You may remember the furor that was created when CBC decided not to pursue permanently acquiring the "Hockey Night in Canada" theme music, paving the way for the music to be sold to TSN. The move left an incredibly bitter taste in many Canadians' mouths. The bitter were chided by pundits and the CBC management, who stated that a theme song wasn't going to affect any viewership.

Well, here we are a year and a half later. I haven't followed the song to TSN, as the pundits joked. But I HAVE stopped watching Hockey Night in Canada. Why?

Well, frankly, HNIC wasn't a very good show. The perennially senile ranting of Don Cherry is quite enough to give viewers the "no" feeling. All that kept me with CBC was the sense of loyalty to patriotic tradition. Which was all fine and good until the CBC showed us exactly how it felt about traditions.

So now I watch hockey on Rogers Sportsnet, thanks wholly to John Shorthouse's lively commentary sprinkled with self-aware humour. Coincidence? Maybe. But I would still be loyally watching CBC if I felt a sense of sentimentality towards HNIC, regardless of whether that sense was well-founded or not.