Update: I just came back from walking the dog and was listening to the Jays game on the Fan. 

Or at least I was trying to listen to the Jays game.

What I heard instead was simply mind boggling. At the start of what should have been an inning, both Ben and Buck started talking to Jays' newcomer Kevin Kiermaier, ex-of the Tampa Bay Rays.

Nothing wrong with that, except they talked and talked and talked and talked and talked for at least 15 minutes straight, during which time they made absolutely no reference to the game itself. You could hear on the radio in the background batters being introduced, umpires calling a strike, the sound of a bat hitting a ball, the occasional roar of the crowd, what I presume to be a few balls being fouled off and more. 

But not once - not once - in all that time did they talk about what was happening on the field. You know, the whole purpose of them actually being at the game itself. They finally asked Kiermaier every question possible besides "what's your favourite colour?" then threw to a break.

When they came back - again, in the middle of a sentence - it was mid-inning (I have no idea which one) and the Yankees had the bases loaded and could have blown the game wide open. There was no reference to how many outs there were or who was up to bat or even what happened during that too long interview.

I can only presume they showed the action on screen while the talkfest was going on, so viewers at home at least could follow the play. Look, I know this is only spring training, but what a complete disservice to anyone who tuned in on the radio. And that's why this plan of Rogers will never, ever work.

What I heard on Sunday was unbelievably dumb and incredibly incompetent. I hope they don't do it again.

But it won't surprise me if they do. 

It would have been fine post-game but on the radio, it was interminable - especially when you could hear the game going on underneath it. It was the radio equivalent of a middle finger to listeners.

Ale Ont wrote:

But how much money did Rogers save?

Never enough. They will continually chase the dragon.

I can only remember one time there was anything like this. And I think it was before Rogers took over (and some would say ruined) City TV. For one brief pre-season, Channel 57 managed to get the rights to a few Jays pre-season games. They promised they were "going to do it differently, with City creativity."

Boy, did they do it differently, alright. They showed about 3 live innings of a pre-season match in Dunedin and then for reasons that are still completely inexplicable, cut away to air pre-taped interviews with players, live chats with the people selling refreshments, a pre-recorded tour of the stadium, Kathryn Humphreys doing shtick with the crowd, etc. etc. all while the game was still going on. 

My memory is a bit hazy on this, but I'm not sure if they ever actually showed the end of the contest. I remember watching some of this and practically screaming at the set, "What about the game!"

Clearly they didn't think it was all that important, despite somehow snagging the rights to it. 

It pissed me off so much that to this day, I still remember that coverage. Or more correctly, the lack of it.  

It reminds me a lot of Sunday's radio coverage - an opportunity wasted.

Maybe the Jays' skipper should have given the broadcast the Heimlich Maneuver, to try to save the coverage from choking.