Hope for Speed channel
Roger Werner is a U.S. television pioneer, particularly when it comes to cable. At one time he was the chief operating officer of ESPN and he has founded several specialty channels. Among his many achievements was the creation back in the mid-1990s of what was originally called Speedvision and is now Speed channel, or just SPEED.
As many of you know, Speed channel has been taken over by Fox and is being relaunched in August as Fox Sports 1. Like many of you, I am very disappointed that we will be losing SPEED as of Aug. 17, when Fox Sports 1 becomes just another general sports channel that will, in all likelihood, be unavailable in Canada.
Although some of the programming has been less than stellar in recent years ( Pinks All Out, etc.), the original Speedvision was a gem for fans of motoring and motor sport, featuring such wonderful programs as Legends of Motorsport and the Lost Drive-In motoring movies.
I cannot go into any details but my sources on this are solid.
It turns out that Mr. Werner has roots in Canada and spends three months of the year in this country.
I have it on very good authority that he is likely to do something to try to keep the Speed Channel alive in Canada.
Cross fingers. More details as they become available.
Speaking of motoring television programs, here’s a reminder for all you two-wheel fans that Motorcycle Experience with host Dave Hatch will be kicking off its 24th broadcast season on TSN on Sat., March 30, at 12:30 p.m. The longest running televised motorcycle magazine in North America will also premiere with a new sponsor and a couple of exciting new segments. Go to motorcycleexperience.ca for dates and times.
You will note that I made very clear in the previous item the day and date that the motorcycle show would be on TV. Once upon a time in this business, the words “today” and “tomorrow” were allowed but now it has to be Saturday (instead of today) and Sunday, etc. Which can sometimes lead to confusion.
This is a long way around to saying that the MEGASPEED Custom Car & Truck Show is at the International Centre in Mississauga Sat., March 23, which is today, and Sun., March 24, which is tomorrow. More than 600 cars are on display and there are 300 exhibitors, girls in bikinis and more. Former WWE champion Bill Goldberg is there, as is automotive designer Chip Foose. More info at megaspeedcarshow.com.
Several weeks ago, I wrote in this space about what I consider the worst and most dangerous intersection in Toronto.
It is where Jarvis and Lake Shore Blvd. East meet and it can be a nightmare, particularly at rush hour.
Now, I don’t know whether that column had anything to do with it, but last Monday there were two police officers on duty to make sure that everybody behaved themselves. In particular, they were forbidding southbound Jarvis motorists from jumping the queue to the westbound Gardiner by turning right onto Lake Shore and going up the ramp.
Bravo! My hat is off to those officers and the commander who sent them over there.
Finally, Pfaff Automotive Partners has named Chris Green as lead driver for the Pfaff Castrol Motorsports team in this year’s Porsche GT3 Challenge Cup Canada. Green entered four Gold Cup-class races in 2012 and won all four, so Pfaff has signed a good shoe. nmcdonald@thestar.ca