Best time of the year...

To me, spring is not only the best time of the year weather wise, it also ushers in the best time of the year for sports. Currently I am sitting on a comfy chair, basking in the glorious spring weather, watching tournament basketball on CBS and anticipating the next 3 months of goodness. Let me explain.

NCAA March Madness - Easily my favorite time of the year for watching sports. Selection Sunday, the first Thursday/Friday of games, something to look forward to every weekend for 3 weeks, watching the bracket, etc.... Nothing beats the tournament for me, which, not to digress, there is talk of change in the tournament (expansion to 96 teams. Call me a traditionalist, but I do not want to see the tournament expand. I love the draw the way it is. Imagine if they expanded it to 96. Do you think the random office lady would want to fill out the draw? Do you think you would fill out a 96 team draw? Me neither. So please NCAA, leave it at 64 and keep it the best sporting event of the year.

MLB Spring Training - The best time of the year in the baseball season. Why, you may ask, are meaningless games in March the best time of the baseball season? Because the Blue Jays haven't been statistically eliminated from the playoffs yet. Playing the same division as the Yankees and Red Sox is just depressing if you are a Blue Jays fan. No matter how good of team we can compile, lining up against the Bronx Bombers and the Red Sox is not appealing. Even the Rays took a run at them for one year, but if you win the wild card or the division it just feels like you are renting the title from the 2 dominant teams. I can still be excited that Ricky Romero pitched 4 scoreless innings and that Adam Lind is looking like he could hit 40 HR's. Never mind that this all won't matter when we are 12 games back on June 15th, but it sure is fun to hope.

Spring baseball also reminds us in cold climates that there are places in the world where there is green grass and people have natural color on their skin. Too often in the midst of winter I lose hope that I will ever be warm again when I walk outside and spring baseball gives me that hope. It

NHL Playoff Race - Only because it signals that the NHL season will soon be over....wait, the playoffs take another 3 months. My bad. How bad are the NHL playoffs? If you look at the NHL season, training camp starts in September and the cup is hoisted in mid to late June. Is there not a more efficient way to do this? Here's my proposition to fix the NHL playoffs.

1. Shorten the first round to best of 5. This would lead to more upsets and shorten the tournament significantly. The NBA used to do this and I'll never forget the Sonics/Nuggets series where Dikembe was on the ground holding the ball after shocking the highly rated Sonics. It is really difficult to upset a team in a 7 game series. Upsets are exciting and shorter. Sweeps could occur one game quicker. No brainer to me.

2. Scrap the conferences and have the top 16 teams make the tournament based solely on record. No division winners, no automatic bids, just the 16 best teams. This could lead to some very interesting first round matchups and make the league a little less predictable.

3. Overtime is one 20 minute period of 4 on 4 and then you go to a shootout. I don't care if the purists don't like it. Typically the winning goal in a 4 OT game is no good anyways since the players are all dead tired. The threat of a possible shootout in the Olympics had me on the edge of my seat. Imagine a Stanley Cup decided on a shootout? How exciting would that be?

I'm way off now, but I do think these changes could lead to some more excitement.

NBA Playoff Race - Teams are gearing up for the final push, players actually break a sweat in the first half, teams are tanking for the John Wall Sweepstakes (I'm doing it in my fantasy league!), potential free agents are attempting to sway possible suitors with their end of the season play, the game just gets a lot more interesting. Some of my favorite moments in life have happened during the NBA playoffs: The Jordan years (too many moments to recount), Miller killing the Knicks at the Garden, John Starks going 3/18 in the NBA finals, Lebron's 3 last year against the Magic, the Kings/Lakers series, Suns/Spurs, Blazers/Lakers, Cavs/Bulls, Pistons/Bulls, Knicks/Bulls, etc...so many good matchups, so many memories.

NFL Draft - The only sport that truly has no offseason, the NFL draft is by far the most unique of the major sports. The worst drafts are baseball and hockey without questions due to the youth of those being picked. The NFL has so many positions and teams have so many needs. With the current salary structure and the money getting paid these high picks the drama continues to build. The Rams this year should take a DT with the first pick, but try selling that to a new owner? Its much easier to market a Sam Bradford than a Gerald McCoy. The other dynamic is when a player starts falling in the draft sometimes they fall hard. There may be 4 or 5 teams with a QB need and if they pass on a QB he could drop 10-15 places (see Matt Leinart/Aaron Rodger/Brady Quinn). Will that happen this year? Who will be the awkward last person left at the draft this year? So much to look forward to.

Enjoy the next few months...I know that I will.

Three's Company

In about 3 weeks time my beautiful wife and me will be on a plane headed south to sunny Las Vegas for a quick 4 day retreat. There are many things to look forward to during this trip. American outlet stores, 80 degree weather, staying at the luxurious Wynn Hotel, and buffet eating in Vegas. Oddly enough, these words escaped my wife's mouth the other night: "Can't you just hardly wait until we are in Vegas and we can hang out in our hotel room and watch ESPN?" Even more odd was my quick agreeing response. Either I'm married to the most wonderful woman in the world (I mean, come on, what woman would be most excited about ESPN on a trip to Vegas!) or Canadian sports channels are just that bad. I think its a bit of both.

First of all to preface, Canadian sports channels referred to in this piece are TSN, Rogers Sportsnet, and The Score.

I feel that all three of the channels listed above have come a long way in the past decade. People ask me why I cheer for the Raptors and I simply state "if it weren't for the Raptors, we would have to watch 55 minutes of hockey every night." The NBA's influence on the Canadian sports fan has been appreciated in my home. Still, there seems to be something missing. To break it down, we'll look at each of the three broadcasters and break down some of their problems.

The Sports Network (TSN)

The granddaddy of them all in Canada, the ESPN of Canada is definitely the best funded and most professional sports broadcasting station in our country. Even watching Sportscenter on TSN reminds you a bit of ESPN...that is until either someone starts talking or highlights come on. Inevitably they will lead with hockey, even if it means covering the Leafs charity golf tournament at Glen Abbey in August. The odd time they'll lead with Raptors highlights when the NHL is on a break and there weren't cameras at the local Sudbury Wolves game. But the biggest thing that bugs me about TSN is not the content, but the hosts. It would seem to me that you either have to be an expert in hockey or curling to land a position at TSN. In a country that is growing more ethnically diverse by the day, we are stuck with good ol' boys and girls announcing our sports every night. Listening to a hockey player from Northern Ontario attempt to describe a Chris Paul crossover compares to having Carl Lewis be a guest judge on American Idol or Mark Madsen participate in Dancing with the Stars. Its a misfit. Until someone at TSN realizes that they are not The Hockey Network and start hiring some talent with more diverse backgrounds, we'll be stuck with the likes of Darren "Roof Daddy" Dutchyshen and Brian "Hurry Hard" Mudryk.

Rogers Sportsnet

Attempting to fill a niche many feel TSN ignores, or as some like to call it the Anything West of Ontario Niche, Sportsnet tailors their broadcasts to the local sports first. So those of us in Edmonton get to watch Sportsnet Connected Oilers Postgame edition. On paper I feel this is a good idea, but in practice it does not work. If I wanted the local angle on the Oilers, I would watch local sports, or listen to local radio, or read the local paper. It compares to a large national chain like a Macdonalds attempting to tailor their menu to the needs of different populations. In Vancouver they would serve the McSushi or the McVegan. Edmonton and Calgary would get the Quadruple Quarter Pounder. The Maritimes would have the McLobster. This might sound ridiculous, but Macdonalds knows better than to try to personalize their menu for every different region. Its because if people want the personal local touch they will just go local. They'll go to the High Level Diner or Culina in Edmonton. They'll go to their local Sushi bar in Vancouver. Same with tv. If I want the local angle on sports, I don't want it being done from a studio in Toronto. Its patronizing and arrogant. They really think they can sit halfway across the country and talk to me in Edmonton? By attempting to serve the local regional desires all that Sportsnet winds up doing is confusing the viewer. Am I watching the Ontario sportsnet or the West? Am I going to see the Oilers game tonight or the Flames? Worst of all, when there is something of importance on (say the 13th inning of a playoff baseball game) they cut away from it to show a meaningless October hockey game between the Flames/Habs. By trying to please everyone Sportsnet ends up pleasing no one.

The Score

The lesser of three evils, the Score is the most likable sports broadcaster in Canada. Well Sportsnet and TSN compete in the same category, the Score acknowledges that there are people out there who are not obsessed with hockey and actually like other sports. By far the least pretentious of the three, the Score focuses on basketball, soccer, and MMA far more that TSN or Sportsnet. Their shows are different, with Score Now being relaxed and having more of a MuchMusic vibe, and their programming is diverse. The problem with the Score is they don't have any money. A lot of their talent ends up going to TSN or Sportsnet. Their programming is fueled by Wrestling and Harness Racing. How seriously can I take a station that has live harness racing on in prime time? Too often the Score is not in my regular rotation due to the odd content. When they show highlights and have personable hosts like Tim Micallef and Sid Seixeiro leading the way, it is beautiful. The problem is they cannot live on 16 hours of highlight shows. They need something to pay the bills. This is where they stumble. But I think I have a solution.

The Solution....

Cooperation works beautifully sometimes. As Canadians, we just finished showing the world how well we can cooperate at the Olympics. We are not overly competitive by nature like our friends to the south. So why do we keep attempting to have 3 national sports stations? ESPN long ago took over the national sports scene in the States. What's taking us so long?

If you noticed at the Olympics Sportsnet combined with TSN to cover the Games. What was odd about it was that we actually have quite a bit of talent in this country. We are just spread out over 3 different stations. Combine all three stations into 1 under TSN"s name. Combine the talent from all 3 stations and have a group that actually has experts in all sports related to Canadians (Vic Reuter, you can stay and cover curling). Imitate programming that works in the States (PTI has a spanish version, why not a Canadian one?). Expansion killed hockey and its killing the Canadian sports broadcasting scene. We don't have the resources or talent to have 3 stations running.

So, as I get ready for 4 straight days of ESPN, I am both happy and sad. Happy that I get to indulge in 4 days of true sports programming and sad that we have such poor options in Canada.