CFL is Leaving CBC!?!?

I think I may have to cry. In what is, potentially, the saddest TV deal evah! the CFL has signed an exclusive contract with TSN for 2008. The deal will see all Canadian Football League games leave our trusty free broadcaster for the land of cable - including the playoffs and Grey Cup. The 2008 Grey Cup will be the the first time in 50 YEARS that the game has not been shown on the CBC. I don't know what to say. I can't believe that our league would leave us this way!

The best thing about games on CBC is that you knew - no matter what! - you would be able to find reception. Maybe fuzzy, bunny-ear reception but at least the game was on. And the CBC had just gotten flashier and the panel had gelled and that music, that gear-up-for-the-game theme music just made Saturday evenings in the fall the best things ever! And it is all going to end! Seriously, I am starting to REALLY hate what the business of broadcasting has done to the enjoyment of sport (ahem NHL - and now this!). That's all I have to say at the moment. Thank goodness I get one more season to ease into it. But Damn!

You can read about the deal here (CBC) and here (CFL) and here (TSN).