Some end of May "rants" for your summer reading enjoyment.....
Goodbye to NHL on TSN
For those who have forgotten the days of the early 00's and before that, the NHL on TSN has been the staple of Canadian cable coverage of the country's biggest sport. For as long as many Canadians can remember, the country's sports leader has had the best possible coverage for fans of the NHL.
From the top insiders in the likes of Bob McKenzie and Darren Dreger to the top fired coaches and recently retired players on their top notch panel (Even though this journalist would prefer if jobs went to those who actually need them rather than former players) and host James Duthie, the NHL on TSN has been a best friend to hockey fans. Always there every night to sit down and have a talk about whatever that night's events may be. From the NHL Draft to "Free Agency Frenzy" to the NHL Trade Deadline to the Conference Finals, rarely did TSN not have their bases covered when it came to covering the sport the network wisely made its top priority for each year they have had broacaster's rights.
That was until Rogers came in and swooped exclusive national broadcasting rights to the NHL in Canada, squeezing out both CBC and TSN to take what is going to be a rather large monopoly of hockey coverage away from what viewers have always felt was better coverage. Essentially taking TSN's "National" feel and trying to convert it into Sportsnet's umbrella, a channel that has made their way into competition with TSN by selling themselves with a regional feel.
The real losers in this will be CBC as thanks to Conservative budget cuts and the guaranteed killing of ad sales revenue that is about to come thanks to their new policy to cut back on their budget by not bidding for sports fees, but besides for the killing of our free national broadcaster's tradition in this the NHL's new TV deal is also going to dramatically change the face of sports coverage in this country altogether.
With TSN now only holding regional rights to the Montreal Canadiens and Winnipeg Jets for the distant future and CBC planning on eventually getting phased out of the marketplace down the road by Sportsnet, Canada's top two broadcasters in terms of quality coverage and production as well as ratings have been bought out by the upstart Rogers.
I don't doubt that Rogers has a plan to up their game, and getting rid of regional blackouts will likely be the best way to extend the olive branch to many viewers who have treated the demise of the NHL on TSN as a funeral. One can only imagine what the reaction of CBC's eventual exit from the NHL game will be, but for broadcasting nerds like myself as well as hockey fans across the country Rogers monopoly on hockey in this country poses a scary new future with just one option to go to for our NHL coverage fix.
Blue Jays on Fire
If you asked Toronto Blue Jays fans their expectations of the 2014 season on Opening Day they would have been drastically different than in 2013 when Vegas had the team listed as early World Series favorites after a splashy spending offseason. After everything went wrong last year and Ervin Santana went to Atlanta in free agency instead of Toronto you couldn't be blamed for low expectations from a team that looked like it could potentially finish last in the ultra-tough AL East.
Fast forward to late May and Toronto is on an eight game winning streak, including sweeps of the defending champion Red Sox as well as the best team in baseball in the Oakland A's that has fans believing that anything is possible. Jose Reyes is healthy, the bats are red hot and the pitching has been decent enough that the Jays hold a three game lead in the AL East heading into the third month of the season.
It is still too early to start dreaming of the playoffs, as any Jays fan will tell you this week. But with the NHL Playoffs winding down and the summer months fast approaching, you are starting to get the feeling that there is a little bit of magic in the Blue Jays clubhouse this year. For the sake of long suffering fans in this country, hopefully the hot streak rides long enough that Toronto has a lead they can't blow down the stretch to end their 20+ year playoff drought.
CMNT Improving Slowly
With the World Cup two weeks away on Thursday, Canada has began their push to build the National Team for 2018 World Cup Qualifications after falling well short on the Road to Rio.
With a new manager and a much younger team sheet with rebuilding on the mind and not wins in meaningless international friendlies, Canada finally showed some life after disaster over the past year with two 1-1 draws against European opposition this week.
Drawing Bulgaria was impressive and even if Moldova won't be considered world beaters any time soon, it was nice to see the National Team give the country some hope for the future while 32 countries get ready for the World Cup. If Canada is ever to get to that stage it will start by gaining confidence, results like these are a good start.
