They want to put Bob Cole on the dole?

With my current employment situation, I have a newfound wealth of time over the summer months. Hence, I will attempt to hone my miserable blogging skills. I'll get back to my Torontonian rant in good time, but for now I wanted to address something that's been pissing me off — the slagging of Canadian Broadcasting Corporation broadcaster Bob Cole.
Bob Cole is older than the hills. He is only the second play-by-play man that the CBC has had for Toronto Maple Leafs games; Cole took over for the legendary Foster Hewitt in the early 70s. As a result of his many years, some of his skills have eroded lately. Cole will confuse viewers by goofing on players' names, a problem that is becoming more common as the years go by.
While Cole will make his share (perhaps a growing share) of gaffes, virtually every play-by-play broadcaster has their own idiosynchrasies. For instance, Pierre McGuire's meathead-jock mistakes are enough to get on anyone's nerves and while Jim Hughson is very sharp, his default "Johnny Hollywood" voice lacks the flair worthy of a Canadian broadcast of a passionately Canadian game.
Although coloured with bias as a Maple Leafs fan, I think Cole (especially when paired with colour man Harry Neale) brings an excitement and an urgency to the game that is vital for enhancing the TV experience. Cole knows when to let the frenzied crowd do the talking for him, he knows how and when to put inflection in his voice and his delivery flows very nicely with the progress of the telecast (ie: he has a trademark voice trail-off when CBC goes to commercial).
Some viewers (mainly Maple Leafs-haters) criticize how Cole has a Toronto bias. While this is clearly true, Cole is far from the only TV broadcaster that showcases favouritism — look at the Sabres' Rick Jeanneret or the Chicago White Sox's Ken Harrelson for two examples. Plus, you cover the same team virtually every Saturday night for 35 years and see how objectively you deliver your commentary.
Some feel that CBC should put Cole out to pasture and bring in Hughson to take the main central Canada limelight. To that, I say that Cole adds a flair and an element to a CBC broadcast that enhances the experience of being a hockey fan. I will put up with Cole's imperfections in exchange for the tangible way he gets me excited before I go out drinking on a Saturday night. I think the CBC is a rubbish network (that's definitely an argument for another day) but Hockey Night in Canada is one of the CBC's saving graces.
A large part of that can be attributed to Bob Cole.