TSN gets both Game 7s, but CBC sitting pretty for round 2

As the first round of the two-month National Hockey League odyssey nears an end, it's still not clear whether CBC made the right call in choosing the Pittsburgh-Ottawa series over the Montreal-Washington one.

A glance at this week's TV listings sure points to a victory by TSN, mainly because it has ended up with both Game 7 showdowns. Those will produce huge ratings in what has been a pretty successful playoff run for TSN.

But CBC didn't fare too badly. While taking the Vancouver series was pretty much a no-brainer, the Canucks certainly haven't disappointed in the ratings. CBC's Pens-Sens broadcast Saturday night drew upwards of a million viewers more than TSN's carriage of the Habs-Caps game on Friday, though CBC pretty much had the hockey world to itself Saturday night. Still, an audience of almost 3 million is not to be dismissed lightly.

Whoever wins this round, there's no doubt that CBC has the upper hand in the next. It gets the first two picks, which means it could end up with both Canadian-based teams should the Habs survive Wednesday's game in Washington.

If not, the Corp. still gets Vancouver, which guarantees high ratings for at least one series. If the Habs should die on Wednesday, expect CBC to stick with Sidney Crosby and the Penguins. They did nothing in the first round to merit being dropped.

Here are the top-rated weekend sports events on English-language television, according to BBM Canada overnight calculations:

1. NHL, Penguins at Senators, Saturday, CBC: 2,948,000

2. NHL, Canucks at Kings, Sunday, CBC: 2,826,000

3. NHL, Kings at Canucks, Friday, CBC: 1,953,000

4. NHL, Canadiens at Capitals, Friday, TSN: 1,629,000

5. NHL, Avalanche at Sharks, Saturday, CBC: 1,359,000

6. NHL, Predators at Blackhawks, Saturday, TSN: 747,000*

7. NHL, Coyotes at Red Wings, Sunday, TSN: 715,000*

8. NHL, Bruins at Sabres, Friday, CBC: 593,000

9. NHL, Hockey Night In Canada pre-game, Saturday, CBC: 570,000

10. NHL, Red Wings at Coyotes, Friday, TSN: 521,000

11. Baseball, Blue Jays at Rays, Friday, Sportsnet: 452,000**

12.  Baseball, Blue Jays at Rays, Saturday, Sportsnet: 374,000

13. Baseball, Blue Jays at Rays, Sunday, Sportsnet: 279,000

14. NHL, Pre-game show, Sunday, TSN: 263,000

15. Figure skating, world synchronized championships, Saturday, CBC: 201,000

16. MLS, Seattle at Toronto FC, Saturday, CBC: 188,000

17. Auto racing, NASCAR Aaron's 499, Sunday, TSN2: 175,000*

18. NBA, Mavericks at Spurs, Sunday, TSN: 130,000

19. EPL, Sunderland at Hull, Saturday, Sportsnet: 110,000

20. NBA, Lakers at Thunder, Saturday, TSN: 106,000

* Viewers on U.S. channels not calculated

** 3 channels only

LOOKING SOUTH: There's nothing like a great playoff round to stir up interest, even south of the border. The NHL reports that Sunday's events produced the busiest day ever on NHL.com. The weekend was a good one for NBC, too. Its weekend games earned 1.3 overnight ratings, up 8 per cent over last year.

Rogers Sportsnet edges out TSN in the millionaires club

The first thought that comes to mind upon perusing the financial statements released last week by the CRTC, at least after ``I have no idea what any of this means," is: Wasn't there a recession last year?

You wouldn't think so based on the returns posted by Canada's TV business, in particular the specialty channels such as TSN, Rogers Sportsnet et al. 

There was a time -- not as long ago as you'd think -- when owning a newspaper  was called a licence to print money. It appears the specialty TV business now has that licence, thanks mostly to cable and satellite fees. (We are no longer printing money, if you haven't been watching the stock market.)

Both Sportsnet and TSN made more than $40 million in pre-tax profits between Sept. 1, 2008 and Aug. 31, 2009, according to the CRTC. And they weren't alone. 

A lot of sports channels made a lot of money, which is incredible considering that some have audiences that could fit into CBC's studios. TSN's French cousin RDS, which does draw big audiences, made $17 million. The NHL Network, which doesn't, posted a nice profit of $4.5 million. (TSN owns a chunk of the NHL channel, too.)

In fact, only a handful of sports channels put in more than they took out: GolTV, Fox Sports World Canada, Leafs TV all reported losses, though how some of these multi-level operations do their books might have something to do with that. Leafs TV reported a $1.7 million loss, but it's doubtful anyone will be passing the hat at MLSE headquarters.

The other interesting thing about this year's figures is that, for the first time in recorded history, TSN didn't lead the sporting pack. Sportsnet's $40.7 million was $400,000 more than TSN's, which might surprise a few people considering that poker dominates the Sportsnet lineup too many evenings of the year.

But Sportsnet has bucked the odds. Many believed its four-channel approach would never work and a regional network was doomed to failure. Obviously, the Sportsnet bosses have found a way to turn big profits.

Of course, there are those who argue that the CRTC has a big hand in all these profits, fostering a system that all but guarantees licence holders profits. 

A closer look at the numbers might indicate how Sportsnet did this. Its expenses were about $43 million less than TSN's. That's in part due to TSN getting hit with a lot of big deals in 2008 as well as the fact that Sportsnet didn't add many big-ticket items last year.

When those high-price TSN deals come off the books next year, expect TSN to reclaim first place. You can also expect just about everybody in the TV sports business to keep making money.

Does Don Cherry need a remedial reading course?

We know that Don Cherry can't pronounce names very well based on his frequent Hockey Night In Canada verbal manglings of just about anything beyond Smith or Jones. But it was always assumed that he could read. Based on Saturday's Coach's Corner rant, that assumption may be wrong.

Cherry was in high dudgeon, as always, about something I wrote last week. (I'm grateful that he didn't use my name, based on the last time he tried to pronounce it on air.) According to Cherry, I didn't know who Warren Rychel and Bob Boughner were and therefore wasn't worthy to write anything about hockey. Well, just to set the record straight, here's what I wrote:

... CBC dipped into mystery - or theatre of the absurd - thanks to Ron MacLean and Don Cherry. During the late-game intermission, MacLean asked Cherry if he was going to apologize to Warren Rychel and Bob Boughner, assuming viewers knew who they were.

"They beat them again ... and they played the clip before the game, " MacLean added with no further explanation. "So, poor Spitfires."

"Anyhow, " Cherry responded, "I didn't mean to do that. I'm not getting on to it again, but they lost again today. I don't know, Warren's ..."

And that was it. We'll assume at least Rychel and Boughner knew what they were talking about.

I know who Rychel and Boughner are, though I had no idea what he and MacLean were referring to.

My point, which I thought was obvious, was that he and MacLean assumed viewers had watched the previous edition of Coach's Corner and knew what they were talking about. MacLean usually attempts to translate these things for the average viewer, but this time didn't even make an effort.

It's all part of a disease that seems to afflict the denizens of HNIC: an assumption that everybody in the country is following the game as closely as them and they've all watched every minute of every broadcast.

That was in evidence during Saturday's Hotstove panel discussion, in which references were made to something happening in Edmonton and somebody named ``Sparky". If you'd been combing the Internet or reading Alberta newspapers, you might have known they were talking about the fact that the Oilers had axed their longtime training staff.

If not, you probably had no idea what they were talking about. Even if you did, this was hardly front-page news. Neither was the rather arcane discussion that followed, which focused on who might occupy executive chairs with some of the U.S. franchises.

Lighten up, fans: Landry's invitation was a joke

I was heading to the chiropractor's office this morning in yet another attempt to stave off the effects of advancing years when I heard The FAN 590's Don Landry announcing that he was about to make an apology. Now, Landry's more an Ali G type of interviewer than a Mike Wallace, so I had to wonder what in the world he had said.

Well, in his apology, Landry noted he'd received a fair number of complaints from listeners who thought he'd been a bit hard on Chicago sportswriter Joe Cowley. It was all a joke, Landry said.

I have to admit I was skeptical. Anytime somebody has to explain that they were joking usually means they weren't.

But after listening to the Tuesday interview, prompted by Cowley's articles claiming baseball is dead in Toronto, I'm with Landry. He hardly sounded angry when he invited Cowley to ``kiss my big old Canadian back bacon behind and maybe we can catch up some other time."

Unfortunately, Cowley didn't seem to take it as a joke and neither did many listeners. And there's the problem with such jokes: not everybody gets it.

Canadiens become Canada's team for a while

It's long been assumed that the Toronto Maple Leafs, for reasons apparently not connected to logic, are Canada's team.

They consistently draw the highest TV ratings, thanks mainly to a large Southern Ontario populace that bleeds blue and white regardless of the team's ineptitude. (Maybe the bleeding comes from being kicked in the wallet repeatedly for the better part of 40 years.)They also have a huge following across the country, as witnessed by the number of Leaf jerseys worn in Vancouver, Calgary and Ottawa.

But maybe, just maybe, the Leafs' hold on Canadian hockey fans is slipping. Maybe, just maybe, their legion of slavish fans are noticing that other Canadian teams are worthy of their loyalty.

The evidence lies in the returns from the first round of the National Hockey League playoffs, where the Montreal Canadiens have been drawing huge ratings. Saturday's game against the Washington Capitals drew an average of 2.1 million viewers to TSN, a strong but not an overwhelming number and one the Leafs have topped during the regular season. 

But another 1.3 million watched the game on French-language RDS -- an impressive  39 per cent of the Quebec French market.

This attention will probably pass if the Habs fail to come back in the series and Quebecois interest  dissipates. But with a Saturday night audience focused on the Canadiens, it's possible that some viewers will have noticed that there's at least one other team worth cheering for in this country.

On the other hand, things will probably return to normal the first time the Leafs score a pre-season goal.

 Here are the top weekend sports ratings on English-language television, according to BBM Canada overnight calculations:

1. NHL, Kings at Canucks, Saturday, CBC: 2,135,000

2. NHL, Canadiens at Capitals, Saturday, TSN: 2,100,000

3. NHL, Senators at Penguins, Friday, CBC: 1,912,000

4. NHL, Penguins at Senators, Sunday, CBC: 1,690,000

5. NHL, Red Wings at Coyotes, Friday, TSN: 877,000

6. NHL, Coyotes at Red Wings, Sunday, TSN: 829,000*

7. NHL, Predators at Blackhawks, Sunday, TSN: 815,000

8. NHL, Devils at Flyers, Sunday, TSN: 788,000

9. NHL, Avalanche at Sharks, Friday, CBC: 784,000

10. NHL, Bruins at Sabres, Saturday, CBC: 722,000*

11. NHL, Sharks at Avalanche, Sunday, CBC: 708,000

12. NHL, Flyers at Devils, Friday, TSN: 599,000

13. Curling, Grand Slam men's final, Sunday, CBC: 484,000

14. Baseball, Angels at Blue Jays, Sunday, Sportsnet: 481,000

15. Swimming, World synchronized championships, Saturday, CBC: 447,000

16. Curling, Grand Slam women's final, Saturday, CBC: 427,000

17. Baseball, Angels at Blue Jays, Saturday, Sportsnet: 354,000

18. Baseball, Angels at Blue Jays, Friday, Sportsnet: 324,000

19. PGA, Verizon Heritage final round, Sunday, Global-CBS: 292,000

* Viewers on NBC not calculated

OTHER STUFF: Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which basically runs the NBA's broadcast operations in Canada, has managed to find homes for all playoff games this week. But you'll need a pretty comprehensive cable/satellite package to see them all. Raptors NBA TV has nine games, with TSN2 airing eight this week. The Score has another six while TSN managed to find room for three. ...  If you don't have the NFL Network and really want to watch the NFL draft Thursday night, you're going to have to do some work. TSN2 will show the first hour at 7:30, before going to the Chicago-Nashville playoff game. Now here's where it gets really complicated. When the 7 p.m. NHL game between the Flyers and Devils ends (let's say around 10 p.m.), the Chicago-Nashville game will migrate to TSN and TSN2 will pick up what's left of the draft. TSN3, anyone? If you do have the NFL Network, it will have every excruciating moment. By the way, the next day's picks will be carried live on TSN2. ... When the Rogers Sportsnet has added a couple of ex-NHLers to its playoff editions of Hockeycentral. Recently fired Tampa Bay general manager Brian Lawton appears Tuesday (6 p.m.) while retired defenceman Marty McSorley will be on Wednesday's show. McSorley will also do other work during the Canucks-Kings series. ... If real sports news isn't enough for you, try out this ``report" on Saturday's mixed martial arts fiasco: http://etruesports.com/index.php?page=article&articleId=400 At least, I think it's not real.

Tiger's return a hit, but not a smashing one

Those were some pretty impressive ratings produced by the Return of the Prodigal Masters. BBM Canada confirmed Tuesday that the 1.8 million viewers who watched on CBS through Global on Sunday was indeed an all-time Masters ratings record.

But, frankly, considering the hype this is all a bit underwhelming.

Prior to Sunday, the biggest Masters audience in Canada came during the 2005 tournament: 1.6 million. But that was under the old set-top box system that didn't include people watching in groups and at bars and restaurants.

The new personal people meter system, considered far more accurate, is producing ratings about 20 per cent higher. Taking that into account, Sunday's finale might was a ratings success, but hardly the ratings smash that so many expected.

It produced solid ratings south of the border, too, but not a record.

The reason? There were no doubt plenty, but I'm sticking with my theory that a lot of women who normally watch golf were turned off by Tiger's off-course antics.

Speaking of impressive ratings, Monday's Blue Jays home opener averaged 766,000 viewers on Rogers Sportsnet. You can't compare that with last year's home opener -- it did 440,000 on only two channels under the old system -- but it's a promising number. It'll be interesting to see how that holds up if when the Jays start to falter.

Here are the top weekend sports ratings on English-language television, according to BBM Canada overnight calculations:

 1. NHL, Leafs-Habs/Sabres-Sens, Saturday, CBC: 2,298,000

2. Golf, Masters final round, Sunday, Global-CBS: 1,800,000

3. NHL, Flames at Canucks, Satuday, CBC: 1,370,000

4. Golf, Masters third round, Saturday, Global-CBS: 1,044,000

5. Curling, world championship men's final, Sunday, TSN: 607,000

6. Golf, Masters second round, Friday, TSN: 616,000

7. NHL, Hockey Night In Canada pre-game, Saturday, CBC: 538,000

8. Curling, world championship men's semifinal, Saturday, TSN: 477,000

9. Baseball, Jays at Orioles, Saturday, Sportsnet: 457,000

10. Baseball, Jays at Orioles, Sunday, Sportsnet: 425,000

11. Baseball, Jays at Orioles, Friday, Sportsnet: 324,000

12. NBA, Raptors at Hawks, Friday, TSN: 312,000

13. NBA, Bulls at Raptors, Sunday, TSN: 291,000

14. Horse racing, Grand National Steeplechase, Saturday, CBC: 237,000

15. Golf, Masters preview show, Saturday, TSN: 216,000

16. NHL, Capitals at Bruins, Sunday, TSN: 208,000*

* Viewers on NBC not calculated

CBC takes a gamble on Sens and Pens

You have to admire CBC's courage, if nothing else.

Under the National Hockey League's Canadian broadcast deal, CBC gets the first two picks of playoff series in the first two rounds with TSN choosing third. After that, they alternate selections.

CBC's first pick was a no-brainer, what with the Vancouver Canucks expected to have a long playoff run and the team having a pretty strong following, especially left of the Rockies. As for the second pick, nobody would have blamed CBC if it had chosen the Montreal Canadiens-Washington Capitals series over the Pittsburgh-Ottawa matchup.

After all, the Habs have a much bigger following than the Senators and CBC's been trying to mend fences in Quebec for a few years. But instead, the public network chose to go with the Sens-Pens and risk a torch-and-pitchfork revolt in La Belle Province.

Why?

CBC Sports head Scott Moore explains:

``It was a tough, tough choice. We have spent a lot of time cultivating Montreal Canadiens fans and the fact they're playing against Ovechkin made it potentially interesting. But we couldn't see walking away from opening with the Stanley Cup champions.

``We think it may be a more competitive and longer series and there's potential for an upset."

The deciding factor was Sidney Crosby, coming off his Olympic moment.

``One of the major reasons is that Sidney Crosby is the Gretzky of his time and we felt pretty strongly that this is a big year for him," Moore said. ``His stock may never be higher and we felt he was the guy to follow."

There were other factors at play. In Quebec, CBC has to split its audience with RDS, the network of choice for many bilingual hockey fans.

That's a pretty big gamble for CBC. I'm not sure Crosby has enough drawing power to make up the difference in the teams' fan base. Ottawa has the smallest legion of fans among the Canadian teams and Montreal's is right up there with the Leafs and Canucks. 

Either way, TSN is happy. It gets a built-in audience with the Habs and should enjoy some pretty solid ratings in the first round. But that will probably be it for TSN's playoff Canadian content since it's unlikely all three will make it past the first round.

In addition to the two aforementioned series, CBC will also have San Jose-Colorado and Buffalo-Boston.  Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson will call the Vancouver-Los Angeles series while Bob Cole and Greg Millen get Ottawa-Pittsburgh. Dean Brown and Garry Galley will handle the Buffalo-Boston matchup with Mark Lee and Kevin Weekes doing the San Jose-Colorado series.

TSN has the Devils-Flyers, Blackhawks-Predators and Coyotes-Red Wings series in addition to the Habs and Caps. Gord Miller and Pierre McGuire will take the Montreal series while Chris Cuthbert and Ray Ferraro will do most of the New Jersey-Philadelphia and Chicago-Nashville series with help from Miller and McGuire.

TSN will pick up most of the Phoenix-Detroit series from Versus.

Three of the first-round games are scheduled for TSN2 because of conflicts, though obviously none of Montreal's games will end up on the secondary channel.

VIRK ON THE MOVE: Adnan Virk, who left The Score last year to join MLSE's broadcast team is moving again. He's been hired as an anchor for ESPN. He heads to ESPN's Connecticut headquarters on May 1. ... Rogers Sportsnet's Sam Cosentino had some troubles judging fly balls (The George Bell Syndrome) but otherwise did a commendable job handling the Blue Jays play-by-play on the weekend. He was filling in for Buck Martinez, who has TBS commitments that conflict with his Jays work about a dozen times this year.

Nike might want to rethink that Tiger ad

If a good ad is one that grabs attention and stirs up controversy, the Nike commercial featuring Tiger Woods and the voice of the late Earl Woods is a stroke of genius.

On the other hand, if Nike thinks this will make the public think nice thoughts about its client and rush out to buy its products, the equipment giant is sadly mistaken. People will be talking about this ad, but they may be saying things that Nike and Tiger don't want to hear.

This is one creepy ad and not just because it's voiced by a dead man, whose words were obviously taken out of context. What it says is that Tiger Woods and Nike have no problem exploiting the golfer's late father to sell products and attempt to rehabilitate his image. And what it says about Tiger's sincerity in turning his life around isn't  clear.

The creepiest ad on TV ever was the one that used Martin Luther King's ``I have a dream" speech to push products. The Nike Tiger ad is easily as tasteless considering the events that preceded it.

As many missteps as the Tiger camp made following his public de-pantsing on that Florida driveway last fall, this one may be the worst.

Unless, of course, if he wins the Masters. Then, all will be forgotten and forgiven.

MASTERING AN APP: TSN has a winner in its Masters app for iPhones, iPads and IPod touch units. The  app, which features high-resolution live video of Masters action,  was first among free sports downloads on iTunes and in the top 10 among all free offerings.

The quality of the video and sound are incredible and make you wonder where this whole mobile thing is going.

This could be the start of something new and different for TSN. It experimented with a one-day live-video app for NHL trade deadline day and got 60,000 downloads. This one should surpass that, partly because it's good for four days and has more than talking heads.

It could hit big numbers Friday when the TSN app, along with the TSN website, shows both Mike Weir and Tiger Woods on the back nine.

``We're trying to gauge how much interest there is before we decide where to go with this," said TSN president Phil King. ``We're experimenting."

 If interest is high enough, it's possible TSN may add more apps and eventually start charging for them. 

King said TSN is looking at a Canadian Football League app to stream live games, as well as the world junior hockey championships and other sports offerings.

OTHER STUFF:  Thanks to the public broadcaster, The Score is getting in on the World Cup. The CBC and The Score announced a partnership Thursday that will give the latter access to extended highlights from the big soccer event, along with other content. The Score will start with a preview of the tournament, nightly highlight show and features. In addition, Cabral Richards will file his unique reports from South Africa, though it's anybody's guess how the locals and big-name soccer guys will react to his hands-on approach.  ... TSN has a couple of gripping broadcasts coming up. First, is the NHL draft lottery on Tuesday (8 p.m.) in which NHL exec Bill Daly draws lots (or is it jellybeans?) to decide which bad team gets first choice among the graduating juniors. It's also being carried live on Versus in the U.S. One thing is certain in this hockey-mad country: It will draw a good audience.  ... On May 2, TSN will carry the first two rounds of the Canadian Football League draft. That marks the third time the draft has been televised live if you include that early episode of The Simpsons. ... Best laugh of the day comes from www.eTrueSports.com, which spun this tale in its Sports Shorts: Calls emanating from homes carrying ESPN2 on their cable systems swamped narcolepsy prevention hotlines across the U.S. on Wednesday night. ESPN says no evidence to suggest network's new announcing team of Rick Sutcliffe and Nomar Garciaparra played any role in ``unfortunate uptick." ... CTV's W-5 has a heart-warming report Saturday (7 p.m.) on how a hockey program is changing lives in Toronto's tough Jane-Finch neighbourhood. If you can tear yourself away from the Leafs' latest meaningless game, it's worth a look.

A little sanity on Tiger's drawing power, please

There have been all kinds of wild predictions regarding the size of the audience that will be generated by Tiger Woods' return to the golf course Thursday.

There have been claims from network types that it could approach that of the Obama inauguration. Donald Trump even went as far as predicting Super Bowl numbers for Tiger's return, though Trump's knowledge of TV ratings isn't verifiable. Considering that each of the the past two Super Bowls have produced about 100 million viewers in the U.S., that's a tall order indeed.

While predicting ratings is a mug's game, I'm going to risk being a mug and predicting they won't be anywhere near the Super Bowl or the 37.8 million Americans who watched Obama become president.

The Masters record, set in 1997, is 20 million American viewers. Even if Tiger is in the final pairing Sunday, it's hard to imagine double that audience tuning in.

While there's a great curiosity factor here, you have to wonder just how many women will care to watch the Great Philanderer proving that infidelity didn't hurt his performance on the course. And you do have to remember that this is golf, a marathon sport that pales in popularity compared with the NFL and even presidential ceremonies.

As for the ratings we already know about, here are the most-watched sports programs on English-language television over the Easter weekend according to BBM Canada overnight calculations. Noticeably low on the list is the NCAA basketball tournament, which may or may not be an indication of its popularity.

We do know that 115,000 people watched Monday's final on The Score and another 67,000 147,000 on the Sun TV/CBS simulcast in the Toronto area.  The Score says 91 per cent of all Canadian viewers watched either its channel or the Sun TV simulcast, which means the total audience was 288,000. 

How The Score knows this is a bit of a mystery. We do know, however, that ratings on CBS in the U.S. were up 34 per cent over last year  and among the highest ever.

1. NHL, Bruins-Leafs/Sabres-Habs, Saturday, CBC: 1,694,000

2. NHL, Canadiens at Flyers, Friday, TSN: 869,000

3. NHL, Oilers at Coyotes, Saturday, CBC: 777,000

4. NHL, Canucks at Kings, Friday, Sportsnet Pacific, 614,000*

5. NHL, Hockey Night In Canada pre-game, Saturday, CBC: 554,000

6.  Baseball, Blue Jays at Rangers, Monday, Sportsnet: 489,000

7. NHL, Flames at Avalanche, Friday, Sportsnet West: 479,000*

8. NHL, Flames at Blackhawks, Sunday, Sportsnet West: 479,000*

9. NHL, Senators at Islanders, Saturday, CBC: 408,000

10. Baseball, Yankees at Red Sox, Sunday, Sportsnet: 371,000

11. NHL, Red Wings at Flyers, Sunday, TSN: 357,000**

PGA, Houston Open final round, Sunday, Global: 353,000

12. NBA, Warriors at Raptors, Sunday, TSN: 331,000

13. NCAA, Duke vs. Butler, Monday, Score/SunTV: 262,000

14. NBA, Raptors at 76ers, Saturday, TSN: 240,000

15. Auto racing, NASCAR Nationwide, Saturday, TSN: 221,000

16. PGA, Houston Open third round, Saturday, Global: 204,000

* One channel only

** Viewers on NBC not calculated

CBS promises business as usual for Tiger's return

So now we know.

CBS Sports head Sean McManus told reporters Monday that Tiger Woods will be a big part of his network's coverage of the Masters when it takes over on Saturday.

``Our job is to cover what happens in the golf tournament," McManus said in a conference call with reporters. ``This year, Tiger's story is a major factor in the golf tournament and we are going to cover it fully."

Stop the presses: There's a golf tournament and a network is going to focus on Tiger Woods. How anyone will be able to differentiate between this Masters and every other PGA tournament involving Tiger Woods was not explained.

We're assuming that CBS has already dusted off the Tigercam that has been sitting idle since he last appeared on the network club in hand.

As for what the CBS announcers and heavy breathers will say about Tiger is another matter according to McManus. He noted that none has been told what to say or what not to say regarding Tiger's off-course activities.

Geez, imagine that: Jim Nantz, unfettered and devoid of the usual shackles, interrupting the tinkling piano to denounce Tiger for his infidelities, his boorish on-course behaviour and his inability to negotiate a driveway. Yeah, like that's going to happen anywhere but in one of McManus' nightmares.

His worst nightmare, of course, is Tiger failing to make the cut -- a distinct possibility considering how long he's been away. Even if that happens, you can be sure there will be plenty of time spent on how Tiger missed the cut.

Meanwhile, ESPN and TSN are licking their chops at a guaranteed ratings bonanza Thursday and Friday.