Manufacturing Content

CBC Radio in Montreal gave me a call late this afternoon.

Sports Illustrated polled 350+ NHL players asking them which team had the best fans - players couldn't vote for their own teams (I did a quick search on-line but couldn't find this poll).

As it was a Montreal station calling, it should come as no surprise that the Habs came out on top. The Leafs came in at #6 (Wild were 2, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver - in no particular order - rounded out the top 5; Sens were in 12th).

The radio guy wanted to know what I thought of the Habs being ranked on top. I told them I was happy Hab fans were back on the bandwagon and that it wasn't a surprise that with the Habs challenging for top spot in the east, their fans would be ranked #1.

This reaction really wasn't what he wanted.

He asked me how I felt about my beloved Leafs ranking so low, I said (paraphrasing):

Given that the ACC is full of suits - it's a series of corporations cheering on a corporation - I'm surprised the Leafs placed as high as they did. That, on balance, a sixth place ranking was probably very accurate as the Fans down at the ACC are quiet as a morgue while the Leaf fans that can get tickets in Buffalo, Ottawa and other Canadian cities are far more passionate and likely push the rankings closer to the top five.

(Of course my actual quote was likely chock-full of ums, ahs, uhs and dead air.)

He shut off the tape.

This clearly wasn't what he wanted.

We talked hockey for a bit (he was a pretty cool guy, seemed like an Oilers fan) and then he told me that he had to go get back on the phone to find a Leaf fan that was actually upset about the rankings.

Nothing like fair and balanced representative journalism from the Mother Corp.