Talk show fodder

The laying of charges by the BC attorney general's office against Todd Bertuzzi Thursday, has taken over as topic number one with the always colourful talk radio wars in Vancouver.

As soon as the decision was announced, callers were quick to make their points known with the three Vancouver area stations that feature talk prominently in their daily broadcast schedule.

CKNW found that whenever they opened the lines to the public it was all about Todd, Steve Moore, the Police and the Attorney General's office.

Coming one day after a commission of inquiry cleared the Vancouver police of any wrongdoing in the Guns and Roses riot of 2002. Many callers expressed cynicism as to how the government could charge a hockey player, but not its own police force. Two VPD officers were under investigation for wrong doing during the event, both were cleared Wednesday. With the Bertuzzi charges announced the next day, this quickly became a flash point for many of the callers to the open lines.

The controversy carried on over to the Team and Mojo, both all sports stations that usually jump on anything Canuckish with all they have.

For a sample of just how hot the Vancouver public is getting about the issue, check out the CKNW audio vault, just pick any hour after the noon hour on Thursday and give it a listen. For a full examination of the situation the Dan Russell show from 9-midnight is a worthwhile check, if only to hear the angst in many a Canuck fan's voice. You will also get a full glimpse of the all encompassing effect this is having by listening in to NW, MOJO and the Team all before 10 am on Friday, expect the Bertuzzi issue to dominate all of the chat shows.

As this process carries on, one thing is certain we'll be talking hockey in BC long into the hot summer.

The above item first appeared in my HockeyNation blog, for more items about hockey check it out.