mike in boston

what happened?

Florida Panthers exec appears to post vulgar rant on X, calling Canada 51st state Douglas Cifu, a high-ranking Florida Panthers executive, made several disturbing comments on social media after beating the Maple Leafs.

This guy's previous hits include:

"I’d call your pathetic school district and let them know what a sad creepy loser you are but I’m sure you’re special needs and part of a protected class."

Good work by the NHL for having some standards.

torontosun.com/sports/hocke...

States with legalized sports gambling have seen a 28% rise in likelihood of bankruptcy filings.

But sure, let's turn celebrities losing free money into entertainment, sponsored by betting firms.

He could also be a good fit at TSN, since they desperately need a Jays journalist, and Arash is obviously good in front of the camera.

He would add a lot to their baseball coverage but ... this would mean committing to covering a local team they don't have rights for.

Despite having verticals for many Canadian cities, The Athletic doesn't cover the CFL anymore. They also have a vacancy for their Jays job.

Proposal: hire Arash Madani to cover both beats. It's been a while since he worked as a writer but he certainly has plenty of opinions. I would read his stuff.

Imagine referring to your employees as "components" and thinking you're the good guys.

Star Sports. This is so much better.

Globe sports: 12 stories above above the fold. 12 game stories. 0 opinion pieces.

Opinion: I really miss weekend sports reading.

The Serena/Tempo news is huge. It's great that someone with that kind of international presence wants to be associated with this team.

Opinion: their logo is not memorable, despite attempts to explain it. There is still time though. The Raptors claw basketball is iconic but wasn't used until 2015.

The good: talking about how you never get over the games you lost, even at his level of success.

The bad: Patrick, Patrick, Patrick, Patrick, Patrick, Patrick ...

A weakened Canadian dollar will reduce travel budgets, which were already bad.

I'm trying to find a tariff angle for sports media. Most of sports media runs on labour rather than parts.

I suppose the cost of sports streaming could go up. Other than that, does a trade war with Trump change anything about how our industry conducts its business?

Where would investigative sports journalism be without The Athletic? They are the gold standard in the marketplace.

Budget cuts man.

Didn't Hayes used to wear those too? I seem to remember someone on the TSN side looking goofy af with those corded buds.

Opinion: The Athletic benefits from the NYT brand. NYT benefits from The Athletic's experts + reach. This is a textbook case of mutual beneficial.

Treating Athletic writers as 2nd class citizens within the organization stinks.

If NYT can't afford to pay everyone then why buy such a large outlet?

The sports section has long been derided as the "toy department" by some folks who work in news.

The NYT's decision to have a 2-tier system for how it compensates its employees reinforces this notion.

The Athletic have been providing last place Jays coverage for years. With the news that their sole local baseball reporter is leaving I really hope they have a plan for '25.

Opinion: hire Keegan Matheson & give him the mandate of holding this front office accountable.

More thoughts on this to come

Discussing this topic with colleagues, and was reminded that Coach’s Corner was once a part of the national sports conversation.

I am so thankful we no longer have to listen to casual racism once a week under the guise of hockey analysis.

Creating organic patrimony is exceedingly difficult.

Outside of the Grey Cup we have no other annual sports events that draw people together as Canadians.

It's WJC season. The 2023 Gold medal game was a massive TV draw (4.8M) for TSN, with ratings plummeting in 2024 after Canada lost early in the tournament.

With Bell's sports media strategy in flux, this event is a shining example of TSN's success as a network.

Keith Pelley, President & CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Podcast Episode · Up Close with Stephen Brunt · 2024-12-17 · 48m

Pelley is a huge figure in Canadian sports media and this has the potential to be incredibly interesting. I'll have some more stuff to say about this episode in a bit.

podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/k...

Quick thought on the new Brunt podcast.

He had a similar series at Sportsnet which I found to be underwhelming.

I really hope he’s able to leverage his current independence to tell journalistically enriching stories

Quick thought on the new Brunt podcast.

He had a similar series at Sportsnet which I found to be underwhelming.

I really hope he’s able to leverage his current independence to tell journalistically enriching stories.

The Globe is hiring an assistant sports editor. Come work with me (and my far more talented colleagues)!
can242.dayforcehcm.com/CandidatePor...

The radio book is closed on 2024. TSN has a stranglehold on one time slot but everything else is adrift.

1 big question I’ll be watching in 2025 is how many radio shows retain their expensive in-studio setups versus going 100% remote.

It’s the last major savings available for Rogers/Bell.

2) Bob helped build up other personalities at SN

It's hard to quantify but the national exposure of being on PTS boosted folks like Friedman, Brunt, Reid, etc. Who does that now?

PTS also helped the morning show. It's not surprising that the AM timeslot has been complete chaos since Bob was fired.

1) Bob would have been great during the pandemic.

He's an expert at remote work (remember the Vegas residency?) and he's had experience working though national emergencies (like 9/11). Plus, he can talk sports without any games being played.

*killed by a drunk driver.

As we watch 590 spin its tires against Overdrive, it's interesting to think what would have happened if they had stuck it out with Bob McCown for one last contract instead of paying him to go away 5 years ago.

I have a few thoughts about this.

Opinion: this is not good content.

x.com/FAN590/statu...