Canadian Crossing

Canada stands up to threat against cheese purity

Canada beat back the threat to reduce cheese in the Great White North to the lower standards of the United States. The Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear an appeal from cheese manufacturers Saputo and Kraft. The companies wanted to use more milk solids and less milk in making cheese.

Canadians refer to "processed cheese" what Americans call "cheese." Which would you rather eat?

For more on this story, check out our sister site BalanceofFood.com.

ESPN airs CFL legends fight, but no Grey Cup highlights?

Okay, the video of the minor scrap between CFL legends Joe Kapp and Angelo Mosca has gone viral. "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" had its fun with it last night as well as Chris Berman on "Monday Night Football."

The players have a history with each other that just kept going, even after all these years.

Mosca has been on the TSN CFL telecasts every so often, and comes across as a colorful character. The fact the Mosca was also a professional wrestler adds to his colorful persona.

Kapp is famous in the United States, having led the Minnesota Vikings to the Super Bowl. You note in the video that Kapp is the only QB to play in the Rose Bowl, Grey Cup, and Super Bowl. In Minnesota, Kapp played for Bud Grant, who coached the Winnipeg Blue Bombers before going to the NFL.

While it was fun for Bermann and former sportscaster Olbermann to have their fun with the CFL "fight," we are stil waiting for highlights of the actual game. If the only thing Americans remember from the 99th Grey Cup is a skirmish with a 73-year-old man (Kapp) and a 74-year-old man (Mosca) with a cane, while that would be funny, it would miss the significance of the game.

Then again, most Americans don't remember much of any Grey Cup, so a negative memory may be better than no memory at all. Hope they don't get used to the idea of two old men fighting before every Grey Cup.

Windsor, Canada snaps 26-month murder-less streak

While people on both sides of the border associate Detroit with “murder,” you might be surprised to know that the city right across the border, Windsor, Ontario, recently went almost 27 months without a single murder.

Yes, Windsor is 20-25% the size of Detroit, but to have a city with bad economic numbers with several hundred thousand people in these times and not have a murder for over 2 years, well that is very remarkable.

The streak got snapped when a young man was stabbed to death in what police have described as a dispute where the victim knew his killer. If you are worried about the sudden increase in crime in Windsor, know that the alleged killer has turned himself into police.

I have spent a number of days in Windsor during this murder-less streak, and have always felt comfortable even late at night in the downtown area. In the last two trips, I was out until about 2 a.m. at least once each trip and never felt concerned. The same can't be said of downtown Detroit, where I have been temporarily while waiting to cross the border and for the bus to go back home, though I was only there in daylight.

Windsor has plenty of crime and you can't judge a city by its murder rate. However, a blue-collar city in the shadows of Detroit going more than 2 years without a murder means Windsor and Canada are doing something right.

But who gets the credit led CNN to a bizarre take on Windsor, Canada, gun laws, and taxes.

According to this Windsor Star columnist, CNN showed its ignorance over guns in Canada. While the columnist think this is about bias, my take is that CNN combined its extreme ignorance about Canada with some lazy journalism.

CNN interviews one Windsor resident who may or may not know all of what is going on. If a non-expert source tells you there are no gun shops in Windsor, an editor might ask the reporter to make sure there are no gun shops in the city. I haven't seen one myself, but I would believe it. The columnist says there are three such shops. Either the source or the columnist are wrong. My money is on the columnist.

Canadians pay higher property, income and education taxes than in the United States, Blaine said. "It's going to cost more to live in Canada."

Windsor, while having low-income areas, does not have slums, he said. A social welfare system is designed "to keep people from falling in the gutter."

Almost felt like CNN had to explain elements of Canada in what was essentially a murder story in a blue collar town, a bit of overreach.

B.C. Lions enjoy home cooking to win 99th Grey Cup

The Canadian media all week drew the parallel of 1994 to 2011, where the Vancouver Canucks lost a heartbreaking Game 7 in the Stanley Cup finals and the B.C. Lions win a Grey Cup on its home turf. Well, that has happened in 2011 as the Lions win the Grey Cup 34-23 over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

B.C. started out 0-5 and then 1-6, all while playing its home games at Empire Field waiting for B.C. Place to be refurbished. The crown jewel of indoor stadiums on the West Coast looked beautiful inside and out, and the predominantly pro-Lions crowd was not disappointed.

The stellar defenses for both sides were on display through the last play of the 3rd quarter, 26 points in the game before that play, 31 points from that play to the end of the game. Winnipeg struggled on offense, not being able to score a major until well into the 4th quarter. The Blue Bombers finished the game with 1 yard rushing.

Travis Lulay and Buck Pierce were Lions' teammates. Both quarterbacks looked nervous in their first Grey Cup, but Lulay ended up with 320 yards passing in the game and won the Grey Cup MVP.

Winnipeg went 4-14 in 2010; as we noted, the Lions started 0-5, first time a Grey Cup champion ever started that poorly.The Lions won 12 of their last 13 games to finish the season; they didn't lose at home since the return of the refurbished B.C. Place.

Wally Buono stood by his team, despite the rough start, and was rewarded with his 5th Grey Cup, tying him with several other coaches for most Grey Cup wins. This was Buono's 9th Grey Cup, also tying a CFL record.

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The most exciting play was that 66-yard TD pass from Lulay to Kierrie Johnson to end the 3rd quarter. Super Bowls rarely have huge plays, but the Grey Cup and Canadian football showcases exciting plays. The replay clearly showed that having receivers move in motion helped get Johnson open for the major. The catch was his first TD in the CFL.

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Four CFL teams have won the Grey Cup on its home turf: 1972 Hamilton (Ivor Wynne Stadium), 1977 Montréal (Olympic Stadium), and 1994 and 2011 B.C. Lions (B.C. Place). Ironically, I have been in all three stadiums, seeing football in Hamilton and Vancouver and baseball (Les Expos) in that Montréal stadium.

No NFL team has ever won a Super Bowl in its home stadium. The San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams won in nearby stadiums.

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Radio Shack got some free publicity as TSN used its sound meter to measure decibels to show the crowd noise. At the peak, the level registered in the 90s, giving the Lions a home-field advantage.

The roof was not open as the temperatures were relatively cold, still above freezing. The live pictures showed sun and clouds, a definite improvement over the huge amounts of rain that the Vancouver area had in the previous few days.

The Grey Cup offers a lot to the home city, increasing tourism possibilities. Vancouver looked great and didn't suffer from any crowd-related issues, such as what happened in June following the Stanley Cup finals.

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The cameras showed Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the crowd. Harper, a known sports fan, sat with Lui Passaglia, hero who kicked the game-winning FG that gave the Lions the Grey Cup in Vancouver in 1994.

While prime ministers have to remain neutral, Harper represents a riding in Calgary-Southwest. It would be natural for him to wish the Stampeders were playing instead of the Lions. But like most of the fans, Harper was also probably glad to be indoors for the game.

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Arland Bruce III started the year with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The star receiver was traded to the B.C. Lions on August 3, going from a pretty good Hamilton team to an 0-5 Lions squad. Bruce was on the sidelines as the Lions won their first game of the year. Bruce played in the next game, a Lions loss. But he saw the potential in the Lions squad, and his energy was a rallying point. Ironically, the only loss in the year-ending streak was in Hamilton, Bruce's old club.

Bruce and long-time Lion Geroy Simon (holding up the Grey Cup in the photo above) both started their CFL careers with Winnipeg.

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Richard Harris was Winnipeg's defensive line coach until he died on June 26. Harris also worked for the B.C. Lions under Wally Buono. Harris was clearly on the minds of both teams throughout the season, and in the Grey Cup.

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I tried to get (perhaps illegally) TSN.ca on my computer, but ran into too many snafus, and settled for ESPN3. com. The reception was similar to what I saw last week, too many instances of a weak signal, especially when plastered on my 32-inch LCD TV set.

Unlike last year, when I missed the halftime show of Bachman and Turner, I didn't check to see if Nickleback was on ESPN3.com. I'm not that much of a glutton for punishment.

Speaking of punishment, we were subjected to that same basketball players commercial for Jim Beam whiskey. The players were talking about the lockout, something which is apparently over, yet the ad was still running.

The ad doesn't show Tyson Chandler actually drinking, but it is intimated. Chandler and Landry Fields have drinks in front of them, and clearly they are in an ad for alcohol. Former players have certainly advertised alcoholic drinks, but watching active players extolling the virtues of hard liquor is pretty unsettling. I'm not easily offended, but it looks bad even viewing it once. Having to watch it over and over and over is really offensive.

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One great tradition in the United States is Chris Berman describing the highlights of the Grey Cup on ESPN's SportsCenter. (ESPN owns 20% of TSN, home of the CFL.)

Berman has had to use his French in the last few years as the Montréal Alouettes have dominated the Grey Cup. This year? No Alouettes, no Berman highlights. I ran tape until 3:30 am Eastern, the end of the 4 hours of SportsCenter. Last year, the highlights came after 1:40 am Eastern. If video turns up that Berman celebrated the accolades of the B.C. Lions, we will let you know.

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The 100th Grey Cup will be November 25, 2012 at Rogers Centre in Toronto. Canada's largest city will host its 46th Cup and was the host for the inaugural Grey Cup. This will be the 4th at what is now the Rogers Centre. Varsity Stadium has hosted the most Grey Cups at 29; CNE Stadium (Exhibition Stadium) has 12 and Rosedale Field with 1.

photo material courtesy of TSN/ESPN3.com

NHL notebook: One exciting Sidney Crosby game this week

The NHL Network shows an unhealthy eagerness to break away as soon as it can from the early game of Hockey Night in Canada. Perhaps the network wasn't aware that the goal was controversial; clearly the guys in the NHL on the Fly studios weren't aware. A replay onsite would have been helpful.

The network has no reason not to let the CBC finish the segment before going back to the studios. The people on the air at the NHL Network have had very little to add after the game.

As we saw later on the second game of the CBC (Sunday afternoon for U.S. viewers), Canadiens goalie Carey Price clearly had the puck covered and the goal should not have been allowed. Would have been good for the U.S. viewers to see for themselves live.

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Pittsburgh at Montréal was the scheduled primary game for Canada and the United States Saturday night even before Sidney Crosby came back. Unlike the Monday matchup (more of that later), this was must see TV.

The energy in the Bell Centre as Sidney Crosby got something opponents rarely get in Montréal: a standing ovation. Anytime Crosby plays in Canada, it is big news. Playing his first game in Canada since returning in Montréal (the team he idolized while living in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia) on Saturday night on Hockey Night in Canada was electrifying.

Crosby had an assist in the Penguins 4-3 OT win. The game went back and forth, and even when the Habs gained a solid lead, even Habs fans knew they couldn't relax. Well-played all around by both teams; as good a game as we've seen this season.

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Max Pacioretty will go before the NHL for his hit on Kris Letang late in the 3rd period Saturday night. Pacioretty hit Letang in/around the head (depending on how you saw it). Pacioretty was not called for a penalty on the play; Letang came back pretty quickly and scored the controversial game-winning goal in OT.

We bring this up because we are curious to see if Pacioretty will serve a suspension of some kind. Yes, the league is cracking down on head shots, and Letang was bleeding on the play and suffered a broken nose.

Even a rather good hockey fan can't always tell the difference between good hits and bad hits. Pacioretty's hit didn't look good, but the referees didn't assign a penalty at the time.

We are hinting, of course, over the hit that Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins gave to Pacioretty on March 8. Chara elbowed Pacioretty into the partition, severely injuring the Montréal player, putting him out for the season and the playoffs. Chara received no penalty and no suspension.

Pacioretty had no beef with Letang; Chara wanted revenge from Pacioretty after he got slightly bumped after a game-winning goal earlier last season. Pacioretty apologized to Letang after the end of the 3rd period; Chara waited some time to offer an apology, one that was less than sincere. Pacioretty was carried off in a stretcher; Letang scored the game-winning goal minutes later.

This isn't to excuse Pacioretty's hit on Letang, but if Pacioretty serves even anything beyond 2 minutes, you will see the bias in the NHL penalty structure.

The Chara hit cost the Canadiens any success in the playoffs. You could easiy argue if Chara had been properly suspended, the Bruins don't win the Cup. We've also seen the bias (prominent in the Stanley Cup finals against Vancouver) continue toward Boston as Milan Lucic didn't get punished for hitting Buffalo star goalie Ryan Miller this season.

If Pacioretty is suspended, the bias is anti-Canadiens, but the clearly blatant pro-Boston bias also costs Montréal.

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In covering over the CBC breaks, sometimes the NHL Network cuts off CBC programming. Well, in between Vancouver's win over San Jose and the post-game coverage, the NHL Network let a few Canadian ads and CBC promos go to the American audience.

Paul Anka in a Kia ad, an RBC Avion credit card ad, along with promos for a new CBC show called "Mr. D." and the "Rick Mercer Report" as well an ad for online shopping in Canada for NHL merchandise.

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Versus' last-minute move to cover Sidney Crosby's debut as the New York Islanders battled Pittsburgh instead of Boston at Montréal proved to be financially disastrous.

The game averaged 198,000 viewers on Versus. As Puck the Media noted, the new all-time record for Versus in November happened earlier this month with 558,000 viewers for Philadelphia/Buffalo. Last year's best mark in November was St. Louis/Chicago at 390,000 viewers.

You don't have to be a Nielsen genius to think a Bruins-Canadiens game with Boston's strong winning streak and the natural hatred between the clubs would have drawn well better than 200,000 viewers, even with one of the markets being in Canada.

The ideal scenario would have been for the NHL Network to carry the Islanders-Penguins game, but Versus has an exclusive window, prohibiting the NHL Network from taking that option. Versus could have waived the exclusivity, but the channel went for what it thought was the better ratings option … and it was wrong, very wrong.

Contrast CBC's move to carry the same game at the last moment, gaining an average of 1.2 million viewers. The difference, other than Canada vs. the United States, is that CBC didn't have a hockey game planned for Monday night.

So what should Versus have done?

-- Waive the exclusivity, allowing the NHL Network to pick up a local feed (Root Sports Pittsburgh most likely) and then Versus could have shown highlights in-between periods.

-- Don't allow the NHL Network to carry the game, but show Sidney Crosby highlights at every possible mark.

-- Sidney Crosby scored his first goal well before the Boston-Montréal game was scheduled to start. Versus could have carried the first half-hour and then switched to the Bell Centre in Montréal.

-- Show the Bruins-Habs in its entirety and then showcase Crosby's efforts after the game and expand the post-game to reflect the Crosby hype.

We are told that Canadian teams are treated poorly by American networks because the decisions come down to financial considerations. After all, Versus and NBC can't rely on Canadian markets for ratings.

Canada has 9% of the U.S. population in numbers. CBC's ratings for the same game was more than 6 times that of Versus. Somebody cared about Crosby's return, but it sure wasn't the United States.

Versus went against showing a Canadian team and suffered financially as a result. Next time, maybe the channel's management will rethink such a decision.

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The NHL Network won't show many Canadian-based teams in December, but next weekend will feature Montréal at Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon, Toronto at Boston Saturday night, and the rebroadcast of Calgary at Edmonton on Sunday afternoon.

When Black Friday comes, Canadians shop in the United States

Black Friday — the day after the American Thanksgiving — is not a Canadian holiday, though many Canadians do take the opportunity to shop in the United States for bargains. The outpouring is stronger now that the U.S. dollar is so weak compared to the Canadian loonie.

The ever growing trend of stores opening earlier and earlier might stop some Americans for standing in line literally on Thanksgiving Day night. Canadians don't have to sweat that since their Thanksgiving was back in October, and by opening at night, Canadians could still shop and go to work the next day.

Americans who don't live near the border might ask why Canadians would come in droves to buy things in the United States when they can buy them in Canada. Well, a lot of items cost way more in Canada than in the United States. A lot more.

You might notice books and magazines that often list a Canadian price, higher than the American price. Electronics are also more expensive in the Great White North. Even the Dollar Menu at U.S. fast food restaurants is more like a $1.89 menu. And even though Canadians can only bring back a limited amount before paying duties on importing products, Canadians still cross to shop.

Even being in Windsor recently, you saw signs of companies on the U.S. side offering U.S. addresses for ordering online.

When the currencies weren't remotely equal, this discrepancy made some financial sense when the Canadian dollar was 75¢ to the $1 U.S. dollar. But now that the Canadian dollar often is at par or higher than the American dollar, prices still don't go down.

The difference in regular prices, combined with Black Friday savings in the States, will produce a huge number of Canadians coming (temporarily) into the United States. If you see a Canadian, say hi. They're friendly. But do understand that they might be really focused because they are in your country for the savings.

Canada should know 'and/or' doesn't belong on food ingredient list

Back when I would drink soft drinks a lot, I grew frustrated by the ingredient list on soft drinks that would feature the phrase "high-fructose corn syrup and/or sugar." And no, having "sugar and/or high-fructose corn syrup" is not better. Unlike the front of the package, which can be as deceptive as humanly possible, the actual list of ingredients is supposed to list only what is in the product. However, soft drink manufacturers were able to get away with that.

Either your product have HFCS or it doesn't. Either your product has sugar or it doesn't. If you don't know what is in your food, then you should get out of the food manufacturing business.

Amusingly, not that HFCS is being attacked, soft drink companies in the United States are coming out and admitting their drinks have HFCS. Bad that the drinks have high-fructose corn syrup, but they get points for honesty. Why is honesty so hard to find?

One joy in food shopping in Canada used to be finding alternatives that didn't have high-fructose corn syrup. Unfortunately, the substance now invades Canadian food products, though I and many other consumers were caught flat-footed since high-fructose corn syrup is called glucose-fructose in Canada.

Oops, and then some. Now we are seeing Canadian food labels that say "sugar and/or glucose/fructose."

This is sad especially since Canadian food labels are traditionally more truthful. For example, saying Canadian food products identify "processed cheese" while American labels would say "cheese" when they were both talking about the same product.

This CBC story explains the nuances of Canadian food labels, good and bad. They make a distinction between "processed cheese" and cheese, but note that "(b)y including "glucose-fructose and/or sugar" on the label, the manufacturer can use either ingredient or a combination of the two." Still sounds wrong to us.

We eventually trained the U.S. food companies to be straightforward on their ingredient labels. Now we should bring Canada into the fold. And better yet, get Canada to stop using glucose-fructose in its food products.

photo credit

This fall's Canadian film crop: will they come to the United States?

One fun game in a international film festival is guessing which films might come to theatres, mainstream runs or a week in a large metropolis, or go straight to cable, or only end up on a specialty foreign language channel, such as TV5.

Canadian films are the hardest to figure out since the English-speaking market is dominant with U.S. films, plus occasional quirky British or Australian movies into the mix. For every "Chloe," there are tens of "Trigger" films.

My week of Canadian movies actually started in Chicago with the aforementioned "Trigger." In 2010, "Trigger" was the opening night film at the Toronto International Film Festival and the closing night of the Windsor International Film Festival. The first, and so far only, time it played in Chicago, 3rd largest city in the United States, was one night in a gay and lesbian film festival. If you are searching for lesbian material, if you blink at the wrong time, you will miss the moment.

The film played on a Monday night and attracted about 9-10 people, including myself. I had seen the film in Windsor and loved it, but knew it had little press outside Canada. If you didn't know the back story, and why would you, the film might not seem like a big deal.

For American awareness, the film stars Molly Parker, who has been in "Deadwood" and "Swingtown" on U.S. TV and has been in the "Center of the World," "Pure," and "Marion Bridge." You might not know the name, but you might know the face.

Nobody else is known in U.S. circles, other than Sarah Polley, and even Polley's relatives might not recognize her cameo in "Trigger," and maybe Don McKellar, but again, not well known in the States. Such is life when trying to see whether Canadian films will come to the United States.

Thursday through Sunday, I saw 9 new Canadian films in the 2011 Windsor International Film Festival. I have been attending this festival for the last 5 years, ever since I stumbled upon the festival, seeing a sign for "Breakfast with Scot," starring Tom Cavanaugh ("Ed") in a film you probably don't know. This was by far the best year for the festival, in every imaginable measuring stick. If you stay in downtown Windsor, everything is within walking distance and it's a lot safer than downtown Detroit, just across the Detroit River.

So I thought it would be fun to score the 9 movies that I saw in terms of whether Americans might see these films some day. We'll list them in order of likelihood of reaching U.S. audiences.

Film: Take this Waltz
Synopsis: Young married woman meets a tempting stranger. Will she go for the affair or stay true to her husband?
Chances of coming to United States: 40 (of 100)
Why it will come: Writer/director Sarah Polley has some foothold as actress in the States. Her first movie got her a Oscar nomination (for best adapted screenplay) and her leading lady was nominated for Best Actress. This film features three American actors with name recognition (Seth Rogen [though he's really Canadian], Michelle Williams, Sarah Silverman).
Why it won't come: Polley isn't that well-known, and female directors aren't treated as well as male directors by the system. The film has a definite Canadian bent, and handles some scenes in a way where American audiences are used to going, even indie film lovers.
Where is it destined to go: This movie could get limited play across the country, but is more likely seen in major cities. You'll see this on cable at some point, at least 12-18 months from now.

Film: Cloudburst
Synopsis: Two senior citizen lesbians are separated, so they decide to run away to Canada to get married. Along the way they pick up a young male hitchhiker.
Chances of coming to United States: 35
Why it will come: Olympia Dukakis is well-known and is rather hilarious. Brenda Fricker is somewhat known, mostly in indie circles. The scenery is gorgeous, and the story is funny.
Why it won't come: Dukakis' character will shock most of her fans with her language. Seriously. Some of the words are ones I don't even use. Some of the jokes are graphic, but very funny. Some of the nudity is in your face, and that nudity is male.
Where is it destined to go: Gay and lesbian festivals, for sure. A little large city play, but otherwise limited cable.

Film: Keyhole
Synopsis: A guy is trying to get to his wife inside their home in this homage to Ulysses.
Chances of coming to United States: 8
Why it will come: Guy Maddin is somewhat known in indie circles for his offbeat movies. Jason Patric, Isabella Rossellini, and Kids in the Hall alum Kevin McDonald are in the movie.
Why it won't come: This movie is Guy Maddin meets Guy Maddin meets David Lynch. Lots of older male full frontal nudity, some female nudity. Even by Maddin's standards, this is pretty out there.
Where is it destined to go: Cable without a doubt. Anything outside a big city, uh, no.

Film: Monsieur Lazhar
Synopsis: A new teacher comes into a classroom after the previous teacher committed suicide. He brings his own past perspective on the subject.
Chances of coming to United States: 0.2
Why it will come: This is Canada's entry for Best Foreign Language film for the Oscars. Well-done movie with lots of tidbits to absorb.
Why it won't come: Foreign-language movies with subtitles don't do well outside big cities. As far as Monsieur Lazhar goes in the Oscars world will improve the slight chances of making it onto American screens.
Where is it destined to go: Limited runs in big cities, no matter how well it does at the Oscars. Cable? A pretty good shot.

Film: Cafe de Flore
Synopsis: Parallel stories about an unhappy man who seems to have it all in Montréal and a Downs' syndrome boy in Paris in 1969.
Chances of coming to United States: 0.1
Why it will come: Same director who did C.R.A.Z.Y. Good use of Pink Floyd music. Vanessa Paradis is somewhat known in French films seen in the States.
Why it won't come: This movie takes you down a path that stretches the mind and imagination. This film made "Certified Copy" seem straightforward.
Where is it destined to go: A good shot at a limited run in major cities. Cable shouldn't be a problem.

Film: Down the Road Again
Synopsis: Follow-up to Canadian classic about two guys from the Maritimes going to the big city of Toronto to seek jobs and women.
Chances of coming to United States: 0.0
Why it will come: Unlike Olympia Dukakis' language, this won't offend anybody. Kathleen Robertson, a Canadian actress, is very well-known in American films and television. Doug McGrath in the lead was in Porky's as one of the coaches.
Why it won't come: Americans are more likely to know the SCTV parody of "Goin' Down the Road." Hokeyness factor won't fit in well even with a PG audience. Even a lot of Canadians haven't seen the original.
Where is it destined to go: Don't hold your breath. Not even sure cable makes sense, even though (some) Americans love wholesome movies, and this is pretty wholesome.

Film: Starbuck
Synopsis: A ne'er do well finds out his previous sperm donations has led to 533 children.
Chances of coming to United States: 0.001
Why it will come: Lead actor Patrick Huard was in "Bon Cop, Bad Cop." It's funny.
Why it won't come: French farces don't do well in the States, much less French-Canadian.
Where is it destined to go: Probably not even cable. Could see this remade into an American version, but it wouldn't be as funny.

Film: I am a good person, I am a bad person
Synopsis: Woman makes film with real-life daughter about mother and daughter who promote her film (within this film).
Chances of coming to United States: Less than 0.
Why it will come: Odd enough for Sundance Channel/IFC.
Why it won't come: Still not that interesting.
Where is it destined to go: Cable, maybe.

Film: La Sacree
Synopsis: Small town tries to get tourists, fast talker tries to get rich — somehow it all comes together.
Chances of coming to United States: Even less than 0.
Why it will come: Cute story. Novelty of first ever Francophone movie made in Ontario.
Why it won't come: Even Quebecois natives in the States might not want to see this.
Where is it destined to go: Good luck!

CFL roundup: Home field winners advance as B.C. plays at home in Grey Cup

Not that I'm a genius, but I figured the home teams would win over the weekend. Home field advantage makes a huge difference, whether it be a -13° C temperature reading at kickoff in Winnipeg or crowd noise indoors in Vancouver. Having home field helped the Montréal Alouettes all these years.

Home field was tenuous as the Lions and Blue Bombers clinched home field on the literal last regular season game of the year.

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Thank goodness I only have to watch 1 more CFL game on my computer. Watching the West semi-final in a bar/restaurant and later my hotel room was light years ahead of watching the East and West finals on my computer.

One trick I discovered is that the browser makes a difference. I am in love with Firefox, but when I enlarged the screen, the "Press ESC to exit full screen mode." message constantly stayed on the screen. Not esthetically pleasing. Switching to Google Chrome got the message to go away.

The video quality came in mostly at one bar, though sometimes I had 2 bar and occasionally 3 bars. Of course, stretching out the computer feed reduces the quality of the feed. When the feed is a good one, the TV screen almost looks good enough for a SD feed.

Turns out, the CFL has made another deal with the America One stations to carry the CFL playoffs including the Grey Cup. Reportedly, Altitude 2 in the Denver area is also carrying the playoffs and the Grey Cup. Good for you if you get an America One station, but the CFL needs to come up with a real postseason TV deal for its American fans.

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Winnipeg went from worst to first. B.C. started 0-5 this year. Winnipeg QB Buck Pierce got his start with the B.C. Lions. The Lions are playing the Grey Cup at home.

No CFL team has won the Grey Cup at home in the 21st century. Edmonton lost to Montréal in 2002 and the Alouettes lost to Calgary in 2008. However, the last home team to win the Grey Cup was the B.C. Lions in 1994 as Lui Passaglia became a B.C. hero by kicking a last-second field goal to beat the Baltimore Stallions 26-23.

The only time Winnipeg faced B.C. in the Grey Cup was 1988 at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa as the Blue Bombers edged the Lions 22–21.

All the fun starts at 6:30 pm Eastern from Vancouver on TSN, the America One stations, Altitude 2(?), and ESPN3.com.

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Mark Donnelly had double duty Sunday with the national anthem at B.C. Place and Rogers Arena. Kickoff was 1:30 pm in Vancouver and tipoff was 6 pm as the Canucks battled Ottawa. Then again, the two buildings are right next to each other, so hopefully Donnelly was able to stay and watch the game.

As fun as the ritual is to watch in a hockey arena, having double the usual number made a glorious sound.

NHL notebook: Sidney Crosby return bumps Habs off Versus

The big news on Sunday was that Sidney Crosby, Canada's best player, will finally hit the ice tonight against the New York Islanders.

CBC and Versus jumped on the chance to carry Crosby's return. Unfortunately for Habs fans, this means Versus won't carry Boston @ Montréal as scheduled. Don't hold your breath that the Canadiens will get another game down the road. The only question is whether Versus has to give up a Pittsburgh game down the road if its allotment of Penguins games is at its maximum. (I'm sure Versus is under its allotment of New York Islanders games.)

The NHL Network has already scheduled Pittsburgh at Montréal for Hockey Night in Canada Saturday night. Any time Crosby is in Montréal is significant, but this Saturday night will be huge in both countries.

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We knew that those in Chicago wouldn't get to watch the CBC feed of Edmonton's 9-2 win over the Chicago NHL franchise. Instead we got the nice treat of Washington at Toronto from Saturday night, courtesy of the CBC. We got the 2-hour condensed version, but since we had Coach's Corner and the Hot Stove on the New York Rangers-Montréal Canadiens telecast, we didn't miss a thing.

A blackout for the game is understandable, though I would rather have heard Mark Lee and Kevin Weekes than Pat Foley and Ed Olczyk. (Kudos to WGN for showing both national anthems.) Why the NHL Network blacked out After Hours leaves me very confused. Okay, I wasn't surprised, but After Hours is not hockey and isn't coverage duplicated in any form by Comcast Sports Net Chicago.

For those affected by this or other blackouts, you can find After Hours on the CBC Sports Web site. Here is the link for this week’s After Hours, though it may not be posted for awhile.

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If you've never seen a hat trick (three goals by a player in a game) on TV, much less in person, watch the Edmonton Oilers on Hockey Night in Canada. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a hat trick against Vancouver at Rexall Place earlier this season. Last night, Taylor Hall had a hat trick against Chicago, again in Edmonton.

If you sell hats for a living, you can get rich in Edmonton.

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While Boston also won't be on national TV on Monday, the Bruins have a visit with the Red Wings on NBC Friday afternoon as the network carries its first game in the first half of the season for the first time in anyone's recent memory.

If the Canucks had won the Stanley Cup, Vancouver still wouldn't be on NBC the day after the American Thanksgiving.

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Glenn Healy wasn’t between the benches in Toronto Saturday night. Healy was in the studio instead of P.J. Stock. “Game Day” was pre-empted due to the afternoon contest of Philadelphia at Winnipeg, and co-host Andi Petrillo was the sideline reporter at the Air Canada Centre.

Healy is sometimes wasted between the benches since he is very strong no matter where he goes. Versus/NBC finally has decent people on their broadcasts though it took a long time for that to happen. TSN has rather good people, though losing Pierre McGuire has hurt them. For those who criticize CBC’s coverage, their roster is amazingly deep.