My old friend TSN has exclusive broadcast rights for the entire CFL schedule this year.

I have little love for the network, which has a disturbingly perverse love affair with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but these guys signed a big cheque for exclusive CFL rights.

The investment has paid off for TSN because viewership is up significantly for CFL games in 2008. Now it is time to dial in the TV presentation a little better.

I would guess that there are many cameramen who played or coached football at a fairly high level. Football-savvy cameramen would be valuable additions to the TSN broadcast crew.

The current cameramen still bite every time on play action, even if it is a poorly executed play action. Occasionally, the cameramen will miss an actual handoff and follow an empty-handed quarterback as he saunters away from the play.

Sometimes the cameramen simply get a little frantic and dart the camera around the field in a comic attempt to locate the ball. Professional it is not.

Here’s a question that I’ve asked before: why is Rod Black still a football play-by-play guy? Rod Black makes me miss the late Pat Marsden as a football broadcaster.

There is no rational reason that Black should ever be given a football announcer’s mike. He either guesses wrong or misses plays and calls completely during the mis-broadcasts. Black makes Bryan Hall seem like a Hall of Famer in the broadcast booth by comparison.

I was disappointed that TSN did not bring Chris Walby on board as a colourman for their games. The big guy was an entertaining asset for the CBC games and he would be a great replacement for Glen Suitor in the booth.

Suitor is a nice guy, but that trait gets in the way of a broadcaster. When a guy misses a block, drops an easy pass or blows a tackle, there is no need to sugar coat every screw-up. Suitor should also spend less time grasping for the perfect on-air witty line and more time analyzing the on-field product.

Suitor’s aimless ramblings have made me very familiar with my TV mute button.

I like the TSN panel with Dunigan, Climie and Schultzie. These guys are not afraid to voice opinions and their pre-game and half-time show performances are entertaining and occasionally insightful.

Chris Cuthbert is the best broadcast guy in the TSN stable, but his time with Glen Suitor seems to have made him less focused on the actual game action.

The best thing that could happen to TSN broadcasts would be an army of ex-football coaches to analyze and direct their broadcasts.

Rein in Suitor when he starts to ramble away from the game and into his pointless babblespeak. If he can’t do the job, then cut him and bring in a new guy.

As for Black, just cut that guy. It may be time for TSN to treat their broadcast team like a football team and make these guys look over their shoulders for somebody better at their job. The spirit of competition and subsequent fear of job loss has motivated many players to higher levels of achievement. Just ask Wally Buono.

Jim Sutherland is a local freelance writer. His column on the CFL appears in the Advocate every Friday.