Hockey
song
witchhunt
goes
astray
By
Jordan
Potter,
The
Capilano
Courier
(Capilano
College)
VANCOUVER
(CUP)
-
When
I
heard
that
CBC
was
getting
rid
of
the
Hockey
Night
in
Canada
theme
song,
it
made
me
want
to
vomit.
Like
any
good
Canadian
kid
who
grew
up
with
his
stick
on
the
ice,
the
song
held
a
tremendous
amount
of
sentimental
value
to
me.
Like
most
people,
I
was
quick
to
blame
CBC,
the
same
idiots
who
are
incomprehensibly
willing
to
give
Rick
Mercer
a
new
derivative
television
series
every
three
years,
for
letting
such
a
valuable
piece
of
Canadiana
slip
through
their
fingers.
Reports
sprung
up
on
all
the
major
news
networks
of
outraged
citizens
from
Victoria
,
B.C.
to
St.
Johns,
NX.
"CBC
won't
get
away
with
that,"
said
Mary
Quigley
of
Cape
Breton,
N.S.,
outside
the
Hockey
Hall
of
Fame
in
Toronto.
"The
Canadian
people
won't
let
them
get
away
with
that."
Well,
they
did.
And
as
of
press
time,
hell
remains
un-frozen,
the
sky
has
not
rained
fire,
and
the
four
horsemen
of
the
apocalypse
haven't
been
sighted
any
more
often
than
usual.
So
perhaps
one
may
interpret
that
to
mean
that
the
demonization
of
the
CBC
during
this
debacle
has
been
unfair
and
perhaps
we
were
all
over-reacting.
Wrong.
What
does
need
to
be
established,
however,
is
that
there
is
due
cause
to
be
angry
at
more
than
just
our
little
government-subsidized
station
that
couldn't.
Scott
Moore,
director
of
CBC
Sports,
revealed
that
the
use
of
the
iconic
theme
song
by
B.C.-born
composer
Dolores
Claman
was
costing
the
network
$500
every
time
it
was
played.
Many
detractors
of
CBC
misinterpreted
that
to
mean
it
was
only
costing
them
$500
a
week,
not
realizing
that
parts
of
the
song
were
played
numerous
times
per
broadcast
and
that
the
fee
was
applicable
beyond
just
the
opening
of
the
program.
This
re-occurring
fee
represented
about
$70,000
a
year.
The
cost
was
understandably
viewed
as
unmanageable
for
Hockey
Night
in
Canada
as
it
runs
at
a
loss
usually
until
the
playoffs
begin.
Clearly,
CBC
needed
to
restructure
the
deal
to
make
it
more
financially
viable.
Unfortunately,
Claman
had
other
ideas.
She
refused
the
$1
million
bid
Hockey
Night
in
Canada
made
for
ownership
of
the
song
(which
would
effectively
end
the
ongoing
incremental
payments
that
had
been
the
norm)
and
then
demanded
$3
million.
Three
million
dollars
for
a
jingle
she
wrote
40
years
ago.
Three
million
more
dollars
in
addition
to
the
millions
she's
already
collected
in
royalties
over
the
last
four
decades.
Perhaps
this
ancient
proverb
can
best
illustrate
my
sentiment:
"Bitch,
is
you
fo'
real?"
Yet,
for
reasons
I
can't
understand,
the
media
depicted
this
woman
as
David
facing
Goliath.
She's
not
some
defenseless
old
woman
being
bullied
by
a
huge
company.
She
was
simply
taking
advantage
of
our
affection
for
the
song
as
leverage
for
her
own
personal
episode
of
Let's
Make
a
Deal.
It's
hard
to
blame
CBC
for
walking
away
from
the
bargaining
table
in
the
face
of
such
greed.
The
soulless
opportunists
at
CTV
took
advantage
of
the
misplaced
sympathy
for
Claman
by
swooping
in,
as
an
angel
may
swoop,
and
making
her
wildest
dreams
come
true
by
writing
her
a
check
so
large
it
would
thud
if
one
were
to
drop
it.
This
was
a
huge
coup
for
TSN,
a
subsidiary
of
CTV,
who
would
now
be
playing
the
song
in
before
all
their
NHL
broadcasts.
Soon
after,
the
Hockey
Night
in
Canada
theme
was
referred
to
as
just
"The
Hockey
Song."
Critics
were
quick
to
argue
that
by
"abandoning"
the
song,
CBC
were
sacrificing
a
vital
part
of
our
Canadian
culture.
Yet,
CTV
gets
a
free
pass
for
taking
the
carpet
out
from
under
them?
Year
after
year,
TSN
is
covering
more
games,
while
CBC
is
able
to
air
fewer
as
a
result.
If
Hockey
Night
in
Canada
is
dying,
then
TSN
is
the
one
chasing
the
ambulance,
waiting
to
profit
from
the
loss.
Now,
CBC's
hands
aren't
exactly
clean
either.
After
all,
they
are
the
ones
who
decided
to
replace
the
song
with
a
fan-made
contribution.
How
delightfully
Web
2.0.
Unfortunately,
they
didn't
have
the
foresight
to
realize
the
average
mouth-breathing
troglodyte
(myself
included)
who
watches
hockey
isn't
exactly
well
equipped
to
write
a
classic
song.
The
five
finalists,
and
recent
winning
song,
are
elevator
music
at
best.
They're
less
iconic
than
ironic.
So
next
time
you
sit
down
to
watch
some
hockey
on
Saturday
night
and
your
blood
starts
to
boil
at
the
sound
of
the
generic
new
anthem,
remember
to
direct
your
rage
not
just
at
one
faceless
organization,
but
two.
And
that
greedy
old
lady
as
well.
College
of
New
Caledonia
-
Ion
4