Chris Cuthbert leaving TSN

[AngeloV]

Sad for any fan of the CFL to see the league’s voice leave for the enemy. Hopefully TSN will see this as an opportunity to develop the next great CFL PxP guy. Cuthbert is a youthful 62 years old, and I for one will miss his great calls of our great league. Maybe TSN can tweak their crews as a whole. I like Glen Suitor when I hear him as a guest on radio shows, but not a fan of his commentary. Maybe move him to the studio and more Henry Burris in the booth.

https://3downnation.com/2020/06/05/cfl-play-by-play-man-chris-cuthbert-leaves-tsn-for-sportsnet/

[gilthethrill]

Sad for any fan of the CFL to see the league’s voice leave for the enemy. Hopefully TSN will see this as an opportunity to develop the next great CFL PxP guy. Cuthbert is a youthful 62 years old, and I for one will miss his great calls of our great league. Maybe TSN can tweak their crews as a whole. I like Glen Suitor when I hear him as a guest on radio shows, but not a fan of his commentary. Maybe move him to the studio and more Henry Burris in the booth.

https://3downnation.com/2020/06/05/cfl-play-by-play-man-chris-cuthbert-leaves-tsn-for-sportsnet/

It really is a sad day for CFL fans, especially losing Cuthbert to Sportsnet. Should be interesting to see who TSN hails as their new #1 guy for CFL play by play.

[paulwoods13]

Listen, "guys." The next play-by-play announcer does not have to be a "guy." In fact, I would argue it is long past time for that gender barrier to come down. TSN has a huge roster of very talented women -- Kate Beirness, Kara Waglund, Lyndsey Hamilton are just three. I would bet one of them could develop into a very good play-by-play PERSON if given the chance. What better time than right now, with an unexpected vacancy and a reduced (at best) schedule of games?

[Mightygoose]

I do like the idea of someone like
Beirness to step into the play by play. Rogers has Cassie Campbell-Pascal granted it's more on the colour commentary side.

Cuthbert is a big loss but Sportsnet don't have enough quality people in the booth so a big upgrade for them.

[AngeloV]

Listen, "guys." The next play-by-play announcer does not have to be a "guy." In fact, I would argue it is long past time for that gender barrier to come down. TSN has a huge roster of very talented women -- Kate Beirness, Kara Waglund, Lyndsey Hamilton are just three. I would bet one of them could develop into a very good play-by-play PERSON if given the chance. What better time than right now, with an unexpected vacancy and a reduced (at best) schedule of games?

I would have no issue with it Paul, but I have my doubts. Seems to me a trial run would have been ideal last year but they hired Dustin Nielsen to do spot games. I think that was a sign that they will not go in the direction of a female pxp voice.

[bannedforlife]

Listen, "guys." The next play-by-play announcer does not have to be a "guy." In fact, I would argue it is long past time for that gender barrier to come down. TSN has a huge roster of very talented women -- Kate Beirness, Kara Waglund, Lyndsey Hamilton are just three. I would bet one of them could develop into a very good play-by-play PERSON if given the chance. What better time than right now, with an unexpected vacancy and a reduced (at best) schedule of games?And the next PBP commentator doesn't have to be a woman either, especially for the sake of political expediency or because it's 2020. Competency is all that is warranted. Hosting, colour and PBP are three different kettles of fish.

I was a big fan of the Baroness but came away very disappointed with her chairing of the women's soccer panel. I can't comment on the other two but I harken back to one of my favourite PBP guys, Bill Hewitt. I thought he was great at PBP but according to his coworkers he was absolutely useless at anything else, so they are different jobs with different skillsets and because one can anchor SportsCentre doesn't mean they can do PBP on football. I'm all for auditions, though.

TSN should try and swing a deal for Mark Lee (former Carleton QB) to tide them over until a permanent replacement is found. I think you need to groom a flagship guy, but Rod Smith and Farhan Lalji both did a fine job when used.

[paulwoods13]

And the next PBP commentator doesn't have to be a woman either, especially for the sake of political expediency or because it's 2020. Competency is all that is warranted. Hosting, colour and PBP are three different kettles of fish.

I was a big fan of the Baroness but came away very disappointed with her chairing of the women's soccer panel. I can't comment on the other two but I harken back to one of my favourite PBP guys, Bill Hewitt. I thought he was great at PBP but according to his coworkers he was absolutely useless at anything else, so they are different jobs with different skillsets and because one can anchor SportsCentre doesn't mean they can do PBP on football. I'm all for auditions, though.

TSN should try and swing a deal for Mark Lee (former Carleton QB) to tide them over until a permanent replacement is found. I think you need to groom a flagship guy, but Rod Smith and Farhan Lalji both did a fine job when used.

So letting a woman try it would be "politically expedient" unless she was "competent," but TSN should bring Mark Lee on board? Brilliant take all around.

But anyway, yeah let's be sure to groom a "flagship guy."

[AngeloV]

Mods: Sorry I didn’t realize there was a thread already started here. Maybe we can merge the 2 threads?

[doubleblue]

Sad for any fan of the CFL to see the league’s voice leave for the enemy. Hopefully TSN will see this as an opportunity to develop the next great CFL PxP guy. Cuthbert is a youthful 62 years old, and I for one will miss his great calls of our great league. Maybe TSN can tweak their crews as a whole. I like Glen Suitor when I hear him as a guest on radio shows, but not a fan of his commentary. Maybe move him to the studio and more Henry Burris in the booth.

https://3downnation.com/2020/06/05/cfl-play-by-play-man-chris-cuthbert-leaves-tsn-for-sportsnet/

Sorry to hear Chris is leaving the CFL booth. However, he isn't getting any younger and doing both the CFL and NHL in the fall would be quite challenging with all the travel.
I remember one weekend on games I watched last year. He was in Nashville on a Thursday night for an NHL game, back in Canada for Friday Night Football, another game on Saturday and then a Sunday NHL game. Four games in four nights in four different Cities has got to be tiring for even a young man.
But we will miss him on the CFL broadcasts for sure. One of the best.

[argolio]

Sorry to hear Chris is leaving the CFL booth. However, he isn't getting any younger and doing both the CFL and NHL in the fall would be quite challenging with all the travel.
I remember one weekend on games I watched last year. He was in Nashville on a Thursday night for an NHL game, back in Canada for Friday Night Football, another game on Saturday and then a Sunday NHL game. Four games in four nights in four different Cities has got to be tiring for even a young man.
But we will miss him on the CFL broadcasts for sure. One of the best.Good point. Instead of working 2-4 games a week from mid-June to early May, he'll probably average no more than two games a week from October to May.

I wonder if this would have happened without Covid. His move from CBC to TSN in 2005 happened during another odd time -- CBC and NHL lockouts.

[bannedforlife]

So letting a woman try it would be "politically expedient" unless she was "competent," but TSN should bring Mark Lee on board? Brilliant take all around.

But anyway, yeah let's be sure to groom a "flagship guy."If I can read through your ever present attempted condescension, insulting tone (Brilliant take all around) and the faux "wokeness", it's ok to have an incompetent woman? You have a woman handy at TSN who is as experienced with football PBP as Mark Lee? Do you have something against Mark Lee? They could groom a "flagship girl" if any of them at TSN had broadcast at least one game of football PBP.

[Shatto]

A female doing the job as a PBP commentator---why not? If a competent female broadcaster is in the mix, she should be provided the same opportunity to demonstrate her ability to do the job as any man. This is not to suggest a less competent female be given the role just because she is a female but we have to remember women in the past, have been denied roles and positions for no other reason than their gender. Thankfully, we are now in the 21st century and people should be judged on ability not their sex.

[bannedforlife]

^Exactly!

[carlos]

Not that a woman can not do the job well. Eventually better than a man without doubt like everything else they set their mind to. It could lead to a growth in female viewers as well.

Don't see it fitting in with the current target market though. Not to say it won't be done.

I thought Dustin Nielson did a good job last year.

[Antwon]

Listen, "guys." The next play-by-play announcer does not have to be a "guy." In fact, I would argue it is long past time for that gender barrier to come down. TSN has a huge roster of very talented women -- Kate Beirness, Kara Waglund, Lyndsey Hamilton are just three. I would bet one of them could develop into a very good play-by-play PERSON if given the chance. What better time than right now, with an unexpected vacancy and a reduced (at best) schedule of games?

Agree 100%. Increase Nielsen's number of games and give 6-8 games to one or some of the females.

[R.J]

Why not just just hire the most qualified individual ?

Aside from working for TSN and being women, what exactly qualifies Beirness, Waglund, and Hamilton for the job ? And, have any of them ever called Amateur football as Neilson (High school, CJFL, CiS, and even some radio for the Esks) has many times over ?

Equal opportunity and equal outcome are not and should not be the same thing. I’m all for giving a woman a trial shot as a “backup” type of thing (similar to Neilson last season), but sorry (not sorry) I can’t get behind simply handing the #1 or 2 PxP spot to someone simply due to their gender. They should start at the bottom (amateur sports) and work their way up as Cuthbert, Black, Miller, Smith, Lalji, and Neilson have.

[bannedforlife]

Amen. Anyone who has ever been in the truck, knows this is a professional broadcast. It isn't the place for an audition of an inexperienced broadcaster (male or female). To my knowledge no one here has said it shouldn't be a woman, they are saying it shouldn't be someone without previous football PBP experience. If some want to conflate that with discriminating against women, they are being disingenuous.

[ArgoGabe22]

TSN should steal Tim and Sid, and then drop Sid. I never minded Tim's CIS calls.

[AngeloV]

TSN should steal Tim and Sid, and then drop Sid. I never minded Tim's CIS calls.

That would be cool. I’m sure Tim has a bad back for carrying that talentless Sid all these years.

[AngeloV]

Why not just just hire the most qualified individual ?

Aside from working for TSN and being women, what exactly qualifies Beirness, Waglund, and Hamilton for the job ? And, have any of them ever called Amateur football as Neilson (High school, CJFL, CiS, and even some radio for the Esks) has many times over ?

Equal opportunity and equal outcome are not and should not be the same thing. I’m all for giving a woman a trial shot as a “backup” type of thing (similar to Neilson last season), but sorry (not sorry) I can’t get behind simply handing the #1 or 2 PxP spot to someone simply due to their gender. They should start at the bottom (amateur sports) and work their way up as Cuthbert, Black, Miller, Smith, Lalji, and Neilson have.

I’m sure they wouldn’t just give any of them the job without a proper audition.

[paulwoods13]

I certainly never said "hand the job to a woman." However, I believe it would be reasonable to let some of TSNs talented women take a crack at it. Simulations, including calling recorded games from the past, could be part of a trial.

There are virtually no Canadian football telecasts other than CFL games, so this notion that only someone who has called games at a lower level should be considered is nothing more than an artificial barrier preventing virtually anyone other than a handful of men from being considered. Radio play by play is not the same as TV, and even radio pxp of lower-level football is hardly prevalent in this country.

[R.J]

There are some Usports football and CJFL games available online with PxP and Colour Commentary (quite a few actually), and prior to 2013 a lot of CIS football games were airing on the Score (now 360), then Sportsnet 360 for a couple of years, along with CBC and Radio Canada. Radio is different than tv (thanks tips), but it's a place to develop, and where a lot of these guys start.

[bannedforlife]

I’m sure they wouldn’t just give any of them the job without a proper audition.We live in strange times now.

[paulwoods13]

There are some Usports football and CJFL games available online with PxP and Colour Commentary (quite a few actually), and prior to 2013 a lot of CIS football games were airing on the Score (now 360), then Sportsnet 360 for a couple of years, along with CBC and Radio Canada. Radio is different than tv (thanks tips), but it's a place to develop, and where a lot of these guys start.

How are opportunities prior to 2013 relevant to developing talent in 2020?

How many CIS and CJFL games required pro-quality TV play by play in 2019? I'm sure some schools (and maybe even a few CJFL teams) produce their own broadcasts, but I doubt there are many of either, and I don't know how helpful working in that milieu (or in radio broadcasts of such games) would be to anyone trying to develop. Working alongside a terrible colour commentator and without a skilful producer controlling the show might force someone to handle a lot of adversity, granted.

[bannedforlife]

I certainly never said "hand the job to a woman." There are virtually no Canadian football telecasts other than CFL games, so this notion that only someone who has called games at a lower level should be considered is nothing more than an artificial barrier preventing virtually anyone other than a handful of men from being considered. Sounds to me like you are making a strawman argument to "hand the job to a woman"

[R.J]

We live in strange times now.
That's a polite way of putting it.

Sounds to me like you are making a strawman argument to "hand the job to a woman"
Ding ding ding, we have our winner.

[jerrym]

I will deeply miss Cuthbert's CFL broadcasts. May the best person win the job.

[Stevoman]

Cuthbert was the best the CFL has ever had. A sad loss for the league indeed.

[Argo57]

Cuthbert was the best the CFL has ever had. A sad loss for the league indeed.

CFL has had some great play by play announcers going back to the 1970’s including Don Chevrier, Don Wittman and Ottawa Homer Pat Marsden and of course Chris Cuthbert.

[ArgoRavi]

Sad for any fan of the CFL to see the league’s voice leave for the enemy. Hopefully TSN will see this as an opportunity to develop the next great CFL PxP guy. Cuthbert is a youthful 62 years old, and I for one will miss his great calls of our great league. Maybe TSN can tweak their crews as a whole. I like Glen Suitor when I hear him as a guest on radio shows, but not a fan of his commentary. Maybe move him to the studio and more Henry Burris in the booth.

https://3downnation.com/2020/06/05/cfl-play-by-play-man-chris-cuthbert-leaves-tsn-for-sportsnet/

I worry that Burris is lost now too seeing as he has been coaching in Chicago this year.

[AngeloV]

A part of me was really hoping that CC going to Sportsnet would have opened the door for Dave Ransdorf to return to TSN and call both Football and Hockey, but Ransdorf signed to be the new PBP guy for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Good for him. I have no idea how anyone at Sportsnet thinks Jim Hughson is a better announcer than Ransdorf.