Three downs on the CFL on TSN: analyzing Week 9 television broadcasts

Another week of CFL action is in the books and it was an interesting one for the league’s official broadcaster.

TSN debuted a new segment, a new panelist, and perhaps gave us a sign of things to come with their choice of broadcast duo in the biggest game of the season to date.

Here are my thoughts on Week 9 of the CFL on TSN.

First down

Considering we are nearing the midway point of the 2023 season, I certainly wasn’t expecting the debut of a new segment, but that’s exactly what happened on Thursday night ahead of the game between the B.C. Lions and Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Panel host Kate Beirness and panelist Milt Stegall introduced the new segment dubbed Straight Fire. The segment is a bit of a play on You Got Mossed, which features the best catches of the week on ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown. The main difference between the two segments is Straight Fire isn’t limited to catches, but to any great play as fans are also encouraged to submit plays through social media.

It should be a good segment that will hopefully provide an interactive element to the panel.

My only question is why it took until Week 9 for it to debut. Why didn’t this start in Week 1? Fans generally won’t be able to submit their plays until closer to the fall when amateur football mostly kicks off across Canada (outside of the Western Women’s Canadian Football League, which runs in the spring) and could have provided some early content.

At the very least, showing the best play in the CFL every week isn’t the worst idea. As the old saying goes, better late than never, I suppose.

Second down

The other interesting development to come out of the game between the Lions and Bombers was who was in the broadcast booth.

While the contest ended up being a dud — the Bombers mercilessly rolled on the Lions, who gave them a serious beatdown earlier in the season — it was still the biggest game of the season to date with two top teams battling with plenty on the line.

This is the kind of game where you send your best crew. If this were an NFL matchup, Jim Nantz and Tony Romo would be calling it for CBS no matter when it was scheduled.

Did TSN do that on Thursday? I think so. My appreciation for Dustin Nielson is well known. I believe he’s the best person currently calling games for the three-letter network and should get the Grey Cup assignment. It wasn’t all that surprising to hear him calling this game.

The twist in this situation was the appearance of Duane Forde alongside Nielson. The two don’t work together all that often but when they do, it’s generally a top-notch broadcast. The last time we saw them in the booth together was Week 1 when the Hamilton Tiger-Cats visited IG Field.

Hopefully, Nielson and Forde being assigned to this big game is a sign of things to come as the games get bigger down the stretch.

Third down

For the second week in a row, we saw a new face on the CFL on TSN. Last week, Paul LaPolice made his official debut as a colour analyst during the game between the Calgary Stampeders and Montreal Alouettes.

With LaPolice doing more colour commentary this week, a spot on the panel opened up in his absence. The person who filled his spot was none other than Canadian linebacker Henoc Muamba.

Muamba has been doing some work for the CFL this season, mostly on their official podcast, but this was his first official foray into live television.

The 34-year-old was calm, collected, and easy to understand, which is often the most important thing in a panelist. It’s also something some members of the panel still struggle with despite having been on television for a number of years.

The linebacker appeared a bit nervous at times, which is understandable given his lack of experience in the role. I think Muamba could become a good contributor to the panel, but the main question is, should he be doing it right now?

Muamba is still technically an active player. He’s listed on Toronto’s six-game injured list and is therefore still receiving a paycheque from the team. I don’t question Muamba’s ability to be objective but it still doesn’t seem right for a player to still be active and serve in this role simultaneously.

It’s one thing for an active player to briefly provide analysis during the playoffs after their team has already been eliminated, which happens all the time in sports as it’s not as much of a conflict of interest. Players working for the league’s propaganda arm isn’t as bad either, as they are essentially already league employees.

But when an active player is commenting on regular season games put on by a third-party objective broadcast while still getting paid by a team in the league? I don’t know. It’s pretty much unprecedented — and for good reason.