Sunday, February 27, 2011

It's Getting Creepy at TSN, Part II....

I remember watching the Closing Ceremonies of last year's Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, and thinking two things:

1) I can't believe I just wasted two hours watching this crap

2) Thank god the Olympics are over.

And let's be honest here, wasn't that the prevailing thought among everybody?

Could we have handled one more week of this Olympic coverage? I know I was done.

For those two weeks in February of 2010, CTV/TSN did a SUPERB job of drilling Olympics this and Olympics that into our heads.

And guess what...they've struck again!

Since mid-February of 2011, TSN has devoted a two minute chunk of SportsCentre each day to looking back on what happened in Vancouver on that particular day.

Example..On Feb 28th's SportsCentre, they will look back on the Canada/US gold medal game, which occurred one year to the day.

Or how about the Feb. 17th edition where we were able to relive....Canada beating Sweden 13-1 in women's hockey...and the Hamelin Brothers advancing to the quarterfinals in Men's speed skating... What?!?

Why did TSN just waste our time reminding us of these events???!??

Oh and guess what...You can watch all of these events on TSN 2 on the same day as well!!!

Instead of showing LIVE NHL, NBA, NCAA games with important playoff implications, TSN 2 has opted to show events from last year's Olympics.

Put your hands up if you've actually watched these.

Anyways, I've taken enough shots at TSN in the last two weeks, and have probably ended up shattering any future employment hopes that I had there.

But I don't care.

WE GET IT, TSN!!! WE WON 14 GOLDS LAST YEAR! A NEW RECORD!!!

O CANADA! WE STAND ON GUARD FOR THEEEEEE!!!

But enough is enough.

Stop saying this is the greatest thing in our country's history. It's not.

Hey TSN, did you mention in your pieces how easy it is to win gold medals nowadays?

Or how we were supposed to win the most total medals, but instead, we finished 11 medals behind the USA?

TSN's constant reminders of how "important" these events were is becoming creepy.

And call me an anti-Canadian all you want, but this coverage of an event that happened 365 days ago is absolutely ridiculous.

Nikky Yanofsky, I believe that I'm done watching TSN.

Monday, February 14, 2011

It's getting creepy at TSN...










TSN hockey analysts getting rather close to each other.


Enough is enough, TSN.

We get it.

You guys love hockey.

But TSN is starting to show almost a creepy kind of love for Canada's favourite game.

It was back in 1998 when TSN lost the rights to air NHL games. "Canada's Sports Leader" was now without hockey.

So in 2002, when TSN got their NHL rights back, they had a plan. It was almost if they were scared to lose it again, so they responded by going all out with their coverage.

And now nine years later, TSN has clearly labelled themselves as the hockey kings of Canada?

But how much is too much?

Their crazy coverage starts right from the beginning of the season.

They do about a week's worth of season preview programming, including analysts who do live fantasy drafts on television.

I mean, who cares which goalie Darren Dreger is picking on his fantasy team?

Or what about Bob McKenzie's special a few weeks ago on the top ranked players in the NHL draft.....in late June!! Last time I checked, we were in the month of February.

And of course, the all-day specials.

At 7 a.m. Winnipeg time on Monday February 28th, TSN will begin their NHL Trade Deadline special which wil go on until about 6 p.m.

Why do we need 11 hours to go over the trade deadline, when a 1 or 2 hour show would be just fine?

Why do they need to go on air at 7 a.m.? This is more baffling considering most of the day's action doesn't get going until about 10 or 11 a.m.

And TSN now employs about 124 hockey analysts(so it seems) to give their opinions.

The point I am trying to make here is how much is too much when it comes to covering something?

Even a devoted and passionate hockey fan like myself is starting to get annoyed with this ridiculous coverage.

Let's draw the line here, TSN.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Team CreComm

It wasn't going to be an easy task.

A number of students from Red River College doing something that had never been done by students before.

Producing an indoor soccer broadcast.

Students from Red River had produced basketball games and hockey games in the past, but never indoor soccer games.

Producing sportscasts is hard enough, but in a sport like indoor soccer, where balls are bouncing off walls and the action is so fast-paced, it was going to be that much harder.

Long hours were put in by the crew and I think we can all agree that the end result was a complete success.

The result will be shown Monday night at 7 pm on Shaw TV.

Teamwork was at an absolute high this weekend and as a result of that, everyone on the crew knew exactly what they were doing and did a superb job doing it.

On a more personal note, I was producer of the broadcasts and having watched hundreds of sportscasts in my life, the chance to be a crucial part in one was such a cool thing to be part of.

Let's hope there is more to come.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Extra-Large Mega-Gigantic Super Bowl Preview








Big Ben in action.



It’s back.

For the second year in a row, it is time for the Extra-large Mega-gigantic Super Bowl Preview.

In one of the more intriguing matchups we’ve seen in a while, two of the NFL’s most historic franchises face off in Super Bowl XLV(45) when the Pittsburgh Steelers play the Green Bay Packers.

(Ironically, the game is being played in Dallas, home of another one of the NFL’s most historic franchises in the Cowboys.)

But will the game be as historic as these franchises already are? Will we remember this game for years to come? With our luck, the last three Super Bowls have featured pretty exciting endings and memorable plays.

SUPER BOWL XLIV- New Orleans 31 Indy 17
(Notable Play: New Orleans onside kick to begin 2nd half)

SUPER BOWL XLIII- Pittsburgh 27 Arizona 23
(Notable Plays: James Harrison 98 yard INT return for td; Roethlisberger to Holmes with under a minute to go)

SUPER BOWL XLII- NY Giants 17 New England 14
(Notable Play: Helmet Catch)

That’s a pretty impressive streak of memorable games we have going here. And really all the pieces are in place for this game to continue the streak. Two impressive QBS and two solid defences.

As I did last year, let’s take a look at who I think will make a difference on Sunday.

(Note: This is not who I think is the better player/s…this is who I think will have a better game on Sunday due to matchups and other factors.)

Quarterback

It’s been endless praise for the two quarterbacks in this game, Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger and Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers. But it seems like everyone has forgotten that these two had subpar games just two weeks ago.

For whatever reason, Rodgers plays unreal indoors, as he showed against Atlanta earlier in the playoffs. And, sure enough, the new Cowboys Stadium is indoors. (Lucky, because Texas and most of the American Midwest/South has been hammered by snow this last week)

And the other big factor is that Roethlisberger’s regular centre, Maurkice Pouncey, looks like he might be unable to go on Sunday.

Like I said earlier, I don’t think Rodgers is necessarily the better quarterback overall, but I think because of Rodgers in the indoors and the Steelers questions at centre, A-Rod will have the better game.

Bold Prediction 1: 30 completions for Aaron Rodgers.

Running Back

Not much to break down here other than the Steelers have a run game while the Packers don’t. After Packers RB James Starks had his breakout game against the Eagles in the wildcard round, he has since put together two lacklustre efforts and now he goes against one of the best rush defenses of all-time. Not good. Steelers RB Rashard Mendenhall is quietly one of the top 10 running backs in football. Add the fact that he basically won the AFC Championship for Pittsburgh and it’s clear who has the edge at this position.

Bold Prediction 2 and 3- Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers will end up leading his team in rushing yards/Rashard Mendenhall rushes for 2 touchdowns


Wide Receiver/Tight End

Very similar receiving corps on these teams. You have two stud receivers in Green Bay’s Greg Jennings and Pittsburgh’s Mike Wallace. As we’ve seen at times this year, when the QB’s start hitting these guys, it’s a dangerous situation for the opposing secondary. They also have those two token old guys, Pittsburgh with Hines Ward and Green Bay with Donald Driver. So it looks like the determining factor will come at the tight end position. Green Bay started off the season with the better tight end but Jermichael Finley got injured and somehow the Packers have survived without him. Steelers TE Heath Miller will have big games and then he’ll disappear for a few weeks. Which Heath Miller will show up on Sunday?

Bold Prediction 4- A Heath Miller Touchdown

Time for a halftime break.

Now excuse me if I’m a little confused here but …

WHY THE HELL ARE THE BLACK EYED PEAS PLAYING THE SUPER BOWL HALFTIME SHOW??!?!?!?

Here are a few things I’ve found really confusing about this whole choice.

1) We are only 7 years removed from the Janet Jackson Nipple Slip. It was then when the NFL decided that they were going to play it safe at halftime. So since NippleGate, we’ve seen the likes of Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Springsteen, The Who, and Prince. All acts who had no plans of ripping their clothes off. But in a bizarre move, the NFL is taking its chances again with the Black Eyed Peas led by Fergie, who is known to be pretty bizarre. In other words, if anyone were to take their clothes off during a halftime show, she might be the most likely candidate.

2) Let’s think for a second.. .who are the Black Eyed Peas’ target market. Probably girls aged 16-30…right? Now how many girls aged 16-30 will be watching this game? Not many. They`ll have enough problems trying to recover from the hangover they have from the night before rather than watch a silly football game. Plus, the majority of people in the audience will be middle aged men, who will probably be in the Cowboy Stadium urinals taking a pee rather than watching the Black Eyed Peas.

Bold Prediction 5: Black Eyed Peas get booed off the stage.


Now back to the game.

Defense/Special Teams

This might be one of the rare times in Super Bowl history where the defensive names outshine the offensive names. I mean, other than Roethlisberger and Rodgers, are there really any superstar offensive players?

Pittsburgh has the defensive player of the year in Troy Polamalu (who might be THE “household” name in this game…"the guy with the hair” as people know him).

Add guys like James Harrison, Casey Hampton , and Brett Keisel with his ridiculous beard, and you have a pretty well known defence.

Same with Green Bay. Clay Matthews is the 2nd best defensive player in the league, and guys like Charles Woodson, AJ Hawk, BJ Raji are also well-known. But who cares whether they are
well known or not…the question is who’s better?

Look at it this way. Pitt doesn’t have to worry about Green Bay’s garbage running game, and will put most of their focus on Mr. Rodgers and the Green Bay passing game. Don’t you think Troy Polamalu will be ready? Don’t you think James Harrison will be ready?

Bold Prediction 6: Pittsburgh LB James Harrison lays a questionable hit on a Green Bay Packer Player prompting Fox Announcer Joe Buck to freak out during the broadcast.

Kicker

A Canadian kicker for the Steelers in Shaun Suisham. Remember the last time a Canadian kicker performed on a big stage? Someone named Mike Vanderjagt who is famous for missing a game tying fieldgoal 25 yards wide right in a playoff game a few years back.

I don’t trust Canadian football players, to be honest. Give me Green Bay K Mason Crosby, who has never had problems in his few years with the Packers.

Bold Prediction 7: In classic Canadian fashion, Suisham shanks one.


The Verdict

Let`s go back to a theory that I introduced 2 weeks ago. And apparently it worked, because amazingly, I went 2-0 on Conference Championship Weekend. In a game with two defences ranked in the top 10 in the NFL, like these two teams, always pick the better quarterback.

Now earlier in the blog, I said that Rodgers would have the better game.

BUT…

When it comes down to it, Ben Roethlisberger is the better quarterback. The guy does something that Tom Brady and Peyton Manning seem to have touble doing recently. That is the ability to perform in clutch situations. The ability to close out games that are up in the air.
ESPN columnist Michael Wilbon has always stated that if he could pick any QB on his team to win a big game, it would be Big Ben.

2 recent examples, Super Bowl XLIII against the Cardinals where he calmly leads the Steelers, who trailed by 3, down the field and throws an amazing pass to Santonio Holmes in the endzone to give the Steelers the lead and ultimately the win.

And in the last 2 playoff games, he has made two clutch throws including the long bomb to Emmanuel Sanders in the Baltimore game right after the 2 minute warning, and the pass against the Jets in the AFC Championship, where he scrambled around to find a wide open receiver to clinch the game.

In a game that is probably going to be close, Roethlisberger’s experience in these moments will pay huge dividends, and will, in the end, give him a 3rd Super Bowl title.

Let’s name the quarterbacks who have 3 or more Super Bowl Titles.

Bradshaw, Montana, Aikman, Brady.……..Roethlisberger??

You better believe it.

Pittsburgh 24 Green Bay 17

MVP: Rashard Mendenhall