VANIER WRAP: THE SCORE GRADES OUT WELL FOR EFFORT

It wasn't that long ago that TSN had the gall to call itself the "Home of the CIAU" when it condescended to air only three university football games a year, and one of the national semi-finals would be shown on tape delay.

The Score's coverage and on-air talent is due for minor criticism, but their commitment to CIS football can’t be questioned. They've treated as more than something you throw a bone every now and again, which was often the vibe TSN's coverage used to give off – especially if Glen Suitor was doing colour commentary.

Production costs used to confine The Score's broadcasts to games in southern Ontario. In 2002, Queen's and Western had to absorb some of the network's costs before it would come to Kingston to show an playoff game. This year, The Score showed games from all four conferences, and hopefully that might inspire another broadcaster to get involved, especially with the Canada West conference.

The Vanier was broadcast in HD, there was a virtual first-down marker, plus a one-hour pregame show and reporters working each team's sideline. If the audience numbers were disappointing, it wasn't for a lack of trying -- The Score even sent on-air personalities such as Cabral (Cabbie) Richards and Adnan Virk to Saskatoon in mid-week to produce advance reports.

There's the rub. Last year’s Mitchell Bowl national semifinal between Laval and Saskatchewan peaked at 348,000 viewers on TSN, plus another 125,000 who were watching on French-language RDS. For the semis, The Score couldn't get to six figures, not when Ohio State-Michigan was on at the same time.

A MAAASS-SSIVE, BUT MINOR PROBLEM

Still, on the whole the network did a good job, both in the number of games available and how they were presented. The on-air talent is developing, and that’s a key word --- The Score should get credit for the fact that, unlike most other major sports media outlets in Canada, it’s willing to put someone under the age of 35 on camera. Tim Micallef, Sara Orlesky, Ryan Paton, Cabbie and Virk are all in the 25-to-34 range. The occasional zinger aside, they are all still learning.

For instance, Micallef brings a lot of enthusiasm to play-by-play – you get that CIS football has always been part of his consciousness as a sports guy – but he often seems stilted in his delivery. Also, can someone please buy this guy a copy of Roget’s Thesaurus this holiday season so he can learn an adjective other than maaass-ssive?

Oh, and calling the ball a "slippery rock" on cold or rainy days -- there's a town in the U.S. called Slippery Rock, get it? – is funny once. When you're pulling that gem out for the fourth time in a half, as Micallef's been known to do, it's time for a producer to say, “Dude, enough. You're not here to be a comedian."

Duane Forde is probably a little too low-key as an analyst, but then again, this country already has one Pierre McGuire. On the sideline, Adnan Virk brings a lot of personality and something decidedly different from the days when Elliotte Friedman worked at The Score.

CREATE CONTROVERSY

It might go a long ways toward helping the credibility of The Score and CIS football itself if there was more willingness to take a hard line with issues surrounding the league. For instance, cisfootball.org -- the hardcare fans -- was alight all week with criticism over the all-Canadian and the Hec Crighton Award selections.

Daryl Stephenson of Windsor being selected the player of the year was simply unjustifiable, but if a discouraging word was heard about throughout The Score's blanket coverage, I must have missed it. A little controversy never hurt ratings, so don't be afraid to knock players and teams who might be overrated. It shows the commentators are paying attention, and it lets viewers know that what they're watching is legit sport, because people are willing to get fired up and have an argument. Just look at the NFL studio shows.

(Of course, in failing to knock Stephenson's selection, The Score had plenty of company within the mainstream media. Stephenson had a good season, but wasn't within an area code of being the country's top player. Actually, he was in one of the right area codes -- as in 416, 519 and 905.)

Getting back to The Score's CIS football coverage, it's all on the up-and-up -- I'm like a professor who doesn't give A's, so they get a hard-earned B+.

Here’s hoping that being unable to match more established TSN's viewership for the CIS won’t discourage the network from continuing to do what it's doing. Most of the hardcore fans would probably agree it's been a step in a positive direction.

That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca. Click here to return to the main page.