smokehard

Even though I am not much of a hockey nut these days, I do take a rather short-lived interest at the beginning of the season and, if my team wins enough, the playoffs. Nevertheless, I have fond memories watching the Leafs lose A LOT with my grandfather. Even though the Leafs weren’t my team, I liked spending time with my grandfather and it was fun getting frustrated at the referee’s with him. Deep down inside I have always been a Habs fan (probably because my brother was a Leafs fan), and when I went to visit ‘the other side’ in Terrebonne, I had the pleasure of watching many games en francais and visiting the old Forum a couple of times.

The Hockey Night in Canada theme song is older than I am (though one year younger than my brother. He’s REALLY old!). Any Canadian watching hockey on the CBC since 1968 knows the song and it’s importance is reflected in the number of people who can whistle and hum the jingle at the drop of a hat; even non-hockey fans. It certainly does have cultural significance and is pure Canadiana. It’s as much a part of the CBC as the CBC’s logo. And yet the CBC could not come up with the coin to maintain their rights over the song.

The tune, which has opened the Canadian Broadcasting Corp’s Saturday night National Hockey League broadcasts since the late 1960s, will not be renewed as the broadcaster has chose to move in a new direction, said John Ciccone, president of Copyright Music & Visuals. REUTERS

A new direction? I really have no idea what the CBC was thinking when they made this decision, but it was a serious blunder and I can only hope that the people who made that decision get axed. To top it off, CTV, a rival network picked up the tune in order to “save it”. Give me a break.

“The song has a long and storied history in Canadian sports, and has become ingrained in the hearts and minds of hockey fans across the country. It is an iconic tune, embraced by Canadians everywhere, and we felt it was imperative to save it,” said Rick Brace of CTV Inc. CBC

What’s the chance CTV will let CBC use the tune? I didn’t think so. So, as much as i’ll forget about this in a few hours and not care, it’s still rather upsetting that the CBC could not come to an agreement with Copyright Music & Visuals, the company which represents the songs composer Dolores Claman. So while I am feeling rather annoyed, I’ll just let it out and say:

F YOU Copyright Music & Visuals and F YOU Dolores Claman! Your greed has ruined a tradition.

While the Hockey Night in Canada theme fiasco is far less significant, it did remind me of “Eye on the Prize” and how the series was almost lost due to copyright greed.