This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2011)

A sport club in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, showing various paved and painted surfaces for futsal, basketball and volleyball, with two swimming pools in the foreground.

A sports club or sport club, sometimes athletics club or sports association is a club for the purpose of playing one or more sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and may play other similar clubs on occasion, watched mostly by family and friends, to large commercial organisations with professional players which have teams which regularly compete against those of other clubs and attract sometimes very large crowds of paying spectators. Clubs may be dedicated to a single sport, or to several (multi-sport club).

The term athletics club is sometimes used for a general sports club, rather than one dedicated to athletics proper.

Organization[link]

Larger sports clubs are characterized by having professional and amateur departments in various sports such as football (soccer), basketball, futsal, cricket, volleyball, handball, rink hockey, water polo, rugby, track and field athletics, boxing, baseball, cycling, tennis, rowing, gymnastics and others, including less traditional sports such as airsoft, billiards, orienteering, paintball or roller derby. The teams and athletes belonging to a sports club may compete in several different leagues, championships and tournaments wearing the same club colors and using the same club name, sharing also the same club fan base, supporters and facilities. Many sports clubs have an associate system where the affiliated supporters pay an annuity fee. In those cases, the supporter becomes eligible to attend the club's home matches and exhibitions across the entire season, and have the right to practice almost every kind of sport at the club's facilities. Registered associate member fees, attendance receipts, sponsoring contracts, team merchandising, TV rights, and athlete/player transfer fees, are usually the primary sources of sports club financing. In addition, there are sports clubs, or its teams, which are publicly traded and listed on a stock exchange - several professional European football clubs belonging to a larger multistports club are examples of this (namely, Portuguese SADs (Sociedade Anónima Desportiva) such as Sport Lisboa e Benfica and Sporting Clube de Portugal, or Spanish SADs (Sociedad Anónima Deportiva) Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. and Real Betis Balompié S.A.D., as well as Italian clubs like Società Sportiva Lazio S.p.A.).

Some sports teams are owned and financed by a single non-sports company, for example the several sports teams owned by Red Bull GmbH and collectively known as Red Bulls.^[1] Other examples of this are the several sports teams owned by Bayer AG and Philips corporations through the TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen and PSV Eindhoven respectively, that originally were works teams, the teams owned by the Samsung Group, and the teams owned by the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG). They may compete in several different sports and leagues, being headquartered in some cases across several countries.

Sports clubs around the World[link]

In many regions of the world like Europe, North Africa, Middle East, Indian subcontinent or Latin America, sports clubs with several sports departments (multisports clubs) or branches, including highly competitive professional teams, are very popular and have developed into some of the most powerful and representative sports institutions in those places. In general, student sports can be described as composed by multisports clubs, each one representing its educational institution and competing in several sport disciplines.

In the United States of America major institutions like The New York Athletic Club, Los Angeles Athletic Club or many university athletic programs such as the California Golden Bears, Stanford Cardinal and Texas Longhorns are good examples of a sports club (see list of College Athletic Programs by US State). However, examples abound of sports clubs that are in effect one sports team. Each team from the NBA (basketball), NFL (American football) or MLS (association football) American sports leagues, can be called sports clubs, but in practice, they focus solely on a single sport. On the other hand, American varsity teams are generally organized into a structure forming a true multi-sport club belonging to an educational institution.

In the United Kingdom, almost all major sports organizations are dedicated to a single sport, with a few minor multisport clubs such as Catford Wanderers. In addition, like in several other countries, many universities and colleges develop a wide range of student sport activities including at a professional or semi-professional level. Fulham F.C. once ran a professional rugby league team and rowing club, which other football clubs have emulated since. Many football clubs originate from cricket teams. Today, most major cities have separate clubs for each sport (e.g. Manchester United football club and Lancashire County Cricket Club are based in Manchester).

Many clubs internationally describe themselves as football clubs ("FC" ,"Football Club", in English, "CF", Clube de Futebol in Portuguese and Club de Fútbol in Spanish). Generally, British football clubs field only football teams. Their counterparts in several other countries tend to be full multi-sport clubs, even when called football clubs (Futebol Clube do Porto; Futbol Club Barcelona).

See also[link]

• Community organizations
• Health club
• North American Association of Sports Economists
• Sociedad Anónima Deportiva
• Voluntary Sports Societies of the USSR

References[link]

The Sports Network, commonly abbreviated as TSN, is a Canadian English language Category C specialty channel and is Canada's leading English language sports TV channel. TSN premiered in 1984, in the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels.^[1] TSN is owned by CTV Specialty Television, a joint venture of Bell Media (80%) and ESPN (20%).

Bell Media also operates additional TSN-branded properties, including TSN2, TSN Radio 1050, TSN Radio 990, TSN Radio 1290 and two part-time regional feeds, Canadiens on TSN and Jets on TSN.

History[link]

Licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on April 2, 1984 as Action Canada Sports Network,^[2] the channel was launched by the Labatt Brewing Company on September 1st of the same year as "The Sports Network", or "TSN". TSN was formed partly to promote Labatt's flagship products, but also to act as a vehicle for the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team (which was also owned by Labatt at the time). In 1989, TSN also launched a sister French language service, Réseau des sports (RDS).

Due to CRTC regulations on the foreign ownership of broadcasters, Labatt was forced to sell TSN and RDS upon its acquisition by Interbrew in 1995. Labatt's broadcasting assets were sold to a privately held consortium named NetStar Communications, the investors of which included a number of Canadian firms as well as ESPN, which held about 30%.

Acquisition by CTV, expansion[link]

In 2000, after ESPN blocked two attempts by the Canadian partners to sell NetStar to Canwest, CTV Inc. acquired the Canadian partners' shares thanks in part to ESPN's disapproval of Canwest. CTV Inc. was acquired by Bell Canada and The Woodbridge Company (owners of The Globe and Mail newspaper) as part of the joint venture Bell Globemedia in 2001. As a result of its purchase of TSN, CTV would be forced to sell its regional sports network CTV Sportsnet, eventually selling it to part-owner Rogers Media. Incidentally, while TSN would move its operations to CTV's Agincourt complex after the acquisition, Rogers Sportsnet would not immediately move from Agincourt, effectively having the two competing networks sharing the same headquarters. This oddity would become an inside joke between personalities on both networks, would be referenced on-air by personalities on both networks, with many referring to moving between TSN and Sportsnet as "crossing the parking lot." Rogers Sportsnet would move from Agincourt to a new studio at the Rogers Building in Downtown Toronto in 2008.^[3]

Plans were made to re-launch TSN as ESPN Canada in 2001. However, due to the name recognition and value of the brand, the TSN name was maintained. However, TSN would begin incorporating elements of ESPN's branding into their own throughout the year, including a new logo using a similar design to ESPN's, and the renaming of its sports news program SportsDesk to SportsCentre (a variation of ESPN's SportsCenter, rendered using Canadian English).

In 2001, TSN would also launch a number of sister digital specialty channels; including a local version of ESPN Classic, and the NHL Network — a network devoted to ice hockey and the National Hockey League. TSN only holds minority interest in NHL Network however, it is also owned in part by Insight Sports and a consortium of the NHL and several of its Canadian franchises.

Beginning in 2006, the CRTC officially allowed TSN to operate national secondary digital feeds with limited amounts of alternative programming.^[4] Following this development, TSN began to use such a feed to broadcast additional programming that could not be aired on TSN due to scheduling conflicts or other events. On August 29, 2008, the feed evolved into a new 24-hour channel, similar to ESPN2, known as TSN2.^[5]

In October 2010, TSN announced the launch of a part-time feed to carry regional broadcasts of Montreal Canadiens games, in the eastern Canadian territory shared by Montreal and the Ottawa Senators.^[6] This feed (referred to on the Canadiens' website as "TSN Habs"^[7])

Acquisition by Bell, TSN Radio[link]

On September 10, 2010, Bell Canada announced plans to re-acquire 100% of CTVglobemedia's broadcasting arm, including its majority control of TSN. Under the deal, Woodbridge Company Limited, Torstar, and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan will together receive $1.3 billion in either cash or equity in BCE, while BCE will also assume $1.7 billion in debt (BCE's existing equity interest is $200 million, for a total transaction value of $3.2 billion). Woodbridge has since simultaneously regained majority control of The Globe and Mail, with Bell retaining a 15% interest in December 2010. The deal closed on April 1, 2011, after the CRTC approved the sale on March 7, 2011.^[8]

After a longstanding speculation about TSN's interest in launching its own TSN-branded radio network, TSN entered radio broadcasting with the launch of the first TSN Radio station, a re-launch of AM station CHUM in Toronto on April 13, 2011.^[9] Bell Media's Bell Media Radio division already operates several sports radio stations elsewhere in Canada most of which currently branded under The Team moniker (which was introduced by previous owner CHUM Limited in its own failed attempt at establishing a national sports radio network), and it is expected that (if the launch of TSN Radio 1050 was a success) they will eventually adopt the TSN Radio branding as well, forming a sports radio network.^[10]

Also in 2011, TSN acquired broadcast rights to the returning Winnipeg Jets, through another regional TSN feed for the Jets' home market, and radio coverage on Bell-owned CFRW^[11] (which, along with Montreal station CKGM, also migrated to the TSN Radio brand on October 5, 2011)^[12] Additionally, Bell would also launch TSN Mobile TV, streaming versions of TSN and TSN2 offered through Bell Mobility's Mobile TV services.

On December 9, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced that it would sell its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment to two major telecommunications companies; Bell Canada (TSN's main parent company) and Rogers Communications (owners of the competing Sportsnet chain of sports channels) with a 37.5% share each (Larry Tanenbaum will increase his ownership to a quarter of the company as well), in a deal expected to be valued at around $1.32 billion in total.^[13] The deal is expected to be completed in summer 2012, pending the approval of Canada's Competition Bureau, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (with regards to MLSE's TV channels), as well as the leagues for each of MLSE's main sports franchises. The deal is expected to have a major impact on future broadcast rights for MLSE's teams, including the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors, as their ownership of the teams will offer enhanced coverage for the team through new platforms such as mobile television.^[14]

Following the announcement however, concerns were again raised by critics, speculating that Bell Media may attempt to acquire full rights to the NHL once CBC's current contract with the league expires in the 2013-14 season — using their potential ownership of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the NHL's highest valued franchise, as a impetus for such a coup. Concerns were also raised that such an arrangement could prevent wireless service providers other than Bell and Rogers from accessing its content. However, the CRTC ruled in favor of Telus in a decision requiring Bell and other media companies to allow other competing wireless providers access to its content, and not exclusively tie it to their own service.^[14]

Programming[link]

TSN's flagship news program is SportsCentre, a sports news program airing several times throughout the day. Formally known as Sportsdesk, it was re-vamped to closer resemble ESPN's own SportsCenter (including the use of its theme music, logo, and opening) in the Fall of 2001 as part of a corporate restructuring, closer aligning itself with new minority owner ESPN. In 2006, a new studio was built in order to prepare the show for its transition to high definition television — becoming the first daily news program in Canada to be produced in HD beginning on September 25, 2006. Other original programs on TSN include the talk show Off The Record, the automotive newsmagazine Motoring, and TSN The Reporters.

Through its minority ownership of TSN, the network also airs some of ESPN's original programming as well, including Pardon the Interruption, Sunday NFL Countdown The Sports Reporters, and other ESPN programs and documentaries.

Significant domestic broadcast rights[link]

As of the 2008 season, TSN is the exclusive broadcaster of the Canadian Football League, airing all of the league's games, including the season-ending Grey Cup.^[15] The network also airs the Vanier Cup, the country's championship university football game.^[16]

In February 2011, TSN announced that it had began a new broadcasting relationship with Major League Soccer, airing 24 matches during the 2011 season that involved the league's Canadian clubs, Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC. 30 games will be shown by TSN in 2012 due to the addition of the Montreal Impact to the MLS. In addition the network, along with TSN2 will broadcast a package of other regular season games, the MLS All-Star Game, MLS Cup Playoffs and the MLS Cup.^[17]

On October 27, 2011, Bell Media and TSN announced that they had secured broadcast rights for FIFA soccer from 2015 to 2022. The rights include the 2018 FIFA World Cup, 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.^[18]

TSN has hosted much of Canada's supplementary Olympic coverage, being the first pay-TV station in the world to ever broadcast the Olympics with the 1988 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary, and having been part of the CBC's coverage from 1998 to 2008. In 2010, TSN began to participate in CTV and Rogers' current broadcasting rights to the Olympic Games for 2010 and 2012.

TSN has also broadcast major curling events; it began its current television contract with the Canadian Curling Association beginning in the 2008-09 season,^[19] and also runs the Casino Rama TSN Skins Game, an annual skins curling tournament. For major national and international events, including the Tim Hortons Brier, the Scotties Tournament of Hearts and the Ford World Championships, it has historically had a curling broadcast deal where the round-robin and page-playoff quarter-finals have aired on the network, while the semi-final and final rounds air on CBC — however, TSN's current contracts for the events give it exclusive coverage.

TSN has also historically been a broadcaster for Major League Baseball in Canada, as its former parent company, Labatt, was also the owner of the Toronto Blue Jays. However, TSN's coverage of the Blue Jays has decreased in recent years, as Sportsnet, which is owned by the Blue Jays' current parent company, Rogers Communications, has acquired the team's broadcast rights. Rogers continued to sub-license a yearly package of games to TSN for several seasons afterward until 2010, when TSN traded its remaining Blue Jays games back to Sportsnet (to allow it exclusive coverage of the team) in exchange for rights to ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. ESPN Sunday Night Baseball now airs on TSN2, although Sportsnet may re-claim broadcasts in the event of scheduling conflicts.

TSN also broadcasts Toronto Raptors games produced by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which included 47 games across TSN and TSN2 in the 2010-11 season.^[20]

Hockey[link]

TSN is a major broadcaster of ice hockey in Canada. It holds the national cable rights to broadcast the NHL in Canada, including regular season games on weeknights, and exclusivity on Wednesday nights. Beginning on the 2009 contract, TSN has the third, fifth, and seventh choices of series during first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs (previously, the CBC automatically had rights to any series involving a Canadian team)^[21] CTV also acquired the rights to The Hockey Theme after the CBC decided not to renew its rights to the theme song in June 2008 amid a legal dispute with its composer, Dolores Claman. A re-orchestrated version of the tune, which has been the theme song of Hockey Night in Canada for 40 years, has been used for hockey broadcasts on TSN and RDS since fall 2008.^[22] TSN also frequently carries games broadcast by NBC and NBC Sports Network, though more so on TSN2.

Additionally, TSN holds English-language rights to the Montreal Canadiens and the Winnipeg Jets. Their games are aired exclusively on part-time feeds carried within the home markets of the two teams respectively.

In 2006, CTVglobemedia attempted to acquire full rights to the NHL on television in Canada in a $1.4 billion dollar bid, which would have included coverage on TSN, CTV, and its French network RDS.^[23] However in March 2007, it was revealed that the NHL instead decided to maintain its relationship with CBC (which would allow it to maintain Hockey Night in Canada), but still expanded TSN's coverage to include more coverage of Canadian teams.

TSN also has a broadcasting contract with Hockey Canada, giving it the rights to broadcast the IIHF World Junior Championships, Men's and Women's World Hockey Championship, Men's Under-18 World Championships, Allan Cup, Royal Bank Cup, Spengler Cup, Telus Cup and Esso Cup.

Significant international broadcast rights[link]

Along with its coverage of Canadian events, TSN also airs coverage of international sporting events (primarily American), often simulcast from other broadcasters. TSN also currently airs Formula One, NASCAR, and IndyCar racing events. As of the 2011 season, TSN2 carries a weekly early NFL game (to compliment sister terrestrial network CTV's other regional games), NBC Sunday Night Football, and Monday Night Football. TSN also carries some of ESPN's NFL analysis and highlight programs, including NFL Live, Sunday NFL Countdown, and Monday Night Countdown TSN also serves as the main Canadian outlet for TNT's NBA coverage, along with exclusive Canadian rights to the NBA Finals.

TSN is the exclusive rights holder in Canada for all 4 Tennis Grand Slams. As of 2012, they have signed multi-year extensions for the Australian Open,^[24] French Open^[25] & Wimbledon.^[26]

On February 1, 2011, TSN announced that they had acquired the rights to the Tour de France in a multi-year deal.^[27]

Much of TSN's coverage, especially for the NFL, NBA games not involving the Raptors, UEFA Champions League, American college football, the Grand Slams, and NASCAR events are simulcast from ESPN.

Wrestling[link]

TSN featured live professional wrestling in the form of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)'s flagship show, RAW for over a decade. However, the WWE Raw program, which aired live, occasionally had been censored live for extremely violent scenes, or when female wrestlers or characters were assaulted by male wrestlers. These actions are supposed to be in order to meet Canadian broadcast standards, with repeat broadcasts often more heavily edited.

This disappointed many wrestling fans over the years, and is unusual since the violence of wrestling scenes are not significantly different from other television programs aired on regular Canadian networks. It was expected that in fall 2006, when TSN started airing the ESPN iteration of Monday Night Football (as well as the NBC Sunday Night Football games), that WWE RAW was expected to air on tape delay during the NFL season. However, the WWE decided to move the program to rival sports network The Score rather than air on tape delay, although RAW continues to air on tape delay on The Score by 15 minutes, for editing purposes in addition to limits on the amount of live programming the Score can air in a week.

In 2004, both TSN and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) Wrestling, (known then as NWA-TNA), erroneously announced that Impact! would air on the network, although that deal was never completed and the article on the TSN Wrestling page was taken down shortly after. However, TSN's French-language sister network RDS airs the program.

In past years, TSN also aired shows from the American Wrestling Association (AWA), Stampede Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) Monday Night Nitro, as well as producing a one-hour show called Pro Wrestling Plus, which featured highlights from various promotions and was hosted by Stampede announcer Ed Whalen; that program was the Canadian equivalent of the syndicated American program Pro Wrestling This Week.

The final episode of WWE RAW, aired July 31, 2006, although it did not end the relationship between TSN and WWE as the 2007 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony was aired on the network. As well, Off The Record with Michael Landsberg continues to occasionally feature professional wrestlers in unscripted interviews, which it has throughout its run.

Other sports[link]

From August 2009, TSN and TSN2 have commenced screening live and delayed coverage of Australian Rules Football. Selected games from the Australian Football League (or AFL as the competition is also known) Premiership Season and Finals Series including the AFL Grand Final are broadcast live or on delay every weekend.

In May 2011, Bell Media and Skate Canada announced a 10-year rights agreement making CTV, TSN and RDS the official broadcasters of Skate Canada. As part of the agreement, CTV, TSN and RDS acquire exclusive multimedia rights to all of Skate Canada’s premiere domestic events including Skate Canada International and the Canadian Figure Skating Championships.

In 2011, TSN carried the Rugby World Cup, also with live and tape delayed coverage.

Personalities[link]

Current[link]

• Russ Anber – In This Corner analyst
• Jack Armstrong - Basketball analyst
• Kate Beirness - SportsCentre anchor
• Rod Black – Toronto Blue Jays, Toronto Raptors, Figure Skating play-by-play announcer and CFL on TSN play-by-play announcer
• Shawn Churchill – Winnipeg reporter
• Jock Climie – CFL on TSN studio analyst
• Chris Cuthbert – CFL on TSN and NHL on TSN play-by-play announcer
• James Cybulski – Toronto reporter
• Darren Dreger – NHL on TSN Insider
• Darren Dutchyshen – SportsCentre anchor / In This Corner host
• Matt Dunigan – CFL on TSN studio and colour analyst
• James Duthie – NHL on TSN studio host
• Claude Feig - Toronto reporter
• Ray Ferraro - NHL on TSN colour analyst
• Duane Forde – CFL on TSN colour analyst
• Sheri Forde – Toronto reporter
• Jermain Franklin – Calgary reporter
• Jennifer Hedger – SportsCentre anchor
• Leah Hextall – SportsCentre host (substitute)
• Dave Hodge – The Reporters host
• Paul Hollingsworth – Halifax/Atlantic Canada reporter
• Holly Horton – SportsCentre anchor
• Russ Howard – Curling on TSN colour analyst
• Lee Jones – Regina reporter
• Steve Kouleas – That's Hockey 2Nite host
• Michael Landsberg – Off The Record host
• Farhan Lalji – Vancouver reporter
• Pierre LeBrun – NHL on TSN Insider
• John Lu – Montreal reporter
• Maggie the Macaque – NHL on TSN playoff prognosticator
• Bob McKenzie – NHL on TSN Insider, hockey analyst
• Gord Miller – play-by-play announcer for the NHL on TSN, World Junior Hockey Championships and occasionallyCFL on TSN
• Linda Moore- Curling on TSN colour analyst
• Bryan Mudryk – SportsCentre anchor
• Dave Naylor - Football analyst
• Sara Orlesky – Winnipeg reporter
• Jay Onrait – SportsCentre anchor
• Dan O'Toole – SportsCentre anchor
• Jesse Palmer – NFL on TSN analyst – Monday Morning Quarterback
• Darren Pang – NHL on TSN studio analyst
• Blake Price - Vancouver reporter
• Dave Randorf – CFL on TSN studio host, NHL on TSN reporter, play-by-play announcer for Canadian women's hockey..
• Vic Rauter – Formula One studio host / Curling on TSN play-by-play announcer
• Gino Reda – That's Hockey host
• Ryan Rishaug – Edmonton reporter
• Darcy Seaton – Edmonton reporter
• Dan Shulman – March Madness on TSN studio analyst. Also featured in Sportscentre segments. (Former Toronto Blue Jays, NHL on TSN and NBA on TSN play-by-play; now play-by-play for ESPN, although TSN may simulcast games he calls)
• Chris Schultz – CFL on TSN studio analyst
• Rod Smith – SportsCentre anchor
• Natasha Staniszewski – SportsCentre anchor
• Milt Stegall – CFL on TSN studio analyst (substitute)
• Glen Suitor – CFL on TSN colour analyst
• Pat Tabler – Toronto Blue Jays colour analyst
• Brent Wallace – Ottawa reporter
• Bob Weeks – [Score Golf Television] host and golf analyst
• Michael Whalen – Montreal reporter
• Luke Wileman - Toronto FC play-by-play
• Brian Williams – Olympic games host, Figure Skating host, and CFL on TSN on site host
• Cory Woron – SportsCentre anchor

Various reporters and analysts from ESPN (such as Chris Berman, Barry Melrose and Steve Phillips) may also be featured in certain segments.

Former[link]

• Thea Andrews (later a correspondent/Sub. Host/Weekend edition co-host for Entertainment Tonight from 2006 to 2009)
• David Amber (now works at the NHL Network)
• Dale Barnes (former soccer announcer)
• Lisa Bowes (former Winnipeg and Calgary reporter; now a reporter at CTV Calgary)
• Mark Bunting (former Winnipeg and Toronto reporter; now with BNN)
• Peter Burwash (former Tennis analyst)
• Ken Chilibeck (former Edmonton reporter)
• Brendan Connor (now a sports anchor at Al-Jazeera English)
• Gary Green (former NHL on TSN colour analyst; now an analyst at the NHL Network)
• Lisa Hillary (now an anchor and reporter at Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia)
• Jim Hughson (former NHL on TSN and Toronto Blue Jays play-by-play; now Hockey Night in Canada play-by-play on CBC)
• Teresa Kruze (former Sportsdesk anchor; now an anchor and reporter at CTVglobemedia's 24-hour news channel based in Toronto, CP24)
• Robyn Matsumoto (former TSN Maritimes reporter)
• Pierre McGuire – (former colour analyst / studio analyst for the NHL on TSN and World Junior Hockey Championships; now a hockey analyst for NBC Sports and NBC Sports Network)
• Wray Morrison (former Regina reporter; now at CKOM)
• Leif Pettersen (former CFL on TSN colour analyst; deceased)
• Ken Reid (former sportscentre anchor, now at Sportsnet)
• Paul Romanuk (former NHL on TSN play-by-play; now a freelance sportscaster in London, England)
• Chris Sedens (former Sportsdesk anchor, now with KNX (AM))
• Mike Toth (former Sportsdesk anchor and Baseball Tonight host)
• Ray Turnbull (Former Curling on TSN colour analyst)
• Jim Van Horne (former Sportsdesk anchor and NHL on TSN studio host; now an anchor at the NHL Network)
• Peter Watts
• Alex J. Walling (former TSN Halifax/Atlantic Canada reporter)
• John Wells (former CFL on TSN play-by-play, NHL on TSN studio host; now retired)

Original programmes[link]

• CFL on TSN – Live coverage of CFL games with Dave Randorf in studio and a panel joining him to analyze the games – Jock Climie, Matt Dunigan and Chris Schultz. Friday broadcasts are known as Friday Night Football
• Curling on TSN - Live coverage of the Canadian Curling Association, Continental Cup of Curling, the TSN Skins Game, the World Curling Championships, and Olympic Curling.
• In this Corner – The latest news and reports from world of Boxing with Darren Dutchyshen and Russ Anber
• NASCAR Canadian Tire Series - Live coverage of select NASCAR Canadian Tire Series races^[28]
• NHL on TSN – Live coverage of NHL games. Hosted by James Duthie. Analysts include Bob McKenzie, Darren Dreger, Pierre LeBrun, Aaron Ward, and Marc Crawford
• Off The Record - talk show featuring various personalities discussing the latest sports headlines with host Michael Landsberg
• SportsCentre – Flagship news show on the network
• TSN Profile – Biographical portrait of various sports personalities
• TSN The Reporters – Sunday roundtable debate that examines the issues making headlines with Dave Hodge and featuring top Canadian Sports journalists
• That's Hockey – All the latest news and reports from the National Hockey League with Gino Reda and analysts Mike Johnson and Jamie McLennan
• TSN Skins Game – Annual curling bonspiel
• Toronto Raptors Basketball – About 20 games a year. Produced by NBA TV Canada

Former programmes[link]

• Vancouver Grizzlies Basketball (1995–2001)
• Montreal Expos Baseball (1985–1999, 2001)
• Toronto Blue Jays Baseball (1984–2009)

TSN HD[link]

TSN HD is a high definition simulcast of TSN that launched on August 15, 2003. TSN HD airs widescreen and high-definition feeds of sporting events when available. On September 25, 2006, SportsCentre transitioned to HD, airing high definition highlights of sporting events when possible, adding even more high definition content to the channel.

TSN.ca[link]

The Sports Network launched their website TSN.ca on October 1, 1995.^[29]

International distribution[link]

• Jamaica – distributed on Flow Cable systems.^[30]
• Bahamas – distributed on Cable Bahamas systems.^[31]

References[link]

12.AFL and ESPN(TSN)in U.S./Canada TV Rights Deal.^[32]

13.TV coverage returns to TSN and ESPN. [1]

External links[link]

• TSN
• TSN HD

v t e   Sports television in Canada Broadcast networks Full sports divisions CBC Sports • Radio-Canada Sports Occasional or U.S. simulcasts only Citytv • CTV • Global • TVA • V • CHCH/CHEK/Metro 14† Mainstream specialty English Sportsnet • Sportsnet One • The Score • TSN • TSN2 French RDS • RDS2 • RDS Info • TVA Sports Niche specialty (English) Archival ESPN Classic Canada Sport specific ATN Cricket • ATN Cricket Plus • EuroWorld Sport • Fight Network • GolTV • HPItv • Leafs TV • NBA TV Canada • NHL Network • Sportsnet World Lifestyle and recreation radX • Wild TV • WFN Occasional broadcasts bold • CBN • EastLink TV • Rogers TV • Shaw TV • TVCogeco Defunct Breakaway PPV • CFN • Fox Sports World Canada • Sens TV • WTSN • X-Treme Sports Foreign Big Ten Network (USA) • CBS Sports Network (USA) • Golf Channel (USA) • NFL Network (USA) • Speed (USA) †These three stations are officially independent stations, but they jointly purchase Canadian broadcast rights to sports events and some other programming.

Vishal Bhardwaj
Born	(1965-08-06) 6 August 1965 (age 46) [1] Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh, India
Occupation	Director, producer, screenplay writer, music director, singer, lyricist
Spouse	Rekha Bhardwaj

Vishal Bhardwaj (born 6 August 1965) is an Indian film director, writer, screenwriter, producer, music composer and playback singer.^[1]

Early life[link]

Bhardwaj was born in Bijnor, but raised in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh^[2] to Satya Bhardwaj, a homemaker, and Ram Bhardwaj,^[3] a popular poet and lyricist. His father was a government employee and was a sugarcane inspector. As a young man, Bhardwaj moved to Delhi. He pursued his graduation in the Hindu College^[4] of Delhi University where he nurtured his talents and also met his wife, Rekha Bhardwaj. He also involved with Delhi theatres.^[5][6]

Career[link]

Bhardwaj started playing harmonium for little known ghazal singers at the various food festivals in Delhi’s Pragati Maidan. He was later introduced to R.V. Pandit, who offered him a job in his CBS music company in Delhi.^[3]

Music director[link]

Bhardwaj was recommended by a friend to the filmmaker Gulzar, with whom he successfully collaborated on TV serials such as The Jungle Book, Alice in Wonderland and Gubbare. Bhardwaj composed the music for Maachis, a film directed by Gulzar.^[7] The musical score for Maachis was received to critical and commercial acclaim and earned Bhardwaj the Filmfare R D Burman Award in 1996. In 1999, Bhardwaj received the Rajat Kamal award for Best Music Director at the National Film Awards for his critically acclaimed score in Godmother. In 2011, he has won the same category award for his score in Ishqiya. Bhardwaj has scored music for several Hindi films such as—Satya, Chachi 420, Maqbool, Omkara, Kaminey, Ishqiya, 7 Khoon Maaf—and a host of other popular projects. He also scored the title track for Star Plus' STAR Parivaar Awards, along with the channel’s new anthem, titled "Tu Hi Tu".^[8] Vishal has worked with leading playback singers like Lata Mangeshkar, K. J. Yesudas, Asha Bhosle, Hariharan, K. S. Chithra, Udit Narayan, Sadhna Sargam, Suresh Wadkar, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Roop Kumar Rathod, Alka Yagnik, Kumar Sanu, Abhijeet Bhattacharya.

Director[link]

Bhardwaj came to Mumbai to become a music composer, he took to directing movies only to create the opportunity to compose music.^[9] His interest in film direction kindled after watching the retrospective of Polish director Krzysztof Kieślowski during a film festival in Kerala.^[10] His first directorial debut was children's film Makdee which was critically acclaimed. He then made the first of his Shakespearean adaptation, Maqbool, based on Macbeth. This was followed up by another children's film, The Blue Umbrella based on Ruskin Bond's story of the same name. This film also met with critical acclaim throughout. Omkara marked the second of Bhardwaj's Shakespearan endeavours, this time an adaptation of Othello. Omkara was a great success internationally and a musical hit, affirming his status as a music director as well.

He is known for his collaborations with Gulzar, who had Bhardwaj as his music composer in all his directorial ventures since Maachis. And Gulzar provided lyrics to all of Vishal Bhardwaj's films.

He also did some second unit work for the legendary Francis Ford Coppola on the latter's film Youth Without Youth.^[11]

His next directorial release was Blood Brothers, a 11-minute short film, which is part of Mira Nair's series of HIV-AIDS awareness films.^[12] Guillermo Navarro is the cinematographer on this film. He has also done music direction in the film No Smoking

Kaminey, starring Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra, released on 14 August 2009, met with early commercial success and critical acclaim.

Ishqiya, (not as a director, but as a producer, writer and composer), starring Naseeruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi and Vidya Balan, received mostly positive reviews earning more than 15 crores in the first two weeks of its release.

7 Khoon Maaf, the film, based on the Ruskin Bond short story, Susanna's Seven Husbands, revolves around Susanna (Priyanka Chopra) and her seven husbands; Naseeruddin Shah, John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Irrfan Khan, Annu Kapoor and Russian actor Aleksandr Dyachenko, playing the roles of the six husbands, while the seventh husband is a mystery in the film. The film released on 18 February 2011 and met with overall mixed reviews.^[13]

Future projects[link]

He is currently working on his next movie project titled "Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola".

The film stars Imran Khan, Anushka Sharma and Jugal Hansraj in the lead roles, while Pankaj Kapoor and Shabana Azmi will appear in the supporting roles. Filming began on 14 February 2012. The film is all set to release on 11 January, 2013.

Filmography[link]

Music direction for non-film music[link]

• Barse Barse (2011)
• Ishqa Ishqa
• Boodhe Pahadon Par
• Sunset Point (2000)
• Jungle Book

Playback singer[link]

• "Bekaraan" − 7 Khoon Maaf (2011)
• "Aur Phir Yun Hua" − Striker (2010)
• "Kaminey" − Kaminey (2009)
• "U Me Aur Hum" − U Me Aur Hum (2008)
• "Kash Lagaa" − No Smoking (2007)
• "O Saathi Re" − Omkara (2006)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Vishal Bhardwaj at the Internet Movie Database
• Vishal Bhardwaj Allmovie.
• Interview on Screen

Leander Paes

Country	India
Residence	Kolkata, Mumbai
Born	(1973-06-17) 17 June 1973 (age 39) Calcutta (Kolkata)
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	78 kg (170 lb; 12.3 st)
Turned pro	1991
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Career prize money	$6,826,643 (singles & doubles combined) (as of 2 April 2012)
Singles
Career record	99–98
Career titles	1
Highest ranking	No. 73 (24 August 1998)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	3 RD (1997, 2000)
French Open	2 RD (1997)
Wimbledon	2 RD (2001)
US Open	3 RD (1997)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games	Bronze (1996)
Doubles
Career record	606–313
Career titles	50
Highest ranking	No. 1 (21 June 1999)
Current ranking	No. 7 (as of 2 April 2012)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	W (2012)
French Open	W (1999, 2001, 2009)
Wimbledon	W (1999)
US Open	W (2006, 2009)
Other Doubles tournaments
Tour Finals	F (1997, 1999, 2000, 2005)
Olympic Games	Fourth place (2004)
Mixed Doubles
Career titles	6
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open	W (2003, 2010)
French Open	F (2005)
Wimbledon	W (1999, 2003, 2010)
US Open	W (2008)
Last updated on: 30 January 2012 150px Signature of Leander Paes.

Medal record
Competitor for  India
Men's Tennis
Olympic Games
Bronze	1996 Atlanta	Singles
Commonwealth Games
Bronze	2010 Delhi	Men's Doubles
Asian Games
Gold	2002 Busan	Men's Doubles
Gold	2006 Doha	Men's Doubles
Gold	2006 Doha	Mixed Doubles
Bronze	1994 Hiroshima	Men's Singles
Bronze	2002 Busan	Mixed Doubles

Leander Adrian Paes (Bengali: লিয়েন্ডার পেজ; born 17 June 1973) is an Indian professional tennis player who currently features in the doubles events in the ATP tour and the Davis Cup tournament. He is the sports ambassador of Haryana. Paes completed the career grand slam in men's doubles after winning the Australian Open in 2012. Having won seven doubles and six mixed doubles Grand Slam titles and finishing as runner up in numerous other Grand Slam finals, he is considered to be one of the greatest and most respected contemporary doubles and mixed doubles players in the world. He is among the most successful professional Indian tennis players and is also the former captain of the Indian Davis Cup team. He is the recipient of India's highest sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, in 1996–1997; the Arjuna Award in 1990; and the Padma Shri award in 2001 for his outstanding contribution to tennis in India. Paes is the great-grandson of the Bengali poet Michael Madhusudan Dutt.

Apart from his thirteen Grand Slam victories in doubles and mixed doubles events, he is famous for his several memorable Davis Cup performances playing for India and also for winning a bronze medal for India in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. He also achieved the rare men's doubles/mixed doubles double in the 1999 Wimbledon. His consecutive Olympic appearances from 1992 to 2008^[1] make him the third Indian, after shooters Karni Singh and Randhir Singh, to compete at five Olympic Games. After winning the mixed doubles Wimbledon title in 2010, Paes became only the second man (after Rod Laver) to win Wimbledon titles in three different decades.^[2] In 2010, he joined the Board of Directors of Olympic Gold Quest,^[3] a foundation co-founded by Geet Sethi and Prakash Padukone to support talented athletes from India in winning Olympic medals.^[4] Apart from the ATP circuit, he also plays in the World TeamTennis competition for Washington Kastles, the team which won the 2009 and 2011 season contest, the latter of which being the first team to complete an undefeated season at 16–0. He was named as MVP of the tournament for the years 2009 and 2011.^[5]

Early life[link]

Leander was born in Goa, India on 17 June 1973. He was born to Vece Paes and Jennifer Paes and was raised in Kolkata. He was educated at La Martiniere Calcutta, Madras Christian College Hr Sec School, Chennai, and the Loyola College, Chennai of the University of Madras. His parents were both sportspersons. His father Vece Paes was a midfielder in the bronze medal-winning Indian field hockey team at the 1972 Munich Olympics.^[6] His mother captained the Indian basketball team in the 1980 Asian basketball championship. Paes enrolled with the Britannia Amritraj Tennis Academy in Madras (Chennai) in 1985, where he was coached by Dave O'Meara.^[7] The academy played a key role in his early development. Leander shot into international fame when he won the 1990 Wimbledon Junior title and rose to no. 1 in the junior world rankings.

Even from a very young age, Leander was a very coordinated child. Hence, his parents put him to whatever sports they wanted. His sporting abilities were observed right from the beginning by his parents, allowed them to scientifically groom it and develop till such time Leander was enough old to take care of himself.

Lee's mother Jennifer remembers those early days with the same fondness. "His appetite for sports was so much that he could not concrete on anything else. He was quite naughty too," says Jennifer.

Stories of Leander's naughtiness and an impish sense of humour abound, as this one from his mother would show. "I used to take the three children then to Kolkata School of Music for piano lessons. The teacher there would give homework to do, and once she checked Leander's excercise book to find that he hasn't done his work", Jennifer stopped at this for a dramatic pause. The next few lines of conversation went somewhat like this:

Teacher: Where is your homework? Leander: I have done it Madam. Teacher: (pauses, checks the book again) But why can't I find it? Leander: No Madam, I did it, but my ayah rubbed it off.

Thus life went on for Leander – school, alternating between one sport to another and teasing and tormenting his elder sisters. He would often accompany his father to the Mohun Bagan ground and try his hand at hockey with an oversized stick or visit the basketball tent and cheer lustily from the sidelines as his mother strode the courts.

It was tennis where the eight year old Leander took his first steps at the Calcutta (Kolkata) South Club courts under Anwar Ali, brother of former Davis Cupper and national coach Akhtar Ali. As he grew up with everybody, including Akhtar, Jaidip Mukherjee and even Akhtar's son Zeeshan, a few seniors to him who later went to play the Davis Cup.

However, Kolkata did not have any proper coaching system then where the Paes couple could enroll their Lee or Leander. And that is when the BAT (Britannia Amritraj Tennis Academy) happened!

Career[link]

Early career (1991–1997)[link]

Paes showed promise early in his career by winning titles at the Junior US Open and the Junior Wimbledon. He turned professional in 1991.^[8] He rose to the number 1 in the world in the junior rankings.^[9] In 1992, he reached the quarter finals of the doubles event in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics with Ramesh Krishnan.^[10]

He went one better at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where he beat Fernando Meligeni to win the bronze medal, thus becoming the first Indian to win an individual medal since KD Jadhav won bronze at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics more than four decades earlier.^[11] Paes cited the match as one of his greatest performances on the court, in part because his wrist was severely injured.^[12] He was awarded the highest sporting honour by the government of India, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 1996.^[13] His first successful year in the ATP circuit came in 1993, when he partnered Sébastien Lareau to reach the US Open doubles semifinal. After having a moderate season in 1994, he reached the quarterfinals of the 1995 Australian Open doubles with Kevin Ullyett. From 1996, he partnered with fellow-Indian Mahesh Bhupathi, which would prove to be a winning combination. Their first year was not a very successful one, especially in the Grand Slams, with a round of 32 finish at Wimbledon being the best. 1997 proved a much better year for the team of Paes and Bhupathi, with the semifinals of the US Open their best Grand Slam result. Paes climbed the doubles ranking from no. 89 at the beginning of the year to no. 14 at the end of the year.^[14]

Rise in doubles (1998–2002)[link]

The doubles team of Paes and Bhupathi grew stronger in 1998, reaching the semifinals of three Grand Slams, the Australian Open, the French Open, and the US Open. In the same year, Paes had two of his biggest singles results in the ATP tour. The first one came by winning an ATP singles title at Newport, and the second was beating Pete Sampras, 6–3, 6–4, at the New Haven ATP tournament.^{[15][16][17][18]} In 1999, the duo reached the finals of all four Grand Slams, winning Wimbledon and the French Open, thus becoming the first Indian pair to win a doubles event at a Grand Slam. Paes also teamed up with Lisa Raymond to win the mixed doubles event at Wimbledon. The year also marked his ascent to the no. 1 ranking in doubles.^[19] The following year, Paes partnered with Sébastien Lareau for the Australian Open and Jan Siemerink for the French Open, losing in the first round on both occasions. Paes teamed up again with Bhupathi for the US Open, but lost in the first round again. The duo had a disappointing second -ound exit to Australian duo of Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde at the Sydney Olympics, despite high hopes.^[20] Paes was given the honour of carrying the Indian Flag at the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympics.^[21] In spite of a winning the French Open in 2001, the team of Bhupathi and Paes had first-round exits in the other three Grand Slams. Paes was awarded the Padmashri by the Government of India in 2001.^[22] The duo of Paes and Bhupathi won the gold medal at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan.^[23] In 2002, Leander paired up with Michael Hill for a number of tournaments, with moderate success.

Leander Paes and Martina Navratilova pairing up in a mixed doubles event

2003–present[link]

Between 2003 and the present, Paes has increasingly focused on his doubles and mixed doubles game. Leander won the mixed doubles events at the Australian Open and Wimbledon with Martina Navaratilova, both in 2003. Weeks after the win at Wimbledon, Paes was admitted to the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Orlando for a suspected brain tumor that was later found to be neurocysticercosis, a parasitic brain infection. While being treated, he had to miss the US Open, but he recovered by the end of that year.^[24] In the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, he paired up with Bhupathi, failing again at the semifinals stage. His next Grand Slam success was in the US Open doubles event in 2006 with Martin Damm. Paes led the Indian tennis team at the Doha Asian Games in 2006 and won two golds in the men's doubles (partnering Bhupathi) and mixed doubles (partnering Sania Mirza).^[25][26] Paes has maintained his doubles ranking in the top 20 in the world between 2005 and 2007.^[27][28] With wins in the Rotterdam and Indian Wells, Paes took his doubles tally to 38.^[29][30][31] Paes and Bhupathi took part in the men's doubles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. They were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka,^[32] who went on to win the men's doubles gold medal.^[33] Later in 2008, with Cara Black, he won the 2008 US Open mixed doubles title. In 2009, he won the French Open and US Open Men's doubles titles with Lukáš Dlouhý and was the runner-up in mixed doubles at the US Open. He began the 2010 season in good form, again winning the Australian Open mixed doubles title with Cara Black. This was the pair's third consecutive Grand Slam final and the fourth overall. The 2010 Wimbledon win with Black made Paes India's leading Grand Slam winner, ahead of his ex-doubles partner Mahesh Bhupathi, with a total of 12 grand slam titles.

Davis Cup career[link]

Leander Paes started his Davis Cup career in 1990 at the young age of 16, when he partnered Zeeshan Ali in doubles to beat the Japanese team in a gruelling five-set encounter. He is considered one of the top Davis cup players for his country, with a record of 86–31 overall, as of January 2012.^[34][35] He played an important role in the Indian Davis cup team that reached the World Group from 1991–1998. He was part of the Indian Davis Cup team that reached the semifinals of the 1993 Davis Cup with wins against Switzerland and France, eventually losing to Australia. In singles, his major wins came against French duo of Arnaud Boetsch and Henri Leconte in Frejus, France in 1993, Wayne Ferreira in 1994, and Goran Ivanišević in 1995 when India defeated Croatia, Jan Siemerink in 1995 to defeat Netherlands, and Jiří Novák in 1997.^[36][37] He teamed up with Bhupathi to beat Hirszon and Ivanisevic of Croatia in 1995, Martin Damm and Petr Korda of the Czech Republic in 1997, Nicolás Massú and Marcelo Ríos of Chile in 1997, Broad and Tim Henman in 1998, and Simon Aspelin and Jonas Björkman of Sweden in 2005. In 2007, Leander has three wins (two doubles and one singles) and no losses in the Davis Cup.