Cassie Campbell-Pascall

[djsFlames]

She needs to stop getting attached to certain players like McDavid and just stick to whats happening in the game.

Keep it short, concise and play the role of the expert, not the fangirl.

I'd love it if they could just keep that #### to the intermissions.

[Lucky-Dave]

When the Oilers play the Flames and she is covering it makes for a great drinking game. Take a drink every time she gushes/mentions McD and see if you can stand at the end. She be loving McD.

[Hanna Sniper]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

This stuff needs to be confronted and addressed. It's not enough just to sit on the sidelines and say 'well it's not me saying it so...'.

So when a poster says that the female broadcasters need to "get a room" with Connor, or that one of them is "getting wet" over him - that's ugly, crude and misogynistic junk. And it should be called that.

The problem isn't that the misogynistic card gets pulled quickly. In fact the problem is historically it's been pulled far too slowly.

Was that post you are talking about in this thread, and in reference to my comments about the ones this thread?

Nice, not surprised

[jonesy]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

This stuff needs to be confronted and addressed. It's not enough just to sit on the sidelines and say 'well it's not me saying it so...'.

So when a poster says that the female broadcasters need to "get a room" with Connor, or that one of them is "getting wet" over him - that's ugly, crude and misogynistic junk. And it should be called that.

The problem isn't that the misogynistic card gets pulled quickly. In fact the problem is historically it's been pulled far too slowly.

That may be. In fact I agree with it. My concern is, I have yet to see a poster get suspended for saying the same things to/about male sports figures or other posters on this forum. Saying 'get a room', or 'has an erection' over someone they are fawning over seems to be ok. I think this is a double standard. Allow both or neither. I have absolutely seen those exact type of comments directed a male personalities/posters with no repercussion.

[Winsor_Pilates]

I have no problem with people not liking Cassie as a commentator.

I only hope this thread can be the place for discussing that and the game threads can now get back to talking about the games.
Last night's gamethread was unbearable with almost half the posts being complaints about her and not about the hockey game.

[shadowlord]

How many broadcasters are there that live in Calgary and can do a better than Cassie at colour commentator? I'm going to say that there's only Kelly Hrudey.

It might be a case where she's the best option available when Kelly's unavailable. Otherwise, Sportsnet would have to relocate someone from somewhere else, and they don't really see the Calgary TV market as a money-maker for them.

As with all people, as she does the job more and gets comfortable, she'll learn, adapt and get better at it.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by jonesy

That may be. In fact I agree with it. My concern is, I have yet to see a poster get suspended for saying the same things to/about male sports figures or other posters on this forum. Saying 'get a room', or 'has an erection' over someone they are fawning over seems to be ok. I think this is a double standard. Allow both or neither. I have absolutely seen those exact type of comments directed a male personalities/posters with no repercussion.

We have started to take actions against those type of posts including because often they are homophobic. For example a post last week where someone said a local male media member “sucks dick”.
But let’s be honest marginalized and underrepresented groups have faced more of this stuff than the average white male. So let’s not get to caught up in double standards. Those double standard have benefited men for a long time
I’m happy to agree that all of it is junk though. What would be most helpful is simply for the community to commit to this type of thing. Moderation is one element but community buy in is way more powerful

[jonesy]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

We have started to take actions against those type of posts including because often they are homophobic. For example a post last week where someone said a local male media member “sucks dick”.
But let’s be honest marginalized and underrepresented groups have faced more of this stuff than the average white male. So let’s not get to caught up in double standards. Those double standard have benefited men for a long time
I’m happy to agree that all of it is junk though

I absolutely see no benefit to swinging the pendulum too far just because of past injustice. That never makes things better. I believe double standards for race, gender, ethnicity will be the downfall of any progress trying to be made.
Agree it is all junk.

[dino7c]

Sportsnet posted a video titled "Neal knocks down Tkachuk with one punch". It's not just a McDavid thing because he is so wonderful they are straight up fanboys. Tkachuk should sue them for slander with that title lol.

[FlamesAddiction]

She is an amazing and accomplished sports figure and she will always have her place in history for that.

Those things do not necessarily make you a great media personality or broadcaster though. People go to school and train to be good at it, and for most people it doesn't just fall into their laps. Former athletes are given a lot of rope because they bring experience that others can't, but that doesn't automatically make them good or entertaining. It takes time, and that is why I had no problem forgiving her flaws for a long time, but it's been long enough now that I don't think she is going to get better. Wayne Gretzky, is by most metrics, the best player of all time. But could you imagine listening to him all the time if he was a broadcaster? I would stick my head in the oven.

It's actually kind of insulting to people who dedicated their adult lives to a media and broadcasting career to have Campbell in the position despite not being good at it. I understand why the door was opened for her, but it shouldn't keep you there. Take Leah Hextall as an example, I am sure being in a prominent hockey family helped open doors, but she also studied and trained to be good at it.

Campbell makes everything sound mundane. Even her constant McDavid worshipping sounds completely scripted. Sometimes I wonder if she is just trolling with it at this point because it is the same thing over and over.

[Buff]

Originally Posted by zamler

I've seen these exact same sexualized comments directed at male broadcasters in fact it's common. Person "A" is getting "aroused" they'll be (sex act) Connor or the ref etc. in the intermission. And so on. It's basically a meme at this point.

I am in no way condoning such comments.

I don't care who it's directed at. It is immature and poor taste.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Sportsnet posted a video titled "Neal knocks down Tkachuk with one punch". It's not just a McDavid thing because he is so wonderful they are straight up fanboys. Tkachuk should sue them for slander with that title lol.

Neal took himself out like a moron by punching tkachuks helmet. It was frickin hilarious.

Tkachuk was not incapacitated or 'knocked down' by any stretch, and he doesn't have the old man strength going for him.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by shadowlord

How many broadcasters are there that live in Calgary and can do a better than Cassie at colour commentator? I'm going to say that there's only Kelly Hrudey.

It might be a case where she's the best option available when Kelly's unavailable. Otherwise, Sportsnet would have to relocate someone from somewhere else, and they don't really see the Calgary TV market as a money-maker for them.

As with all people, as she does the job more and gets comfortable, she'll learn, adapt and get better at it.

This seems like a pretty poor excuse to accept mediocrity. If SN is committed to putting together a top notch product they should not be content with subpar local talent just because other people might cost more. Also it is one thing if SN is burying a subpar product in a regional market with smaller viewership but they are also putting this out there for national consumption.

As far as getting better with time it has already been identified that she has been developing into this role for almost 20 years. I'll give her credit that she has come a long way and even in terms of year over year improvement she is getting better. But either she is reaching her peak as the level of improvement seems to be diminishing or she is not getting the appropriate level of mentorship and training that would lead to reaching a higher plateau.

[Fan in Exile]

I think it's a worthy objective to have more female voices in sports broadcasting, and no doubt there are conscious and unconscious biases at play in some criticism of CCP. However, most of us agree she's objectively poor at her job and last night was the nadir. It becomes tokenism when you hold up one person as an example of how much you value diversity but that single example is a poor representative. I am confident that there are other women out there who could do a better job. Leah Hextall is one of them, and not just because she dared to speak frankly about the Oilers.

[flylock shox]

I'm not usually one to harp on - or even pay much attention to - broadcast commentary.



But as this season grinds along, I'm increasingly struck by how inane almost all of the commentary in hockey actually is. It's just mindless, banal jibber-jabber.



If I had my druthers, the in-game commentary would adopt a more UK soccer/darts approach, with much more minimalist in-game narration, and ideally a loopy Welshman to add a spot of colour when something remarkable happens. I really just need the lead commentator to tell me who has the puck, and maybe to inject a bit of emotion at the right time - but not much more than that.



Then, for the intermissions (which usually seem to have 2 segments between commercials before the next period starts) I'd have the first segment be purely a review of out of town scores and goal highlights (not the rush job they do of this right now), and the second segment be a review/analysis of the game we're actually watching (buying more time for the commenting panel to get their notes about the game together). I'd also limit the number of people on said panel to 4, as it gets a bit ridiculous otherwise.



By and large, anything more is really a waste of time.



Also, NHL players have the personality of toothpaste, so stop interviewing them altogether.

[bluejays]

This thread is such a virtue signal flex. Cassie was a great hockey player in the day and should be given a chance to be around hockey because of that. As plenty have pointed out this doesn’t mean she should be given a free pass at broadcasting if it’s not her forte. In between the intermissions she was actually good, a little scripted but she adjusted a bit as she got more comfortable. While I don’t think she’s as bad as those make her out to be, she’s clearly given a free pass and that’s unfortunate as there are very likely other personalities (female or minorities) who can do a better job. But I guess she’s a safer pick for the corporate types who make these decisions.

[taxbuster]

I've generally been a fan of Cassie. Frequently has had good insights, but I think it's tough to do that (for anyone!) day in and day out game after game. Coming up with a new way of saying things, or putting them in context is not easy when it's something that happens in every game.

Last night was over the top for me on the McDoofus fanboi/fangirl page and I eventually just muted the TV. Not her...it's mostly Sportsnet and I wish there were some way that fans in Calgary (especially) could make that well known. It's just as bad with Debrusk, so it clearly isn't just her. I get they appreciate his speed and artistry blah blah, but I don't want to hear about it every 15 seconds - and it doesn't matter who's doing the saying!!

I get that Sportsnet mostly wants to market to the huge Coiler fan base. But there are other teams and other players in the league and it's infuriating to them/us. Sportsnet needs to get a message on this loud and clear. Twitter, emails, letters, whatever.

[ben voyonsdonc]

I really don’t mind Cassie. There are a lot worse out there.

I’d like to see Cassie borrow a little from Kelly Hrudey and start to pull more from her personal and professional experience to bring colour to the broadcast. She’s a legit hockey authority and her experiences are a big part of that.

[DeluxeMoustache]

I personally find it bizarre. I think a lot of people here are wound way too tight

I watch the game and pay attention to the hockey first and foremost. Then I kind of hear the commentators as another voice in the room to which you can pay attention or not.

I don’t mind her talking about McDavid as he has a skill level that distinguishes him from any other player on the ice. I have heard her make some good observations that I agree with. But what she says doesn’t detract from the actual hockey I’m watching

I sure am reading a lot more of people saying things here that they probably wouldn’t say to someone’s face, as well as an inordinate amount of vitriol towards a large number of players on the team that they have chosen to support, and that play a game to entertain them. Maybe it’s because of the pandemic and the recent move towards polarization that people have to lash out when something isn’t their very favourite?

I like the idea of this thread. Sure there are better colour commentators. She is not the worst. I think this thread recognizes her as someone who is pretty accomplished and who can offer some insight, and counterbalances the belly aching going on.

Cassie can join the likes of Gaudreau, Monahan, Tkachuk, Rittich, Backlund, Ryan, Bennett, Dube, Lucic, Valimaki, etc. among those who aren’t good enough for everyone here. She is in good company.

I enjoy hockey and don’t mind Cassie, she sure doesn’t ruin the game for me. If she does for you, I hope you can find a way to work through that and whatever else you have going on.

[Blaster86]

My favourite parts about this thread is the mild, casual misogyny and self loathing of Flames fans realizing they now like Kevin Bieksa.