's judgment, leaving him out of position and exposed in several spots.
Additionally, Emrick possesses a keen eye in highlighting the contributions of players that otherwise would go overlooked without being given a second glance. During the dying minutes of the third period, U.S. center Ryan Kesler made several subtle plays that saved his team from surrendering a precious two-goal lead. After Kesler capped off the night with an empty-net goal to seal it, Emrick was quick to point out that not all contributions necessarily make their way onto the score sheet.
In doing so, Emrick is able to give the viewer a greater appreciation for the subtle nuances of the game that often are ignored: forechecking, on-ice vision and shot-blocking.
When Ryan Miller made a sprawling goal line save, or Sidney Crosby closed the gap for Canada, Emrick's stunned exclamation on both calls was just the icing on the cake.
In terms of evaluating how Emrick could stand to improve his broadcasting abilities, the only apparent issue that seemed glaring was that Emrick may have come off perhaps a little too passionate. Remember, the game is still part of the round robin part of the tournament to determine seeding for the elimination round.
Perhaps Emrick could be accused of artificially creating a heightened sense of emotion. However, when you consider that there are only so many times the U.S. faces Canada, compounded with the four-year frequency of the Olympics, and it is perhaps understandable why Emrick would feel obligated to call the game the way he did.
Call it confidence, call it panache, call it swagger. No one does it quite like "Doc"; no one can back it up like him either.
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