what i'm watching: the national

Since the CBC is back, I've been watching "The National" every night (or every night that I remember to - trying to get into a new habit).

For those of you who don't watch CBC, The National is an hour-long nightly news show. I love it. First, it's a pleasure to watch a full hour of visual news with minimal commercial interruption. I really like the in-depth features on various aspects of Canadian life. The reporting on the US is edged with a heavy dose of skepticism, which of course I appreciate. In general, I actually feel like I'm learning something.

On last night's broadcast, there were excerpts from a "Mansbridge One On One" interview with Don Cherry. Since we've been talking about Mr Cherry (here and here), I had to watch. I must say, Cherry looked like an idiot next to Mansbridge, and not because Mansbridge was playing the interview that way. Cherry just sounded ridiculous, defending fighting in hockey, declaring that "whatever the fans want" is how the game should be played. (A sure-fire way to ruin a game!)

After Cherry declared that all hockey fans love fights, Mansbridge sought to soften the statement into "most fans". Cherry wouldn't concede the point, insisting that all hockey fans want to see a lot of fighting. Of course, whenever you say "all" instead of "most," you're setting yourself up to be wrong.

I don't pretend to know a thing about hockey, but Cherry sounded exactly like the blustery, idiotic baseball announcers that ruin ESPN and FOX broadcasts on a regular basis. No wonder he needs the jackets and the loud mouth. If he didn't make himself into a show, someone might peek behind the curtain.

Before we left New York, a friend gave us this assignment: Answer the question, why is it called "The National"? I have no idea.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

not so fast

Not everyone thinks the Conservative government is a lock. Canada's opposition Conservative Party, which is set to bring down the minority Liberal government later this week, was hit by a new opinion poll on Monday that showed it was trailing in the country's most vote-rich region. The Leger Marketing poll for the Sun chain of newspapers put support for the Liberals in the powerful central province of Ontario at 43 percent compared with 31 percent for the Conservatives. Ontario, a Liberal stronghold at the federal level for the past 12 years, accounts for 106 of the 308 seats in House of Commons, and no party can hope to form a government without doing well there. . . . Prime Minister Paul Martin's Liberals have been badly hurt by a corruption scandal and Conservative leader Stephen Harper says the government must be defeated as soon as possible. The Leger figures, however, suggest there is no guarantee Harper can end 12 years of Liberal rule. Thanks, ALPF! I must say, I...
Read more

dipstick

So there won't be an election yet. Talk about a squeaker . Feel free to tell us how you feel about this, unless it's all been said already, then feel free not to. ALPF mustered his courage and sent more links, so I have some good commentary to post. I found this Macleans story on the Conservative party's reaction to Stronach's decision - and public reaction to that reaction - very interesting. Canadians seem almost universally turned off by the name-calling and sexist slurs. On the other hand, when a certain governor made his "girly men" pronouncement, his constituency howled with glee. (Which is not to say the rest of us weren't appalled.) The Macleans article also notes that not all the sexism came from politicians: Some of the most sexist characterizations of Stronach didn't come from her political adversaries, but from media. Montreal's La Presse newspaper ran a cartoon of Martin leaning out his car window to solicit a street-walking Stronach...
Read more