As many of you know, I have been writing a variety of business related articles for some time. This is a starting point, but I feel compelled to say what Canadians from coast to coast have expressed over the years. As a speaker, I have been fortunate enough to visit every province in Canada at least 50 times, as well as every state in the union. Business has always been a passion of mine, but sports have always been a passion too. Although I love most sports, like most Canadians, hockey is in my blood.
I know a lot of markets in the US haven’t felt our passion for hockey, but it’s a great game that’s our national pastime, some say it’s an obsession. Canada is a huge country that is relatively sparsely populated. In fact, one of the largest countries in the world, Canada has less than 30 million inhabitants. A large percentage of the population is found in Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver. Every city has an NHL franchise with fans who are passionate about hockey and sports in general.
In Canada, the Montreal Canadiens are the most storied hockey franchise and the most successful hockey franchise in NHL history. The Canadians have won 24 Stanley Cups and are second only to the New York Yankees in terms of championships. In Canada, the next closest to Stanley Cup wins is the Toronto Maple Leafs with 11 Stanley Cups. Toronto is the largest city in Canada and the home of TSN. Although this network claims to be The Sports Network, many Canadians from coast to coast refer to them as The Toronto Sports Network. Many believe, as I do, that although they claim to be Canada’s sports network, they are actually a regional network centered around Toronto and do not act as a truly national sports network.
A couple of years ago I discovered the sports tables on the TSN website. I had never posted before and soon found out that trash talking in general was the rule of thumb. Reach the highest levels of intensity among Canada’s largest hockey markets, Toronto and Montreal. The more time I spent on the website, the more I discovered the truth which is the goal of this writing. Sports fans across Canada are subjected to a barrage of articles, interviews and profiles about TSN’s team, the Toronto Maple Leafs. Fans are constantly bombarded with interviews and irrelevant articles focused on the Leafs. They write an article when their manager takes a jet trip. They write an article when sitting on a camel. They write articles about their personal life and so on. Then there are seemingly endless profiles of their players from every conceivable angle, while other sports markets in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Montreal are treated like second-class citizens. Worse still, the Maple Leafs don’t have a competitive team, they’ve missed the playoffs six years in a row, and most recently, an ESPN poll rated Toronto the worst sports city in North America.
Posting on these hockey boards opened my eyes to the harsh reality that TSN is a regional network pretending to be different. On each board there are moderators. His job is to make sure the posters don’t get too personal or go too far, unless you’re a Leaf fan. I’ve noticed that Toronto posters seem to be able to break the rules and get away with it, but when others do the same, their messages don’t get across. Some Leaf posters refer to Montreal fans as cowards, liars, cheats, and sewer rats. I’ve seen Leaf posters that make fun of French Canadians and call them toilet seats. This isn’t just the case in Montreal, as Toronto fans take the same liberties with other Canadian cities as well. Please understand that I have nothing against trash talking, as long as all cartels have the same opportunities, the kind of equal opportunity that a true national sports network should provide. In recent months I have been checking this reality with my own posts. A Toronto cartel would post an insulting post that would go through and I would respond with the same post and not do it. The moderators, who live in Toronto and work at TSN, are obviously Leaf fans and lack objectivity. This frustrates cartels from coast to coast. When you travel as much as I do, you hear this from frustrated fans everywhere.
This type of selective bias reached new heights recently. I mentioned earlier that Toronto was recently voted the worst sports city in North America. This survey examined 122 sports franchises in North America, the majority of which are located in the United States. The fact that Toronto, a Canadian city, has been voted the worst sports city in North America is embarrassing for all Canadian sports fans. It’s also a national sports story that should be reported to all Canadians, that’s what a national sports network is supposed to do. TSN did not report the results of the ESPN poll at all and common sense tells us why. It clearly illustrates where TSN’s priorities are and that is to protect Toronto at all costs by showing its true colors and a clear regional bias. Canadians from coast to coast refer to them as the Toronto Sports Network for a reason.
Like many Canadians, I am frustrated and have had enough. I want TSN to know how many Canadians feel like I do. If you email me through my website, I’ll forward all your emails to TSN, hopefully that way they’ll get the message. Like many Canadians, I have no problem with a regional sports network supporting their local teams. Like many Canadians, I have a problem when a network presents itself as a national network when everyone knows it’s a regional network in disguise. We need a true National Sports Network in Canada. I look forward to your feedback; things will not change unless we change them.