A few years ago, it was announced to much controversy that Mike Lange was no longer broadcasting televised Penguin games, his duties replaced by Paul Steigerwald. A few weeks ago, Lange was the runaway winner in a poll conducted on this site that ranked 67 of Pittsburgh's most visible sports media personalities, scoring an unbelievable 97.6% approval rating. His replacement, Steigerwald, ranked 33rd with 57.3% approval.
A reader tipped me off to a recent Post-Gazette poll that put the pair head-to-head, and the results...they weren't pretty:
After reading the results, I immediately checked out www.bringbackmike.com, which (not surprisingly) was all over it.
So Pens fans, could this recent outpouring of support ever go anywhere, or are the Sid-and-Geno-fueled high ratings enough for FSN to leave things alone for the long run? I'm going to go with the latter.
Sometimes it seems like anything with FOX in the title sucks.
But on the serious side...as a Penguins fan living in Richmond, VA, one of the main reasons I've declined to subscribe to the NHL Center Ice cable package is because I can hear Mike Lange on NHL Radio for free. If Lange was on TV, it'd be a no-brainer. As it is, I'm considering XM for the upcoming season!
Nothing against Steigy particularly...I think he's fine, and when I was too poor to even consider cable, much less Center Ice, his radio broadcasts were invaluable and enjoyable. But Lange is simply a legend, and there's no reason his voice shouldn't reach as many fans as possible.