Thursday, October 21, 2010

Anti-Homers

I will not talk about tonight's loss to the Devils. No Point. Pricey played well, everyone else,except for a select few... not so much.
I do want to write about so called "homer broadcasts". You know what I mean. Leafs TV, Sportsnet Vancouver,Calgary, Edmonton. CSN,NBC, WGNT, WGN. All of these broadcasters support their teams and so do their announcers. None of their players do any wrong. Camera's concentrate on their teams. It's fine, if you're a fan, and, I'm not against it, in any way.

I've had the priviledge of enjoying the free NHL Center Ice preview over the last 3 weeks, and let me tell you, I have enjoyed it. Saw many Canucks,Hawks,Oilers,Capitals,Flames and Predators games, and learned all about the players. Close up shots of them, the coaches, it's like the opposing team did not exist.

A lot of people would say, "what homers these guys are". But, to tell you the truth, as a trilingual "allophone" living in Quebec, I wish we had such a homer broadcast."But you have RDS!" are comments I keep hearing and that bothers me. Yes, we have RDS. Yes, I get to see all the Habs games on TV and Yes, I'm lucky for that, but RDS is FAR from being a "homer broadcast". RDS is the furthest thing from being a HABS homer, then it is from being a francophone homer.

For example, tonight we saw a pre game interview with our star player Maxime Lapierre and a pre AND post game interview with Martin Brodeur. Quite honestly, if you're supposed to be the Habs "homers", why do you not support the Habs? When we play the Penguins, HABS fans get RDS interviews with Pascal Dupuis and MA Fleury. WHY do we care? Why not interview the stars like, let me see..ummm, Sidney Crosby? Geno Malkin? We play the Flyers, there's Daniel Briere,Ian Laperierre,Claude Giroux and Martin Byron (in the past).Where's Carter? Richards?  Should I go on? You get the picture right? Why can't it ever be about the HABS? ALL the guys on the roster, win or lose. Why can't we hear more about the guys that are playing well on the team, rather than trying to move the francophone players up in lines? Why wasn't there a comment about the officiating tonight? From what I know, broadcasters can't get fined. Is it because you are too busy hearing your own voices and talking to each other,that you're not actually watching the game? Did I mention the new wave Lightning? Lecavalier, St Louis, Gagne, Boucher....we're done. I will not watch a Habs vs Lightning game again. RDS is intolerable.

Genius comment ,and I mean that sarcastically, by Benoit Brunet tonight was to move Andrei Kostitsyn from Plekanec and Cammalleri and insert Benoit Pouliot. My question is WHY??? So Andrei could falter and Pleky can make Pou look good? News flash, even Pleky can't make Pouliot look good right now. So that you could go on and criticize Kostitsyn, because you've had no reason to do so this season so far? No one but Price showed up tonight, well, Pleky, AK46 and Lars Eller showed signs of working real hard, but my point is why move AK46? 

I would like, for once,to watch a Habs game on TV, and the broadcasters are pro Canadiens. Where they make positive comments about ALL the players rather than a select three. Where they actually say "what is Auger doing? How did he not see that penalty?" or "that is not a penalty, why not call Brodeur for diving".

As an allophone die hard Habs fan, I would like it, if for once, the broadcast I'm watching supports the Montreal Canadiens. Not just the Francophones, not the francophones on the opposing teams, but MY CANADIENS. JUST FOR ONCE.

There is no relief. We have Toronto's Sports Network (TSN), well, no explanation necessary. CBC, well, with Milbury and Don Cherry...anti Habs, AGAIN no explanation needed. There is no justice for a pure Habs fan in Quebec.

My complaint is,if you haven't figured it out,is that as an anglo Habs fan born and raised in Quebec, I have yet to watch a game where the broadcasters will support the team as a whole, and get my fill of a  HOMER Habs broadcast.