SLHA Hockey League Renamed – Forms Alliance With Second Life Cable Network
by Alphaville Herald on 10/03/09 at 1:00 pm
Second Life Hockey Association Is Now Global Online Hockey Association
by Alessandra Narayan
Do you love hockey? Do you want to cross check other avatars into the boards here in Second Life? If so, you should visit Jack Belvedere’s sim and give it a try. You might end up absolutely in love – like so many others.
Jack Belvedere is the founder of Second Life’s Hockey Association and runs a sim – paid for from his own pocket – in the name of his love and true passion for the game.
Even is you have never laced up a pair of skates, Jack wants you to be able to play hockey. His work is starting to pay off as the sport attracts a rising number of fans and players.
Jack took a few minutes away from the sharpening skates and running the Zamboni machine to tell us of exciting news – including a hockey league name change after to a meeting with Linden Lab and an alliance with the Second Life Cable Network.
Alessandra Narayan (AN) – When did hockey start in SL?
Jack Belvedere (JB) –I started the league in 2006, had come to Second Life in late 2004 and had been exploring. There was a rink here in world, but no active group. Being a big hockey fan, I got an itch one day to go ahead and make an active league here.
AN – You've founded hockey in SL?
JB – I believe there used to be an active league here, at a place called Spittonie Isle, before my arrival here but yes I started the SL Hockey Association.
AN – Is it expensive to run hockey in SL or do you have sponsors?
JB – It is sometimes expensive. Katia and I pay all the sim costs here. The league itself has no income, or salaries for members, it is 100% on a volunteer basis.
AN – How many hockey players are there in SL?
JB – We have about 75 active players right now, possibly more. I lose track. We have 9 teams, 3 divisions. North American has 5 teams, European has 3 and Farm division, for our rookies, has 2 teams.
AN – Do you feel hockey in SL has been growing?
JB – Yes. We have some major expansions coming up and just changed our name, after meetings with Linden Labs, and SLCN which is the Second Life Cable Network. They air our games on Sundays. The league named just changed to Global Online Hockey Association. So, the last week has been a bit busy as we're making that transition.
AN – How did you get the venture with LL and SLCN?
JB – Everything there is still pending, and it's a venture with SLCN. They have been here now for some time with us, broadcasting our games. We actually now provide our own announcers.
AN – It's a big move?
JB – Yes, there's a few pending issues to be covered, and then we're going to be expanding throughout Second Life and beyond, so it's a pretty amazing venture.
AN – Expensive too?
JB – I don't think so. We will still cover costs of the sim, which is the big expense. We spend a bit on textures, website space, server space, etc, but we enjoy doing it.
AN – Passion for the game speaks higher?
JB – Yes, exactly! Basically we want to provide a free-to-play place for people in here. All the equipment is free, groups are free, no fees attached to anything.
AN – What are your main competitors?
JB – Well, I can't say we really have a competitor per se. There are two other (that I know of ) hockey leagues in here. Much smaller. We have some players who play in all 3.
AN – And what about other sports? What's hockey dimension compared to others?
JB – I am not sure on that, unfortunately I have little time to visit the other sporting events. The hockey is pretty time consuming. So I'm not sure on the comparison.
AN – But you're happy with the number of players?
JB – Yes, very. In fact, we have to expand the number of teams next season. We have a couple teams who have so many on the rosters this season that there's more bench time than we'd like to see. I like for everyone to get as much ice time as possible.
We
Mar 10th, 2009
anyone that was “truly” into the game of hockey as a sport, not to mention the physical challenges and benefits of hockey as a passtime would not waste a single minute of time with pixelated bullshit like this. pathetic. simply fucking pathetic. now if your excuse is that you are physically challenged and incapacitated in some way that prohibits you from doing anything else but sitting in front of the computer and wasting away, then you are excused. this blogsite should do a survey followed by a statistical summary of what’s behind the avatar that contributes to bullshit like this on such a massive scale. or for hours tossed into the toilet in general for that matter!
pathetic. simply fucking pathetic.
Wiz Nordberg
Mar 10th, 2009
We love doing the Hockey, and Jack’s team has really made it possible for the show to improve and together we’re pushing the envelope. It’s great stuff (of course we’re biased!) Today, Second Life, tomorrow ESPN? LOL.
But, the reason I’m posting this is to indicate that SLCN will be replaced in July with Treet.TV, a new brand we have been working on for almost a year, hi-def, many exciting changes. OK, we’re excited.
As you can guess, one reason we are retiring the SLCN name and moving everything over to the new Treet TV brand is because of the same issues Jack is facing with trademark policies. But also, and more importantly, the change is driven by our desire to expand and have content visible in many OpenSim grids and other non-SL viewer bases where a more grid-independent name is going to serve us and our producers better. Linden Lab has supportive in giving us time to do this properly, and we’ll be making announcements soon. Hey, I think this is an announcement! In any case, you’ll see new promos running on our channels within the next month.
Stay tuned, and we’ll have great widescreen downloads of Jack’s Hockey show. Wait until you see Hockey on your living room plasma screen. Truly rocks!
Through the Glass Darkly
Mar 13th, 2009
“anyone that was “truly” into the game of hockey would not waste a single minute of time posting obnoxious, angry messages on obscure website comment sections. simply pathetic. now if your excuse is that you are mentally challenged in some way that prohibits you from doing anything else but sitting in front of the computer and wasting away trolling these websites, then you are excused. this blogsite should do a survey followed by a statistical summary of what’s behind the avatar that contributes to such random hostility like this on such a massive scale. or for hours tossed into the toilet in general for that matter spent angrily trolling such websites! pathetic. simply pathetic.”
Tongue in cheek
Archie Lukas
Mar 15th, 2009
[Photo comment]
That boomerang will never come back………….
Trust me
We
Mar 25th, 2009
@ Tongue in cheek(y)
Do the math!
RL – troll time = RL with a healthy amount of entertainment from phuckwits like you.
RL – pixel dick and prim attachment OCD leaves little time, therefore = noLIFE.
Re-evaluate your position on the former
Jack Belvedere
Mar 28th, 2009
Thanks for the article and also hi Wiz and thanks for the comments! We really enjoy bringing this into Second Life. It’s great for the competitive spirit and social interactions. We have evolved the script with our talented member Dyz Warburton and continue to do so to make it as realistic as possible. Stop on by the island sometime and we’ll show you around, it doesn’t matter if you know real life hockey or not, we will help you.