Does Gary Bettman know the NBA Exists?

It sounds like a dumb question to ask, considering he was David Stern's right hand man before he was sent to destroy the NBA's main competition in a long con bigger than anything that James Ford had ever put on.  But when Bettman schedules Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals to go head-to-head against Game 2 of the NBA Finals, you have to wonder what he's thinking.

The NHL clearly has some momentum on their side.  This year's finals ratings are up from the last two Stanley Cup Finals involoving the Red Wings and Penguins and Wednesday's Game 3 of the Flyers and Blackhawks was the highest rated program in the history of Versus and the most watched Stanley Cup Finals game since 2002.

So with that great momentum, he has to take the two most storied franchises in the NBA.

I know he couldn't forsee a Celtics/Lakers final or that Thursday's Game 1 would be the highest NBA Finals game in 6 years, but going head to head against a product that is leaps and bounds ahead of you in popularity, market share and TV ratings is just dumb.  Just ask TNA iMPACT!

While the Blackhawks and Flyers play their game in relative obscurity tonight, overshadowed by Kobe Bryant and Boston's Big Three; Chiacgo's United Center, the site of Game 5 will sit empty tomorrow night and the Stanley Cup Finals will enjoy a two day rest for some reason following Game 5 before Wednesday's Game 6.

The casual sport fan or random TV viewer flipping through that has nothing to watch tonight because TV is in reruns will stop on ABC when they see the Lakers, the Celtics, Kobe and Kevin Garnett and wont even get the opporrunity to wowed by the best young team in all of sports in the Chicago Blackhawks or the heartwarming story of a team who was down 3-0 and came back to win the series in the Philadelphia Flyers and their attention will be gone with the two days of rest before Game 6.

To paraphrase from George W. Bush, "You're doing a heckuva job, Gary."