BOSTON—-There are great moments in U.S. Olympic history and then there is THE great moment. Mike Eruzione taking a pass in the high slot from Mark Pavelich and rocketing it past Vladimir Myshkin to give the U.S. a 4-3 lead and eventual victory over the Soviets in the Miracle On Ice. The memory of this landmark event has not diminished one iota since: In 2004, ESPN called it the top sports highlight of the last 25 years. Sports Illustrated deemed it the greatest sports moment of the 20th century.
So when Comcast decided to host an Olympic viewing party Monday in Boston, it brought out the star power, Mr. Eruzione himself, to share some Olympic memories.
Speaking with longtime New England hockey broadcaster/host Dale Arnold at the Boston Harbor Hotel, Eruzione was asked when he knew the U.S. hockey team could pull off the ultimate upset over the Soviets. “When it was over,” Eruzione joked to the crowd.
The Wintrhop, Mass. native also cleared up a few inaccurate details from the 2004 movie Miracle, specifically a scene in which a player skates up and sprays notoriously cantankerous coach Herb Brooks with an ice shower. Brooks smiles. “You would never spray Herb Brooks,” says Eruzione. “And if you did, he wouldn’t be smiling.”
Comcast used the event to showcase its newly-launched X1 cloud DVR. The service, which just rolled out in Boston as a test market last week, allows customers to stream any channel live on their mobile device inside the home and download DVR recordings to their tablets to take on the go.
Comcast launched a new Xfinity TV app for tablets and smart phones to deliver the new streaming service. Customers can access it by downloading it from the App Store and signing in with their Xfinity TV login information.
“Olympics is just a showcase opportunity for us to talk about new technology and viewing options and educate people on ‘Oh that’s what the cloud can do!’” says Steve Hackley, Comcast’s senior VP for the Greater Boston Region. “It’s a great case study where you already have a lot of eyeballs and attention, so why not leverage that?”
After some considerable griping about the lack of live streaming events for the 2012 London Games, NBC is making more than 1,000 hours of Olympic events available for streaming on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports Live Extra app on the X1 platform across all markets.
Cable customers also can access “Gold Zone” through NBC’s Web site and the Live Extra app. The feature, inspired by the success of the NFL’s “Red Zone Channel,” provides up-to-date statistics and highlights from in-progress events.
These days, Eruzione is back at his alma mater, Boston University, doing outreach work on behalf of the school, giving motivational speeches and meeting with alumni and donors. He still lives in Winthrop and has three kids. He told Arnold he’d sold a lot of his Olympic memorabilia, which is worth some serious dollars. Arnold asked Eruzione what mementos he wouldn’t sell.
“My ring and my gold medal,” he said. “When I die, my kids can do whatever they want. My son’s 25 and he’ll sell that thing in a second!”
Brief Take: Comcast is leveraging the Olympics to draw viewers to its expanded mobile options and launch of its cloud DVR service in sports-mad Boston.
Photo: Olympic hero Mike Eruzione (r) chats with Comcast Senior VP, Greater Boston Region, Steve Hackley at Comcast’s Cloud DVR launch party, Boston, Massachusetts, February 10, 2014
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