Ok, so when I say this, I want to make it clear that I am not in anyway comparing sports to the tragedy of September 11. So for those who are going to go there, just stop.

I remember the time when a major news event happened when I used to stay up until 11:35 to see what Ted Koppel was going to say on Nightline. I knew Koppel would have the best guests and that was the way to get the best info. Fast forward x number of years to that dreaded day in September. There was no longer a need to wait up for nightline. CNN, MSNBC and whomever else covered the events of the day around the clock. The way we ingested and demanded news certainly has changed. Twitter has moved things to the news on demand realm.

The world of sports is no different. We used to have to wait for the morning paper to arrive (or for us to arrive at the subway station) to pick up the papers to get the facts and opinions we needed. Even as late as the last year we had to wait for the opinions from our favorite (or favorite to hate) to get memorialized in ink. Locally speaking, that has finally changed.

Consider that tonight at 10:01 Steve Simmons tweeted “Bryan Colangelo says – If you want to blame somebody for the Raptors, blame me – Read my column in Tuesday’s Sun …”

Or, you can read it now online at 10:02.

Dave Feschuk’s excellent opinion piece on the Raptors season was posted just moments before Simmons piece. Bruce Arthur’s Chris Bosh article that was in Monday’s paper similarly appeared Sunday night.

Point your browser over to search.twitter.com and enter the words Ovechkin suspended. You will find that before the suspension was made “public” by the league the Washington Post tweeted it, then published it and then the entire hockey world followed. Damien Cox first tweeted the news (a retweet of the Washington Post author Tarik El-Bashir post) and a little while later tweeted again that his opinion piece was now available on the Toronto Star’s website.

Thanks to twitter, RSS readers and feeds and incredible wesbites like Kuklas Korner the ability of fans to keep up to date in near real time is spectacular. For those of you who read this site on a regular basis are aware, I constantly say the NHL should buy twitter- I think it was made for the league. (yes I am saying it tongue in cheek). Consider that while the technology eyes are on SXSW this week, Twitter, during it’s presentation talked about, the little league that could:

“Twitter CEO Evan Williams showed off new technology Monday that lets content partners cleanly pull Twitter links and streams onto their Web site through JavaScript, instead of an API, but keep hush on advertising plans…..
…..Some features demonstrated by Williams at SXSW already exist. The National Hockey League (NHL) has been using a similar technology for months. In fact, the league attributes the technology to keeping fans glued to its site during the recent NHL draft picks.”

Don’t believe me yet…. Remember that little hockey game a few weeks ago between Canada and the USA?:

“Between 2:29 and 2:54 p.m. Pacific time, more than 3.5 million status updates were posted, which is twice the pace of the rest of the day.”

Back when I started this blog, the Globe and Mail was the leader in this new age era. They used to update their site nightly around 10 or 11pm with their feature stories for the next day. They, and the National Post left the Sun and Star behind. Now it appears that the tables have been turned. The Toronto Star has fully embraced the technology era. Their website, at least in the sports section is ever evolving. Not only do their writer write, they blog, live blog and tweet. The National Post and as evidenced by tonight’s Simmons column, Toronto Sun are slightly behind the Star. The Globe and Mail seems to have changed tactics, delaying the articles by their columnists a tad.

It’s funny that the Roy MacGregor writes a column this week that contains this gem:

“When newspapers start confusing “hits” with “circulation,” there is an undeniable danger to journalism.”

MacGregor is a legend. I am not sure there is a more well respected sports writer in the country. However, it says here that his column is off base.

“If, as increasingly appears to be the case in the uncertain world of Web publishing, traffic is what matters most – and may one day be the basis for figuring out how finally to make money out of Web content – then it only stands to reason that those working in the business will chase traffic harder than stories.

Why, given that traffic often increases when celebrity is involved, would a journalist risk a low-traffic day by introducing readers to someone they do not already know – regardless of how important that person’s story might be? ”

Is this any different in the electronic world as it was in the paper world?

I mean all that has really changed is that things are much more trackable. Do you think that what sells is different today then it was before? Rush Limbaugh didn’t need to track hits to know what would light up his switchboard did he? Al Strachan, John Robertson didn’t have the benefit of analytics to tell them what to write. I mean do we really need to watch Don Cherry to hear what he is going to say? Simmons Sunday column hasn’t changed one bit since the advent of the most modern technologies.

“An American friend who now does a daily blog for a major U.S. newspaper says he came to realize there were certain tricks to Web journalism that did not apply during his many years as a hard-copy reporter.

The key to increased traffic, he says, lies in striking the hot buttons almost immediately – if possible, right in the headline.

If you can get as high up as possible those magic names and phrases that incite the American public – Sarah Palin, the Clintons, Tiger Woods, global warming, anything to do with sex – then the thousands upon thousands who have signed up for alerts on anything to do with Ms. Palin, Mr. Clinton, Mr. Woods, climate change, sex will come flooding to your page.”

None of that is new. What’s new is that idiots like me now, if we are willing to take the time can publish our own opinions. What has changed is the reach. Mr. MacGregor’s friend the blogger hard copy days never got beamed out to the world. With the exception of a few publications, very few stories in local papers ever got national let alone international attention. The pallet has changed and the audience size has changed, the game hasn’t. How many articles in tomorrow’s papers will be good news stories? Do we watch adoringly at the smooth pace of traffic along the 400 northbound on a Friday evening? No, we rubberneck at the poor guy who has wrapped his car around a pole. All the same things sell. The difference is that clicks and hits have replaced the physical sale of a tangible piece of paper. People used to buy the paper for what they could expect to find inside. We knew what our certain reporters were going to say on a subject and we were prepared to pay for it. Now we point our browser to our favourite outlets and we pay by having our eyeballs scan leaderboards and skyscrapers on a page.

So, no matter your poison, you can now have access to it sooner. That’s a good thing. Even better, there are more people writing on subjects we care about every day who never had a voice now do. I have 92 feeds in my rss reader. The vast majority are blogs. Of those, almost all are written by people who never before had a voice. Those who write for clicks will find that eventually the cream rises to the top and the quick buck will in fact end. The good writers, professional or blogger will survive and remain relevant.

As for me, my brain is in about 4 different time zones right now, as Tomas Kaberle says, I need a maintenance day.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

Bruce Arthur’s Bosh story is here
Dave Feschuk’s Raptors story is here
Steve Simmons’ Toronto Raptors story is here
Roy MacGregor’s technology/journalism article is here

The National Football League has seen its fair share of interesting moves since free agency opened on March 5th. I completely struck out in my free agency predictions (Thomas Jones went to the Chiefs, come on), and there’s been some trades that have greatly benefited some teams. Here are the moves that have caught my eye the most.

THE GOOD

I absolutely love two trades thus far. Baltimore picking up Anquan Boldin and a fifth round pick from Arizona for a third and fourth rounder is a stroke of genius for the Ravens. They needed a go-to wide receiver, and Boldin will be that guy. They also resigned Derrick Mason to go with the signing of Dante Stallworth. In half a month, the Ravens have transformed their receiving core into a respectable unit.

The second trade I fully endorse went down on Sunday, with the Denver Broncos acquiring Brady Quinn. I know his numbers in Cleveland were atrocious, but he’s still just 25 years old and has plenty of potential. For a fullback (Peyton Hillis), a sixth rounder and a conditional pick (rumoured to be no higher than a fourth rounder), the Broncos have potentially found their quarterback for the future. If he’s surrounded by the right pieces and Josh McDaniels keeps his QB-friendly system, Denver has a chance at having a major steal on their hands.

On the free agent front, some of the signings I’ve been a fan of include Chester Taylor to the Bears, Karlos Dansby to the Dolphins, and Aaron Kampman to the Jaguars. All three players plugged major holes for their new teams, and Dansby especially is primed for a huge season.

THE BAD

Not too sure I understand the Larry Foote signing in Pittsburgh. Three years, $9.3 million for a guy you released before last season seems a little high to me. The Steelers must be down on Lawrence Timmons, because bringing in Foote at over three million per season to back up Timmons and James Farrior seems odd to me.

I knew Dunta Robinson would get a big contract due to the diluted cornerback market, but the six year, $57 million dollar contract he signed is ridiculous. It includes $22.5 million in guaranteed money, for a corner who averages just over two interceptions per season, including a grand total of zero last year, and has a history of knee injuries.

THE UGLY

The New York Jets confuse me to no end. The decision to cut Thomas Jones made sense to me, but the idea to sign LaDainian Tomlinson throws everything out of sorts. The Jets had Shonn Greene and Leon Washington on the roster, but still felt like replacing a productive aging running back, with a worn down aging running back.

Monday morning, Mike Holmgren said he may select a quarterback with the seventh overall pick, or even trade up to grab either Jimmy Clausen or Sam Bradford. If that’s the case why trade for Seneca Wallace and sign Jake Delhomme? Is either of those two going to be happy as a third option, or is the seventh (or higher) drafted player going to hold a clipboard all year as an emergency policy? I don’t really understand what’s going on in Cleveland, but I’m sure Holmgren has some sort of plan.

TWO POINT CONVERSION

- in my last post when I discussed the retirement of Chris Samuels, I mentioned Orlando Pace, Walter Jones and Samuels as the great tackles of this generation. As one reader pointed out, I omitted another incredible player, Johnathan Ogden. Ogden was a staple for the Ravens for twelve seasons, and clearly deserves to be mentioned among the best tackles of the past twenty years

- a story on profootballtalk.com (http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/03/15/scout-on-vick-he-cant-throw/) tells that a scout evaluated Mike Vick, coming to conclusion that “he can’t throw”. Why is this a story now? Anyone who watched Vick on the Falcons knew he couldn’t throw then, and sure can’t now

Hey folks, happy to announce coming to this site, the TSM Pressbox. When I started this site it was, in large part due to frustration over the sports media coverage in this town. That and my dog got tired of hearing me yell at the TV night in and night out. So in addition to my blood pressure coming down, I have been very fortunate with a couple of unforeseen benefits as well. First, and most important is the interaction I have had with those of you kind enough to check in from time to time. Secondly, many members of the Toronto sports media world have reached out to me offering support, guidance and assistance. Not all comments have been happy ones, yet to a T everyone has treated me with respect and as a result I have been able to make some pretty good friendships.

So, starting this week I am happy to start bringing to you, The Pressbox. I’ll be sitting down and talking about the issues du jour in the world of Toronto Sports Media. The first show gets taped tomorrow, and here’s hoping it’s a good one.

Stay tuned…..

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

On Fan 590 Tonight-

- Grapeline with Don Cherry & Brian Williams at 4:45
- Bob McCown’s co-host from 5:00 to 7:00 is John Shannon
5:25 EJ Hradek, ESPN.com
5:45 Daryl Jones, Ice Edge Holdings
6:05 Paul Beeston, Jays CEO
6:30 Kevin McDonald, CFL’s Director of Football Ops in Studio
6:45 Don Banks, SI.COM

On 640 with Brady and Watters thanks to Mike S.:

- Larry Brooks of the New York Post

- Cliff Fletcher, member of the Maple Leafs front office

- Bruce Boudreau, head coach of the Capitals

- hockey insiders Darren Dreger & Ray Ferraro at 6:10

College of Sports Media Game of the Night:

If the Detroit Red Wings played in the East they would be the sixth seed with their sights set on the Ottawa Senators – who are only one game ahead of them. Unfortunately for them, that is not the case. They play in the West where 78 points is only good enough for eighth and if things don’t go their way tonight they’ll be in ninth. The Red Wings are on the road tonight in Calgary to take on a Flames team that only trails them by a single point. The good news for Detroit is they’ve been able to string together back-to-back Ws and have won five of their last seven games. On Saturday night the Red Wings needed overtime to secure a 3-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. Special teams has been one of the reasons for Detroit’s recent success. The Red Wings have scored a power-play goal in nine straight games including Brian Rafalski’s OT winner in their last game. Calgary had won four in a row before losing 3-1 to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. Included in that winning streak was a 4-2 win over the Red Wings in Detroit. So you can be sure the Red Wings are looking to return the favour tonight.

What is interesting is that prior to the WSJ article, Mona had flown under the Toronto MSM radar. Yet, if you look at her website it is filled with parties for VIPs over the last couple of years. How, one wonders does the WSJ pick up the story before the local, 4, yes 4 papers do?

Want proof of the pudding? Yesterday, in the Globe and Mail came this headline “For sports stars, it’s Toronto the Good ” an article that pays tribute to the WSJ this one written by Paul Waldie and Andrew Willis- Waldie the excellent reporter from the Coyotes story.

“Her reputation as a party host for professional athletes has become so widespread that her company was featured in The Wall Street Journal this week under the headline Why Pro Athletes Love Toronto.”

Yet not so widespread that any Toronto media outlet decided to cover her before the big boys in the USA did right?

Not to be outdone, the Toronto Star today has a story of it’s own. “Mona Halem, party line to the NBA” the story is titled. Denise Balkissoon writes the piece for the Star.

“She got us about 15 wins this year,” says Wright. “Throwing those Saturday night parties works great. She needs a raise.” In a Wall Street Journal article earlier this week, the New York Knicks’ Toney Douglas and Tracy McGrady also bigged up Halem’s bashes.”

Nice of Denise to mention the WSJ article, which without would never had lead to this piece. My favourite part of Balkisson’s story:”With files from Doug Smith”

Maybe I’m overly critical, but one would think that with 4 daily papers someone local would have picked this up first. I mean we hear all the time that Toronto is the dreaded place for athletes to come. It’s cold, the taxes etc. I know a lot of that deals with athletes coming to play for our local teams. However those stories almost always talk to athletes who come visit. Clearly Mona has made her name for herself internationally. Hell, people were lined up outside a famous museum here in Paris to see a painting of her (sorry Eggbert, couldn’t help myself). And yes, I know that’s a different Mona.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

The Globe and Mail story is here

The Toronto Star is here

On Fan 590 Tonight-

- Grapeline with Don Cherry & Brian Williams at 4:45
- Bob McCown’s co-host from 5:00 to 7:00 is Stephen Brunt
- Bob Mccown takes calls
- Roundtable with guests Gord Kirke and Bruce Arthur

On 640 with Brady and Watters thanks to Mike S.:

- Pat Quinn, head coach of the Oilers
- Ron Wilson, head coach of the Leafs
- hockey insiders Darren Dreger & Scott Morrison at 6:10

So apparently one or two people were listening to the Olympics on the radio. Not that radio ratings are akin to a boxing match, but this was as close to a knockout in the business as you can expect to see. The Fan enjoyed a huge ratings boost for the Olympics, the question of course is, what relevance will that have on advertisers and their tight budgets. I mean, the Olympics are over so there is no reason to expect similar numbers post Olympics. Advertisers know that, what this does help is for the next time there is a large event like this in Canada to guestimate what rates should be given approximate ratings.

Men aged 25-54: 6-9am
640= 5.2
590= 5.9

Overall, the Fan show, according to Zelkovich jumped from a 5.8 to a 7.5

Men aged 25-54: 4-7pm
640: = 3.8
1010 = 4.5
590 = 9.2

Overall, the Fan show, according to Zelkovich jumped from a 7.2 to a 12.0

Men aged 25-54: 1pm
640: 3.0
1010: = 3.9
590 = 5.3

the Fan show, according to Zelkovich jumped to a 5.7 in hour #2

Zelkovich has the bullpen getting an Olympic boost going to a 5.7 from 4.4 and the Game Plan saw a similar raise heading to a 6.2 from a 4.8.

The Olympic gold medal game landed the fan a 40 share! Huge numbers to say the least.

So what have we learned? Mccown is still on top. Hockey central at noon continues to blow Leafs Lunch out of the water. At some point, probably after the summer, if this continues, I would think that the folks at 640 are going to have to make a change to Leafs lunch. I don’t know how many times I can say it but Dreger isn’t a host and Watters all the time isn’t a good thing. Rotate the hosting duties amongst other talent and then put Wilbur on when and only when there is something really unique to talk about.

Zelkovich’s blog can be found here

On Fan 590 Tonight-

- Grapeline with Don Cherry & Brian Williams at 4:45
- Bob McCown’s co-host from 5:00 to 7:00 is Stephen Brunt
- Lester Munson from ESPN on NHL lawsuit vs. Phoenix Coyotes
- Bryan Colangelo
- Guy from Frameworth on popularity of Sidney Crosby memorabilia
- Dan Shulman
- 2 Members of the Arkells- Juno nominated band

On 640 with Brady and Watters thanks to Mike S.:

Brian Lawton, GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning
- Jolly Jonas Siegel from the ACC to preview tonight’s Leafs-Lightning game
- hockey insider Pierre McGuire at 6:10
- show ends at 6:30 to make way for the Leafs pre-game show

Greetings and salutations from Berlin. I’ve been here for a few days and am now just sitting down to get some stuff up on the site. Sorry for the delay, it’s just been a tad busy.

Anyways. Great article in yesterdays Wall Street Journal on Toronto, the hot attraction to Athletes. Here are some highlights:

“Toronto is a road trip just about every pro athlete looks forward to. Some say the city has a cool, international vibe that increasingly stands out. Some like the plentitude of cheap concert tickets—a boon for athletes with big posses—or the convenience of the must-be-19 drinking law. (Rookie guard DeMar DeRozan of the Raptors, who is 20, was ordering chocolate milk at dinner before his teammates told him the good news).”

Party town USA, I mean Canada! Yes, it is funny to be out on the town some late evenings to do nothing more than people watch. A good friend ran into Isiah Thomas one night, just BEFORE he found out his fate in a NY courtroom and, let’s just say that Isiah was being Isiah.

“Athletes get a warm welcome at the city’s relatively libertine gentlemen’s clubs which, according to a spokeswoman for the Toronto Convention and Visitors Bureau, tend to “clear out the champagne room” for visiting athletes. And it helps that the tentacles of the tabloids and gossip Web sites rarely extend this far into the frozen north. “People like to come here to party,” says Raptors power forward Chris Bosh.”

Damn! We got libertine gentleman’s clubs?????????? How nice that our CVB is telling the press that the champagne rooms are cleared out for athletes too….

“Since the Buffalo Bills began playing annual games at Toronto’s Rogers Centre (formerly SkyDome) in 2008, an increasing number of NFL players have started passing through “the 416,” which is the city’s area code. Baseball players, who’ve been coming here since 1977 to play the Blue Jays, have good memories.”

Wait, wait wait… you mean the athletes aren’t hanging in the 647 or passing through the 905?????

“Jarrett Jack, a Raptors guard, says the “mix of people” in Toronto is far more interesting than he sees in most NBA towns. “One girl told me she’s from Hungary and Chile—I’m like, how does that happen?” says Mr. Jack. “You kind of go outside the box here.”

See, now I think Jarret Jack’s got it all wrong. I think she said she was hungry for some chili!

“At the center of much of the city’s athlete nightlife is an event planner and promoter named Mona Halem, a former employee of the Air Canada Centre, which is home to the Raptors. Ms. Halem has become “notorious” throughout the sports world, says Raptors forward Antoine Wright, for assembling attractive party guests to fete nearly every franchise that comes to town.

Last week, around midnight, not long after they’d checked into their hotel, several members of the New York Knicks put on expensive sweaters and hailed cabs to Tattoo Rock Parlour, a club in the city’s “Queen West” neighborhood.

Knicks rookie Toney Douglas, who was descending the hotel elevator in a sparkling diamond necklace and a puffy vest, said he never goes out before games and isn’t a fan of cold weather, but had heard from friends that Toronto, “party-wise,” was one city worth making an exception for. “It’s something different – it’s another country,” he said.”

OK, now raise your hand if your wondering if Ms. Halem is familiar with one Tiger Woods?

“Darren Sanders, the director of security for the Baltimore Ravens—a team that hasn’t even played in Toronto—says his team was told recently about the growing popularity of Toronto among athletes, and about her role in making it so. “She is definitely on the radar,” he says.”

Now that’s funny. Can you imagine that the Baltimore Ravens who never come here have a Toronto party girl on their “radar”????? Paging Mr. Woods, anyone???? Mr. Tiger Woods….

Sorry I don’t have the link to the article, reader Neil sent it to me via email, if you want to read the rest, and it’s pretty damn funny, it’s entitled “Why Pro Athletes Love Toronto Chic, Discreet and Increasingly Party-Filled, Canada’s Sports Hub Permits Jocks to Cut Loose”

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia