Canadian Crossing

'Red Eye' on FOX gives Canada a black eye

Watching uninformed Americans spout off on Canada can sometimes be fun, except when it crosses a line and it's on television. Or at least the FOX News Channel at 3 am.

The people on the show "Red Eye" were making fun of the Canadian military as we were getting reports of more dead Canadian soldiers from Afghanistan.

One of the panelists didn't even realize Canada was in Afghanistan. Wow!!

Sitting around in a bar or a restaurant with an uninformed opinion is a reality of life. But when you are on television, especially talking politics, it really helps to know something. Canada is in Afghanistan with soldiers dying; it sure would be nice to notice. Or is it because Canada wasn't in Iraq that these people didn't know?

The Conservative-led government in Canada was horrified. If you think conservatives stick together, there wasn't much shot at that happening here. Canadians, regardless of party, were very unhappy with the remarks.

And yes, if you're curious, the FOX News Channel is piped into Canada.

Bush's speech in Calgary brings controversy, protesters

The fact that George W. Bush decided to make his first post-presidential speech in Calgary is intriguing on so many levels. Bush has spent very little time in Canada in his whole life. His DUI means he requires a waiver to visit the country. And Canadian law requires that anyone significantly suspected of war crimes should not be allowed into the country.

Yet Bush came, gave his speech, not being anywhere near the protestors that were outside the Telus Convention Center.

We don't normally get too deep in the U.S. politics part on this site, but the circumstances do lend themselves to approaching these topics.

From my day job, here is a preview of Bush' speech in Calgary, complete with analysis on whether Bush should have been admitted or subsequently arrested. The second part is more on the reaction from those in Calgary to Bush being in their city.

Natasha Richardson suffers fall in Quebec ski resort

UPDATE: I did update this story in the comments. But to reiterate, Natasha Richardson has died at the age of 45 from the fall suffered Monday while skiing. Obviously, this is a horrible end to this story.

It was also sad to watch so many media outlets saying she was dead or brain-dead, jumping the gun unnecessarily. There is a right way to do this, and several outlets did it the wrong way.

Our condolences to her family.

Actress Natasha Richardson suffered a serious fall at the Mont Tremblant ski resort near Quebec City. Richardson was transferred to a hospital in Montréal.

Her husband, Liam Neeson, was in Toronto shooting a movie and rushed to be with her.

There isn't much Canadian-related to this story other than these brief bits of information. But it was significant to mention.

While things don't look good, we still hope for a recovery. Our best to her and her family.

Canada eliminated from World Baseball Classic

It's sad when you are the home team in a world tournament and you can't win a single game. And it's sad when you go 2-1 in 2006 and lose on an obscure tiebreaker, yet go 0-2 in 2009.

Canada might not have been the favorite against the United States, but the Canadians were expected to beat Italy. However, the Italians came ready to play and downed Canada 6-2 earlier tonight at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

There was some controversy over holding off Scott Richmond, the best of a beleaguered pitching staff thanks to injuries and other commitments (Ryan Dempster), to a possible game against Venezuela. But this team shouldn't have had to get to this point.

Italy, shut out against Venezuela on Saturday, scored a single run in each of the first four innings. Canada could only muster a Jason Bay 2-run double in the 4th inning.

The lack of decent pitching can certainly take some blame. But the expected potent offense didn't really show up. The major league stars did pretty well, though 41-year-old Matt Stairs went hitless in the tournament.

But Canada's double play combination went hitless (Chris Barnwell, Pete Orr) — difficult to score when your leadoff hitter can't get hits.

This team struggled in every major category. And the hustle of 2006 wasn't there in Toronto.

The Canadians do seem like they have some upcoming talent. If the major league pitchers can stay healthy, Canada should do better in 2013. But until then, they will have four years to think about how they did.

The series continues in Toronto. The United States has already advanced and will play the winner of the Venezuela-Italy contest on Tuesday. The championship game is Wednesday, though Tuesday's winner and the U.S. will go to Miami.

WBC notebook: Promoting Cuba in Canada on U.S. television

World Baseball Classic starts with "World." So U.S. viewers saw something they aren't used to seeing: an ad for Cuba tourism.

On the right-field wall was a sign for visiting Cuba: gocuba.ca. There were more ads in the outfield at these games, and players are even wearing ads on their uniforms. But the one ad applied to the rest of the world, but not the United States: visiting Cuba.

The perception to most Americans is the illegality of visiting Cuba. But that ban only applies to the U.S. Canadians and the rest of the world can travel to Cuba without penalty. Those in the U.S. can travel to Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam — all countries where the U.S. fought wars in the 20th century. Yet Cuba is still forbidden.

There are exceptions, some of which include not spending money in Cuba. But the ESPN cameras did capture an ad for traveling to Cuba — truly a treat for American viewers — even if right now, they can't legally take advantage of the offer. But Canadians can.

Canada loses thriller, but should have beaten U.S.

The U.S. wanted revenge after losing to Canada in the World Baseball Classic in 2006. In the 2006 contest in Phoenix, Canada jumped out to a 8-0 lead before the U.S. came back to make it close, with a final score of 8-6.

The Americans got the upper hand in that tournament, advancing to the second round. But the U.S. wanted to beat Canada when the two teams played in Toronto.

At Rogers Centre, the U.S. team edged Canada 6-5 before 42,314 in the opener of Pool C in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. The Canadians let chances slip by, including leaving the bases loaded in the first inning. Pete Orr, known for his speed and bunting, missed a golden opportunity to drive in a run from third with two out in the 6th inning.

Box Score from U.S.-Canada in Toronto

While the U.S. also blew chances to score more runs, the pressure was on Canada due to its thin bench and less than stellar pitching.

Many teams were unable to get some of the MLB players to be on their squads, mostly due to injury. Ironically, one of the U.S. players added at the last minute, Adam Dunn, hit the game-winning home run. But no country lost as many quality pitchers as Canada did.

Ryan Dempster (Cubs), Rich Harden (Cubs), Jeff Francis (Colorado), Erik Bedard (Seattle), and Eric Gagne (Brewers) were unable to pich for Canada.

Where Canada lacked in pitching, the team made up with the stick. Prominent Canadians in the Major Leagues include Russell Martin (C-LA Dodgers), Joey Votto (1B/LF-Cincinnati), Justin Morneau (1B-Minnesota), Jason Bay (OF-Boston), and Matt Stairs (1B-OF, Philadelphia).

Votto went 4-5 with a HR and two RBI. Martin added a HR as well.

The crowd was very enthusiastic, and the over 40,000 crowd was one of the largest in the World Baseball Classic.

This year's format is double elimination. Canada plays Italy Monday night once again in Toronto. If Canada survives, it will play the loser of U.S.-Venezuela (from Sunday night) on Tuesday. Lose and they're out, but win and they could advance to the next round in Miami.

Coverage of the tournament airs on the ESPN networks and the MLB Network in the U.S. and Rogers Sportsnet in Canada.