Your responses to my column,
"The day the hockey music died", were immediate and intense.
Funny how "you have to ask yourself if you really want a crown corporation to spend up to 3 million loonies for a freakin' song", yet the same crown corporation spending over 100,000 loonies (for a contest plus I assume advertising, salaries, materials...) for a song they may not use, or only use for a short period, didn't seen to bother you. - Eric F.
Eric: I don't know what the total budget will be for the contest to come up with Hockey Night in Canada's new theme song, but it will certainly be less than $3 million.
No offence, but what the CBC will end up with probably will sound like some guy with a Casio. It'll have to sound different from the "real" HNIC theme, to lend credence to their big talk about "a new direction", so that'll be the sole criterion. Personally, I could do without a rap theme for HNIC. Besides, there's a perfectly good song already waiting: Stompin' Tom Connors' "Hockey Song (the Good Old Hockey Game)". It's Canadian, it's catchy and you can sing it. Even after a few beers. - Anonymous
Stompin' Tom's tune is definitely a classic, but this contest is surely part of a larger strategy to revitalize an aging television franchise. You might think, "Don't fix it if it ain't broke." But in this era of growing multimedia competition, standing still can lead to a slow demise.
There is nothing disposable or replaceable in the hearts and minds of Canadians, and especially not hockey fans, contrary to what the CBC and their lawyers have actually stated. That this unanimously beloved song should reach as ignoble a demise as it is being subjected to now is a truly, and embarrassingly, Canadian phenomenon - the kind of thing that keeps this very proud Canadian weeping in his beer over if we'll ever, ever be a real country (we keep coming so close...) - Mike Z.
Mike: I don't think this event is so much a Canadian phenomenon as it is symbolic of how "big business" is now the driving force behind sports worldwide. Just look at how most sports arenas are now sponsored by corporations. Where there is money to be made - and you'd better believe that "The Hockey Theme" is a lucrative property or else the song's asking price wouldn't have been in the millions - then big business will trump ol'-timey sentimentalism every time.
I understand that Hockey is a business, but it's still a travesty that the song is gone from HNIC. I never thought of it as Canada's second anthem (though, I guess it is), but that it is synonymous with HNIC. I'm not so disappointed that CTV grabbed it away from CBC, but that the writer greedily wanted that much money and created the end of an era because of that greed. - Randy F.
Randy: Not that I'm trying to defend "greed" as you put it, but when a property like "The Hockey Theme" has so much money-making potential, somebody is going to find a way to exploit it for profit. And if the song's composer shouldn't earn that profit, then who? It's like the old complaint about rising player salaries. If pro athletes made what we make, that wouldn't mean lower ticket prices - it would just mean more money in the owners' pockets.
A new song for CBC? Good Luck! The composer of it, and the CBC, will be crapped on for even attempting it. Scott Moore misjudged completely, in typical out of touch CBC fasion. He should be fired. - Kurt B.
Kurt: It's a safe bet that the new Hockey Night in Canada theme will be met with... let's say a frosty reception. But what a great opportunity for the winning composer, both in terms of the prize money ($100,000) and the publicity! As for Mr. Moore, let's just say that he has been put in a difficult situation and leave it at that. You can be sure that he wasn't the only CBC exec to have input on this decision.
Great article! I am mad with CTV purchasing the Hockey Night song because I feel they are out of control buying up everything. They just finished buying up CityTV, when is the government going to step in? There are too many monopolies being created. - Carrie G.
Carrie: if CTV buys the rights to Stompin Tom's "Hockey Song" next, then you might be on to something. ;)
We'll wrap this up with the email that gave me the biggest smile...
I just read your article and went to the link at the bottom to listen to the music. Totally agree that John Tesh would create something awesome to replace the Hockey Night in Canada theme music. He has never created anything bad yet! - Wendy D.
Confession: My suggestion that we should bring in the Tesh-meister to compose the new HNIC theme song was tongue-in-cheek. Of course the composer of the new theme should be Canadian. However, I stand by the fact that Tesh's "Roundball Rock" is the best sports theme song I've heard. Of course, I'm a diehard NBA fan so I might be a little biased.
And now, the winner of the most succinct, hate-filled email response...
Canada has almost nothing to call our own. And you mock us for trying to keep what we have. Move to the states and go f*** yourself. - Anonymous
Oh, you people. You don't get it! Your hate doesn't hurt me! IT ONLY MAKES STRONGER!
(Laughs maniacally while thunder cracks in the background.)
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