Seriously, what's with TV these days...

I'm sitting in front of my TV right now and would love to watch the Raptors/Sonics game. This shouldn't be a problem; I have NBA League Pass, TSN, about 12 Sportsnet channels, and The Score, but still no Raptors game. This also isn't the first time this has happened this year. Most Friday nights that I'm home and not out on a hot date or consuming empty substances, I'll turn on the TV hoping to God that the Raps game won't be on the monopolizing RaptorsTV, unfortunately, most times it is.

Now I understand that its advantageous for teams to get into the network biz, there's big money to be had and it's another outlet of reaching out to your fan base. What I don't understand is why do teams continue to alienate their loyal fans to such an extent?

By all means should the Raptors, and any other pro sport franchise, be able to have the sole broadcast rights to some of the teams games, but having more than a quarter of the season kept away from your fans is way too much.

I remember when I would be able to catch every game throughout the year back during my days in Grimsby. Those were the good times. I was assured that if they were playing, the game would either be on TSN, Sportsnet or The Score. Now, all this has changed. I won't see every game in the season anymore. I'll miss huge buzzer beating wins, like last nights game in Portland.

(On a side note - How impressed have you been with the production and poise by the young Andrea Bargnani? I mean, coming into the season I had told people when asked about the teams chances this year that we'd probably be in store for another quiet season, but may have some life brought in by our Euro stars. When asked about the number one overall pick, I said; Give him three years, then we'll talk. Now maybe I was just protecting myself from being disappointed, and trust me, being a Raps fan; disappointment comes often, but Andrea has been superb. If he can continue to progress at the rate he has been doing so this year, we'll be looking at one of the leagues most athletic and diverse front court duo's and be a power in the East.)

Now back to what we were talking about. If the Raptors think that making a few extra bucks off the subscription fees they're charging for RaptorsTV is more important than allowing fans to easily access their broadcasts, they are completely wrong.

By not having the Raps on standard cable channels that the majority of fans can access, what they are actually doing is forcing people to lose interest in the team. When people don't have something in their face, the old adage plays true; out of sight, out of mind.

If I only have access to one game a week, I hope that I'll be home to watch that one game. If not, well then I'm not thinking about the Raptors as much as I would otherwise.

Right now RaptorsTV is lined up with LeafsTV (I hate the Leafs and will never pay a cent to watch one of their games), GolfTV (I've already got the Golf Channel, and really don't know how different this will be), ESPN Classic (Ok, there will usually be one vintage game that I may catch 20 mins of), HPItv (I'm not a chronic horse gambler, so this isn't necessary), NHL Network (This could be advantageous if they showed some games or had some quality inside the league programs, however this isn't the case), Fox Sports World (not a huge soccer or rugby guy), Xtreme Sports (doesn't TSN show the XGames? What else is there to watch?), and the World Fishing Network (I don't even need to comment).

Now I did think that Rogers offered RapsTV for a minimal price of $2.99/month, however, I wasn't able to find this information on their website, so, can only assume they've moved away from this convenience, but let me know if I'm wrong.

Nonetheless, the Raptors should be trying to keep themselves at the forefront of the public's mind. They need to be the first thing you think of when turning on your TV for a night of sports action. When you can't see 24 of your favourite teams games because of exclusivity, something’s wrong. This is especially true when your team has a .363 winning percentage over the last 4.25 years and no playoff appearances.

- JW