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In a change from last year, the Toronto Blue Jays’ radio rights-holder will not resume in-person broadcasts of road games as the team enters the playoff stretch drive.
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Blue Jays radio broadcasters won’t be returning to road this season – Toronto Sun
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The decision was confirmed by a Sportsnet spokesperson via email.
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The network used remote coverage in 2022 before shifting back to traditional in-person road broadcasts for most of the second half of last season.
In 2023, radio broadcasters went back to a pandemic-style setup of calling road games while watching the action on a screen at Sportsnet’s studio in Toronto.
“We will continue with our current approach for the regular season,” Sportsnet’s senior communications manager Jason Jackson said. “We have not yet finalized our plans for the post-season.”
The Blue Jays are in the thick of the playoff race in the American League. Toronto entered play Friday with a 77-63 record and a half-game lead on Texas for the final wild-card spot.
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Remote radio broadcasts were the norm in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic due to health concerns and travel restrictions. The Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Angels are the only Major League Baseball teams that still use remote calls.
It wasn’t clear why Sportsnet decided to stick with remote broadcasts this season. Interview requests for primary play-by-play man Ben Wagner and Sportsnet brass were declined by the network.
In an age of shrinking newsrooms and tighter budgets, many Canadian media outlets have cut down on road coverage of sports teams to varying degrees.
“The easiest thing to trim is travel,” said Mike Naraine, an assistant professor of sports management at Brock University. “We’ll stop sending people on the road, we’ll cut coverage here and there. It sacrifices the end experience for the consumer.”
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Sportsnet is part of Rogers Sports & Media, a subsidiary of Rogers Communications Inc. The Toronto-based telecom giant also owns the Blue Jays and Rogers Centre.
An earlier request to speak with senior vice-president Greg Sansone about a variety of sport and broadcasting topics — including Blue Jays coverage — was also declined.
“Greg simply wants the work done across the Sportsnet network to speak for itself,” network spokesperson Meghann Cox said in an email.
Naraine said proper analysis can be more challenging without an on-site presence at games, along with the ability to read between the lines and survey body language.
“Being there and being able to capture the environment and capture all the variables as much as possible, that’s what’s lost at the end of the day,” he said.
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“Regardless of the medium, it’s about the ability to critically analyze the key pivotal moments that shift and change.”
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In addition to audio streaming options, Blue Jays radio broadcasts are heard across Canada on Sportsnet Radio Network affiliates and the Toronto-based flagship Fan590 all-sports station.
Remote radio broadcasts can come with a roll of the dice. Unforeseen audio difficulties or television feed issues can sometimes impact the call of the action.
Last April, a studio fire alarm was to blame for 10 minutes of beeping noises that were heard during a remote call of a Blue Jays’ road game against the St. Louis Cardinals.
The regular season continues through Oct. 1.
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DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.
The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.
Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.
He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.
Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.
Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.
The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.
Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.
Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.
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AP NHL:
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.
The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.
He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.
Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.
He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.
Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Sports
Arch Manning to get first start for No. 1 Texas as Ewers continues recovery from abdomen strain
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — No. 1 Texas will start Arch Manning at quarterback Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe while regular starter Quinn Ewers continues to recover from a strained muscle in his abdomen, coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday.
It will be the first career start for Manning, a second year freshman. He relieved Ewers in the second quarter last week against UTSA, and passed for four touchdowns and ran for another in a 56-7 Texas victory.
Manning is the son of Cooper Manning, the grandson of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, and the nephew of Super Bowl-winning QBs Peyton and Eli Manning.
Ewers missed several games over the previous two seasons with shoulder and sternum injuries.
The Longhorns are No. 1 for the first time since 2008 and Saturday’s matchup with the Warhawks is Texas’ last game before the program starts its first SEC schedule against Mississippi State on Sept. 28.
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