Advice to Bettman: Stay away from TV cameras

There are always many questions surrounding Gary Bettman's annual appearance during Hockey Night In Canada's playoff coverage. For example, there was the time he kept trying to grab interviewer Ron MacLean's hand, which made you wonder if he was trying to get his attention or steal his watch.

But the one that mystifies most is: Why does he do it?

Why does the NHL commissioner, who has all the television skills of an end table, continue to do interviews that serve only to make him look petulant, defensive, condescending and more like a cornered animal than a league executive?

Wednesday night's second-intermission session with Ron MacLean was yet another example of Bettman doing himself no favours. Now, MacLean will never be confused with Edward R. Murrow or Peter Mansbridge or even Larry King. And he certainly didn't do himself any good by opening the segment by crooning ``Happy Birthday" to the NHL boss. (At times, HNIC looks more like the theatre of the absurd than a hockey broadcast.)

But once he stopped singing, MacLean did ask some relevant questions and Bettman, as usual, didn't handle them very well. Still, he didn't look too bad until he started challenging MacLean's entire line of questioning on the issues of finances and franchise values.

"What I'm amazed, now that we've run the gamut of this, we've had a great season, hockey has been terrific, these playoffs are great, we're seeing a wonderful game — and you just want to tick off franchise after franchise?" he said. "What inside of you compels you to want to go in that direction? Because I don't believe the viewers are really that interested in the franchise status."

MacLean said he was representing the players' interests, not mentioning that maybe he should be representing the fans' concerns, but stayed on topic. Bettman then asked him where he got his information, accusing him of ``making this up."

MacLean didn't exactly sound credible when he said he got most of his information from Forbes magazine and the Sports Business Journal, but he did ask some tough questions and certainly got a reaction from his subject.

But the subject may want to consider lying low for a while, or at least learning how to handle a TV interview.

BIG NUMBERS: Wednesday's game drew 2.96 million viewers to CBC, an impressive audience even in this age of big sports ratings. That's about a million more than CBC drew last year, though the new ratings system has consistently produced much larger numbers. In the U.S., Versus followed Monday's 5.89-million audience on NBC by drawing 3.6 million viewers Wednesday. That was the largest hockey audience on a cable channel in eight years. NBC's 5.1 million average over two games is the highest in 13 years. So answer this: Why aren't all the final games on NBC? It seems odd to disrupt a pretty good run by sending viewers to Versus and losing 1.5 million of them in the process.

NBC bails on hockey, producing a good-news weekend for Canada

A busy weekend produces a lot of stuff not quite ready for prime-time publication on dead trees. Thank heaven for the web.

GOOD STUFF:  NBC's commitment to The Players Championship meant that the NHL got reduced exposure on one of the biggest weekends of the season. But the good news was that Canadians didn't have to suffer through afternoon hockey games this weekend and got our constitutionally protected Saturday night game. (Okay, there's nothing in the constitution about hockey, but maybe there should be something to protect us from being forced indoors on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. ...  Kudos to Toronto 640's Greg Brady, whose tribute to late Detroit Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell last week touched all the bases. It was personal without being self-indulgent and a lot more in-depth that most radio stuff. ... Love that Star Trek TV screen on the Hockey Night In Canada pre-game show and love the way Kelly Hrudey breaks down plays, like he did Saturday with an assessment of Pittsburgh's power play. ... Don Cherry was bang on Saturday in decrying the amount of diving going on in the Stanley Cup playoffs. He called Friday's dive-filled Vancouver-Chicago game, ``a disgrace." ... Great work by HNIC to catch Pittsburgh defenceman Hal Gill in a suit after suffering a mysterious leg injury.

BAD STUFF: During Sportsnet Connected on Saturday, a cheesy-looking commercial for something called Pardon Services Canada appeared on the screen, promising help in erasing criminal records. Just who do they think is watching Sportsnet? ... Just what the NHL needed: another summer of Phoenix Coyotes speculation and skeleton-uncovering. ... Cherry reminded viewers not once, but twice, Saturday night that he's a bit of a hockey genius. If you're really a genius, do you have to remind people that often? While we're at it, who is that ``Lalongo" guy he keeps talking about? Is he a friend of ``Havlak?"

SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: Not that there’s a dearth of hockey on television, but if you’re looking for hockey with a little difference, TVO is offering a documentary called Blood, Sweat and Beers (Wednesday, 10 p.m.) It provides a fascinating look at the Bentley (Alta.) Generals and their drive for the Allan Cup under coach Brian Sutter.

TIME OUT: Vacation time calls, which means no blog until next month, unless that Icelandic volcano messes up my plans. See you then.

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.

Tiger had the interview by the tail

One of the many reasons why Tiger Woods has become the world's most dominant golfer is control. On the golf course, the man is always in control of the situation.

So it's not surprising that in his first interview since his fall from grace, he maintained that control the same way he controls a wedge from 60 yards.

As explained by Kelly Tilghman,  the Golf Channel announcer anointed to be Tiger's conduit prior to his return to golf next month, there were no constraints on her regarding which questions she could ask and what territory she could cover. ``The only constraints were time," Tilghman told Rich Eisen Lerner after her five-minute interview with Woods.

Well, that's like George W. Bush agreeing to answer any and all questions on the invasion of Iraq -- at least, any and all questions you can ask in a minute.

Tilghman got a lot out of Woods and asked a lot of tough questions considering the constraints, but at no point did it appear that Tiger was surprised by any of her questions or caught off guard. He mouth an awful lot of recovery-talk phrases and did a whole lot of smiling for a guy who's been as Tilghman said ``a punch line" for the last few months.

What was obvious was that he was in control of the situation.

He answered questions, though not really.

On the reasons behind his serial infidelities (``I quit meditating, I quite being a Buddhist.") On what happened the night he crashed his car (``It's all in the police report.") As for how he and his wife Elin are dealing with the situation, ``we're working on it."

Even when Tilghman asked him how his late father would have dealt with him, Tiger barely blinked when he replied, ``I can't say it on air. He would have been very direct." It sounded like a well-rehearsed answer.

It was convincing for at least one person. Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee said he thought Tiger was sincere. ``I thought his eyes had water in them," he said. 

Given what she had to work with, Tilghman did about as well as could be expected. There's not much you can do in five minutes.

And you got the feeling that's the way Tiger wanted it.

No Olympic hangover for curling

When American athletes land in Canada, they inevitably ask the same questions: Who eats ketchup-flavoured potato chips and why is there so much curling on TV?

The first answer will forever remain a mystery, but a look at the weekend ratings might answer the latter question. Even in the post-Olympic funk, with Canada's gold medal champions sitting out, the Brier even managed to beat out Hockey Night In Canada's late game. Sure, it was a 10 p.m. start in the East, but still the Canadiens and Kings aren't exactly bottom feeders.

What's more amazing is that curling drew an average audience of 846,000 on Sunday night -- up against the Oscars. Then again, the curlers put on a  better show with fewer lame jokes and no bad dance routines.

While curling is building on its success from Vancouver, the NHL isn't in the U.S. Sunday's Detroit-Chicago game, as entertaining a game as the NHL serves up these days, score a 1.2 rating. That's better than the 1.0 rating NBC recorded a year ago, but down from the NHL's last pre-Olympic game on NBC.

None of those are great numbers, though the weekend NCAA basketball games didn't produce any better for CBS.

1. NHL, Maple Leafs at Senators, Saturday, CBC: 1,812,000

2. Curling, Brier evening draw, Sunday, TSN: 846,000

3. NHL, Canadiens at Kings, Saturday, CBC: 793,000

4. Curling, afternoon draw, Saturday, TSN: 773,000

5. Curling, evening draw, Saturday, TSN: 705,000

6. NHL, Hockey Night In Canada pre-game show, Saturday, CBC: 695,000

7. Curling, morning draw, Sunday, TSN: 599,000

8. Curling, afternoon draw, Sunday, TSN: 597,000

9. NHL, Maple Leafs at Flyers, Sunday, Sportsnet: 478,000*

10. PGA, Honda Classic, Sunday, Global: 325,000

11. NBA, Raptors at Knicks, Friday, TSN: 322,000

12. NASCAR, Kobalt 500, Sunday, TSN2: 312,000**

13.  NBA, 76ers at Raptors, Sunday, CBC: 218,000

* Ontario only

** Viewers on Fox not calculated.

TSN holds on to (yawn) trade deadline title

The annual NHL trade deadline day marathon produced some pretty impressive ratings for both TSN and Rogers Sportsnet on Wednesday, even though there were few trades of consequence. Of course, that's unless you consider the trading of Curtis McElhinney to be one of the most significant deals in NHL history. I guess it was to the McElhinney family.

Regardless, TSN averaged 184,000 viewers over 10 hours of pretty uncompelling programming. That's just about the number of people who watched last year, when things were a tad more interesting. Sportsnet's audience actually increased 19 per cent, to 85,000.

The online numbers weren't so encouraging. TSN saw its page view total drop 20 per cent to 12.8 million while Sportsnet's dived more than one-third to 1.7 million. Why such a drop? Nobody's really sure, but you might want to look at Twitter. Both channels had hockey guys tweeting away all day and you have to wonder how many people followed them rather than going to the websites.

Sportsnet had a good day with web streaming, seeing its streams more than double to 200,000. Meanwhile, TSN was thrilled with its mobile success as page views doubled to 500,000.

While 10 hours may be a bit of overkill, the fact is that trade deadline day continues to produce for the two sports channels. Unless the dearth of big deals is a trend, don't expect any reduction in coverage.

ROGERS KEEPS GROWING: The sports television gold rush continued this week with Rogers being granted a licence  for a digital sports channel. All Rogers will say at this point is that the channel will air NHL and MLB games, European soccer and other pro sports. There's no indication when it will launch. While the channel might make a good home for its bucketload of English Premier soccer games, don't count on this being available anytime soon. There are a lot more licences floating around than there are channels. Rogers also has a baseball channel licence in its briefcase, one that's beginning to look a little mouldy. There's also a licence for a tennis channel in somebody's hands and the last time I checked there was no Canadian tennis channel. ... Boy, that didn't take long. When TSN2 launched 19 months ago it was basically a rerun channel, which isn't exactly a hot commodity in the world of live sports. But  TSN2  is now the most-watched digital channel in the country. It ranks 21st overall among all specialty channels. Now that the CRTC regulations have been loosened and TSN2 can run more live sports, expect those numbers to improve even more. ...  The Basketball Jones web offering is now officially part of The Score. The webcast will be carried across all Score digital platforms, including its Hardcore Sports satellite channel. 

Trade DEADline day lives up to name

And the winner of the 2010 Trade Deadline Showdown is ... The Score.

That's because The Score chose the perfect time to wave the white flag and pull out of the annual television madness created by the NHL's trade deadline day. It was, in the words of TSN host James Duthie, the worst trade deadline day in six years as a parade of no-names crossed the screen for more than 10 hours on TSN and Rogers Sportsnet.

Sportsnet's Daren Millard had a completely different take on matters, telling viewers near the merciful end that, ``You may have witnessed an NHL record for the most activity at an NHL deadline." In terms of the number of deals, it was indeed busy. In terms of names that anyone would care about, Duthie was more accurate.

With a total of 30 deals, few of them involving names that would ever be in headlines, that works out to about three trades per hour. That makes for a lot of time-killing chat and, in that area, both TSN and Sportsnet excelled. You'd have thought these guys would have pretty well talked out after 17 days of Olympic coverage.

The Score had Steve Kouleas sitting at a desk throughout the afternoon, giving periodic updates and looking like the loneliest guy in town. But at least he didn't have to kill time the way the poor guys on TSN, Sportsnet and Leafs TV had to.

There was no loneliness on TSN and Sportsnet, which employed the usual cast of former goaltenders,goons, unemployed coaches and people apparently picked at random from the NHLPA website. Most of them spent the day analyzing deals involving the likes of Curtis McElhinney, Justin Pogge and Lee Stempniak.

This will all be irrelevant, though, because both networks will record high ratings and record website traffic, which will encourage them to do it again next year. But maybe next time, the TV guys can request danger pay.

Vancouver the Final Day: And now, back to reality

So how was that for a finish? Now we can all breathe again and prepare for the horrifying thought of watching NHL hockey after being treated to the sport at its best.

Ratings for Sunday's game won't be in until Monday, but they will be huge and will set a Canadian record. They'll probably also set a hockey record for NBC.

They will cap 17 days of record ratings for the CTV-Rogers consortium.

The consortium reports that 99 per cent of the Canadian population has watched the Olympics on its many platforms, which makes you wonder exactly what  the other 1 per cent was watching. _{Masterpiece Theatre}? The Shopping Channel?

It had another solid day Saturday, with 6.9 million viewers watching Kevin Martin's curling victory and 5.3 witnessing Jasey Jay Anderson's snowboard gold.

Interesting fact from the consortium: The most-viewed athlete on its website Saturday were figure skater Joannie Rochette and curlers Martin and Cheryl Bernard. Somehow we get the feeling the top spots Sunday will be taken up by hockey players.

THE GOOD: CTV's Chris Cuthbert and Pierre McGuire hit pretty much all the right notes during the gold medal hockey game. McGuire's line describing Sidney Crosby's game-winning goal ``and an entire nation is relieved" really summed up the entire game.  Great work also by CTV to get some superb views of crowds watching the game around the country. A post-game series of gatherings was superb. The overhead shots of Robson Square and other venues said it all. ...  NBC's Al Michaels after Don Cherry, a vision in red velvet, expounded on how the game would go, including his opinions on that ``Lalongo" guy: ``I never knew that Feb. 28 was Halloween in Canada." ... NBC's Mike Milbury heading into the game: ``There are two, maybe three guys on the U.S. team who could make Team Canada." ... The beauty of having a guy between the benches.  McGuire reported early in the first period that Canada coach Mike Babcock was telling his players to get more pucks on net and cease with the fancy stuff. You don't get that kind of stuff in the broadcast booth. ... Watching the game on CTV, the sound mix made me feel as if I were in the stands. On NBC, I felt like I was in the parking lot. ... NBC used slow motion and stop-action to illustrate why things were happening the way they were. In the second period, Ed Olczyk showed how Ryan Kesler got too close to Brian Rafalski on the point, letting Canada's Rick Nash to break up a pass. ... Nick Kypreos, after Kesler told CTV reporter Ryan Rishaug that Vancouver Canucks teammate Roberto Luongo was fighting the puck just as he expected: ``I think Kesler forgot that he has to go to work Monday morning." ... Good discussion by Chris Cuthbert and McGuire on why Ryan Getzlaf was taking a key last-minute faceoff in the Canadian end despite having the lowest faceoff percentage on the team. .... Good analysis from the studio panel on how Canada was forced into overtime because it sat back and tried to protect the lead.

THE BAD: When did ``O Canada" become a commercial jingle? There are now two ads using our anthem to sell burgers and bread. ... Does CTV honcho Ivan Fecan have a Conservative Party membership card in his wallet? How else to explain the camera time given to PM Stephen Harper, who has revealed the real reason he prorogued Parliament? ... Huh? Pierre McGuire after a U.S. penalty: ``Corey Perry just got a mouthful of stick right in the head." ...

Vancouver Day 16: The end is nigh

One more day to go. One more day of boffo ratings for the CTV-Rogers guys.

Friday's prime time averaged 7.7 million, led by the Canada-Slovakia hockey game (9.5) and women's curlng (6.8). It turns out, by the way, that Thursday's women's hockey final was more popular than originally advertised.

An error in the ratings was corrected Saturday, showing that the game averaged 7.5 million viewers. It did beat out aerials, though, as the correction dropped its average by about 2 million to 5.5.

 RADIO DAZE; While most of the Games focus has been on television -- mine, too -- radio has played an interesting and unique role in the Olympic story. The CTV-Rogers consortium's radio network, which includes Toronto's FAN 590, has been supplying precedent-setting Olympic programming. In addition to regular updates and features, there's been plenty of play-by-play. Every time a Canadian is in a position to win a medal, the radio network has broken into programming, using the television feed. It's supplied some strange moments -- just imagine figure skating on the radio -- but it's been invaluable to those who can't get to a TV. ``We've been getting a lot of great feedback from listeners," says Nelson Millman, head of the consortium's radio operations and general manager of the FAN until Monday . ``Two years ago, I wasn't sure we could do this and a lot of people said we were crazy to try it. But I think it's worked very well." The key, Millman says, is the amount of work done by reporters and announcers. ``They've really embraced this," he says.

THE GOOD: CTV provided great coverage of the Brian McKeever controversy Saturday morning. Michael Landsberg produced the best question when he asked cross-country ski analyst Jack Sasseville what he would do if it was his decision. Sasseville, an excellent analyst, said that he would have kept the legally blind skier in the race. By making the decision the coaches put the four others in a very difficult position, he said. ... While the CTV Fam-Cam (my name, not theirs) has produced some interesting shots, most of the close-ups of athletes' parents have been pretty much time-wasters. But it struck gold Friday night by zeroing in on short track medalist Marianne St-Gelais as boyfriend Charles Hamelin skated in the 500 metres. Watching her was as exciting as the race itself. ...  NBC's Kenny Albert after Canada escaped a late rally by Slovakia in Friday's hockey semifinal; ``A collective exhale from 34 million residents of Canada." ... CTV's Pierre McGuire on Slovakia's second goal" ``(Richard) Zednik just wanted that puck more than anybody for Canada." ... Analyst Darren Pang detailed how a soft goal on Canadian goaltender Roberto Luongo set the tone for Slovakia's comeback. ``But at the end of the day, it's his great save that solidifies the win." ... CTV's Nick Kypreos on Slovakia's defensive strategy: ``If the Slovaks back up any more on (goaltender Jaroslav) Halak, they're going to fall into the Pacific Ocean." ... Gord Miller as Friday's game ended: ``Canada wins, barely." ... Brian Williams' interview with figure skater Joannie Rochette was excellent, ending with Williams telling her, ``What you did was beyond courageous." ... Great moment: Catriona Le May Doan walking into the CTV studio Friday night after curler Cheryl Bernard told Williams that the former speed skater was her hero. Thankfully, Darren Dutchyshen did not appear with a bottle of champagne. ... Ski analyst Brian Stemmle on the men's slalom course Saturday: ``You almost needd a Google map to figure this one out." ... Another great Stemmle line during the foggy race: ``I'd describe his skiing style, but I can't see it." ...  Great feature on the Ghanain skier known as the Snow Leopard on Saturday. It's a great story and Perry Solkowski's post-race interview capped it nicely.

THE BAD: Following the Canadian hockey victory, viewers were promised  the gold medals on short track speed skating and bobsled. But first, CTV airs one of those etalk features on the guy who wrote the music to CTV's ubiquitous Olympic theme song. Among the fascinating things we learned was that he likes to go shopping and that he watches breathless host Jeanne Beker's show ``all the time." As long as we have our priorities straight. ... Don Cherry surfaced this week, giving his reassurances that Canada would win the gold medal in hockey. One the main reasons, in his opinion, was the goaltending of ``Lalongo." Must be Canada's secret weapon. ... McGuire on Canadian defenceman Shea Weber's strength: ``He's Adonis on skates." Sounds suspiciously like a man-crush, doesn't it? .... Vic Rauter has done a great job calling curling throughout the Olympics, but was caught trying to set up a Canadian victory in the 10th end of Friday's women's final. As Cheryl Bernard's final stone approached the house, Rauter began calling the victory before it disappeared... It's nice that Canadian athletes have those nice team toques, but couldn't they take them off when the national anthem is played? It's kind of a basic, isn't it? ... Brian Williams pitching Olympic merchandise? Say it isn't so.

Vancouver Day 15: Unbelievable ratings for aerials

Back aching, retinas imprinted with the Olympic logo and Brian Williams' face, brain unable to rid itself of that ``Believe" melody, suicide prevention hotline number scrawled on my arm. Hey, you try doing this for 15 days.

As if that isn't bad enough, I'm now reading a CTV-Rogers press release that says the most-watched event on TV Thursday night was men's aerials. This, on a night of women's hockey gold and the conclusion of the incredible Joannie Rochette story.

But it's apparently true. Aerials coverage on Rogers Sportsnet averaged 7.8 million viewers. That's men's hockey territory. That's 2 million more than Canada's 2-0 win over the U.S. and 3.4 million more than figure skating.

The release also says that the figure skating audience peaked at 8.7 million just AFTER Rochette received her marks. Not during her skate, not while she was getting her marks, but after. So maybe this is all an illusion.

SINGING THE PRAISES: Here's an interesting observation about ``O Canada" from the Sports Business Journal on Friday: ``Is it just us or does this song seem too fun to be a national anthem? It sounds like it should be sung with a pint in hand. The song's been sung throughout Vancouver for the last two weeks, and the Canadian women's hockey team certainly relished its chance to belt it out atop the medal stand last night." And the SBJ never heard the late Roger Doucet sing it ...

THE GOOD: While both CTV and NBC did a great job of covering Thursday's women's figure skating final, CTV went one step further with a fascinating isolation on gold-medal winner Kim Yu-Na's coach, Brian Orser. The Canadian skating icon was practically doing his protege's routine as he stood rinkside. It was a great bit of television, especially considering that Orser finally got an Olympic gold on Canadian ice. .. NBC analyst Scott Hamilton got a little choked up when Joannie Rochette finished her program, and who wouldn't have been? ``I've never seen such a super-human amount of courage, determination," he said. ``What an inspiration." . ...CTV got a great shot of Rochette and her father hugging after the medal ceremony. ... Not to belabour the figure skating thing, but CTV's Sarah Orlesky's interview with Rochette was a fitting ending to the proceedings. .... Sideline reporters are known for detailing how one coach urged his players to try harder or that the team trailing 4-0 needs to score more often. So it's nice to see something interesting, such as Lisa Bowes' report during the women's gold medal game that the Americans were wearing heart monitors to give the coach an indication who was freshest. .... Kevin Quinn and Cassie Campbell-Pascall did a nice call on the game, resisting the urge to gush. Quinn's closing statement that, ``The fans at Canada Hockey Place let you know that Canada has won gold," summed it up perfectly. ... Great analysis by Jeff Bean at the aerials, explaining the intricacies of the sport and adding a bit of colour. When Dmitri Dashinski of Belarus finished his jump, Bean summed it up thusly: ``He looks like he just stepped off a curb right there on that landing. That's a four-storey balcony he just jumped off." ... Best prediction of the day came from skier Kelly Vanderbeek, who fingered Austrian Andrea Fischbacher as the likely winner of the women's Super-G.

THE BAD: NBC hockey analyst/entertainer/Don-Cherry-wannabe Mike Milbury gets paid to be colourful and more power to him. Better a guy who makes outrageous statements than one who spoons out pablum. But sometimes Milbury's words bypass his brain. His comments that the Russians played ``a Eurotrash game" against Canada wasn't half as dumb as his defence that he didn't realize that the term Eurotrash meant anything more than a perimeter game, ... Nice coverage of the women's bobsled medal ceremony Thursday, but CTV kind of ignored the silver-medal winners. It was as if Helen Upperton and Shelley-Ann Brown were from Kazhakstan, not Canada. ... Can we please put an end to those shots of people on the streets screaming and waving the second they realize that they're on camera?