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 lucky enough to visit every province in Canada at least 50 times and also every state in the union. Business has always been a passion for me, but sports have always been a passion too. Although I love most sports, like most Canadians, hockey is in my blood.
I know many markets in the US haven’t felt our passion for hockey, but it’s a great game that’s our national pastime, some say an obsession. Canada is a huge country that is relatively sparsely populated. In fact, one of the largest countries in the world, Canada has fewer than 30 million people. A large percentage of the population is located 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 Canadiens have won 24 Stanley Cups and trail only the New York Yankees in terms of championships. In Canada, the next closest to Stanley Cup victories 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 it as The Toronto Sports Network. Many believe, like me, that although they claim to be Canada’s sports network, they are actually a regional network centered in Toronto and not acting 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 general trash talking was the rule of thumb. It reaches the highest levels of intensity among the largest hockey markets in Canada, Toronto and Montreal. The more time I spent on the website, the more I discovered the truth that 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 irrelevant Leafs-focused interviews and articles. They write an article when their manager takes a jet trip. They write an article when he sits 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 yet, the Maple Leafs don’t have a competitive team, have missed the playoffs six years in a row, and most recently an ESPN poll ranked 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. There are moderators on each board. Their 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 cowardly, liar, cheat, and sewer rat Montreal fans. I’ve seen Leaf posters making fun of French-Canadians and calling them toilet seats. This isn’t just the case for 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 are given equal opportunity, the kind of equal opportunity a true national sports network should provide. In recent months I have been verifying this reality with my own posts. A poster in Toronto would put out an insulting post that would go through and I would respond with the same post and not. 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 has 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, was 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 lie 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’m frustrated and I’ve had enough. I want TSN to know how many Canadians feel like me. 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 won’t change unless we change them.