When perusing the desolate moonscape that is this stretch of the Senators schedule, I knew last night's game wouldn't be televised. How? Well, in return for $500 million, some sexual favours and a tootsie pop to be named later, Commisar Bettman granted the CBC exclusive Canadian broadcast rights for any hockey game happening anywhere we Canuckistanians may want to see. You want to see you're local junior team on closed circuit? Forget it. You taped your ten year old's Atom House League game that morning and now want to show it to Grandpa, oblivious to the fact that Grandpa would rather remove his own pacemaker with a hot poker than see little Timmy fall down for another two hours? If it's on a Saturday, a crack team of CBC lawyers will bust down your door, serve you with a restraining order, confiscate the tape and steal the pacemaker before you can say "Bob Cole should be isolated and mined for nutrients".
I also knew that Mother Corp almost never, ever, goes through the trouble and expense of broadcasting games from the Great U.S.ofA. during the regular season. Unless it's a big deal, like Gretzky's last game, or the first game of a new expansion team, too many pot convictions on their technical crew makes getting through customs too big a pain in the ass. So I had no expectations that I would see the Sens/Devils game on television, regardless of the fact that New Jersey was opening their new building.
Well, imagine my surprise when I flipped to my trusty Bell ExpressVu channel guide at seven o'clock and saw CH206 CBC OTT: Toronto vs. New York Rangers. Oh joy. Thanks Nancy! Really. So you sent a full crew to cover a game between one team going absolutely nowhere in our lifetime and another that has only won once all season while ignoring the best team in the East playing a perennial power, in a brand new building. Of course, I can understand. After all, the Sens/Devils game was happening all of 7 miles away from Manhattan. Hey, here's an idea? How about you drop the Laughs and pick up the Sens instead? Maybe send Cuthbert down to do the...oh, wait.
Toronto bias at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation?? Heavens! Perish the thought!
3 comments:
The CBC has a crazy thing about getting ratings and making money hence the Leafs/Rangers as opposed to the sens/satans.
p.s. too good to vist the old BoO anymore?! ;)
PPP: Interesting theory. Good hockey = lost interest in the GTA. Well that explains a lot.
Mea Culpa for my negligence (and congrats on your elevation to all things Leafs at SB Nation). I READ BoO everyday. But my employment overlords won't allow their servers to allow me to comment. And there's always a ton of stuff I'd love to hype here, but the way BoO is configured, I can't hyperlink individual posts.
Not to worry. I'll be darkening your collective door during the next Sens/Laughs...er laugher.
Thanks.
Employment Overlords are such a hassle.
You have to click on the time the post was added to get the permalink oh the posts.
Novemer 6th - The Leafs' secret weapon returns. Watch out for Mark Bell.
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