The effects of having Hughson call Leaf games (pay attention Rogers)

[cookie]

The fact that I'm more willing to listen to the Punjabi broadcast over this trash speaks volumes about the quality of the broadcast. It's sad that decision makers, guys that make hundreds of thousands of dollars, were unable to improve the hockey broadcast even after so much investment of time, money, talents, etc. The only good outcome of the modernization efforts taken has been the aforementioned Punjabi commentary, and the hometown hockey close ups. And the biggest reason why that is the case? These things have heart and substance--the exact opposite of whatever the hell we are seeing.

The Punjabi broadcast was something akin to a free wallet spearheaded by a guy these suites did not even consider. Maybe it's the staleness in the atmosphere, or a lack of competition, or maybe this media conglomerate is milking it's audience for all its worth. I mean it's not like this is the first thread on the topic and it's not like this topic of limited to this website--Reddit threads regularly have Joe Bowen commentated highlights.

 

[leburn98]

Had to laugh when Hughson was surprised that Zaitsev didn't receive a supposed penalty during the Leafs double penalty call. He seemed genuinely upset about it.

 

[Bluelines]

Had to laugh when Hughson was surprised that Zaitsev didn't receive a supposed penalty during the Leafs double penalty call. He seemed genuinely upset about it.

... there should have been three penalties says Hughson... what a farce, Polak hit the Edmonton forward with less power than McJesus cross checked Kadri in the 1st period, Polak gets a PIM and McJesus skates away with jack.

Marner "hooks' Nurse down. C'mon Nurse is such a big strong man he could pull a house down the street and little bean pole Marner brings him to his knees? That was a dive if I've ever seen a dive. BTW Nurse tried that dive move later in the game and it was not called.

Zaitsev? Since when is competing for a puck in the corner and being physical a PIM?

I did notice one thing the ref's REALLY favored McJesus in almost every situation, they didn't call PIM's on him when they should have, he cheated A LOT in FO dot and rarely got thrown out, not that it helped him, I think he won one and lost 9.

Last night by a wide margin McJesus got the star treatment more than any other player I've seen this year.

The important thing is we got 2 points from another bad, inferior team, we should have won that game and we did. With Edmonton , its not their players cause they have some world class elite talent, their system is garbage. They look lost.

 

[al secord]

If you ever need proof, just listen to Vancouver radio when Jim Hughson is on. It's not just the Leafs, he spits poison about the City of Toronto.

But as a business man, I would never make a decision based on emotion concerning my favourite sport's team. That's just pathetic.

 

[gtforepro]

If you ever need proof, just listen to Vancouver radio when Jim Hughson is on. It's not just the Leafs, he spits poison about the City of Toronto.

But as a business man, I would never make a decision based on emotion concerning my favourite sport's team. That's just pathetic.

Pathetic? I switched phone companies. My new plan is cheaper and it took less than an hour. How is that pathetic?

 

[Goonface2k14]

I think we need to pick our poison here folks. Maybe I don’t pay as close attention to Hughson’s commentating as the rest of you, but I really don’t find any outright biased against the Leafs, I just hear a guy doing a national broadcast, and so he remains impartial and calls goals for either side just as enthusiastically as the other.

Let’s focus our efforts on Romanuk and Millen, as those two are the all-time most unprofessional, bush league announcers across all sports, hands down. They take away from the viewing experience with so many face-palming blunders, you wonder if maybe they’re trying to get fired. It’s become a complete comedy side show now.

I for one have been quite happy that the last two non-Saturday night Sportsnet Leaf games have been called by Hughson and Simpson and not tweedle dee and tweedle dumb. Get rid of those two clowns first and go from there.

 

[Leaf of the Mind]

I've been paying extra attention to each broadcast (due to all these media threads) and Hughson and Millen make the same type of mistakes that Romanuk and Millen are raked over the coals for, and would be talked about for years to come.
Just in the past week: mistaking Rielly for Matthews, Mitch "Marnie", calling Mac "London Ontario" as he made a save. They're often dead wrong on guessing on penalties and who the offenders are.

I'll admit that Hughson's more polished and Simpson is inoffensive, from a purely aesthetic point of view. It's just the other stuff they bring to the table that's annoying.
I'm wondering why the dynamic duo are working regularly now. If Romanuk's not sick then I guess Rogers saw what they were paying him and are asking ol' Jim to earn his keep.

 

[Goonface2k14]

I've been paying extra attention to each broadcast (due to all these media threads) and Hughson and Millen make the same type of mistakes that Romanuk and Millen are raked over the coals for, and would be talked about for years to come.
Just in the past week: mistaking Rielly for Matthews, Mitch "Marnie", calling Mac "London Ontario" as he made a save. They're often dead wrong on guessing on penalties and who the offenders are.

I'll admit that Hughson's more polished and Simpson is inoffensive, from a purely aesthetic point of view. It's just the other stuff they bring to the table that's annoying.
I'm wondering why the dynamic duo are working regularly now. If Romanuk's not sick then I guess Rogers saw what they were paying him and are asking ol' Jim to earn his keep.

All announcers, including Hughson, make their fair share of mistakes on player names and other things. It’s a fast game, they’re human. But man oh man, no announcers come close to the amount of mistakes that Romanuk and Millen rack up over the course of a night.

If commentating mistakes were the equivalent of NHL team wins, Romanuk and Millen would be the aggregate of every NHL dynasty (Habs, Leafs, Wings, Islanders, Oilers, Hawks, etc) combined.

 

[Damisoph]

I don't really care about mistakes with player names on a TV broadcast, I'm watching, I can see who it is. It's all about tone, cadence, and most of all, generating excitement for your viewers. Bob Cole was a master at that. Jim Hughson, not so much (unless he's calling a Canuck game). Romanuk is actually not that bad at calling the game, it's the extra shit he throws in that is cringe worthy.

 

[The CyNick]

Listen to Greg Millen try to explain how OT works with penalties involved. It was a work of art.

I also believe it was Millen working a recent game where he contemplated why a team didn't take a timeout coming off an icing. Nobody seemed to correct him.

It's really incredible the number of glaring on air mistakes that are made.

 

[The CyNick]

Hughson is just a Toronto hater, always has been, always will be. He's one of these guys who would be complaining why the Toronto @ Vancouver game starts at 4pm local. Kinda unfortunate he'll be the one calling us winning the Cup. It'll likely be a snide comment as it happens. I like the idea of watching the Punjabi broadcast.

Problem is none of the good broadcasters in the country want to work for Rogers, so you're stuck with what you got.

 

[Daisy Jane]

Hughson is just a Toronto hater, always has been, always will be. He's one of these guys who would be complaining why the Toronto @ Vancouver game starts at 4pm local. Kinda unfortunate he'll be the one calling us winning the Cup. It'll likely be a snide comment as it happens. I like the idea of watching the Punjabi broadcast.

Problem is none of the good broadcasters in the country want to work for Rogers, so you're stuck with what you got.

yup that's what it is. so you sort of like commend the loyalty of TSN's cast. but then you're like damnit..

 

[Damisoph]

It's kinda crazy to think how TSN lost the rights to national broadcasts, yet still employs two PXP guys (Miller and Cuthbert) that are both superior to anything SNet can throw out there...Ray Ferraro is (imo) head and shoulders above any of the SN analysts...hell even the studio crew is better.

 

[Trapper]

yup that's what it is. so you sort of like commend the loyalty of TSN's cast. but then you're like damnit..

Romanuk actually makes me laugh so I can deal with it. It's like Llyod Christmas calling a game so once in a while it's ok. I don't sense bias against either team from him.

Hughson on the other hand is very subtle in his Toronto bias. He's not going to come right out and say stuff but he alludes to it. You know it's there. It's like your brother gets his artwork on the fridge and your stuff goes under it to keep it level.
It's like why I hated Dick Irvin for years. Your guy could score a hat trick and Irvin's comments would be yeah but I remember in 1974 when Habs player X did this...on one leg with 2 hours of sleep, etc.

 

[Daisy Jane]

Romanuk actually makes me laugh so I can deal with it. It's like Llyod Christmas calling a game so once in a while it's ok. I don't sense bias against either team from him.

Hughson on the other hand is very subtle in his Toronto bias. He's not going to come right out and say stuff but he alludes to it. You know it's there. It's like your brother gets his artwork on the fridge and your stuff goes under it to keep it level.
It's like why I hated Dick Irvin for years. Your guy could score a hat trick and Irvin's comments would be yeah but I remember in 1974 when Habs player X did this...on one leg with 2 hours of sleep, etc.

exactly.

 

[nsleaf]

So, Rogers, listen up. You've already displayed and admitted that you don't know what you're doing with regards to hockey broadcasts (Strombo). Here's a little story for you...

Watching the Leafs/Canucks game with Hughson was really irritating. Why should the biggest hockey market in the world be forced to listen to a broadcaster who clearly dislikes their team? From a business perspective, it makes zero sense. Anyways, the next day I'm at Vaughan Mills mall because my 12 year-old wants a phone for Christmas. I'm walking around and I see the Rogers store. My first instinct was to go in, but I stopped myself. If Rogers wants to force Jim Hughson on Leafs fans, why should I give them my business? I went past the Fido store as well, since I know they're owned by Rogers. I got my kid a Bell phone.

So then on Monday I get an email from Rogers regarding my business account. I have 5 employees and we have Rogers phones and they sent me my bill. I have now switched all my business phones to Bell. Also, I've been a Fan 590 listener forever. I've switched to TSN 1050, except for the morning because Lansberg is terrible.

So, Rogers, in summation, you are clearly building bad-will with Leaf fans by force-feeding Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson on us. This WILL have a negative impact on your business. Obviously my $1000/month isn't going to be felt overall, but there are a lot of Leaf fans. I get that Joe Bowen is probably a little too homerish for a national broadcast, but at least give us someone who isn't completely anti-Leaf.

 

[nsleaf]

Basing business decisions on your hate of a sports announcer may not be the best philosophy to adopt for your OWN business. You should not let emotions sway your decisions.

 

[LeafsTFC]

Has anyone else in the world ever called Dominic Moore "Dom Moore" or is that Hughson being dumb again?

 

[The Magic Man]

I haven't enjoyed a broadcast in years. Bob Cole was a legend but is much slower now. Too bad.

Joe Bowen and Harry Neale had something great together. They were like buddies hanging out enjoying the show. Harry always seemed more relaxed with a Joe then Bob. I can't personally nail it down to leaf hate, but Hughson bores me. Simpson I can't stand. He reminds me of miserable Glen Healey.

I don't understand why we can't get at least a couple local broadcasts of Joe Bowen. I understand on a national game he's too much of a homer but for a regional game, who cares? Every other market has their homes. I hope things get straightened out for TSN to do a game. Miller and Ferraro would be great, too.

 

[The CyNick]

It's kinda crazy to think how TSN lost the rights to national broadcasts, yet still employs two PXP guys (Miller and Cuthbert) that are both superior to anything SNet can throw out there...Ray Ferraro is (imo) head and shoulders above any of the SN analysts...hell even the studio crew is better.

The gamelan for Rogers was to hire Duthie, MacKenzie, Dreger, CC, Miller, and Ferraro. The term I had heard thrown around was they wanted to create the NWO of hockey broadcasting. The execs at Rogers just thought it was a done deal that they would get most if not all of the TSN guys. They were shocked when Bell was able to retain all of them. That left Rogers scrambling to find PBP guys. And then from a studio perspective it really hurt, because they had to basically just bring over the CBC guys.

Not one Bell guy regrets their decision.

 

[Pocket Hercules]

You sound like one of those social justice warriors. I'm asking you for direct audio and video evidence. If it's that prevalent as you claim, go find me some. I think it's more in your head than anything else.

To answer your question, there was a game of couple of seasons back of Hughson, Simpson and Healy ripping the Leafs during the commercial break on the live stream during a hot mic mishap. One of the many digs that I remember from JH was towards Mark Arcobello and how if he scored a goal, the Leafs would probably make a statue out of him and put it on Legends Row or something stupid like that. Believe us, it is not in our heads.

 

[Pocket Hercules]

Hughson is just a Toronto hater, always has been, always will be. He's one of these guys who would be complaining why the Toronto @ Vancouver game starts at 4pm local. Kinda unfortunate he'll be the one calling us winning the Cup. It'll likely be a snide comment as it happens. I like the idea of watching the Punjabi broadcast.

Problem is none of the good broadcasters in the country want to work for Rogers, so you're stuck with what you got.

Chris Cuthbert would be the perfect pbp replacement for Hughson. He's not a homer and is probably the best unbiased announcer in the biz. Too bad he's wasting away doing Wednesday Night hockey on TSN.

 

[Pocket Hercules]

also the only person on CBC who has actually hated the leafs was Glenn Healey. He was much worse, Hughson does not hate the leafs. It's just people still wanting to be victims lol.

He loved the Leafs right until he was denied a 2nd interview for the vacant Leafs GM job in 2008. Henceforth, it was sour grapes from him.

 

[hfman]

Hughson: "There are few things better than a victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on a Saturday Night"

End of story guys. For those who deny Hughson's dislike for the Leafs, read the above line over and over again until you get it

 

[Pocket Hercules]

Hughson is so ****ing monotonous. I don’t know how he became the #1 broadcaster in the country. It doesn’t help that he clearly dislikes the Leafs so his calls are less than motivated when the Leafs do something good.

I couldn’t remember how he sounded when Kapanen and Bozak scored OT goals against the Caps last year, but I can vividly recall how Cole sounded when he called the Borshevsky and Gilmour goals from ‘93, and I can recall the Sundin OT goal from 2001, and Roberts’ goal against the Sens in triple OT from 2002 (the latter two I saw live, the former two from recordings).

It shouldn’t be difficult to get a true neutral broadcaster to do national games who can sound excited both ways and is competent. TSN has two guys capable of that. Rogers has completely failed this in regards to the Leafs.

Listening to Bob Cole call this Leafs - Sens 2000 playoff game gave me goosebumps! I miss BC