Note: This article was written in pieces over some time because it was a background project while I did other stuff and slacked off. It may seem jumbled and inconsistent, not one of my better pieces, but it’s finally done so enjoy.

I’ve been waiting to write a piece like this for some time now. I didn’t want to write it right after March Madness, because I felt there may have been a recency effect take hold due to The Score’s excellent NCAA coverage. So I waited. Now is definitely the time to strike, though, with all three stations covering the NBA playoffs, NHL Playoffs, and Major League Baseball, plus the upcoming NFL Draft. More than any time of year, right now is when you can get the best idea of a station’s total offering. So what I’ve aimed to do in what follows is develop a Johnny Drama-like scoring system for evaluating the sports stations in Canada like Drama did to evaluate talent agencies (you know, when anyone wanted him). I came up with 10 different categories to score the stations, and each category will be equally weighted to give a total score of 100. I did the equal weighting thing because obviously I would be partial to the station with the best basketball and least hockey coverage. The categories are all self-explanatory, and I just give a brief explanation for each score. The real bulk of the analysis, though, comes in the Likability section, which is my subjective score out of 10 for the network, with a great deal of detail. So consider this your handy guide to sports TV viewing in Canada…if you’ve got a particular thing you’re looking for, this is the place to come and find out which station gives it to you best. Please view responsibly.

The Sports Network (TSN)
Basketball Coverage: 5/10. Even though TSN had a fair number of Raptor games this year, they have had an extremely limited number of non-Raptor games. They’ve also cancelled their broadcast of a few other NBA games for NHL playoffs (understandable). Even when on-air, though, TSN suffers a great deal, as Rod Black is an idiot. The guy has no idea what he’s talking about and does an awful job attempting to set up Brian Heaney, who is admittedly knowledgeable. I also hate that TSN insists on having these two do pre-game and half-time pieces instead of letting Chuck do his thing.Baseball Coverage: 4/10. TSN is the only non-Rogers station to get a few Jays games this year (about a dozen at the end of the season), but I couldn’t find any dates for non-Jays games scheduled. They stick Pat Tabler with Jamie Campbell instead of Rance Mulliniks which was fine before, but not now that they only get a few games a year.

Football Coverage: 8/10. TSN lucks out in this category, being an affiliate of ESPN, as they get the Sunday and Monday night games. With no hockey on Sunday afternoons, I’d really like to see them push for some Canadian coverage of earlier Sunday games, but apparently this isn’t in the plans. They also get to borrow ESPN Sunday Countdown, which is no longer a ‘positive’ because of the loss of Michael Irvin. With all of these ESPN ties and coverage, you’d think they’d at least have one football analyst of their own, but you’d be wrong, unless you count CFL (I don’t).

Hockey Coverage: 10/10. Obviously, this is TSN’s bread and butter. Everything on TSN is centered around hockey; they have lots of original hockey programming, will pre-empt anything for hockey, and have most of the marquee hockey games (excluding Hockey Night in Canada) on lock. TSN has a deep bullpen of hockey analysts, plus the World Juniors. No way around a perfect score here.

Balance: 2.5/10. Obviously, this is the opposite of bread and butter for TSN…not sure what that opposite is, though. Anyways, TSN is all hockey, all the time. Even the original programming is largely hockey (That’s Hockey), and their ‘general’ original shows have a heavy hockey focus (The Reporters, Off The Record). Sportscentre also has about 40-45 minutes of hockey in a general hour, as well. TSN knows hockey, and hockey is Canada, but there’s something to be said for moderation and balance. They got a bonus point for having auto racing and fishing shows, which I guess is balance in some sense, but I’m not sure how successful the Saturday/Sunday 10am time slots are.

Highlight Show: 7/10. Sportscentre has improved a lot since they switched to the ESPN format, and the Plays of the Week and Honor Roll Night are reasons to watch all the time. At the same time, they focus way too much on hockey and ignore the Raptors altogether. I understand it’s a Canadian station, but most sports fans aren’t country-specific…American sports news is just as important as Canadian news. Honestly, I don’t care that Jason Bay went 1/5 if A-Rod hit 3 home runs and you’re not telling me.

Original Programming: 7.5/10. In This Corner with Russ Anber might be the best original program on TSN. I used to be a huge Off The Record fan, and Michael Landsberg is still the man for telling it like it is and bringing legitimate questions, but OTR has become more and more hockey-centered. Usually at least 2 of the 4 guests are from the hockey side of things, and discussion topics are always hockey themed. I don’t mean to sound like a broken record here, but TSN is really too focused on hockey, and it takes a lot away from its offerings. Bonus points here for getting PTI from ESPN, but it’s not an ‘original’ program so there’s that.

Personalities: 7/10. Michael Landsberg, Russ Anber, and Bryan Heaney have all been mentioned, and are great. The only other note is that Pierre Maguire and Bob Mackenzie are awful and remind me of the old men at the hockey arena who knew the stats of every 12 year old kid in the city. Also, Jay Onrait is the man. Seriously, the guy is gold. The main criticism here is that TSN has way too many on-air employees, making it difficult to get familiar with any of them and develop a like/dis-like relationship with them.

Amenities: 7/10. I like that they switched to the Sportscentre format, but they retained their own ticker which is kind of ugly. Their ticker is simple though, which I like. They get extra point for simplicity, and because I vividly remember the old yellow-orange and black TSN logo.

Likability: 5/10. I’m really not a TSN fan, in case you didn’t gather that. The hockey focus drives me absolutely insane-Sportscentre needs to be renamed Hockey For 45 Minutes and Flashing Scores For Other Sports…Centre. Too many people fighting for too little time, and they could do so much more with their resources and talent with regards to original programming and broadcasts.

Overall Score: 63/100.

The Score Television Network (The Score)
Basketball Coverage: 10/10. I hate to give a perfect score here, because with basketball I’m always left wanting more, but The Score does a fantastic job with its coverage. The Score Today/Tonight always has a sizable basketball section with knowledgeable announcing and a plethora of stats displayed, plus they throw in Court Cuts a few times a week. Adnan Virk takes on a good portion of the basketball coverage and does a fantastic job (with an assist to Tim Micallef’s sideline reporting). Their NCAA March Madness coverage was unbelievable as they covered it nearly 24/7, broadcasted a tonne of games, and even brought in special personalities to help with the analysis. Their NBA playoff coverage has been no less spectacular, with Raptors games (even ones not broadcast on their station) taking high priority with lengthy pre-game shows, great breakdown from Snaggletooth Sherman and the crew (including Bill Russell for Game 1…that guy is the definition of senile), and constant updates when they don’t have the game. Here’s hoping they stay committed to being the #1 basketball station in Canada.

Baseball Coverage: 3/10. They obviously hurt a lot here since Rogers owns the Jays and has the majority of the game rights, leaving The Score with none. They lose a point off of TSN simply because they don’t have any games, but their coverage (updates and highlight shows) is still decent.

Football Coverage: 7/10. Obviously hurt here by not being able to broadcast NFL games, The Score makes up for it big time with The Score Football, heavy preview packages and review packages each week, and the always entertaining football guy they have on, whose name I couldn’t find on their website (note: it’s Gabe Morency). Anyways, the guy was a stud last year with his picks, finishing well over .500 and providing some pretty decent insight into each game. The Score also tries really hard with football, broadcasting some CFL and even CIS games, which I think is the ultimate sign of effort.

Hockey Coverage: 6/10. Again, the lack of broadcasts hurts The Score a lot, but yet again their coverage in spite of it makes up a lot of ground for them. I’m not sure exactly how they fit adequate coverage of all these sports in…maybe because they don’t have many game rights, or because they ignore the stuff nobody really cares about (e.g. curling) in favor of the meat and potatoes.

Balance: 8/10. The Score is easily the most balanced of the three stations, as you can tell by the fairly streamlined scores in the previous four categories. Obviously hurt by a lack of actual games (save basketball), but this may be a blessing as it gives them 24 hours a day to balance the four major sports. They have original programming dedicated to all of them except baseball (and even then, they have frequent baseball related segments and interviews), their highlight shows are usually structured evenly across all sports, and they have specific personalities for each sport which goes a long way in fostering intelligent reporting . They also have WWE programming.

Highlight Show: 8.5/10. Not quite as high quality a production as SportsCentre, but the balance comes into play here as well. My favorite thing about The Score Today/Tonight is that all of their crew have unique voices and sayings so you always know who you’re listening to. They also skip some of the stuff other stations have (meaningless 30 second interviews with players saying clichés, or the “I’m Blake Murphy reporting from Vancouver for Boner Television” spots that kill 10 seconds every clip), which allows them to fit more actual reporting into their broadcasts. They are also helped by being a nearly 24 hour a day highlight station, as they are not restricted to one hour shows.

Original Programming: 8/10. Bonus points for the sheer number of original programs with between 10 and 20 depending on what you consider original. Cabbie on The Street, To The Point with Greg Sansone, Court Surfing, Branded, Hardcore Championship Fighting, Raw and SmackDown, a WWE review show, horse racing, Ultimate Poker Challenge, The Spin with Steve Kouleas, the list goes on. While maybe not as good as the shows on TSN have the potential to be, The Score keeps their shows very specific and targeted, usually meaning you’ll like or dislike the show every single time, making for pleasant viewing.

Personalities: 8/10. I really really like Adnan Virk. Seriously, if he wasn’t brown I’d have a man-crush on him. The Score employs a different strategy than the other stations, preferring young broadcasters to older ones; I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but I find all of their people to be highly enthusiastic and knowledgeable. As I mentioned before, keeping broadcasters specific to one sport, while impeding their growth as a broadcaster, makes for much more intelligent reporting. Cabbie is also the man.

Amenities: 6.5/10. The Score has somewhat of a low-quality look sometimes. I can’t really describe it, but it just doesn’t look as polished as the other stations. It may be the choice in colors, as they are dark except for the dull yellow they use. On the other hand, The Score has the best ticker of all three stations, mainly because it is permanent-a huge and underrated bonus. Also, their ticker stays within itself; like a good basketball player, it doesn’t try to do too much or dominate, or distract the focus from the star. What I mean is that the ticket is plain, small, and doesn’t have too much going on at once. There is the standard ticker, a scores-only ticker, and occasionally a single line ticker with breaking news.

Likability: 9/10. Clearly I love The Score. Their basketball coverage is top notch, they have great original programming, unbelievable balance, and a lot of strong broadcasters. Adnan Virk, Court Cuts, Cabbie on the Street, Court Surfing, WWE coverage, Snaggletooth Sherman…there is a lot to love about this station. It’s unfortunate that it only reaches 5.4 million homes in Canada because it’s on a more premium level of cable, because it really is the best of the three stations (unless you’re a hockey-only fan…you know who you are, you bastards).

Overall Score: 74/100.

Rogers’ Sportsnet (RSN)
Basketball Coverage: 7/10. RSN has the bulk of Raptor games that The Score doesn’t cover, but they butcher that opportunity by insisting that their own man, Jack Armstrong, do the color commentary instead of Leo “Orange” Rautins. Jack is not The Coach, he’s a schmuk. When you will be remembered for quotes like, “I think for the Raptors to win tonight they’re going to have to put more point on the board than the Pistons,” your legacy is probably in trouble. Rogers tries but is nothing special, no better than TSN except that they have greater quantity of basketball coverage.

Baseball Coverage: 9/10. Obviously Rogers has the market on the Jays cornered pretty well, owning the team and all. They broadcast over 120 games this season and the Campbell/Mulliniks duo is decent, although I liked Darren Fletcher a lot better when he spelled Rance for a weekend a few weeks back. RSN also grabs a lot of out of market games, so they’re given a 9 here for sheer quantity.

Football Coverage: 1/10. I don’t think I’ve ever heard football mentioned on RSN except for a quick recap every Monday. No football show, football-specific personnel, or broadcasts.

Hockey Coverage: 8/10. Pretty standard stuff here, again. RSN has a lot of personnel dedicated to hockey and they talk about it at length. They get a lot of out of market games and bring in out-of-company personnel for coverage of specific topics.

Balance: 7.5/10. They ignore football almost altogether, but they also incorporate some of the secondary sports (golf, racing, tennis) in their coverage. There’s a pretty even split between hockey, baseball, and basketball coverage when all three are going on at once, so big ups for that.

Highlight Show: 6/10. Sportsnet Connected is a bit of a joke compared to Sportscentre and Score Today/Tonight. None of their broadcasters stand out or are overly intelligent, and the set up is somewhat cartoony with the bright colors and attempt at a high-tech feel. The highlight shows have good balance but are nothing special at all, and the graphics after each highlight package (that show statistics) are poorly organized at times and focus on the wrong stats.

Original Programming: 4.5/10. I hardly consider their Sportsnet Connected approach to highlights an original program. Blue Jays connected and Hockeycentral are pretty weak offerings as well, and putting Bob McCown’s radio show on television is a terrible idea. They snake Best Damn somehow which is a bonus but that’s as far as it goes.

Personalities: 5/10. Sportsnet doesn’t focus on its personalities at all, as evidenced in the 10 minute search of their website that came up fruitless in finding relevant broadcaster information. I consider this a 5/10 because even though it’s not an advantage, they don’t have the drawback of dominant people that take away from the highlights or idiots like Bob Mackenzie. Minus one for Jack Armstrong.

Amenities: 7/10. They try really hard with the unique look, but their ticker is way too busy (three different sections all moving at different speeds with different news) that makes me want to have my second seizure. It’s tougher to follow than our NHL 07 PS3 games from this past Sunday with the game speed on blast.

Likability: 7/10. RSN does a lot of things well but nothing great. They have no distinct personalities, very few original shows, and focus almost entirely on broadcasting live events, which is a good thing given the nature of the other two stations.

Overall Score: 58/100.

The Winner: The Score. All three stations have their perks and downfalls, but The Score is easily my favorite and the best all-around station. TSN is great if you’re a hockey fan or like original programming. RSN is great if you just want the live events. The Score is great if you want the best balance and depth in your highlights and coverage. The three stations complement each other well, but I think The Score would be the consensus number one if it reached more homes (and Canadians didn’t have such a tunnel vision erection for hockey).