Canadian Crossing

Nothing but praise for way NBC Sports Network carries the CFL

I tried really hard to find something wrong with the way NBC Sports Network showcases the CFL. But I could find absolutely no fault. The NHL Network, should we ever get the NHL back, should take lots of notes.

Except for American commercials, the entire TSN broadcast was simulcast. Pre-game, halftime, bumpers out of the break: everything was pure TSN. The NBC Sports Network logo rested comfortably in the upper right-hand corner, and took it easy. No score ticker at the bottom (see NHL Network, you can go without a score ticker). The feed itself was very sharp; we could have easily been in Canada watching this game.

If NBCSN keeps this up through the playoffs, we will be extremely happy. A few more regular season games would be nice.

Chris Cuthbert gave a nice shout-out at the beginning of the game to those watching on the NBC Sports Network. Cuthbert and Gord Miller are used to doing this for NBCSN simulcasts of TSN hockey.

Glen Suitor jumped in toward the end of the game, explaining to American viewers how the clock stops after each play, increasing the chances of late scoring in the CFL vs. the NFL. Didn't feel patronizing, just a nice nod along the lines of what I've heard at CFL games when people sitting around me know I'm not from Canada.

The #1 CFL team on TSN, Cuthbert and Suitor haven't spent much time in the same booth lately. I can't imagine it was coincidence that they worked with each other for the first game on NBCSN.

We noted earlier that the teams playing in CFL games needed to play well to impress not so much the U.S. audience. Geeks such as us don't need to be convinced as to how cool the CFL is. The casual fan tuning in on a warm Monday night without a political convention on the airwaves needed more.

Edmonton and Toronto don't have the high-powered offenses needed to easily impress American audiences. Good defenses, clearly on display, don't inspire casual U.S. fans. This is why most Americans don't like soccer.

A few offsides penalties early in the game were really awkward. The many missed TDs/kicked FGs for Edmonton in the first half. The lack of an Argonauts TD in the first half. Not a great start.

The second half was a lot better; hopefully, people kept their TVs on. Toronto only needed 80 seconds for its first major score of the game in the first series of the second half. Kerry Joseph off the bench throwing a deep pass to Fred Stamps that he caught with one hand at the very last minute. A missed FG by Toronto that was returned by Edmonton, though only to about the 6-yard line.

Say this about the CFL this past weekend, the Edmonton-Toronto game had the largest margin of victory with 9 points. Two of the games were decided on last-minute field goals (one of which got Winnipeg coach Paul LaPolice fired) and Calgary won by a touchdown.

A couple of esthetics: Rogers Centre is not the best place for a CFL game. The sharpness of the TSN feed highlighted the washed-out part of the middle of the Rogers Centre field. Makes you wish the field was in better shape. And the stadium is so much nicer with the roof open than with it closed. Having been in that dome when the roof is closed, you feel like you could be anywhere. With an open roof, you know you're in Toronto.

Montréal's Molson Stadium will be a much better setting for tonight's game (7:30 pm Eastern). This will be the only U.S. regular season airing of the Alouettes, while B.C. will have one more appearance, hosting Edmonton on October 19.

Unlike the stale offenses of Monday's game, the Lions and Alouettes will be much more fun to watch.

Except for those Americans who live within a CBC feed, Americans have never seen holiday doubleheader action. Monday is Labo(u)r Day, and the NBC Sports Network will carry the Battle of Ontario (1 pm Eastern) followed by the Battle of Alberta (4:30 pm Eastern). You might be bored with seeing more of Edmonton and Toronto, but this will be the short term price to pay for the CFL on NBCSN.

Burlington, VT restaurants targeting Quebecers for being bad tippers

The people in front of me at the bakery in Banff were definitely American. She ordered a drink that confused the Canadian barista. They wanted to pay in American cash, something the bakery didn't allow. Finally they paid with a card.

I ordered my food and when it came time to pay, I told the barista that I was an American but I was paying in Canadian cash. She smiled at that.

As a tourist, you will find life easier if you blend in with the place you are visiting. You don't have to worry about bad currency exchanges or being treated rudely.

Quebecers and those who speak French are running into trouble in some restaurants in Burlington, Vermont. The issue is about money, but they are being targeted for their ability to parle Francaise.

If one or more at your table is speaking French, some restaurants are charging a 18% tip, regardless of the number of people in the party.

Mon dieu!

There is a cultural difference. Those Europeans who tend not to tip at home because it's not an accepted practice don't always remember to do so when on American soil. In Quebec, servers make a minimum of $8.35/hour, more than twice what servers in Vermont make and about 4 times as much as the U.S. minimum for servers.

Given some of the horrible service and treatment I received in Lake Louise and Banff, having a required tip would have been offensive. At the very same time, you need to respond to customs where you are visiting.

If you are visiting the United States, and you are eating in a restaurant, you should leave a tip for good service. Have a very good reason to leave less than 15% of the pre-tax amount. 20% is better. Food is cheaper in the States, spend some of that on people who really don't make a whole lot.

While it's been quite a few years since I was a server, I know that discriminating against a class of people is a bad way to give service. The problem is that reputations are difficult to shake. And in parts of Vermont, those from Quebec have the reputation of being poor tippers.

If you are a bilingual Canadian, and you are visiting Burlington or elsewhere in Vermont, try speaking only English. If you get good service, give the tip straight to the server and thank him/her in French, so they know that you speak French and reward good service.

Traveling is wonderful because you get exposure to different cultures. It's good to know what those differences are so you end up with a better experience.

'Daily Show' senior senior correspondents bring Canadian flair

Before "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" went on vacation, the show profiled the correspondents getting ready to cover the Republican and Democratic conventions. In the segment, the correspondents noted that a few of the newer entries hadn't covered a convention.

The experts were leading the rookies through initiation, and the two most senior of the senior correspondents experts are Canadian.

Samantha Bee and Jason Jones have become the experts on “The Daily Show.” Being an expert doesn't matter too much in the regular segments. The work that goes in spoofing the convention requires the most difficult research and the most expert timing.

Bee is the longest-serving TDS correspondent, having been on the show since 2003. Jones, her real-life husband, is the second-longest serving correspondent, been there since 2005.

Given the GOP war on women, expect Bee to be on the forefront of that issue, even if she gets help from Jessica Williams, the newest correspondent on the staff.

You might recall Bee scouring the 2008 Republican National Convention (see above) trying to get them to say the word "choice" for the Palin family keeping Trig. And who could forget the Sarah Palin/Hillary Clinton spoof that landed Bee, albeit briefly, in the Daily Show anchor chair.

The staff got thrown a curveball since the Republicans canceled the first day, cramming four days of speeches into three days. The Democratic convention will also be three days, but that was scheduled due to the Labor Day holiday.

The Daily Show, along with its sister program, the “Colbert Report,” run Tuesday-Friday for the convention weeks in Tampa and Charlotte. The Daily Show airs at 11 pm Eastern and Pacific on the Comedy Channel and 12:05 am local time on CTV; Colbert Report follows 30 minutes later.

CFL on NBCSN arrives tonight

"We now join the 2012 CFL season already in progress."

True followers have been there right from the start. NBCSN is late to the party, but unlike other visitors, the network will stay until the end of the party.

Continuing that analogy, NBCSN shows up late, stays for awhile, forgets its keys, goes back out, but then comes back and stays.

The NBCSN coverage kicks off tonight at Rogers Centre, which is the home of the 100th Grey Cup, as the Argonauts and Ricky Ray welcome his old team, Edmonton.

I saw both teams in person in their last games. Toronto tried really hard just to kick field goals against Calgary. Edmonton went down and fast against a rejuvenated Montréal team.

Four games in eight days; five in less than two weeks. Then after a 4-week break, 4 games in about a month. Then, all the playoffs and Grey Cup live.

Unlike the NFL Network deal, you feel like you have to root for exciting contests in the 9 selected regular season games. This feels like NBC in 1982 when the network bailed after less than exciting contests.

NBCSN, football fans and the CFL are not the same in 2012. The CFL is an exciting game; even its worst days are still more entertaining than 90% of the NFL. Hopefully, the ratings will prove that out. Then we can get a stronger regular-season schedule.

All games will be TSN simulcasts. All games will be aired live. You can still find these and other CFL games on ESPN3.

NBC Sports Network's 2012 CFL schedule (all times ET):

Date	Game	Time
August 27	Edmonton @ Toronto	7:30 pm
August 31	BC @ Montréal	7:30 pm
September 3	Toronto @ Hamilton	1 pm
September 3	Edmonton @ Calgary	4:30 pm
September 7	Calgary @ Edmonton	9 pm
October 5	Hamilton @ Edmonton	9 pm
October 19	Edmonton @ BC	10 pm
November 1	Hamilton @ Toronto	7:30 pm
November 2	Calgary @ Edmonton	9 pm
November 11	Division Semifinals	TBA
November 18	Division Finals	TBA
November 25	Grey Cup	6:30 pm

CFL in Alberta: Great stadiums and friendly people

Rob Ford jokes aside, for an American who had previously seen 5 CFL games live in person, the chance to see 2 CFL games in back-to-back days was exciting.

Okay, so this guy saw all 4 games in person last week, one more than Chris Cuthbert saw. Still, two games in two days in two different cities is still rather impressive.

The quirk in Edmonton is that tickets are cheaper the day before than the day of the game. This required a separate trip to Commonwealth Stadium, yet an excuse to see the CFL's largest regular stadium.

Turns out you have to go next door to get the tickets. The Montréal Alouettes fans I ran into at Commonwealth helped me figure that out. Can't believe we were the only ones who made that mistake.

The CFL is a rather friendly league. I was standing with some Alouettes fans when one of them called out to Sean Whyte (left), Montréal's kicker and punter. Whyte came right over and signed for the guy and his kid.

The guy only asked once from some considerable distance, and Whyte came over right away. Have never seen anything like that at any professional sporting event.

Commonwealth Stadium has been around since 1978, so if you ever saw footage of Warren Moon from his Edmonton years, you saw Commonwealth Stadium. You knew the game wouldn't be a sell-out because of the high capacity.

As we noted on Wednesday, getting to the park is easy. Take the LRT to the Stadium stop. Some buses also run to the stadium, including the #5 bus. Gates open 1 hour before game time.

Every seat in this stadium has great sightlines. My ticket was in the upper deck but didn't feel like sitting there, so I settled in toward the top of the lower deck. I was warmly greeted by the people around me. One woman signed up for the credit card and gave me the free Edmonton T-shirt. Much thanks.

Was hoping for an excited gung-ho crowd, but I learned that the opponent made a difference. The Saskatchewan Roughriders bought a billboard outside Commonwealth. This is a sign of an intense rivalry, and this wasn't even the provincial rival. The consensus in both Calgary and Edmonton was that Saskatchewan had the worst acting fans.

Montréal got off to a 28-0 lead. When Edmonton finally scored a single, the crowd let out a sarcastic cheer. The home team made it close in the second half, but the 38-25 final score wasn't as close as you would think. Even when the Alouettes had a punt blocked for an Edmonton TD, no one thought this would be a comeback.

The weather was lovely, facing west you could see the sun going down. The weather could be the reason why the crowd wasn't as excited. Colder weather unites the fans more than warm weather.

The LRT was quite crowded after the game. Metallica was playing at Rexall Place, one step before ours. People weren't happy about the crowded trains, though I had to smile. A Red Line train after a Cubs game was way more crowded with more stops to travel.

Ricky Ray's first visit to Calgary in a Toronto uniform seemed to be a high selling point, though the crowd wasn't as excited about that as I thought they would. I didn't buy a ticket until I got to the game, even with a smaller capacity at McMahon Stadium. Roll the dice, you never know. Turned out to be great advice.

An older gentleman asked me if I only needed one seat. His daughter wasn't able to make the game. He said I have a $35 seat; he offered me $15. This required a leap of faith, though maybe not a large leap. Was selling tickets even at less than face value a crime? He looked honest. I saw the ticket; this was actually a $39 ticket. "45 yard line," he noted.

What the hell. I bought the ticket. He even gave me change for a $20. The ticket was legit, and he sat beside me the whole game. Nice guy.

His neighbors to the right were so nice that they invited me out after the game. I was feeling a little off, so I hope they know I appreciated their generosity, even if I seemed a little out of it. They drove me to a famous drive-in where I got another dose of chocolate maple milkshake (which made me feed better).

As for McMahon Stadium, this was the second of the two stadiums that held NHL regular-season games in Canada. Both facilities would have been perfect for NHL and CFL. We were pretty high even with the $39 ticket. The Olympic Volunteer Center to my right, and the series of garages to my left.

Those garages look silly on TV and look even sillier in person. Someone noted that the changing rooms were there; I would hope the Stampeders have better facilities.

McMahon Stadium was home for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 1988 Winter Olympics. Take the C-train northwest to the Banff Trail stop. Walk over a bridge and you are on the grounds.

The game was kind of a snoozer. Field goals dominated the scoring with the Argonauts finally ending its own TD drought. The Stampeders finally scored a TD with 12 seconds left.

When Calgary scores a touchdown, a rider and white horse ride through to the opposite end zone and waits until the conversion and then they ride back to the garages. That was fun to watch, though waiting that long proved frustrating.

The 5 p.m. Mountain Time starting time made for a sunnier time. The sun was still up as the game ended. I had to take off my shirt because of the heat, though elevation may have played a role. The stadium requirement that no plastic bottles could be brought in, even though they sold plastic bottles, didn't help.

I was hoping for a more excited crowd in Calgary as well. The warm weather, Toronto as the opponent, and an ineffective offense didn't help the excitement levels.

If Montréal and Toronto played each other and Calgary and Edmonton battled against each other, the crowds would have been more exciting and the atmosphere would have been rather exciting. Games in October would have been more nail-biting. Still, I enjoyed both games, even if they weren't that close. The CFL blogger who saw all 4 games saw the most exciting game of the week: Hamilton at Winnipeg. But that was more about the game on the field.

Still, great facilities, easy transportation, and beautiful weather made for two nights of tremendous fun. CFL in the Western plains was absolutely fun. The only two active markets I haven't seen are Winnipeg and Saskatchewan. Those might be the most fun, but Edmonton and Calgary did just fine in representing Western Canada.

Going to Alberta? Some cool tips for your journey

Traveling to Alberta was a new experience though I had been to four different provinces in Canada. I did an extensive amount of research, and yet you learn so much by being there.

To help you should you make the trip, here are some initial observations about the center of power in Canada.

-- If you want to find conservative in Alberta, you won't have to go far. Liberal can be found. In Calgary, check out the Kensington neighborhood. This is a place so liberal even those in Ann Arbor, MI would take notice. Berkeley, CA might not be as impressed but can you blame them? Edmonton has a lot of culture in and around the bars of Whyte Avenue.

-- Calgary and Edmonton are multicultural cities — not on the level of Toronto, but quite impressive. And unlike a lot of U.S. cities, Canadian cities are multicultural all over, not just in one neighborhood.

-- 5% sales tax in Alberta is lower than Michigan and a bunch of other states and the lowest by far in Canada. If you've traveled to Canada and been freaked out by GST, PST, and HST, Alberta will be a fresh breeze. For the citizens, you get what you pay for, but tourists can take great advantage.

-- When traveling from Calgary to the mountains, really pay attention to how the mountains suddenly come into view. On the reverse trip, watch how the mountains drop down into flat land.

-- Banff is touristy to the naked eye. By all means, check out the tourists in their natural habitat. You go two blocks east of Banff Avenue and you are in a regular neighborhood with houses. Go two blocks west of Bear Avenue and the tourists disappear from your mind. The tourist area is really small, but pretty crowded. Kind of like New Jersey.

-- Doing the Canadian mountains without a car is possible, but not easy. If you live within driving distance and you have a car, visit. Then again, I didn't have to pay a Banff National Park fee. The Lake Louise shuttle worked like clockwork and the Banff buses don't run often enough, but you can get around with them.

-- Set a pace knowing that altitude is a factor. Lake Louise is at about 5,400 feet and I got to over 7,000 feet on a couple of climbs. Water is your best friend, though bring plenty of water and/or cash on the Lake Louise hikes. You can't just refill your water bottle at the tea houses. They boil their water since they don't have a clean supply.

-- The locals will tell you that the Queen Elizabeth II highway isn't the best way to see the land between Calgary and Edmonton. But without a car, Greyhound Express is a nice way to go. If you need to rest up from all that hiking, riding a bus is a cool way to go. While the land is flat, you will see cows and horses. Unlike the dominance of the U.S. billboards, no sign that I saw was taller than the bus, so you can see more of the beautiful countryside.

-- Sunsets are later as you go up north. Edmonton is the largest city that sits far away from the U.S. border. In mid-August, the sun goes down after 9 p.m. Closer to the Summer Solstice in late June, sunsets happen after 11 p.m. I took the 6 p.m. Calgary to Edmonton bus and watched the sun set outside my bus window. With very flat land, you see the sun right until the end.

-- You don't have to drive to get to the major sporting events in Calgary and Edmonton. McMahon Stadium is a short walk from the Banff Trail C-Train stop. The Scotiabank Saddledome is inside the Stampede grounds. Get off at the Victoria Park stop and follow a well-marked and extensive path to the facility. In Edmonton, Rexall Place and Commonwealth Stadium are in back-to-back stops on the LRT northeast of downtown.

How Rob Ford spent (part of) my summer vacation

I can't imagine Rob Ford following the 20 km or so that I walked in Lake Louise in the beginning of my trip. I can barely see myself imagining doing it, but I did. But Rob Ford was following me at the end of my first trip to Alberta.

When Toronto's mayor got a ride from a stranger, I was also in Edmonton. I read in the Edmonton Journal that Ford was going to go the CFL game in Alberta's capital on Friday — so was I — and the Argonauts trip to Calgary on Saturday — likewise for me.

Ford and I both had itineraries in Edmonton, though he wanted to visit Edmonton's mayor, who was on his own vacation to Europe. Ford might have toured the provincial legislative building, but not at the same time as my visit. Maybe he went to the mall — so do I. We easily could have been there at the same time; the mall is really that big.

I didn't see Ford at the food truck I found at Jasper Ave. and 101 Street, though he would have liked the food. Was Ford at the Edmonton Fringe Festival Thursday night? This was another great event with a large crowd where you might miss someone who was there.

I would assume that Ford had more appropriate transportation between Edmonton and Calgary. I took the 8 a.m. Greyhound Express. Extra legroom, electrical outlets, and free wi-fi all included. The scenery is flat between the two cities and you do get to stop over in Red Deer as a bonus.

TSN's Chris Cuthbert did the play-by-play for both games in Alberta, so he also made the trip between the two cities. One would assume he had a more appropriate ride as well.

As good as my seats were in Calgary, Ford's sideline access (see above) trumps me.

If I had run into Mayor Ford traveling as regular people do, I would have asked him what he thought of Western Canada versus his hometown of Toronto. I spent this trip wondering what this part of Canada was like.

I doubt Ford will go into much of what he saw in Western Canada, but over the next week or two, I plan to share my thoughts on the province that now has the political and economic power of Canada: Alberta.

If we're lucky, Mayor Ford will read my observations and see if I had the better trip to Edmonton and Calgary.

photo credit

Top 10 list: Canadian upbeat classic rock songs

One of the local radio stations does a Ten @ 10 feature, playing 10 classic rock songs from a year, and spotlighting some of the events from that year. To mix things up, the station will occasionally play 10 songs with a theme, such as mother songs, songs with a saxophone in them, etc.

The station never has played with the country theme. Of course, beyond England, Australia, and Canada, there aren't too many countries that can produce 10 quality classic rock songs.

Being limited to classic rock playlists is unfortunate since Canada also scores well in the broad range of music. For the debut Top 10 list, we will limit this to upbeat songs by classic rock artists.

The rules for this and the other Top 10s we post are simple. Songs must have enough Canadian content to qualify for CanCon rules (most songs will be written and performed by Canadians). We won't repeat an artist within a Top 10, though these artists can be featured in later Top 10s.

Feel free to add your own comments and songs suggestions for future Top 10s. The idea is to promote Canadian artists and songs as being songs you want to hear, not because you have to for CanCon rules.

Upbeat Classic Rock Songs
Title	Artist
Life Is a Highway	Tom Cochrane
Spirit of Radio	Rush
Run to You	Bryan Adams
Roll On Down the Highway	Bachman Turner Overdrive
No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature	Guess Who
On the Loose	Saga
Turn Me Loose	Loverboy
Magic Power	Triumph
Cinnamon Girl	Neil Young
Switchin' to Glide/The Beat Goes On	The Kings

Canadian snacks abound in Southwestern MI grocery store

Finding ketchup chips and Jos. Louis snack cakes in a Canadian grocery store — no big deal. Finding both in a grocery store in Southwestern Michigan — big deal.

Yes, we found Jos. Louis snack cakes last fall in Jewel stores in and around Chicago. The cakes were there for a limited time — about 12 weeks. Now I found them at a Meijer's in Stevensville, Michigan.

The ketchup chips, a Canadian classic, are made in the United States by Herr with a nod from Heinz (both Pennsylvania companies).

Hopefully, the chips have a farther reach than the snack cakes. Americans like ketchup and potato chips; whether they will like them together remains to be seen.

For more details, check out this column from our sister blog, BalanceofFood.com.

CBC gets back the Olympics but at what cost

As these Olympics wrapped up yesterday, the folks at CTV, TSN, and the rest of the broadcast team probably had bittersweet thoughts. After all, CBC returns to covering the Olympics in Canada with the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Some of those people will likely be back as CBC won't have the resources to reach the broadcast level of the CTV-led coalition.

CBC can broadcast events on its Bold channel, which reportedly a lot of people don't get, but can't broadcast on its CBC News Network. TSN will certainly carry some events; Rogers Sportsnet might be in the mix as well. The difference is that CBC will carry the major events, and CBC will decide which events get put on non-CBC networks.

For Americans living along the border, a return to CBC means better access to the major events. As we've noted, CBC is in more cable households along the U.S. border and easier to get by antenna than the CTV.

Olympics are generally bought knowing that the Games themselves will be at a loss. Money can be made up by promoting future programs, and the ratings from the Olympics do help. Unfortunately for the CBC, the network can't afford to run the Olympics at a loss, given its budget constraints. The network also has fewer programs to push because of those budget cuts.

When CTV acquired the Olympics, the primary jewel was the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. The move also gave Canadians the prospect of an Olympics minus the CBC, diminishing the impact of the network.

The Olympics deal has also sparked speculation that the CBC won't be able to afford Hockey Night in Canada when the next negotiations happen after the 2013-14 NHL season. Of course, the value of the Sochi Games plays in great part depending on whether the NHL players go to Russia and/or the impact of a NHL lockout/strike this season.

Getting the Olympics back in a huge gamble for the CBC. Though the CBC has no choice but to go for it. Sports coverage, whether that is hockey or the amateur sports found in the Olympics, is a lot of what CBC is known for. Prime-time programs stop on the CBC for the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The BBC covers the Olympics in a broad fashion, commercial free — a reminder of what Canada could have if priorities were shifted. Right now, CBC is in trouble. The network might not be able to afford the Olympics and Hockey Night in Canada. But the CBC might not be able to afford not having them either.