Ryan Lambert on Puck Daddy posted something regarding TSN's new Jets Meter, which is basically tracking how close Winnipeg is to the return of the Jets with every bad thing that befalls the Thrashers and Coyotes. It's a pretty good op-ed piece, in which Lambert mentions that TSN doing this at the expense of a current NHL franchise and fanbase is in bad taste.
Can you imagine ESPN doing something like this when the Seattle Supersonics were going through their issues the other year? The "OKC Thunder Meter" would have seriously upset an entire city, and possibly would have at least drawn comment from the National Basketball Association, who has a contract with ESPN. The National Hockey League has a contract with TSN of the same, if not larger, vein.
I understand how important it is for Winnipeggers to get their team back, but national networks pulling stunts like this doesn't help their cause. It just makes the media, and the journalists behind it, look petty. TSN's a very well respected source for hockey news in both the US and Canada. I very much enjoy their broadcasts when I get a chance to watch them in Center Ice. And yes, I realize that it does look extremely bad when the Thrashers games this week that were broadcast on Canadian television had attendance levels of a 5 year old's birthday party. But come on - this? A Jets Meter?
Please stop winding up a fanbase and a city for something that isn't going to happen for the foreseeable future, and leave the Thrashers - and the Coyotes - alone unless something does happen. And for God's sake, read the info in SB Nation Atlanta's storystream on the sale before you start whipping people into a frenzy.