Canadian Crossing

Calgary is the Grey Cup champ

Congratulations to the Grey Cup champions, the Calgary Stampeders, victors over the Montréal Alouettes 22-14 Sunday night at Olympic Stadium in Montréal.

The game was close most of the way, tied 13 at the half. But longtime Montréal quarterback Anthony Calvillo threw a couple of crucial interceptions in the second half. The Alouettes are 1-5 in Grey Cup games with Calvillo, though as one of the best QBs ever in the league, it's really difficult to put the blame just on him.

Calgary won its first Grey Cup since 2001, ironically also in Olympic Stadium. The Alouettes were hoping to be the first team to win at home since the B.C. Lions won the Cup in 1994 in Vancouver.

This year, the game was on TSN for the first time. In the U.S., Versus carried the game, showing the TSN feed. Having watched the game in a huge crowd, I can't speak to how TSN did. I could hear the audio of the announcers, something that previously was an issue. And I applaud Versus not only for carrying the game, but also broadcasting the last 30 minutes of the pre-game show. Kudos!!

The halftime entertainment was Theory of a Deadman, Suzie McNeil, and Andrée Watters. All are Canadian artists, a typical element to the halftime entertainment. Though last year's musical guest, Lenny Kravitz, has no Canadian connection, other than covering the Guess Who's song "American Woman." (Yes, Guess Who is Canadian.)

Next year, the game will be in Calgary. The first Grey Cup game was in 1909, so this will be the 100th anniversary of the first game. Tonight's game was the 96th Grey Cup (the Cup was suspended during World War I.)

Grey Cup to air in U.S. on Versus

The hometown Montréal Alouettes made the Grey Cup. And so did the Calgary Stampeders.

Montréal advanced to the title game by downing the crossover Edmonton Eskimos 36-26. Calgary had a much harder time with the B.C. Lions, winning 22-18.

I was fortunate to watch the games on my hotel TV in Windsor. No HD, true, but no drinks spilled on me either.

But TSN, what happened to the sound during the first game? Yes, the crowd in Olympic Stadium in Montréal was loud. But there were many points, especially in the second half, where I knew the announcers were talking, but we couldn't understand what they were saying. And there was a crucial 3rd down in the first quarter; it was close, but we couldn't see how close because TSN wouldn't show us how close it was to a first down.

The Alouettes have made a few recent trips to the title game, but have only won one title. Calgary hasn't won the big game under quarterback Henry Burris.

I plan to watch the Grey Cup with expatriots. But you can watch the game on Versus. Yes, Versus, the hockey channel you can't find on your cable. To give them credit, they are showing the pre-game at 5:30 pm Eastern followed by the kickoff at 6 pm Eastern.

Let's hope TSN has fixed the sound so we can hear the announcers. Sadly, the days of Mark Lee and Chris Walby are gone, but I would like to hear Chris Cuthbert and Glen Suitor.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers celebrate Barack Obama's win

The reach of Barack Obama extends to Canadian football.

When Romby Bryant scored on a 78-yard TD pass from Kevin Glenn in the Winnipeg Blue Bombers' playoff game against Edmonton, Bryant and his teammates celebrated by lifting their gold jerseys to reveal white Obama shirts.

The touchdown, the Blue Bombers first major score of the contest, was obviously the point where the shirts were supposed to be revealed.

Unfortunately for the Blue Bombers, the magic didn't extend to the end of the game. Edmonton edged Winnipeg 29-21 to advance to play Montréal.

Rachel Maddow's mother is a Newfoundland person

Stephen Colbert mentions Newfoundland in his interview with Rachel Maddow Thursday night on the "Colbert Report" on Comedy Central. Maddow mentions that her mother is from Newfoundland.

Colbert jokes to her that it's obvious, meaning obvious that she is from Newfoundland. Maddow mentions something about having long hair and drooling (not a flattering picture of Newfoundland residents).

Maddow, in case you don't know, is the host of the Rachel Maddow show on MSNBC and also does a 2-hour show on Air America. She also is a Rhodes Scholar.

Maddow has been a hot media figure lately, scoring rather impressive ratings on her TV show, which has only been on since September 8.

Colbert likely didn't mention Newfoundland (the actual provincial name is Newfoundland and Labrador) by accident, though her Canadian roots weren't obvious. If we were looking for clues, we could go back to the September 17 episode of her TV show for this glaring reference:

And one more thing, our neighbors to the north have limited campaign spending in their upcoming parliamentary election to $20 million per political party. That's Canadian dollars, not Zimbabwean dollars or American dollars. To put that in perspective, Obama and McCain spent $15 million — that's American dollars — on TV ads just last week. I know Americans aren't totally convinced about the metric system or Newfoundland's half-hour-ahead time zone. But maybe Canada's got this one right.

Even people who know very little about Canada don't know about Newfoundland's time zone status. The province is one of the few areas in the world whose time is off by a half-hour instead of an hour. Australia, India, Venezuela are among a few areas where time zones don't conform to the top of the hour.

It isn't clear whether Maddow has spent any part of her childhood there in Newfoundland, though maybe this will come out in further discussion.

The Colbert Report airs in Canada (and therefore, Newfoundland and Labrador) on the Comedy Channel and over-the-air on CTV.

It will be a colder CFL playoffs in 2008

For those who follow the CFL and remark on how few playoff games are actually played outdoors (snow, wind, rain), this might be the year to start enjoying the playoffs once again.

Typically, Montréal and B.C. end up as the division champs, setting up the division finals indoors. (The Alouettes play their playoff games in Olympic Stadium; the B.C. Lions play their home games at B.C. Place, home of the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2010 Olympics). And Toronto often hosts a home game, playing in the dome of the Rogers Centre.

This year, we shall see more wind, rain, and possibly snow. Yes, Olympic Stadium will host the Eastern Division final this year as well as the Grey Cup. But those will be the only two playoff games indoors.

Every team in the West made the playoffs. Well, there are four teams, but the Eastern Division stunk this year. Under the crossover rule, 4th place Edmonton (10-8) plays at Winnipeg (8-10), second place finisher in the East. Yes, the winning team has to travel to the losing team. The good news for the Eskimos is that they might have the easiest road to the Grey Cup. Winnipeg, and then Montréal (11-7) is not a bad road to travel for the Cup.

Calgary (13-5) came out on top in the tough battle in the West. Saskatchewan (12-6), which got off to a flying start, settles for second place and hosts B.C. (11-7) in the first round. The winner travels to Calgary next week.

The playoffs this year are on Saturdays with the Grey Cup final still being on Sunday. The first round is this Saturday. Typically, the playoffs are available on free TV, but this is the first year of the contract with TSN carrying the entire schedule. I have hoped that TSN would simulcast the games on CTV, even if it is just the Grey Cup.

Fans on the border had full access to the CFL playoffs through the CBC coverage, but even CTV isn't as strong along the border. Getting TSN isn't viable to U.S. residents short of a satellite dish, and maybe not even then.