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Shame on TSN and Sportsnet


dpetzz

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3 hours ago, costarg said:

maybe that's why.  they don't want to see soccer pickup.  its not ideal for commercial breaks, remember the world cups and euros a few years back that actually went to commercial breaks *during games* ?

For this reason it’s so important to have knowledgeable and quality studio analysts... so the audience might actually stick around at halftime and accidentally watch the commercials.  If I know some guy who grew up following hockey from the TSN CFL crew now has to do double-duty and put in his two-cents at halftime of MLS games I’ll switch the channel.

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1 hour ago, red card said:

But TSN soccer broadcast crews have been way too British. It's especially obvious during men's World Cup/Euro coverage - other than bringing in an ESPN analyst of American/Balkan origin for a few days, they have had no perspective of any other football culture. Given the sport's global footprint, Canada's demographics and TSN covering World Cup/Euros for a number of cycles, this is a glaring flaw.

 

The TSN panel for the World Cup final was Howard Webb, Carl Robinson, KJ, Caldwell, and Luke Wileman.  I remember seeing that and just cringing.  The problem is not just diversity of the panel but diversity of opinion.   There was a VAR handball decision in the first half and during the half time show they all unanimously went off on the exact same angry tangent along the stereotypically British line of thinking over how handball should be interpreted.

 

That said, I have always liked KJ.  He does his research and always provides intelligent tactical analysis.  I always learn something new in his segments.  I can't say the same for 99% of other pundits who just show up on set and spew cliches with no preparation.

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14 hours ago, frmr said:

I would much rather have two British guys calling Canadian MLS games. North America has just not mastered the fine art of narrating a football game yet, and maybe never will. Canadian broadcasts are better than American at least, I absolutely cannot stand a stereotypical American broadcaster calling a game and trying to make every little play sound exciting, talking a mile a minute. Football games can be slow and ponderous and the commentary needs to reflect that sometimes. And as a beautiful game, there needs to some elements of poetry in its description which the British are very good at. Canadians/Americans, not so much.

I mostly agree with this.  It isnt that there arent any good americans and canadians who could do a good job.  The problem is that there are far too many Americans and Canadians who cannot.  

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Huge loss for sure. kJ does soccer  content across tv and radio but the content is not driving revenues clearly.    Just another observation to add to this is efforts to increase diversity on our screens.   Obviously it has to be cost effective for the revenue driven units but as we see with flagship sports there is pressure to have diversity as well as cost savings 

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7 hours ago, Free kick said:

I mostly agree with this.  It isnt that there arent any good americans and canadians who could do a good job.  The problem is that there are far too many Americans and Canadians who cannot.  

Sure, but its like anything else eh? We bemoan the fact we dont have players, coaches, refs, owners, teams, leagues etc etc etc.  We are making strides everywhere else, why not the announcers??  Young guys Dunfield and Wheeler are more cheerleaders, but I dont need my CDN guy to be an exact copy of the typical Brit broadcaster.  CPL will be a breeding ground for young CDN players, CDN coaches, front office staff etc, refs etc....why not announcers...get the right guys in there and let them grow.  Instead of bringing in dudes with accents all the time.  Especially when they arent all sharp cookies like KJ.  

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2 hours ago, Bison44 said:

Sure, but its like anything else eh? We bemoan the fact we dont have players, coaches, refs, owners, teams, leagues etc etc etc.  We are making strides everywhere else, why not the announcers??  Young guys Dunfield and Wheeler are more cheerleaders, but I dont need my CDN guy to be an exact copy of the typical Brit broadcaster.  CPL will be a breeding ground for young CDN players, CDN coaches, front office staff etc, refs etc....why not announcers...get the right guys in there and let them grow.  Instead of bringing in dudes with accents all the time.  Especially when they arent all sharp cookies like KJ.  

For the better part of the last 100 years there has been no professional soccer of a credible level on mainstream media in North america.  Ok there has been a couple of games here and there during world cup qualifying but even then, soccer was not on the lanscape on a consisitent basis.   In the UK its the opposite, its a daily / weekly topic of discussion.

What this means is that the british (through 100 years) have forged the template on how the game needs to be described and called.  There is a reason why most of the terminolgy and vocabulary and phrases are different between the europeans and north americans on broadcasts and thats not always because of cultural differences.   Alot of difference are inherant to to the game of soccer and understanding the game.   For example, there is a very valid reason why a certain term or adjective or phase or even style (that we associate as British) is more pertinent in a soccer broadcast than it would be on a hockey broadcast.  

Too many Canadian announcers (NOT ALL MIND YOU) will obviously fall back on the hockey template  on how to call and describe a game.   And in my opinion,  i have alluded to this topic many times here over the years,  thats a problem because it could stunt the growth of the growth of the game in North America.  You will stunt the growth of the game in canada if you always look at soccer through the prism of Hockey.  I could go at great lenghts with examples of this.  

There have been some good canadian soccer broadcasters.  Those who know how to call and decsribe a game the right way.  I like the whitecaps team on TSN.  I also like the guy on TSN radio before he left to go do the Sabres broadcasts.  But other than that, i am fearfull of the prospects of putting the empahsis on getting more canadians behind the mic.     
 

As for your point about the CPL as a breeding ground.   I would say to that that CPL at all levels (ie.: on the field, off the field, in teh boardrooms...etc) has got a very long way go before its at standard and level in order to contribute anything meaningfull to the growth of the game, growth of the talent, or mainstream success of soccer in canada.   For evidence, you Just have to watch that CCL game between Forge and that Haitian pub league side.  Or even watch the CPL final and look at the quality and talent on display.  

Edited by Free kick
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4 hours ago, CanadianSoccerFan said:

 

Dan O'Toole is ripping Bell for doing this just days after the #LetsTalk corporate hashtag.  Now Craig Forrest joining in

 

People need to wake up and see whats going on in this country. Bell, Telus, Liberal gov.. throw a few other mega corps in there and its just a big circle jerk to screw us over. Of course they're making money hand over fist. People are stuck at home staring at screens getting dumber and more frightened by the second. Plus the government incentivises anyone willing to push the BS. Bell & Telus stepped right up to the plate

I'm sick of all the finger pointing and head scratching when the whole thing has gone right over people's head and its getting worse by the day

Wow.. I just read what O'Toole said. Good for him. I've met him and he's a great guy loves what he does for a living. Exposing the nonsense that happens in this silly country should be everyone's top priority. Anyone who is willing to fly a certain flag especially the corporate and political class is giving complete immunity from their actions. Save the whales, save the snails. Great here's your 100 mil in tax payer money. Now go do as you like

Edited by SpursFlu
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On 2/5/2021 at 2:08 PM, frmr said:

I would much rather have two British guys calling Canadian MLS games. North America has just not mastered the fine art of narrating a football game yet, and maybe never will. Canadian broadcasts are better than American at least, I absolutely cannot stand a stereotypical American broadcaster calling a game and trying to make every little play sound exciting, talking a mile a minute. Football games can be slow and ponderous and the commentary needs to reflect that sometimes. And as a beautiful game, there needs to some elements of poetry in its description which the British are very good at. Canadians/Americans, not so much.

Who's the guy that does Bundesliga games? He usually does his broadcasts solo. I remember a few years back, when Gladbach was facing Dortmund, the Gladbach player lobbed it into his own net and the commentator was like "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!!!" as the ball was travelling in the air before going into the goal. I'm not sure if he still does broadcasting but he was hilarious, he always had something clever to say and he brought a sarcastic approach, pointing out the ridiculous nature of the sport. 

On 2/5/2021 at 3:03 PM, dyslexic nam said:

I have never heard a Canadian or a American sports commentator use the terms “serendipitous”, “mercurial”, or “effervescent”.  The same cannot be said for English soccer commentators.   

English people in general have a better vernacular when it comes to the English language than North Americans....maybe not so much Londoners.  

On 2/5/2021 at 3:05 PM, narduch said:

I would support TSN hiring Ray Hudson. 

No, he is cringe like others have pointed out.

On 2/5/2021 at 3:10 PM, Lansdude said:

"Acrimonious", "histrionics", imperious", "Paris Saint-Germain are seen in Europe as nouveau-riche", etc.

I hate American announcers. They all do that annoying Bob Costas thing where they nasally, artificially deepen their voice. I don't know who started that but it's a cancer on sports commentary.

I think it has something to do with people having a perception that deeper voices are more manly, which is why commentators project themselves in that way.  

On 2/5/2021 at 3:20 PM, LeoH037 said:

Hudson is cringe, as are the majority of American commentators... they try to narrate a soccer game as if it was a North American sport, if that makes sense.

He is cringe, but his American play by play side kick is actually decent. 

On 2/5/2021 at 3:30 PM, costarg said:

maybe that's why.  they don't want to see soccer pickup.  its not ideal for commercial breaks, remember the world cups and euros a few years back that actually went to commercial breaks *during games* ?

Where a quarter of the screen became the game and the other three quarters the commercial? I think that still happens during World Cups, but only for like four seconds like a quick youtube commercial. I remember World Cup 98 where they would play a full length thirty second commercial in between, which was annoying but not the end of the world. 

On 2/5/2021 at 5:27 PM, red card said:

Caldwell being viewed as TFC and/or Canada negative is our bias showing. American MLS fans regularly pick the TSN crew in the top 3. Main reason why? They're not homers like nearly every American MLS broadcast crew.

But TSN soccer broadcast crews have been way too British. It's especially obvious during men's World Cup/Euro coverage - other than bringing in an ESPN analyst of American/Balkan origin for a few days, they have had no perspective of any other football culture. Given the sport's global footprint, Canada's demographics and TSN covering World Cup/Euros for a number of cycles, this is a glaring flaw.

Sportsnet has only been a bit better with having Dichio and also Serioux for a few cameo appearances. 

So, if JDG continues to show up on TSN, it is an improvement. But KJ was the best (and maybe only) tactical football mind in the Canadian media (you may know him for his Formation Geek segments on the Score). So, hopefully, we see him on OneSoccer panel and pre/post match shows.

I liked Janusz Michallik, him and KJ would constantly disagree with each other and I often found myself agreeing with Janusz more.

9 hours ago, CanadianSoccerFan said:

 

Dan O'Toole is ripping Bell for doing this just days after the #LetsTalk corporate hashtag.  Now Craig Forrest joining in

 

Good on both Dan and Craig. 

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1 hour ago, MtlMario said:

Just goes to prove that no matter how good a job you do (sometimes) you can still get the boot (KJ firing). We are just a number and when the big boys say it's your time to go, you're gone. I've seen it all too often (unfortunately).

That’s true.  But also true that when you’re a soccer analyst and there’s no soccer on your network for a chunk of the year because you lost rights to a specialty channel, then the writing is on the wall.  

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