A Question For Westerners

Just curious.
I live here in southern Ontario. I read these supposedly "national" newspapers like the Globe and National Post, that are full of Toronto and American sports.

I watch TSN shows like the Reporters, and other similar shows that mainly focus on American sports and Toronto teams.

And I got to wondering. Do you guys get the same shows out west that we watch here? Or is there different content for things that would interest western viewers?

Because I'll tell ya. If I lived out west, and had to constantly read and hear about the Toronto Raptors, or how great baseball is, or what TO is doing, while my teams are ignored, I'd be pretty pissed off.

So do you get different versions of these shows out west? Or are you too stuck listening to these baseball centric Hogtown heads set the sporting agenda for CAnadians?

Why do you think a lot of westerners call it
The Toronto Sports Network

The picture you paint isn't that bad. The Globe and National are not good sports papers and lighty touch on every league including the CFL. The Calgary Sun has lots of Stampeder articles just like its cousin the Toronto Sun has the Argos. Every place has its local papers.

TSN is hockey and CFL crazy. They report on every Canadian team. But here's the thing when your a sports network. There is only so many Canadian teams. With the NFL, MLB, NBA and so on you have to cover them too. With the baseball nearing the World Series is only appropriate to be talking a lot of baseball, geez.

Here is an experiment, go take a vacation down south and try to find some hockey highlights before you go to bed. While your Canadian stations lead off with all hockey your lucky to get just some scores near the end of the sports reel there.

Thank goodness for the Sportsnet regional channels. Don't worry we get the massive population in southern Ontario, but sometimes it is to much. Count how many Canucks, Oilers and Flames games are on the national CBC and TSN scheduals. I also think that Argo's have been way over represented in the CFL Player of the week honors.

Hey Argoz.
The reason American channels don't show hockey is Americans don't care about hockey.

So why is our media covering the baseball playoffs wall to wall, when TV ratings show nobody cares about the baseball playoffs in CAnada? Or the NBA? And anything else that goes on down there?

So you're saying our media should be covering what is going on in San Diego or Houston over what is going on in Calgary or Vancouver or Halifax? Strange logic.

Shouldn't popular Canadian sports be given the lions share of coverage in Canada, over these American niche sports like baseball? Funny, but some people think this idea as radical? I say they're nuts.

My hockey illustration goes to show you they give what the people want. If no one liked the CFL, you wouldnt get good pre-game specials on TSN and good coverage as every game is televised, something that was not the case in the past. Maybe you and even myself don't like baseball or basketball but a lot of people do regardless of your TV numbers. I like soccer and like to see EPL games on TV. Just because your sport ins't the most popular doesnt mean you can't watch it or find coverage anywhere, especially during the playoffs. Being a CFL fan in Ontario, you should know that. The Detroit Tigers(Border team by the way) making it to the World Series does take precedent over early season NHL or curling/whatever in Halifax. I think you take it a little to the extreme, thats all.

Huh? Detroit Tigers? Where? I live in London, and few if any care about the Detroit Tigers. They announced the Tigers score at the John Labatts Centre during the Knights game, and the applause was mild at best.

In fact we've had three minor league baseball teams fold here in the past ten years because they couldn't draw flies. Trust me. Few in London and southern Ontario care about the Detroit Tigers or baseball.

And the last Leafs game on TSN regional did almost 500,000 viewers. OR double what the baseball did NATIONALLY on Sportsnet. Yet you think hockey takes a backseat to baseball?

And TV numbers do reflect the popularity of a sport. The NHL does big numbers in Canada because hockey is popular. Soccer does big TV numbers in countries where soccer is popular. Its a fact. Except to the Canadian media.

westerns are the very best tv shows and movies.

And refer to Toronto as the “Centre of the Universe!”

well i enjoy baseball and if to blue jays were in the playoffs i might actually care just a little bit. but TSN focuses alot on all sprots which i enjoy because they cover baseball hockay and football primarily. oldly enough ym 3 favourite sports. sportsnet has it the best with regional channels that preview teams from that region. and well in winnipeg i know the free press always has bomber write ups and same with the sun. it comes down to knwoing where to look to read or watch the sports coverage you want.

Toronto, USA

I am just sick of having to watch the Leafs every damn saturday. I would way rather watch the Sens, Habs, Flames, Oilers or Canucks, or for that matter, Redwings, Sabres, Devils, and every other team before the leafs

....I can't stand Bob Cole....he is the biggest gomer homer on the planet....in the recent Flames-Leafs game Calgary is killing a five on three penalty and when Sundin scores Coles says 'that was amazing puck handling skills by the Leafs'.....Cassie Campbell then pointed out of the three Flames defenders two of them were without their sticks....me and four orangutans from the zoo could've scored on that play...good call Bob....

Very true about Cole, Still would rather listen to him then Pierre Monster Maguire.

The best one Red was when Greg Adams scored the winning goal to send Vancouver to the Stanley Cup Finals and the Leafs to the golf course. I thought Cole and Neale were going to break down & Cry on air!

I only caught part of that game...how'd Cassie do?
With the addition of her and Drew Remenda to the team this year, the 'casters definately got better.
And with Cassie, a lot better looking as well!!

That’s why I don’t watch HNIC, I hate watching the Leafs and their cheering section, Neale and Cole. And of the reasons I got NHL centre ice last year (I can’t get it this year because shaw doesn’t carry it).

I agree with Billy and roughy, it seems that the higher ups at CBC sports and HNIC seem to think that if you live west of the Ontario-Manitoba border, we are proles who only cheer for the Leafs. I would love to see more Habs(my fav team btw) and Sens games for the 1st game of the Saturday night double-header. The NHL schedule makers saw fit not to see any of the Eastern Canadian teams make a trip out West this year either :expressionless: , so to see more of the Canadiens and Senators would be great. It also seems the only time that they show either of these two teams is when they play the Leafs. Its a case of some idiot suit in Toronto deciding what is best for those who live from Manitoba to BC!

I guess I should cut her some slack as this was her first full game but the fact is she has a lot of improving to do. If she takes the same work ethic she showed on the ice, she will get better.

Good luck to her and thanks for giving your all for your country, something I wish some of the men would do. I bugs me when NHL players refuse to go to the World Championships after being invited. Even worse was when they refused during the lock-out. These guys need to realize they are making the big bucks they do because of this country and they owe the fans for that support.

Are you listening Jerome!

I don't understand how the media pays SO much attention to a league that has NO Canadian teams and almost ZERO Canadian representation at all ... the NFL, of course. I find that the Score is particularly bad giving precedence to the NFL. Yeah, all the sports networks pay decent (could be better) attention to the CFL, but I find that a lot of the time, the NFL comes first and it gets a LOT more attention.

There's more NFL news than NBA news ... and the NBA has a Canadian team, and a Canadian MVP.

Even in the paper, the CFL doesn't enjoy a clear advantage over the NFL. There's always a huge post-Sunday wrapup for the NFL, but a lot of the time I can't find big wrapups for non-Stamps CFL games.

I dunno, I figure that being in Canada, Canadian content should come first. Obviously hockey is never going to be knocked off its pedestal ... but CFL should definitely come before NFL, MLB and NBA 100% of the time.

As for the ratings ... the CFL enjoys better ratings up here than for any sport not called hockey! So why don't the networks take that into account?!? This is the sort of thing that makes me think, "conspiracy theory" ...