The sports beat
By Andrew Seymour
The fall sports season is finally here. The NFL is entering its sixth week, baseball playoffs are in full swing, the NHL season is under way, and if there wasn’t a lockout, basketball would be in here too.
What better way to celebrate this joyous time than with the launch of another television sports network. CTV Sportsnet was launched Oct.9, to the delight of sports fans who just can’t get enough sports. It promises 24-hour regional sports coverage and an alternative to Canada’s only other major sports network, TSN.
And it all adds up to a very happy fall and winter for Ottawa sports fans.
Sportsnet is the latest addition to a market which has grown by leaps and bounds. When combined with specialty channels like Headline Sports, the Golf Channel, Speedvision, the Outdoor Life Network and TSN, and sports broadcasting from traditional networks like the CBC, the sports fanatic has more choice than ever before.
Whatever your sport, chances are you’ll find some sort of coverage. The NFL rules the airwaves all afternoon Sunday and on Monday nights. Baseball playoffs provide evening entertainment for the month of October. If basketball resumes there’ll be something else to follow. And of course there’s hockey.
Ottawa Senators fans are the biggest winners from the broadcast sports explosion. Fans’ expectations are high after a very successful 1997-98 season where the Senators eliminated the first-place New Jersey Devils in the first round and the sports channels have taken notice.
CHRO will cover the Senators locally, featuring a 20-game schedule, while Sportsnet has promised to show an additional 23 games. The CBC’s Hockey Night In Canada will broadcast the Senators 12 times. This makes an incredible total of 55 televised games.
If you still want more Senators, there’s also Ottawa Sports Radio. It’s the official voice of the team and Canada’s second 24-hour sports radio station. It also provides game broadcasts from other sports as well as controversial call-in shows that are the mark of any true sports station.
It all means a 20- to 30-minute drive to Kanata and the purchase of expensive tickets aren’t the only way to follow the Senators this year.
Is this too much sports? Maybe, but who really cares. Pull up an easy chair and let the games begin.
If you need me, I’ll be in the living room.