A Dose Of Reality

The Canada West hockey season gets underway tonight with eight men's teams and eight women's teams playing eight games across the western Canadian map. The only teams not in action are the University of Manitoba Bisons teams, but they'll kick off their seasons next week. Because we're back to Canada West hockey, that means The Rundown will return on Sundays on this blog, but things are going to look remarkably different on that weekly article this year if athletic departments continue down the path they walked last season. We saw virtually every school last year fail to produce highlight reels for games they hosted, and, if they're unable or simply too lazy to promote the athletes they recruit to come to their schools to play hockey and bring pride to the communities and campuses they represent this season, I have even less obligation to do so.

I spend way too much time writing The Rundown for very little appreciation. That's not to say that I don't appreciate the feedback given by players, fans, and staff of Canada West teams, but giving up an entire day on my weekend to write recaps of games where I'm promoting athletes and teams more than the schools or Canada West themselves makes no sense. I want people to go to games, but it seems I work harder than the schools and the conference to make that happen and that's now going to stop.

I made it a point to take shots at the nine schools if they didn't post highlight reels last season, and only one was consistent in its effort to make highlight reels - the Calgary Dinos. The 2023 defending national champion Mount Royal Cougars didn't do it, the two-time Canada West champion UBC Thunderbirds didn't do it, and no one else bothered. I posted a lot of GIFs last season in place of highlight reels, but it's becoming glaringly evident that Canada West schools don't give two hoots about promoting their athletes while Canada West as an organization is happier to use generative AI stories than using real video highlights to promote teams and athletes.

Being that this is the case in Canada West, my efforts in trying to promote these schools' athletes will now mirror those schools and that conference. If schools don't bother posting highlight reels to YouTube, the recaps for those games will no longer be written. There will be a placeholder where the recaps normally are found, but I feel like a lot of people will be disappointed in seeing what this placeholder looks like. That's entirely the point of this change.

I want readers to be disappointed. I want those same readers to express that disappointment at the people who made the decision to cut budgets, eliminate gameday staff, and abandon the marketing aspect of their roles at those universities. It's time to hold people accountable for the poor decisions they've made by demanding more. I may not force change to happen, but I'm also not carrying all the baggage for eight women's hockey teams in Canada West every week.

To the Calgary Dinos, you deserve all the kudos for making highlight reels all last season when, apparently, there was no directive from Canada West to do so. I will celebrate the Dinos and their gameday staff at every chance I get this season if they continue to produce highlight reels, and that will go for every other school who follows that same path. If a school gives no effort in promoting its athletes, I have zero obligation to make that school look good with a fun recap.

Some will complain that I'm hurting the athletes by making this decision, and there's some truth to that. I find no happiness in trying to force athletic departments to be better, but these are questions that should be asked by athletes and parents to those administrations to find out why the athletes aren't being promoted more. Change is often messy and I apologize to the athletes here and now, but I've put far too much effort into promoting athletes' efforts and skills without help from the schools themselves for too long.

With hockey starting tonight, I'll be reminding teams to make highlight reels on Twitter, but I suspect my tweets will disappear into the ether assuming they're even read. Sunday will see The Rundown return to HBIC, but it may look drastically different for those of you who stop by to read it. We'll see how the schools react - I already assume they won't - but this is where you can ask for change to see Canadian university women's hockey get a little better. Highlights matter when telling a story, so what story is your school telling?

Demand more, folks. It can be better if people start asking.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!