It’s that time of year again. It’s time for Vancouver Canucks fans to complain about how their team doesn’t get the respect that they deserve. It’s time to hear all the assumptions made about the bias of the American media. It’s time for Canucks fans to prove that they have absolutely no idea about how bad the bias really is.
Let me start by going back a little bit. Before the NHL locked out the players due to the belief that a corrupt commissioner who didn’t care about the league’s survival could easily win negotiations against players who wanted to play, ESPN was responsible for showing us Americans the game of hockey. Even though Disney owned both ESPN and the Mighty Ducks at that time, the games shown seemed to focus on teams in the east.
The Detroit Red Wings had respect, and they are at least in the Western Conference. The are also in the eastern time zone. The only other team in the Western Conference that received any respect from ESPN was the Colorado Avalanche. It honestly seemed as though ESPN felt that they could use the Avalanche to satisfy the entire Western half of the country.
When I heard that Comcast had taken over the cable rights after the lockout, I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, I felt that the smaller market of OLN (now Versus) would force them to emphasize the sport. On the other hand, I was worried that OLN couldn’t provide quality decent coverage until they grew a little larger. Others had shown concerns that Comcast’s ownership of the Flyers. Since Disney had ownership of the Mighty Ducks while seeming biased against them, I didn’t feel that the concern was justified. That obviously changed when desperation to find praise for a player resulted in the comment, “He used to play for the Flyers.”
I’m not going to go into all of the issues that I have with Comcast, since that is not the point of this post. I will say that I long for the days when American coverage would suck up to Colorado. Comcast insists that hockey and hockey fans do not exist West of Chicago. They also don’t show much respect to teams North of the border. They are fixated on a small handful of teams such as the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers.
I know that I keep mentioning Comcast. The bias that I’m talking about isn’t a part of Comcast. It’s a part of America. Take a look at what happened during the Olympic Games in Vancouver last year. Washingtonians had a local athlete chasing history in our local time zone. NBC (this was before they were a part of Comcast) pushed Apolo Ohno’s races to less desirable time slots. Why? Because the coverage was geared entirely towards the east. They didn’t bother evaluating what would work best for us. They simply gave us a three hour delay of the east coast’s coverage. Does anyone honestly believe that more people would watch a taped feed at 11 pm than a live feed at 8? Since the West has historically been screwed over by the national media, they could only compare the ratings to other Olympics with the same mistreatment. It never occurred to NBC to even test the ratings if they gave an ounce of respect to us.
My favorite sports team is the Vancouver Canucks (like you couldn’t have already guessed). Since bias is unavoidable, I would rather let you know where I’m coming from than pretend that I am inhuman. After all, it’s better to address issues of bias than to ignore its existence (although the NHL would certainly disagree with me on that point).
Why do I like the Canucks? In short, it’s because I view them as local. Growing up, I had a hard time connecting to a team that’s based in a foreign country. After spending time in Utah and Ohio, I feel that America is more foreign that British Columbia. My region means far more to me than my country.
I frequently check Yahoo’s website to find out when the Canucks are playing and if they are televised. With the Canucks being picked by many to take a run on the Stanley Cup and establishing themselves as the best regular season team in the league this year by winning the President’s Trophy, do you know how many games I found in the US? One (Thank you Click! for carrying CBUT). The one game that I found was actually a rebroadcast of a TSN feed. I guess that was for the best since American hockey coverage is inexcusable right now.
It’s possible that I missed a game at some point, but this mistreatment was expected. The American media is focused primarily on the northeast. The single West coast Canadian team is clearly the most difficult team to sell to fans in New York. Comcast will be rooting against the Canucks this playoff season, just like they did last year and the year before. They’re just not marketable enough.
Although it may sound like I’m upset right now, I actually feel pretty calm. Maybe even a little relieved. The Canucks actually had a game on American television this year. They are also going to show the Canucks in the first round of the playoffs. This is because of their love affair with the Chicago Blackhawks, the one team in the Western conference that they will show respect. I will be watching on CBC instead. They will unquestionably show far less bias.
If I’m not upset, then why am I venting? It’s because issues with the American media will definitely appear during the playoffs… again. I would be shocked if I didn’t feel that I need to address the issue of our media’s bias at some point. If I wait until I’m angry, I will likely have clouded judgment. If I have clouded judgment, I might not make any sense. Not only that, but nobody would take me seriously. Let’s just call this a preemptive strike. I might as well say what will happen before I lose the ability to explain my frustrations.
When Canucks fans spend time during the playoffs this year venting about the bias against them, they’re simply guessing. Anyone who knows anything about the American media will figure out that they are not exaggerating. If anything, they are underestimating just how bad the bias really is.
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