(Sorry... but...) PLEASE let the Leafs be Relevant Again!

[RyZ]

Originally Posted by flames_fan_down_under

I sit on the complete opposite side of the fence and wish that sports coverage in Canada would be a lot more balanced. The level of hockey-centric sports coverage has reached ridiculous proportions. Trade deadline day is completely insane, how does a trade deadline require this amount of coverage?

I love hockey, but I also love baseball, basketball, and NFL football, and I see no problem in giving equal shares of time to each sport.

But of course we could get some more front page, exhaustive coverage on Kessel fighting Booth in a practice while the Leafs sit at the bottom of the standings. That's what we need.

I can see that for a market like Toronto, but giving NBA or even MLB equal share as NHL in a place like Calgary (or anywhere out west other than possibly Vancouver) would be foolish.

I have a cousin who used to run a weekly wrap up sports show on a Sask radio station and he told me 2-3 yrs ago that results of a listener survey they did had LESS than 1% of people asking for NBA coverage and less than 10% looking for MLB coverage. NFL did fairly well and CFL and NHL were 80%+. Most markets outside of Toronto simply don't care about the NBA. It would be foolish to devote 1/4 of your coverage resources to it in this part of the country.

[#-3]

Originally Posted by vanisleflamesfan

As a good born and raised Western Canadian, it really hurts me to say this but... I honestly can't wait for the day that the Toronto Maple Leafs are relevant again. Now please... hear me out... the reasons are these:

I am SO SICK of seeing (stupid, boring, lame, who gives a toss) basketball on the front page of tsn.ca and sportsnet.ca every single time I click over to those sites.

We actually have a reprieve today since it was opening day in the MLB and the Jays kicked the bronx out of the Yankees but I know that soon enough it will be back to basketball.

Now... please understand, if you LIKE basketball; I DO mean to offend. Basketball is stupid. And I understand that the city of "THE CENTRE OF THE UNIVERSE" Toronto rules the media in Canada, and that for that reason the media is shoving their ONLY successful team down our throats but for the most part... the VAST majority of the country couldn't give two squirts about basketball, the Raptors, or your grammatical abortion: "we the north".

So please, for the sanity of all god-fearing, basket-ball hating Canadians outside of the GTA... please, please, let the Leafs be relevant again soon.

Yet you call Baseball a reprieve. Might as well go to the park and watch two senile old men feed ducks, while rambling on about the kids sitting on the other side of the pond.

This is for you

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

Also considered just putting it the gear grinder thread since basketball seems to really grind the gears of the thread starter.

Quoting for posterity.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by V

He isn't even in the conversation of GOAT for his own sport, let alone GOAT over all sport.

I'm a big Nash fan, but this is just plain silly.

Maybe he meant greatest Canadian athlete

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

Maybe he meant greatest Canadian athlete

Still wouldn't be correct, IMO.

[flames_fan_down_under]

Originally Posted by RyZ

I can see that for a market like Toronto, but giving NBA or even MLB equal share as NHL in a place like Calgary (or anywhere out west other than possibly Vancouver) would be foolish.

I have a cousin who used to run a weekly wrap up sports show on a Sask radio station and he told me 2-3 yrs ago that results of a listener survey they did had LESS than 1% of people asking for NBA coverage and less than 10% looking for MLB coverage. NFL did fairly well and CFL and NHL were 80%+. Most markets outside of Toronto simply don't care about the NBA. It would be foolish to devote 1/4 of your coverage resources to it in this part of the country.

That's why I am not in charge of TSN's web content.

I am under no illusions about how much this country wants to consume anything hockey related. I personally just want to see more balanced coverage on the nations sports channels, and would have no problem with it, but I am not the average sports consumer in Canada.

I just find it funny that the OP is complaining that TSN had briefly deviated from its usual 24/7 hockey only coverage, or more specifically a very Leafs-centric content mandate, to cover the Raptors. All there is on TSN and Sportsnet is hockey coverage, and to find out that it hasn't been enough, that some want more, I find a little startling.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Still wouldn't be correct, IMO.

The Statement was not "the greatest", but rather "one of the greatest."

Amongst canadian athletes, he certainly is one of the greatest of all time.

One of the greatest of all time, period, across all sports - of course that's questionable.

One of the greatest BASKETBALL players of all time, perhaps, depending on how you want to define it. You can make a very good case for him being the best pure shooter of all time in basketball. He's also third all time in assists. Definately, he's one of the greatest basketball players of all time, on the offensive side of the equation. Defensively he's not as good, and having no championships hurts his case. He's definately going to be a first ballot NBA Hall of Famer.

[octothorp]

It doesn't bother me that other people don't like basketball; to each their own. But I'll tell you why I like it:
1. There's five positions with five different, prototypical types of players; in theory, these five ideals compliment each other perfectly. But in reality such prototypical players are not all that common. The jigsaw puzzle of trying to build a roster and system that maximizes the skillsets of players and masks their deficiencies is fascinating.
2. Much of the strategy of the game focuses on exposing the weaknesses of opposing players while protecting against your own weaknesses. When well-coached, it leads to a great chess-game of match-ups.
3. The flow of the game itself is a study in momentum. If you're focusing on baskets, I can see why the sheer number of points scored makes it seem repetitive. But the way to watch the game is to watch for runs, and more importantly watch for what causes a run, whether it's a suburb individual performance, or a particular play that a team is able to execute repeatedly. Or maybe it's a run that's fueled largely by defensive effort and resulting easy transition points. And how does the other team stop the run? Is it making their own baskets, is it by adapting to the play and getting stops, is it by the coach subbing in different players to adjust to the opponent?
4. The large data-samples make it a statistically interesting sport. There's an exciting statistical analysis movement going on right now, especially since this is a debate that fuels real discussions of optimal strategy, not simply a debate about predicting success. For example, the statistical analysis community was saying for years that coaches undervalue the 3pt shot; this year, the top teams in each conference are built largely on the back of elite 3pt shooting. These are real analytical debates, not 'a high goal-to-shot ratio is unsustainable!' arguments.
5. I'm a big fan of the Canadian basketball program, and it's an extremely exciting time for our national program, as we've moved into 2nd in the NBA in terms of players... with several of those players good, and at least one of them potentially elite, and many more top prospects coming up the high-school and college pipe. I'm really excited for the next decade of our national program.

There are things I don't like about the sport, too. The number of time-outs in the last couple minutes of a game can often suck the energy out of otherwise great games. Its development system sucks, resulting in a steep drop-off in talent after guys who are on NBA rosters... meaning a thin talent pool. The cap/tax structure is still a work in progress, but significantly improved during the last CBA negotiations.