Sports TV

OK, yesterday proved it. There is way too much sports coverage on TV. Yes, I said it. As most Canadians know, yesterday was the NHL trading deadline which is often talked about with as much hype as the first day of playoffs. This has been covered even more in recent years, since the salary cap has really lessened the amount of player movement throughout the season for various reasons. TSN started the countdown to the trading deadline a month ago. A MONTH!

So we had three networks - TSN, The Score, and Sportsnet all vying for the the viewer's interest with comprehensive coverage of the day and the ultimate goal of reporting something 30 seconds before the competitor network. Every trade is dissected, over analyzed, argued about until the next one. Given there was about 25 trades this year, and most of them minor, that's a whole lot of TV to fill with not a lot of information.

The networks also bring in special guests as experts to weigh in with additional expert analysis. Such as Marty McSorley. No offense to Marty, but what else can he possibly bring other than stating the same as Nick Kypreos and Darren Millard, just phrased different.

Millard: "So, can we break down the Andy Wozniewski for Danny Richmond trade"
Kypreos: "Well Darren, in Wozniewski Pittsburgh adds to their depth on defense, and a guy who can hit. Richmond is a good stay at home defensemen who should make the team next year"
McSorley: "Pittsburgh does well here. They needed another depth defenseman. Richmond is a good addition to the Blues prospects, and should help the team in the near future"



Gee thanks guys. All you accomplished was eating up airtime by taking twice as long to say the same thing. And don't get me started on TSN. Do you really need three "Hockey Insider" type guys. Why do you need Bob McKenzie, Pierre McGuire, and Darren Dreger to all talk about rumours and over analyze everything in hockey. Bob McKenzie said the big winner of the day was the Florida Panthers because they did NOTHING. Thanks Bob for the insight. Really profound. And if Florida is the big winner by doing nothing why is there so much hype on the day to begin with?

Also, what is with Darren Dreger and his blackberry on set the last couple days? He was taking calls and answering emails on set. Are we supposed to believe that Dreger has a red phone to 30 NHL GM's and countless player agents? Let me get this straight, if something happens in the trade market, the GM's immediately send Dreger a text? Come on, sports announcers just aren't that important. Maybe now that the deadline is over he can answer his blackberry during commercial breaks.

On a related note though, Swift Current area boy Travis Moen is now a San Jose Shark joining another Swift Current area boy Patrick Marleau. They will coached by former Bronco coach Todd McLellan. With that kind of hometown contingent, I guess the Sharks will be the team I hitch my horse too if the Oilers don't make it into the playoffs.

Enough for today. Cheers