The Penguins, hockey and more, by Seth Rorabaugh.
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A montage of highlights (and a few lowlights) was played for the final SportsBeat last night:
What a stupid, stupid, decision. Now that Best Damn Sports Show is canceled what are they going to show throughout the day? I feel bad for Stan, that guy just loves Pittsburgh sports too much to get treated like this.
don't we have enough national cookie-cutter sports networks and shows out there?!?!? stan provided that local sports flair that this region lived and died with. its a shame that this monetary decision is from a national company who obviously knows nothing about how passionate pittsburgh sports fans truly are. i will miss this show every evening.
Stan, Guy, loved the show!!
I remember watching this show from 92-95 whenever I came home from college and then watched it every night I could when I started working for a living afterwards. When I moved away from the area, I made sure I had Directv so I could watch it and now some morons buy the rights to FSN Pittsburgh and cancel Sportsbeat a year or so after? I wrote to Liberty Media as soon as Bob Smizik broke the news as I am sure many others have and obviously it didn't work. What a freakin' shame! It ticks me off royally and I am so tempted to quit watching FSN Pittsburgh all together and just listen to the Pens and Pirates on the radio. This is absolute garbage and my heart breaks for Stan. BigMcLargeHuge - you are right, Stan does not deserve this garbage.
By Bob Smizik | Tuesday 3:30 p.m. An emotional Stan Savran signed off the final ``Savran on SportsBeat
In its early days, Sportsbeat was the preeminent source of Penguins coverage. The back to back cups were in, large part, what made the show a success.
I'd be curious to see what the ratings were for the show before Guy left as compared to now. I'm also curious to see what happens now. I can't believe that whoever is in charge of selling advertising is too excited.
BF -- Don't feel too sorry for Stan, he had a great 18 year run and still has a job, unlike four of his production assistants. And as I said earlier, deserve's got nothing to do with it.
P.S. You still watch the Pirates?
Why do I remember Bob Pompeani on this show in the begining before it was FSN with Guy?(can't remember the old initials).
Goat: I remember the article that broke the cancellation said it was in no way related to the ratings, so I'm assuming it still got good ratings.
Bob Pompeani was on the first year of the show on KBL.
Big -- I'm pretty sure the ratings were still good.
Wow... just... wow.
Aside from the unfortunate decision to off Sportsbeat, how fortunate are we to live in or come from a place with such a stellar and memorable sports history?
Ahh KBL. So it actually did start Bob and Guy love the show. I've never been a Pompeani fan so it was definately a better move having stan.
Goat you're an ass. "Don't feel sorry for Stan."????
I hope someday you get to experience doing something you truely love to do, and have it taken away by the decision of others totally removed from the situation.
Stan is a class act, a true gentleman, and Stan if you're reading this Truely Loved the Show, and it will be missed in my house.
This is a sad commentary on corporate decision making. All indications are that ratings have been as good as or better than ever (see original Smizik article announcing cancelation). Far sadder is the link which is now broken between the Pittsburgh sports fan, his teams, the city of Pittsburgh, and the shows format which we could all count on to confirm our Pittsburgh sports celebrations, disappointments, and insight into the Pittsburgh sports scene. For those who live in the Pittsburgh area there other outlets, and now that Stan and Guy are reunited on radio their chemistry can be enjoyed again in a different format. For those of us displaced Pittsburghers, it is not only an end of an era, it cuts us out of one of the few truly Pittsburgh institutions we could feel a part of no matter where we happen to be. Sportsbeat brought Pittsburgh into my home on a nightly basis.
I don’t know the numbers (but would be interested in finding out what they are) of displaced Pittsburghers who subscribe to DirecTV just so they can subscribe to the regional sports package and get FSN Pittsburgh. I was one of those DirecTV customers, and had been since 1994. Yesterday I canceled my subscription. I will still get to see all my Pittsburgh games through the MLB, NHL, and NFL subscriptions, but I won’t be watching FSN Pittsburgh again unless Sportsbeat is brought back. With the number of Pittsburgh fans who show up to road games, the number of people who subscribed to DirecTV for this purpose has to be large. I would encourage all of those who fall into this category to write to Liberty Sports Media and DirecTV (Liberty owns 43% of DirecTV) and to cancel your regional sports subscriptions. This was a corporate decision based on I presume dollars, so the only way to fight back is to take your dollars away, and cast your vote against this “profit” driven decision.
Anyone who watched Monday’s Sportsbeat had to appreciate the love that Stan, Guy, and every guest had for the show. I’m a displaced Pittsburgher and will continue to love the Steelers, Pens, and Buccos, but my ability to connect to my beloved city and teams has been handed a severe blow. The impact has not been and will not be fully felt for some time. The beginning of Steelers training camp, Pirates Spring Training, the exclamation point put on the 3rd Stanley Cup, 6th Super Bowl, unfortunately potential 17th losing Pirate season, Tunch’s Monday game recap (Tunchistrator), Hockey and Football round tables, Mr. Monday Night, and calls into the show from every corner of the country will not be seen again. The void left with-out Sportsbeat is going to be deafening in my home and all places that wave a Pittsburgh sports team flag.
Stan thanks for your passion and love for your work. You as was Guy will be greatly missed, and Sportsbeat will be fondly remembered for all the great memories it has provided.
Lets keep at it......maybe we can get them to bring it back by blasting Liberty Media.........if not maybe we can auction of the wall that Stan had everyone sign and at leat raise enough money for another year of programming???
Email them:
feedback@libertysportsgroup.com
call them: 425-748-3400
JL58 -- I didn't mean to imply (the key word being "too") that you shouldn't feel at all sorry for Stan. What I meant was that Stan has had agreat run and that should be celebrated. He will obviously land on his feet. I echo your thoughts about him and I will also greatly miss the show. My point was that Liberty made a strictly financial decision without any concern for the people of Pittsburgh, in particular the four staffers who were terminated. They are the real victims here even moreso than Stan. If you are so broken up about the whole thing and it makes you feel better to attack me, feel free to do so. Have a nice day.
As a Pittsburgh native who has chosen to serve his country in the Armed Forces, FSN Pittsburgh and Sportbeat was my only true link to the Pittsburgh sports scene as I serve throughout the United States. The Sports package on Direct Tv was my way of keeping in touch with the inside knowledge and people who generally cared about what Pittsburgh sports teams are up too. The upcoming Football season is going to be pretty stale with out the tunchastrator on Monday night Sportsbeat. The Hockey season will truly be the most disappointing of all, the Coverage of the National Hockey league by NBC and Versus is a travesty and now sad to say I can add FSN Pittsburgh to that list. Just a shame.
Great Job Stan ... You and Sportsbeat will be truly missed.
Ok, so I'm a little slow on the uptake... been a bit behind in reading my hockey sites, and to read this... CRAP!
Being a displaced north western PA'er, I subscribed to the FSN package on Directv only so I could watch Pens coverage on FSN Pittsburgh, and see SportsBeat during hockey season. Sorry, I'm not a Pirates fan, and although I love the Steelers I am more into hockey than football.
That said, I will really miss Sports Beat, and Stan Savarn. But let me say one thing, and this is in no way a reflection of the show or the great host Stan is.
The last two years I have subscribed to Center Ice so I could not only watch other teams and games around the league, but also see their pregame shows.
I've always thought the Penguins pregame shows kinda were poor. I tuned in to see Penguins and hockey related topics, not listen to Pirates and Steelers stuff, keep that stuff for their own shows! If you watch say.. the NYR's pregame, or dare I say Detroit, or Columbus... it's all hockey.
As someone said before me, I'll probably unsubscribe from my FSN stuff, who needs to see the same program on 20 different channels? (WTF? Who thought of THAT concept to lure in subscribers?)
But Stan, I bid you adieu... you are a one of a kind man, whose passion for all things Pittsburgh clearly showed, and yes... loved the show.
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