Evening folks…TSM is out of town but he just BBM’d me some breaking radio news….
Reliable sources are telling TSM that Jonas Siegel has left AM 640 to be the Leafs beat guy for TSN Radio. We believe that he will start at TSN on August 1st.
Does this open the door for a Berger return to the radio waves? No idea but the winds of change just keep blowing so you never know….
TSM will likely add more to the story later…
Goodnight…
LT for TSM
Why did TSN not hire Berger?
Dadesh64 said “Why did TSN not hire Berger?”
Fascinating question.
TSN, redefining cornering the market on one sport.
It’s almost shameful how hockey slanted TSN Radio is.
Good for Siegel for landing at TSN..but I find him weak at best when covering the Leafs and over all in hockey… maybe he will will get better?…with all the hockey people at TSN (seems like hundreds) they could not have used one of them…when is enough?…
I think TSN would not be interested in Berger for the fact that he is seen as someone no longer “good enough” for the FAN. To hire him would be seen as hiring the competitions cast off. Rightly or wrongly, perception means a lot in a competitive market. It may not be fair to Berger, but it will take some time to pass before he is considered a hireable commodity again in the Toronto sports market. My opinion anyways!
let’s be honest about what a beat guy really brings to the table. he basically goes to practice and reports on line combinations, injuries, and what the coaches are up to. on game day the beat guy is pretty redundant since the throng of regular media types are there doing interviews before and after the game. most of us watch highlights and recaps online now, so even a post game report is pretty useless.
in the pre-internet days the beat guy might have some insider scoops to report, but all of that stuff is tweeted out instantly nowadays. this was Howard’s ultimate undoing: he tried too hard to stay relevant, and it this usually meant baiting the fans or drawing attention to himself rather than the team. if 640 keeps the Leafs rights then they’ll need a beat guy, and maybe Howard could be a big fish in a small pond over there.
I agree that the importance of the beat guy has greatly diminished over time with the advent of twitter, blogs, etc. I’ve even wondered about the necessity of even having one. That being said, I find Siegel’s hiring by TSN kind of strange as he doesn’t strike me as an A-List talent that they seem to draw on the hockey side.
As for Howard Berger, something tells me that the Leafs had something to do with his dismissal, making hiring him problematic for any media outlet wanting the Leafs’ radio rights.
@Chris F: That’s TSN – period.
I enjoy hockey, have for 40ish years, but I moreso enjoy sports – all sports. You need a script to find a sport other than hockey on Sportscentre for 11 months of the year.
And why do many media outlets have to keep ramming down our throats that hockey is Canada’s game, all Canadians love hockey, hockey hockey hockey? It makes us sound so narrow-minded and exclusionary.
Rant over. Sorry.
Good for Jonas. Hope he gets the summer off.
@Kyle: Couldn’t agree more!
TSN has now gone completely overboard with it’s nationalistic slant on “our game!!” I know that I am in the minority, but because of that, I just can’t stomach the world juniors anymore.
The Vancouver Olympics were even worse.
As a country, we roll our collective eyes when the American’s do that but for some reason it’s alright for us to sit with our Timmies and to the exact same thing – if not worse.
Good luck to Seigel. He appears to be a hard worker in a job that probably requires a lot of his time. He should improve as a broadcaster.
As for Howard, sadly, my guess is he has worn out his welcome in this market. That, coupled with what I imagine would be a high salary demand (radio is cheap – he should be paid well for the demands that a beat reporter requires) might have excluded him from that gig. I see him going to the States.
Hey Tweeter………….if your “TSN Radio won’t hire 590 castoffs” theory is correct then why did they hire Hogan ??
Good luck to Jolly Jonas at 1050…………in my opinion he is pretty good at gathering the facts and reporting them but he is incredibly soft whenever he is asked his opinion on the team
Best thing about being a Leaf beat writer is getting every spring off…
Agreed…
The overt (and hyperbolic) nationalism seems strangely “unCanadian”…
The World Jr Tourney is just an embarsssment of over-the-top reporting. We send a giant, bruising, pampered team (they had their own chef!) and unleash them on smaller players from countries without indoor plumbing, and then dance on their graves after a 9-1 victory… As heretic as it sounds, I was thrilled for the Russian comeback win last year! (and the fact they were so drunk they got kicked off the plane was just brilliant)
Mike S – They hired Hogan because of the Argos and CFL… that’s the only property they have so that should be obvious!
Tweeter,
I think your “TSN Radio won’t hire 590 castoffs” theory is not supported by the facts. Not only does Mike Hogan work at TSN Radio but so does Rick Ralph.
Guys I feel the exact same way.
I can’t stand pandering pro USA stuff in American sports TV, and I feel just the same about the Canadian sports media. The difference is that here it’s concentrated on hockey.
I find the “hockey is Canada/This is our game” stuff to be jingoistic and insulting to my intelligence. TSN and beer commercials are pretty bad for it.
It’s great that we cover hockey as well as we do – but it’d be nice to take the intensity down a notch (looking at July 1st/trade deadline coverage). You sometimes get the sense that the Canadian hockey media sneers at any other sport as well…like they shouldn’t be played here. I feel like saying: ‘guys…there are about 8 million people within a 2 hour radius of Toronto. It can be hockey crazy and still have lots of room for other interests”.
There is no chance TSN will change their TV coverage of July 1 free agency, given that they got another excellent rating for it this year despite the fact it was on TSN2 (Wimbledon tennis was on TSN)
Chris F said “TSN, redefining cornering the market on one sport.
It’s almost shameful how hockey slanted TSN Radio is.”
They feed the audience. I don’t think they are overly hockey centric. Guys like Scott Ferguson talk Jays baseball. Give it time.
Mario said “Good for Siegel for landing at TSN..but I find him weak at best when covering the Leafs and over all in hockey… maybe he will will get better?…with all the hockey people at TSN (seems like hundreds) they could not have used one of them…when is enough?”
Brilliant move by Jonas. He goes to a big network, he’ll get lots of exposure and if he’s lucky a veteran reporter or two will mentor him.
Tweeter said “I think TSN would not be interested in Berger for the fact that he is seen as someone no longer “good enough” for the FAN. To hire him would be seen as hiring the competitions cast off. Rightly or wrongly, perception means a lot in a competitive market. It may not be fair to Berger, but it will take some time to pass before he is considered a hireable commodity again in the Toronto sports market. My opinion anyways!”
i don’t see him on radio or tv. Rather in print. My opinion anyways!
Mike S said “Hey Tweeter………….if your “TSN Radio won’t hire 590 castoffs” theory is correct then why did they hire Hogan ??
Good luck to Jolly Jonas at 1050…………in my opinion he is pretty good at gathering the facts and reporting them but he is incredibly soft whenever he is asked his opinion on the team”
Your bang on Mike. He’s young and inexperienced. He’s now at a network that will allow him the opportunity to grow.
KMB said “Best thing about being a Leaf beat writer is getting every spring off…”
FORE
KBM said “Agreed…
The overt (and hyperbolic) nationalism seems strangely “unCanadian”…
The World Jr Tourney is just an embarsssment of over-the-top reporting. We send a giant, bruising, pampered team (they had their own chef!) and unleash them on smaller players from countries without indoor plumbing, and then dance on their graves after a 9-1 victory… As heretic as it sounds, I was thrilled for the Russian comeback win last year! (and the fact they were so drunk they got kicked off the plane was just brilliant)”
Nothing is worse than junior hockey snobs getting pissed that the rest of the country watches the World Juniors. Toth where art thou?
Tweeter said “Mike S – They hired Hogan because of the Argos and CFL… that’s the only property they have so that should be obvious!”
No one else could talk CFL/Argos?
Bob Canuck said “Tweeter,
I think your “TSN Radio won’t hire 590 castoffs” theory is not supported by the facts. Not only does Mike Hogan work at TSN Radio but so does Rick Ralph.”
True Dat!
Daniel said :Guys I feel the exact same way.
I can’t stand pandering pro USA stuff in American sports TV, and I feel just the same about the Canadian sports media. The difference is that here it’s concentrated on hockey.
I find the “hockey is Canada/This is our game” stuff to be jingoistic and insulting to my intelligence. TSN and beer commercials are pretty bad for it.
It’s great that we cover hockey as well as we do – but it’d be nice to take the intensity down a notch (looking at July 1st/trade deadline coverage). You sometimes get the sense that the Canadian hockey media sneers at any other sport as well…like they shouldn’t be played here. I feel like saying: ‘guys…there are about 8 million people within a 2 hour radius of Toronto. It can be hockey crazy and still have lots of room for other interests”.”
Sorry Daniel, spend some time in the USA and watch NFL, MLB or college football/basketball. It’s no different there.
Mike S said “There is no chance TSN will change their TV coverage of July 1 free agency, given that they got another excellent rating for it this year despite the fact it was on TSN2 (Wimbledon tennis was on TSN)
Totally agreed. No chance it will change.
I really enjoyed Howard Berger. I think Brian Burke had a lot to do with Howard’s ousting.
And that really pisses me off. The Leafs need to learn to take criticism. Seriously! And the reporters, who ever they are, need to not back down when questioning Burke, Wilson or who ever it is. They are the ones who need to take criticism. They are the ones who have turned the Leafs into a laughing joke. Here’s a hint: it ain’t funny anymore!
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