The Wrong Focus?

It's just sad, really.

The Carleton University men's basketball team accomplished something truly extraordinary over the weeking, winning a fifth consecutive national championship.

And it's like nobody noticed.

Meanwhile, many Canadians buy into the phony hype of March Madness, fill out pool forms and fret over the seedings before the NCAA men's tournament begins, let alone the actual results.

UNLV beating Wisconsin is suddenly significant news. Let's get wall-to-wall analysis on that one.

But five straight for the Ravens? Yawn.

It's something, really, that is the fault of all of us in the mainstream Canadian sports media for not doing a better job telling the stories of teams like the Ravens and their players.

But do we do a lousy job of that because people don't care?

Or do people not care because we do such a lousy job of it?

Don't know the answer to that one. I can guess that a group of young men in Ottawa, while thrilled with their victory, are probably wondering why their extraordinary accomplishment will create no buzz in Canada.

Meanwhile, the exploits of Winthrop, Gonzaga and Middle This-or-That State are reported as major news.

I don't know how this changes, and maybe Canadian university sports exists at the level it should, of interest to those who play and their families and those interested in university sport.

But when it comes to the Carleton Ravens five-peat, it's just sad.

Comments

[Jim Maron]

Nobody cares because Canadian University basketball doesn't even include the best Canadian University talent. Almost all the top talent goes to the States. It's similar to the lack of interest in the Men's Hockey World Championships - the players there aren't the best and they are playing at the same time the best are playing.

[Andrew Barrie]

I think it has everything to do with the level of competition.

How would the Ravens stack against any of the teams that make the final 4? they'd probably take a solid beating.

I don't understand why Canadian Universities cannot get in on some NCAA action. If we were competing, scouting for our universities would do a much better job keeping our athletes at Canadian Universities.

But lets not forget, NCAA draws bigger audiences in Raleigh than the Stanley Cup Defending Champion Hurricanes. That is unthinkable here in Canada, not only because we don't have an NCAA calibre teams, but because the game just isn't that popular here, yet. The former Vancouver Grizzlies are a testament to that.

[Paul E Bass]

The obvious answer is that not enough money can be won betting
on them.

[Bob Holden]

There was a time when the NIT was as big or bigger than the NCAA. Then about the time Lew Alcindor, as he was then known, arrived and the NCAA became big time show-biz. As witnessed by the bowl games and Super Bowl, the constant promotion build them into something bigger than they are.

With the possible exception of the Grey Cup, this is something that for some reason or another almost never happens with Canadian things. Hopefully, some day before I die, the suits that fumble the NHL will realize that the selling of the Stanley Cup playoffs in a time frame from March 1 - April 30 and drop dead finish could make the NHL big time as well.

[Joe Mack]

You are obviously just writing something to be heard must be a slow Newsday. I question whether you are a legit sports fan at all. The tournament is one of the greatest sporting events of the year. It is a true tournament with an “anything can happen” atmosphere to it. Upsets like Winthrop are what makes it interesting. I unlike yourself am a basketball fan, and a former Canadian University athlete. And I can emphatically say that American college sport is an entirely different ball game than Canadian especially when it comes to basketball. The American tournament are the future stars of the NBA the Canadian tournament is student- athletes do something to stay in shape and play div.1 in the annex league later in life. It is not sad that games played on a national stage on major broadcasting outlets in the United States trumps the Canadian tournament that looks like it was shot on handy cam an played on public access it is just common sense..

[Ann McCorquodale]

AS the parent of a Canadian university varsity athlete, I'm glad to see someone from the sporting media decry the lack of attention to our Canadian university athletes. There is some great entertainment and skilled athletics going on at your neighbourhood university and college and it won't break the bank to see these kids play their heart out for love of the game, not big bucks. They are amazing balancing academics with the pressures of highly competitive athletics and it is a pity that the media can't get their nose out of the NHL, NBA and CFL long enough to trumpet the achievements of our Canadian kids. The fabulous record of the Carleton Raven basketball team is a perfect illustration.

[Joel]

I agree with P. Bass, it's all about the betting. I talk to people who say they don't care about basketball, but go wild over betting on the NCAA tournament. CIS should go full-throttle into betting on all its sports. Mind you, excessive gambling seems to be a precursor to the fall of a society.

[John Richardson]

Damien,

Maybe it's the same reason that the Toronto media virtually ignores junior hockey although there are three teams in our backyard.

It's a toss-up between "We don't write about it because our readers aren't interested" or "We didn't even know about it because the papers didn't cover it".

Let's see how three dailies. the FAN and the three sportsnetworks cover the Vanier Cup in Toronto this year. It's on the same weekend as the Grey Cup so it's not like you guys won't be around.

And in the interests of full disclosure, I have a son who plays CIS football

.

[Rick Grace]

Its sad the accomplishments of Canadians in Canada is virtually ignored by the National/Toronto media.

Whats even sadder is how we try to make these who cares events like this little American schoolboy basketball, which TV ratings always show nobody gives a rats butt about, into some kind of great Canadian event.

I mean CHL hockey is on the par of the American schoolboy hockey in talent level. But try to find any CHL news outside of the towns the teams play in?

Oh this NCAA thing has a few followers up here. But they're few and far between. Because it combines the two things Canadians have zero interest in. Basketball, and American university sports.

Yet somehow this makes the headlines of our supposedly "national" media? Just goes to show how out of touch with the Canadian sports fan the Canadian media is. Very sad if you ask me.

[Joe B]

First of all, to those who say the level of competition is far below that on display in the NCAA, I would suggest you watch the highlights of the Final 8 championship game. Brandon scored two points on an amazing inbounds-pass-to-dunk play that rivals any you'd see in the NCAA tournament.

Is that par for the course? Of course not, the players ARE better in the NCAA for sure. But that doesn't mean the Canadian ball can't be entertaining.

Oh, and for the past few years, the Ravens (and recently, the Ottawa U Gee Gees) have played exhibition games against NCAA teams and done fairly well. This past summer, Carleton lost by only a bucket to Louisville.

I would also say, Damien, that the Ravens' triumph DID register some attention this year. A top story and column at TSN.ca, front page of the sports sections in the Globe and Post...

It's no NCAA coverage but it's something.

[Mark Thomas]

I love Canadian university sports. I recommend it to anybody. It's high quality, exciting play and you can buy the best seats at the best prices of any sports entertainment in town. And if you live in a small university town where it's the only show in town, there's always strong fan support. The atmosphere is often electric, especially if you sit in the middle of a group of student-fans.

Is it as high a quality as in the U.S.? No. So what. It's still a good show.

[matt swan]

It is simply a matter of exposure.
For some reason I know about March Madness. I had no idea tha Canadian Championship was happening. Bottom line. I have no doubt the game is as good, although judging by the number of Canadians in the NCAA tourney and NIT games there is certainly a migration south of talented Canadian ballers. In the Tourney itself there are enough Canadians to fill three starting lineups.
John Richardson states that Canadians have no intrest in B-Ball or American university sports. That may be a little bit of an assumption on his part.
20,000 plus at the Raptors game last night, Steve Nash All-Star voting, The Score's Bracket participants all reflect some interest.
In the end, if you are sports fan, you seek out quality competition regardless of nationality.
But if you don't know it's going on...