Brief thread on the #DonCherry decision from a guy who worked @Rogers for a couple of years

1 - the old guard at the top is gone. Keith Pelley, Scott Moore, Rick Brace. Moore’s mantra @Sportsnet was “stars first.” He meant the players but also went big for on-air talent.

2 - the new guard - Bart Yabsley, Jordan Banks - are gong to be more cool-headed about hockey and about stars. Look, @Sportsnet got rid of Bob McCown, Doug Maclean. Got to cut costs. The 12-year hockey contract does not look awesome right now.

That brings us to....

3 - Cherry made a ton of money. He was long past his best-before date. Everyone knew that. He wasn’t going to retire on his own. Eventually they were going to have to move him out.

And then, he presented them with the perfect opportunity to do so.

4 - So Sportsmet saves a bundle, and in the process they do something to help nudge HNIC out of the 20th century and into the 21st.

5 - it can’t be lost on the Sportsnet brass that basketball’s image is cooler, more urban, more diverse than hockey’s. It’s a problem for the national game and for the broadcaster. And Cherry was part of the reason it seems so stuck in the past.