The past few months have felt like a helpless situation of watching a sick dog suffer in agony knowing that only the official cancellation of the 2004-2005 NHL season would serve as the most humane way to put the dog down. Thankfully the suffering is over. Since September it's been extremely trying and frustrating for hockey fans to watch the constant bickering and disagreement between the NHLPA and the Owners. What has made the situation all the more worse is the constant coverage by the Canadian media. The media's excessive coverage of the lockout has helped perpetuate the average fan's contempt and disinterest for the NHL's work stoppage, as if it needed help. As bad as it was to watch the dog suffer, we didn't need 24/7 coverage to remind us of how bad things were. We're in a time when every Canadian sports media outlet is desperate for anything that remotely resembles an interesting story and where hockey columnists are made to look more pathetic than a live Ashlee Simpson performance with each half-hearted attempt at a column they hand in to their editors.

The Canadian media reached their ultimate low at the sporting world's largest and grandest event. If ever an intervention was needed, this was it. The media stooped lower than Demetrius "DH" Harris stealing pills from a kid with cancer when they started asking for people's opinions about the NHL lockout at the Super Bowl.

	Is asking Chris Rock about the lockout the best use of time? (Source: CNN.com)

The Super Bowl is every media members dream assignment: Getting put up in a normally warm Super Bowl site (Jacksonville and Detroit excluded), writing a fluff piece about the hype before the game, taking in parties, networking (i.e. drinking with peers) and sampling buffets that would make a Cruise ship crowd jealous. Needless to say, it's a couple of days diversion from the standard fare that awaits journalists and broadcasters when they get back home. So how did the Canadian media enjoy their time? Well, they brought their troubles to the NFL's party and in turn looked like the jilted girlfriend who carries around the emotional baggage of previous relationships and unloads it on any new guy she happens to meet. Tell me, how is asking Chris Rock or Adam Sandler their thoughts on the NHL lockout supposed to tie into the promotion of a new football movie and the overall gridiron theme that is Super Bowl week? Although the question did give birth to the instantly classic response from Chris Rock about his thoughts on the lockout: "All of Harlem is in tears".

I just want to make it clear I'm not harping on the people who are NHL beat writers; the journalists that normally cover the home team from the start of free agency season to the end of the team's playoff run. I get that these people should still be providing hockey coverage albeit of labour negotiations rather than box scores. The media I take objection with is all those journalists and broadcasters that actually have creative license to choose between a myriad of topics to cover. Yet since September, these media members have shown about as much imagination and range as the roles that Ben Stiller's agent receives. I don't know if they just feel uneasy about leaving their comfort zone and exploring new ideas and topics or if they simply get a thrill out of repeating themselves day-after-day and mailing in their efforts like they're Peyton Manning in a clutch game.

	The media's coverage of the lockout has had the range of a Ben Stiller performance. (Source: AP)

I'm sure that many of these journalists and broadcasters will argue that they're simply covering a topic that the public wants to hear about. The problem is, if you don't provide any exposure or encouragement of other sports issues you'll never truly understand what the public wants to read, listen, and talk about. When sports radio stations open the lines, they start by queuing each segment with specific topics, to provide some general order and flow to the show. When radio stations book their guests they're dictating the theme of the show. If you don't give people an alternative subject to discuss then they'll simply tune you out if the topics don't apply to them.

And I'm sure now that the season is officially cancelled that the same people who have written or reported non-stop about the lockout will now be the ones preaching that the positives of a cancelled NHL season will include no longer having to listen to all the lockout talk. It's contradictory because these are the same people that have been perpetuating the discussion for months.

Martin Luther King once said that "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." Having no NHL action to report on would certainly be considered a time of challenge and controversy for the Canadian sports media. On those terms it's hard to paint a positive picture of how the media measured up.

Sadly the cliché that represents the NHL's greatest fear when it comes to their fragile fan base is also the cliché that provides the greatest sense of relief and closure for fans now that the season is done.

Out of sight, out of mind.