Raptors TV broadcast thread

[Axel]

All sports are games. Don't kid yourself. Golf might be the MOST athletic sport there is. The body control and timing needed is one of the most difficult physical movements possible. A golf swing moves faster than any other movement in all of sports. But it's just a skill with no athleticism? Try something before you make judgements.

I'll start at the end, with the bolded statement. You are incredibly naive and ignorant to think that everyone who criticizes something hasn't tried it before. That seems to be your constant defence, yet is entirely an ignorant assumption on your part. I've played golf, I've played curling, and many other games.

All sports are games but not all games are sports. Golf requires a lot of skill to be good at. Body control, which is really a subset of dexterity is a physical skill, same as balance, and hand-eye coordination. Same as curling, pool, darts, and bowling.

[Nilanka]

You don't even need to try something in order to intelligently comment on it.

None of us have ever stepped foot onto an NBA floor, but according to Mr. Archibald's logic, this forum should be shut down.

EDIT: I've never ran for office. I guess that means I shouldn't be voting :|

[DanH]

Yep. Done with cable. Just canceled it. Ballstreams for me.

[KeonClark]

Everybody needs to quit whining. The nba is a niche sport up here so what. I still get all theinfo on the team I need. There Is a reason the leafs get more coverage, can u guess what that reason is?

[RandomGuy]

Everybody needs to quit whining. The nba is a niche sport up here so what. I still get all theinfo on the team I need. There Is a reason the leafs get more coverage, can u guess what that reason is?

They've got maple leaf in their logo?

[KeonClark]

They've got maple leaf in their logo?

Actually, a maple leaf IS their logo. The real answer is because more people wanna watch hockey. A lot more people.

[octothorp]

I grew up in a small prairie town so I get why curling has an ingrained popularity. When you're in high-school, you play basketball, volleyball, baseball, and maybe track-and-field (the only sports where there was any organized level of competition available), and a couple guys played hockey, for which they had to go to larger communities. But once you turned 18, curling was the only option for continuing to do some competitive sport in town. This is the case across much of the prairies, to varying degrees, and people are crazy-passionate about it. People understand the strategy to a very high level, and the game lends itself well to a 'what would I do differently' viewing experience. I'm not going to debate the athleticism of it, as I don't see how it's relevant.

One problem with so many sports is that Canadians watch as long as Canadians are involved. And as soon as the Canadians are out, viewership plummets. Curling tournaments and CFL are two sports where Canadians are going to be in it to the end, and the NHL as well if you're looking at the players, not the teams (which TSN relies on when they need to cover non-Canadian teams).
It also has a high degree of everyman appeal: the majority of Canadians are going to relate to a guy from a typical Canadian family who works in a boring day job and curls in his spare time; more than they're going to identify with an uber-athletic, millionaire kid from Compton. And that's unfortunate on a lot of levels.

[white men can't jump]

Everybody needs to quit whining. The nba is a niche sport up here so what. I still get all theinfo on the team I need. There Is a reason the leafs get more coverage, can u guess what that reason is?

I didn't think that's what this thread was about actually. Nobody expects bball to get equal or more coverage than hockey.

Has anyone noticed how poorly timed replays are on Raps broadcasts? Where sometimes we miss entire sequences?

What about poor cuts? And I don't just mean the Milwaukee game. Every now and then, for a replay, or at a whistle, or whatever (luckily most at least happen at or around a dead ball), the broadcast will cut at the wrong time.

What about the quality of broadcasters? And I don't mean our commentators, but can anyone explain why Rod Black, who clearly has no fucking clue about bball and is easily one of the worst sports broadcasters in Canadian history has become the host of Raps pregame, halftime and wrapup segments? As well as occasional courtside reporter?

Then there are glitches as well....the score guys not properly adjusting the graphic...How many times has the score changed, they put up the wrong one, it seems to freeze for a minute, then they have to take it down completely and put it back up again?

Honestly, it's like the Raps broadcasts are done by the worst personnel possible.

And then you get simple things...like being bumped from their own scheduled slot on main TSN for rain delayed NASCAR. Not a late-running live event (in the sense of the actual race going late). The race didn't start until after the Raps game would've ended. They could've easily bumped their pointless recorded footage of old NASCAR highlights to TSN2, instead of bumping the Raps game. Then they could've made the switch again at halftime, or as it turns out, not missed a beat and gone back to the feed after the game.

These are the kinds of things that irk fans. No one cares about coverage compared to hockey. People are tired of poor quality work on their broadcasts, and inexplicable second class treatment compared to other niche sports.

[RandomGuy]

Actually, a maple leaf IS their logo. The real answer is because more people wanna watch hockey. A lot more people.

Yeah I know, was just fooling around. I foresee basketball becoming as popular as hockey in Canada, soon, like in 4 years, when your NT will start winning medals and Raptors will become an contender.

[stooley]

Yeah I know, was just fooling around. I foresee basketball becoming as popular as hockey in Canada, soon, like in 4 years, when your NT will start winning medals and Raptors will become an contender.

noooo, no, no lol.

lets just match the jays first.

[Charlie Brown]

Yep. Done with cable. Just canceled it. Ballstreams for me.

+1 had my cable shut off last week, going with ballstreams in the offseason when it's cheaper.

[RobertArchibald]

I'll start at the end, with the bolded statement. You are incredibly naive and ignorant to think that everyone who criticizes something hasn't tried it before. That seems to be your constant defence, yet is entirely an ignorant assumption on your part. I've played golf, I've played curling, and many other games.

All sports are games but not all games are sports. Golf requires a lot of skill to be good at. Body control, which is really a subset of dexterity is a physical skill, same as balance, and hand-eye coordination. Same as curling, pool, darts, and bowling.

No point arguing with someone who's entire argument is based on opinion. You're right, I did assume you hadn't tried other SPORTS, that was wrong. But, am I wrong to assume you've never played a 72-hole golf tournament or played a round-robin curling championship? If you had, I believe you would have a much better appreciation of the athleticism needed to compete at the highest level.

[RobertArchibald]

You don't even need to try something in order to intelligently comment on it.

None of us have ever stepped foot onto an NBA floor, but according to Mr. Archibald's logic, this forum should be shut down.

EDIT: I've never ran for office. I guess that means I shouldn't be voting :|

Perhaps, but you haven't offered any intelligent comments on the matter. You don't have to step on an NBA floor to comment on the NBA, but your arguments will be much stronger if you have. Hence, why networks bring in former players as analysts and we sit in our basements on RR.

[RobertArchibald]

I didn't think that's what this thread was about actually. Nobody expects bball to get equal or more coverage than hockey.

Has anyone noticed how poorly timed replays are on Raps broadcasts? Where sometimes we miss entire sequences?

What about poor cuts? And I don't just mean the Milwaukee game. Every now and then, for a replay, or at a whistle, or whatever (luckily most at least happen at or around a dead ball), the broadcast will cut at the wrong time.

What about the quality of broadcasters? And I don't mean our commentators, but can anyone explain why Rod Black, who clearly has no fucking clue about bball and is easily one of the worst sports broadcasters in Canadian history has become the host of Raps pregame, halftime and wrapup segments? As well as occasional courtside reporter?

Then there are glitches as well....the score guys not properly adjusting the graphic...How many times has the score changed, they put up the wrong one, it seems to freeze for a minute, then they have to take it down completely and put it back up again?

Honestly, it's like the Raps broadcasts are done by the worst personnel possible.

And then you get simple things...like being bumped from their own scheduled slot on main TSN for rain delayed NASCAR. Not a late-running live event (in the sense of the actual race going late). The race didn't start until after the Raps game would've ended. They could've easily bumped their pointless recorded footage of old NASCAR highlights to TSN2, instead of bumping the Raps game. Then they could've made the switch again at halftime, or as it turns out, not missed a beat and gone back to the feed after the game.

These are the kinds of things that irk fans. No one cares about coverage compared to hockey. People are tired of poor quality work on their broadcasts, and inexplicable second class treatment compared to other niche sports.

Completely agree with the bolded. Obviously the budgets are higher for a network like ABC, but the Raptors production team isn't even comparable. I guess it all comes down to fans though. The more people watch, the bigger the budgets become, the better the broadcasts get.

[Nilanka]

Perhaps, but you haven't offered any intelligent comments on the matter. You don't have to step on an NBA floor to comment on the NBA, but your arguments will be much stronger if you have. Hence, why networks bring in former players as analysts and we sit in our basements on RR.

I suppose my comments being considered "intelligent" is debatable. But to summarize, my opinion is that there are sports, and then there are pastimes. Although curling involves practice and skill, as Axel mentioned earlier, so does Bowling. It's not right to stand LeBron James and Kevin Martin (the curler) next to each other and call them both "athletes".

As for the strength of arguments, that's also debatable. I'd place more importance on Zack Lowe's opinions than Bill Walton's.