Bob Cole

There's a lot of ganging up on CBC play-by-play man Bob Cole these days. The argument goes that he's faded, he's too old (73), he can't keep up with the play.

I have never understood the appeal of Bob Cole. Having grown up listening to Danny Gallivan (audio) , I remember being appalled the first time I heard Bob Cole do a broadcast. His "This is..." call, which he would use endlessly every game, was particularly irritating. ("This is Bobby Clarke...") Leafs fans had to put up with this all the time? Poor things!

Now we all get Bob Cole inflicted on us -- even worse, a Bob Cole well past his prime. I am pretty sure that during Game 2 last night I heard him say, "He has a player open, but he doesn't pass to him because he's covered."