Keep an open mind, you repeat to yourself.
You are not the target audience here.
This is you PVRing Dance Moms or getting all dolled up to see Jersey Boys or spending more than five minutes in a mall. This is not meant for you.
Were it not for its connection, however loose, to hockey and the Stanley Cup final you would not be listening to While the Men Watch while being a man and watching. Even as a lark or blog fodder.
So as you sit in the glow of Game 3’s dominant performance by the Los Angeles Kings, you have the TV on mute and your computer, pulling an audio stream of WhileTheMenWatch.com, volume on.
You’ll try anything once.* Even turning off the typical stats- and analysis- and action-based play calling of seasoned NHL commentators (who happen to be male) in favour of a pair of ladies who offer a “lively discussion” that “follows sports from a woman’s point of view including everything from interpreting the rules of the game to coaches in need of a makeover.”
High school friends from Toronto, WTMW co-hosts Lena Sutherland and Jules Mancuso created an alternate female-friendly commentary to live sporting events. Their chats went “viral” upon soft-launching at the Super Bowl (2,000-plus listeners, according to their site), and CBC picked up the duo to give a play-by-play of the Kings-Devils finale, accessible online.
And now you’re giving them a whirl, the way you might agree to a romantic comedy after the preview elicits little more than a shrug.
In theory, you like the idea of an alternate play-by-play. That’s why they invented net-cams and the Internet: more opinions, more views. You get why some fans find comfort with certain radio broadcasters’ rhythms and will listen to games on the AM dial while muting their television sets.
Sutherland and Mancuso do an ample job of keeping the conversation flowing naturally without doing much commentating on the actual play, a skill previously thought to be monopolized by baseball callers.
They don’t tell you every time Willie Mitchell dumps it in and makes a change.
So what do they tell their audience, an elusive group presumably made up of women who like hockey enough to spend their free time watching it but not enough to listen to actual hockey talk?
Some quotes from the hosts:
“We’re watching Twitter as much as the puck!”
“Is it considered a breakaway when there’s two guys?”
“Guess what, Devils? Hitting the post doesn’t put a score on the board.”
“Where were all these celebrities at for Game 1 of the season?”
Donald Trump’s latest reality show is a talking point, and a shopping mall analogy is made. One host confesses her crush on Kings hairy forward Anze Kopitar.
It is noted that the crossed arms and serious expressions of coaches Peter DeBoer and Darryl Sutter signal that they’re closed off. The hosts prefer their coaches open and expressive on the bench, à la John Tortorella.
“These two, it’s like they’re in church,” she says.
The void is filled at one point by a game of “Would you rather?” Sample debate: Hold your full bladder throughout an entire hockey game or watch the play while having someone recite stats to you with bad breath?
Most disconcerting, and stereotype-affirming, are the moments when Sutherland and Mancuso default to a male producer/expert figure. One host seems confused about the difference between cheering Brodeur (Mar-tee!) and razzing him (Maaaaarrrrr-teeeeeeee!). Clarification must be sought about the phrase “hearing footsteps” and also about a flexible Jonathan Quick being compared to Gumby.
Again, there is a “For Dummies” element to this bit of theatre that might be useful to someone but is not for intended for your ears. It occurs to you that the ladies might know more about hockey than they’re letting on.
To their credit, Sutherland and Mancuso wield great enthusiasm and raise an interesting point about how much of the Devils’ improvement rests on tactical versus mental change.
While the Men Watch is lighthearted and mostly harmless — and for the strides Cassie Campbell is making in a dude-dominated realm, you hope so – and, again, it’s not intended for you.
But who is it for?
The hosts of “While the Men Watch” discuss their approach on Vancouver’s Urban Rush:
*Some restrictions apply.