Two southern Ontario cities received an unexpected acknowledgement on ESPN this week â but the map that illustrated it may have left Canadians scratching their heads in confusion.
On Mondayâs edition of âThe Jump,â an NBA discussion show, Rachel Nichols devoted nearly four minutes of airtime to the Los Angeles Lakersâ slow start to the season and their Sunday loss to the Toronto Raptors.
âWhile everyone from Hamilton to Oshawa knows it wonât mean anything until the Raptors succeed in the playoffs, itâs still worth saying that on another night of drama ⌠the Raptors showed themselves to be the biggest stars,â she said.
It wasnât Nicholsâ opinion on the respective fortunes of the Lakers and Raptors that attracted attention online, though. Much more was made of the map which accompanied her comments.
For 25 seconds, ESPN viewers saw a map which purported to pinpoint Toronto, Hamilton and Oshawa, but was actually hundreds of kilometres off base. The âHamiltonâ marker was placed near Windsor, Ont., while the âOshawaâ label appeared to be in the vicinity of Kingston, Ont.
The map mishap received a number of comments when the segment was posted to .
âI guess ESPN has never heard of Google Maps,â one user said.
âRelax, no one cares about Canada,â another user replied.
Nichols addressed the mistaken map Monday night, that she wrote Oshawa and Hamilton into her script because she had spent time in both cities.
âServes me right,â she said. Nicholsâ tweet also included a map with the two citiesâ actual locations circled in what she called âa crude make-good attempt.â
Oh man! Serves me right
â Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols)
I mentioned both places because Iâve spent time in both (and as a former hockey beat writer I like to reminisce) but then didnât check the graphic as it was going by on the show.
Please accept my humble apology and crude make-good attempt!!