Sports in Canadian culture

[esquire]

I never listen to sports radio so I wouldn't know, but is the NCAA content just US syndicated filler or is it actual Toronto jocks talking about that stuff?

Apart from huge social issues like the Penn State scandal or various other US college sports scandals that transcend sports news, any NCAA content outside of maybe a bit of March Madness hoops or bowl season football would be ratings suicide in Winnipeg. I can't imagine that many people in Toronto really care either.

[khabibulin]

Originally Posted by elly63

He makes a good point though. If Tim and Sid are the lone bastion of CanCon, that's not very much.

I pointed out earlier that they're now shoving NCAA hockey down our throat. WTF?

NCAA hockey is very exciting and features many Canadian kids who are destined for the NHL hall of fame. Jonathan Toews immediately springs to mind. Why would a hockey fan consider it being "shoved down our throat"?

[VANRIDERFAN]

Originally Posted by Acajack

You really should learn French! It would make you so much happier. For this and a host of other reasons!

LOL!
CKRM in Regina has their 3 hr sports show called The Sportscage. Their coverage of CFL, WHL and Canada West CIS puts Rogers and TSN to shame. They also cover NHL, NFL and NBA but as their web poll states:

What Do YOU Want To Hear In the SportsCage?

Riders/CFL
291 (67%)

NFL
5 (1%)

Pats/WHL
43 (9%)

NHL
29 (6%)

SJHL
26 (6%)

Curling
25 (5%)

Amateur Sports
14 (3%)

The locals want local/Canadian sports. I bet if TSN/Rogers showed the CIS/CHL some love, they would be surprised at the amount of traffic they would get.

[VANRIDERFAN]

Originally Posted by khabibulin

NCAA hockey is very exciting and features many Canadian kids who are destined for the NHL hall of fame. Jonathan Toews immediately springs to mind. Why would a hockey fan consider it being "shoved down our throat"?

Toews played across the line in North Dakota, it is about as close as a local team as you can get.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by VANRIDERFAN

Toews played across the line in North Dakota, it is about as close as a local team as you can get.

There is a reasonable amount of UND awareness in southern Manitoba, due in part to the fact that a number of Manitobans have played for their hockey and football teams. (Fun fact: Jets owner Mark Chipman once played for the UND football team.)

When I went to a couple of UND hockey games one weekend a couple of years ago at the palatial Ralph Engelstad Arena, there was a good smattering of Manitoba cars in the lot.

But even with that being the case, I can't honestly say that I have ever met one single Winnipegger who actually follows the UND Fighting Sioux hockey team or watches their games on TV. I've met a few people who follow the Brandon Wheat Kings, but UND? Nothing. Only time it ever comes up in the local media is when there's some local-boy-makes-good angle.

[blueandgoldguy]

Montreal is once again proving they are a Habs town and not much of a sports town. Only 3 years after its inception, the Impact are down to a measly 5000 season ticketholders. Could they be the next Chivas? Saputo didn't mince words when expressing how disappointed he was with the ticket sales thus far.

http://montrealgazette.com/sports/so...back-to-impact

“The buzz is not there anymore,” Saputo said at a gathering of media at the team’s home stadium on Wednesday. “Not only for the CONCACAF game, I can say the buzz for the Impact is not there.

“That worries me a lot.”

When the Impact made the jump to MLS in 2012, it was third in ticket sales in the then 19-team league. By 2014, Montreal was down to 11th and the club fears it will be 13th this season. The Impact has sold only about 5,000 season tickets.

Saputo said the Impact fell $2 million short in its ticket sales target last season.

“It’s disappointing where we are now, but I don’t want people to start thinking we’re going to sell the team or shut it down,” said Saputo, who also owns part of the Italian club Bologna FC. “We’ll continue to be there, but we hope the trend changes.”

Buying into MLS, building Saputo Stadium and a soon-to-open training centre and bringing in expensive foreign talent has cost the team more than $100 million, he said. The result so far has been a drop from about 19,000 fans per game to about 16,000.

Saputo feels the 2014 season wasn’t a total disaster. The team won the Canadian championship, which put it into the CONCACAF Champions League. It got through the group stage and now has a quarter-final tie Feb. 28 in Mexico and March 3 in Montreal.

So far, about 15,000 tickets have been sold and Saputo said that, unless interest picks up, it looks like they’ll be lucky to get 30,000 fans.

[esquire]

^ Considering that Montreal has lost the Expos and Als (only to regain the latter), I think that point is well established. And that's no slight against Montreal... they could easily pack the park for soccer if they wanted to. It just is what it is.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

Montreal is once again proving they are a Habs town and not much of a sports town. Only 3 years after its inception, the Impact are down to a measly 5000 season ticketholders. Could they be the next Chivas? Saputo didn't mince words when expressing how disappointed he was with the ticket sales thus far.

http://montrealgazette.com/sports/so...back-to-impact

“The buzz is not there anymore,” Saputo said at a gathering of media at the team’s home stadium on Wednesday. “Not only for the CONCACAF game, I can say the buzz for the Impact is not there.

“That worries me a lot.”

When the Impact made the jump to MLS in 2012, it was third in ticket sales in the then 19-team league. By 2014, Montreal was down to 11th and the club fears it will be 13th this season. The Impact has sold only about 5,000 season tickets.

Saputo said the Impact fell $2 million short in its ticket sales target last season.

“It’s disappointing where we are now, but I don’t want people to start thinking we’re going to sell the team or shut it down,” said Saputo, who also owns part of the Italian club Bologna FC. “We’ll continue to be there, but we hope the trend changes.”

Buying into MLS, building Saputo Stadium and a soon-to-open training centre and bringing in expensive foreign talent has cost the team more than $100 million, he said. The result so far has been a drop from about 19,000 fans per game to about 16,000.

Saputo feels the 2014 season wasn’t a total disaster. The team won the Canadian championship, which put it into the CONCACAF Champions League. It got through the group stage and now has a quarter-final tie Feb. 28 in Mexico and March 3 in Montreal.

So far, about 15,000 tickets have been sold and Saputo said that, unless interest picks up, it looks like they’ll be lucky to get 30,000 fans.

This is very sad and even worrisome.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by esquire

I never listen to sports radio so I wouldn't know, but is the NCAA content just US syndicated filler or is it actual Toronto jocks talking about that stuff?

.

It's a bit of both I think. Even the TSN Sports Radio stations in Ottawa and Montreal (in English) talk about NCAA. Not so much hockey but definitely basketball and football. I've heard them do it often - the Ottawa one is local and I can also get the Montreal one in my car here in Gatineau.

Both stations also carry in piped in content from Toronto, and also syndicated American shows of the Jim Rome and "Papa Joe" variety.

[esquire]

^ I guess if you host a local radio show, you can only talk about the home teams so much. The NCAA provides a bit of easy filler... the fact that there is so much content in the American sports media (ESPN, Sports Illustrated, etc.) means it is practically spoon fed. Easier to just riff on the cover story of SI about Ohio State football or Syracuse basketball than to haul ass out to Carleton to talk to the defensive coordinator about how the Ravens' secondary is coming along.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ I guess if you host a local radio show, you can only talk about the home teams so much. The NCAA provides a bit of easy filler... the fact that there is so much content in the American sports media (ESPN, Sports Illustrated, etc.) means it is practically spoon fed. Easier to just riff on the cover story of SI about Ohio State football or Syracuse basketball than to haul ass out to Carleton to talk to the defensive coordinator about how the Ravens' secondary is coming along.

Perhaps. But that still sucks.

[esquire]

^ Vanriderfan mentioned the Sportscage out of Regina. I've never listened to the show other than occasional snippets of things I'm interested in, but I do visit the host's blog fairly regularly (www.rodpedersen.com). It's clear that he takes local, regional, national coverage to the next level... no lazy riffing on SI stories for an hour there, I'm sure. Might be worth a listen!

[VANRIDERFAN]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Vanriderfan mentioned the Sportscage out of Regina. I've never listened to the show other than occasional snippets of things I'm interested in, but I do visit the host's blog fairly regularly (www.rodpedersen.com). It's clear that he takes local, regional, national coverage to the next level... no lazy riffing on SI stories for an hour there, I'm sure. Might be worth a listen!

Competing with the Sportscage (http://www.620ckrm.com/sportscage-home) in the same time spot is the Green Zone on Rawlco Radio (http://980.greenzonefootball.com CJME in Regina and CKOM in Saskatoon). Main focus is on the Riders, but the Pats, Blades, Rams, Cougars, Huskies, Thunder and Hilltops get quite a bit of focus as well. Glen Sutior, Arash Madani, Tiger Williams, Jim Hunter are all regular guests. There is never any filler from SI or ESPN. They will quote from those sources but do not rebroadcast.

Does the TSN station in Winnipeg cover the Bisons, Wesmen, Bobcats, Wheat Kings to the same level? Or is it Jets, Jets, Jets, Bombers, Jets, Jets, ESPN filler all the time?

[esquire]

Originally Posted by VANRIDERFAN

Does the TSN station in Winnipeg cover the Bisons, Wesmen, Bobcats, Wheat Kings to the same level? Or is it Jets, Jets, Jets, Bombers, Jets, Jets, ESPN filler all the time?

You know, apart from Jets play by play I doubt I've listened to a half hour worth of TEAM 1290/TSN 1290 ever since they became a sports station. I'm too much of a news junkie for that.

But the odd time I have listened in, I'd say the focus is very much on the Jets and the NHL (no surprise given that they're the radio rightsholder), with a healthy dose of Bombers. Goldeyes and other local sports get OK coverage, but nothing crazy. I'd imagine that if you're a Bisons fan you probably have to get your fill on Shaw TV or UMFM.

CJOB is the Bombers' rightsholder and they do a decent job with sports too. Those two stations are the only ones with significant sports coverage.

[VANRIDERFAN]

Originally Posted by esquire

You know, apart from Jets play by play I doubt I've listened to a half hour worth of TEAM 1290/TSN 1290 ever since they became a sports station. I'm too much of a news junkie for that.

But the odd time I have listened in, I'd say the focus is very much on the Jets and the NHL (no surprise given that they're the radio rightsholder), with a healthy dose of Bombers. Goldeyes and other local sports get OK coverage, but nothing crazy. I'd imagine that if you're a Bisons fan you probably have to get your fill on Shaw TV or UMFM.

CJOB is the Bombers' rightsholder and they do a decent job with sports too. Those two stations are the only ones with significant sports coverage.

CKRM thru Sportscage does remotes at the Regina Red Sox (http://www.reginaredsox.com/) games throughout their season from Currie Field. They will also do remotes from Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League towns or during the numerous sports dinners that Rod may be hosting throughout the province. So they do a bang up job covering the province for the 2.5 hrs the show is on the air.

Also could the Bombers pull this off? I'm sure there are as many Manitobans in the valley as there are Saskatchewanians!

[drew]

^ not sure why the Bombers would even try to do something like that. Arizona games are already well attended by Winnipeg fans in Glendale.

Similarly, if Regina or Saskatoon had an NHL team, this kind of promotion wouldn't exist.

[VANRIDERFAN]

Originally Posted by drew

^ not sure why the Bombers would even try to do something like that. Arizona games are already well attended by Winnipeg fans in Glendale.

Similarly, if Regina or Saskatoon had an NHL team, this kind of promotion wouldn't exist.

I guess the tie in here is that Chris's brother Ryan in the Ducks Captain. Anyway, this promo gets the CFL name out to the large Canadian snowbird population down there.

Also the Bomber attitude that they are Winnipeg's team and not Manitoba's team is a likely reason why the Riders have solidly entrenched themselves into the Westman region.

[esquire]

Bombers could do it, but probably wouldn't out of deference to the Jets. It would seem untoward to do an event like that, especially given the history of the Coyotes.

There is a Rider presence along the western edge of the province, but it's basically the places that are within sight of the Sask border. No one in Winnipeg knows let alone cares if people in Virden or Russell wear Rider Pride gear. The beauty of living along a border is that you can bandwagon jump to your heart's content... once cosmic order is restored and the Riders resume missing the playoffs every year, those guys will be back

[drew]

Originally Posted by VANRIDERFAN

I guess the tie in here is that Chris's brother Ryan in the Ducks Captain. Anyway, this promo gets the CFL name out to the large Canadian snowbird population down there.

Also the Bomber attitude that they are Winnipeg's team and not Manitoba's team is a likely reason why the Riders have solidly entrenched themselves into the Westman region.

I got the Getzlaf connection. But it would be like if the Bombers did some Ryan Reaves event at a St.Louis game, since his dad played with the Bombers. It just wouldn't make any sense.

In any event getting the CFL message out to Sask. snowbirds is sort of irrelevant in my mind, I am sure they already have the rider message beaten into their heads!

[FrankieFlowerpot]

Speaking of CIS and CIS basketball – the Final 8 are taking place in Toronto next month at the old Maple Leaf Gardens and there’s lots of tickets available. You can get a package for all 10 games for only $130.

Most expensive tickets are for the final – and even then most of them are $28 – there are some courtside seats available and they are $40

4 of the sessions have 2 games each - quarter finals and semifinals (consolation as well) – these sessions range from $23 to $40 (courtside)