The in-game interviews are not good and the fans do not like them. Nothing seems to unite CFL Twitter like someone being brought into the booth of a CFL game for an unnecessarily long interview, almost always in the fourth quarter of a game.
This time, it was Ticats legend Danny McManus’ turn to do the deed.
McManus’ interview began with the Ticats on offence, which made sense. However, that drive was rather quick and so it continued long — and I mean long — into a Riders’ drive.
A lot happened in that span. It looked like Fajardo should have been called for a safety, a brawl nearly broke out between both teams, and Hamilton took a penalty to keep the Riders out of the shadow out of their goalposts… just to name a few things.
Instead, we got to hear more from McManus.
This isn’t meant as an insult to McManus, but TSN has got to stop putting people in these positions. This is what pre-game shows, halftimes, Sportscentre, and podcasts are for.
Enough already. Even Alouettes minority owner Gary Stern tweeted his displeasure over the interview.
Someone at TSN once sent me a snarky tweet in support of these interviews. Doesn’t seem like I’m in the minority here. Get the message.
I couldn't watch the game last night, but I saw Stern's tweet--and similar tweets from many others. Hopefully someone with some real clout complaining will actually help end those disruptive interviews.
When TSN gets a dying quail game (like last nite) they tend to rely on their studio guest(s). McManus was a bit of a revelation because he doesn't grant many interviews and was inducted into the Ticats Hall of Fame. He was given special dispensation to attend by Bombers coach Mike O'Shea, Bombers GM Wad Miller & GM Ky Walters on the eve of the Bombers contest with Edmonton the next afternoon over 1250 miles away. I enjoyed listening to Danny ramble - even if Rockin' Rod & Laconic Duane weren't really asking him questions of significance. Enjoyed the short interview with Chuck Ealey on the sidelines more than the Danny Mac interview. Ealey is a truly amazing person.
At least the TSN director only showed McManus & the broadcast cowboys half the interview. Still managed to get some game action in while the interview plundered on.
That they do. Inexperienced floor directors & game producers. Either green as grass or gnarled older men 55 to 65 yrs old who purport to have 30 yrs experience at TSN - which is really 1 yr repeated 30 times.
No, Bobo
TSN does this idiotic stupid and annoying move every game. When the inevitable drivel interview starts, I usually change the channel. If its my team playing or a (this year, rare) good game, I MAY come back in 20 mins. Often I don’t bother, so they lose my viewership.
The Keith Urban telling Suitor it's his first time ever watching a CFL game and Suitor pushing him to do play by play followed by dead air in the show case event ( Grey Cup ) showed everyone TSN is not the best partner to go with anymore as a lone broadcaster .
If you cannot do the show case event the Grey Cup the largest Advertisement for the league properly it's clear evidence that the league's choice of control of presentation is one that needs to be reexamined .
The partnership with Bell media is stale and does nothing to move interest in the game or generate a larger audience .
You need better strategy with competition in presenting the product or you end up with someone believing interviews during live Play in broadcasts is a good idea even when presented clear evidence the audience hates it . They are operating in a vacuum .
I wish TSN would put a way, any way, on their website to contact them directly with suggestions. But they won't, because obviously they aren't interested.
That's not uncommon these days. Many businesses and other organizations offer no means of contacting them with opinions or comments, and if they do it's often a multiple-choice quiz where all the choices are friendly to the organization. In short, they don't want ANY feedback which is critical of them.
Back to the main subject, those interviews annoy the hell out of me too. If they can't follow the game (the real reason for their existence) SHUT UP!
Good, bad win or lose, I came to watch my team play, not miss part of the game to some stupid interview of an old player. This should be run at half time not in middle of game. And yah they do it all the time. It has to stop.
The truly sad thing about this is I can't even listen to the interview while I'm trying desperately to watch the game. I can concentrate on one thing at a time, & the interview isn't going to be it, so I don't hear half of what they're saying.
Jasmine's right - the worst was Keith Urban during the Grey Cup! It's an astoundingly bad practice. Have someone in the booth for a series, if you must, but don't ignore the game reminiscing! Last night was brutal.
To Bono's point - the Cats having the Hall of Fame does lend itself to more of theses during Cat Games.
