Rhino’s Ramblings - Here Comes Basketball
By Robert Thomas - Opinion/Commentary
With the completion of the SHSAA senior girls high school volleyball championships our coverage of volleyball is now ended.
Is there still volleyball going on?
Yes I believe the senior boys have yet to crown their champions but we don’t cover senior boys volleyball.
People ask why and it’s simply what’s covered locally by other media.
If you take a really good look at it all you are going to see is really male sports.
To help create some balance we intentionally limit our male coverage. Just the way it is.
When it comes to basketball - the next sport in the mix - I’m personally looking at changing our format and doing more intense coverage but basically take a 65 percent juniors format.
What does that mean?
It basically means I am abandoning the coverage style of last year when it comes to senior basketball.
To be honest with you what I did last year was I got up at 3pm in the afternoon and didn’t get finished and in bed until about 9 AM every day.
It’s very bad on the hills, but it didn’t mean I could get out the games and everything else every day in the morning.
Healthwise this year I can’t do it.
It’s all about working within the parameters of my health, my doctor’s recommendations and getting the best bang for the buck.
The reasoning is the junior game gets very little - if any - press. This is the foundation of the league and best where to focus on.
Very similar to minor football.
Good football just in the need of some extra exposure.
It also means I will - if they ask me - be back covering the elementary school finals.
If senior basketball is looking for press coverage move from the traditional Tuesday to later in the week.
Now I realize this year they are holding HOOPLA in Moose Jaw.
For those of you who don’t know what HOOPLA is where all the high school basketball teams come together and battle for their respective school size provincial championship.
For other political reasons MJ Independent will NOT BE PART OF HOOPLA.
We won’t be providing any coverage.
The reason for this is one of the main sponsors or rather an employee of a main sponsor has stated “we don’t see him as media” creating a very dangerous situation in media land.
Given the dangers this creates for MJ Independent the only thing I can do is to sit out HOOPLA.
If it’s what the sponsor(s) of the event want I’m happy to oblige and give up a week without any real sleep.
We won’t be attending nor delivering any coverage. The decision has already been made and it’s irreversible.
It’s the only way we can express our concerns as well send a message that such tactics simply mean one thing in a cancel culture world.
If a sponsor doesn’t want us there I will definitely accommodate them. There’s other work and stories out there to get at.
But with that said in two weeks basketball tips off and I truly hope people go out and support it.
It’s great entertainment. It’s free until the playoffs.
And the kids love seeing people cheering in the stands.