Canadian Crossing

Canada wins softball Border Battle; results from golf's Canadian Open

There were a lot of Canada-related sports news for U.S. viewers over the weekend. The newest member of the Hall of Fame, former Montréal Expo Andre Dawson, was honored on Sunday.

But there was a major gold tournament, and Canada's first win in the men's softball Border Battle.

Canada edged out the United States 30-29 in the 2nd annual Border Battle. The U.S. won last year's game 30-23.

The Canadians scored 10 runs in the fourth inning helped out by two USA errors. Canada pitcher Brian Higginbotham had 4 hits, including 3 HRs. Higginbotham was the losing pitcher in last year’s Border Battle.

ESPN's wrapup noted that the USA team hit 2 "home runs" in the seventh inning. And also pointed out that once a team reaches 10 HRs in a game, any subsequent HR is an out. We don't know how many affected the Canadian team, especially since both teams went over their allotment of HRs.

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Carl Pettersson came out of nowhere to win the RBC Canadian Open. Pettersson finished at -14 for a one stroke win.

One amusing anecdote is that Pettersson, waiting to see if he had won the tournament, finished off seven beers. Well, he was in Canada.

This year's tournament was played at St. George's Golf and Country Club in Etobicoke in the western part of Toronto.

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The Canadian women's softball team ended the USA's 22-game winning streak by downing the U.S. squad 5-2. The Canadian women scored all their runs in the third inning.

Despite Canada's win, the U.S. team made the finals and it won't play Canada for the World Cup.

Jennifer Yee hit a two-run home run and Melanie Matthews doubled in two runs for the Canadian squad.

Andre Dawson is in the Hall of Fame as a Montréal Expo

For the second time ever, and maybe for the last time, the Baseball Hall of Fame inducted a former Expo with the Montréal Expos cap. The Hawk — Andre Dawson — was inducted into the Hall of Fame in a ceremony in Cooperstown, New York.

Dawson won Rookie of the Year honors in 1977 and played for Montréal through the 1986 season. He is one of three players in MLB history (Willie Mays, Barry Bonds) with more than 400 HR and 300 SB.

In the speech, Dawson thanked his Montréal Expos outfield partners: Warren Cromartie and Ellis Valentine, as well as fellow Hall of Famer and teammate Gary Carter.

Others from the Montréal Expos that were thanked by Dawson included his managers Vern Rapp, Jim Fanning, and Hall of Famer Dick Williams and teammates Dave Cash, Al Oliver, Tony Perez (HOF), and Pete Rose (should be in HOF).

Dawson said fellow teammate Tim Raines should be in the Hall of Fame. If/when Raines makes the Hall of Fame, he could go in as a Montréal Expo.

"Thank you to the Montréal Expos organization for drafting me and giving me my start. You gave me my first 10 years in the major leagues, the experience of a new culture, and playing across the border. Thank you Expos fans for your kindness and admiration."

For those who don't follow the Hall of Fame controversy over team caps, a player doesn't get to pick which cap that goes into the Hall. Gary Carter was known in many circles as a New York Met, but went in as a Montréal Expo.

Dawson became known in baseball after he signed with the Chicago Cubs, offering a blank contract to play for the 1987 season. Dawson ended up winning the Most Valuable Player award in 1987.

But as an Expo in Montréal, Dawson won 6 of his 8 Gold Gloves, 3 of his 4 Silver Slugger awards, and stole 253 of his 314 bases. Though Dawson won his only MVP with Chicago, he finished 2nd in the MVP voting in 1981 and 1983.

As for his knee injuries that have been tied to the artificial turf at Olympic Stadium, Dawson pointed out that his knee injuries started before reaching French Canada, and made it clear that other sports had an impact on them. Still, the Olympic Stadium turf didn't make it any easier on Dawson.

To be fair, it is understandable that Dawson shared a lot more love in the speech for the Cubs and its fans. Expos management had offered a pay cut after the 1986 season. And the collusion that prevented Dawson from getting a fair offer might still sting a bit.

"I never knew what it felt liked to be loved by a city until I arrived in Chicago."

But Montréal Expos fans did come to Cooperstown, NY — a short drive from Montréal — to honor one of the greatest players ever to wear a Montréal Expos uniform. And Dawson played 11 of his 21 seasons in Montréal. Dawson rewarded them with a 9-word sentence.

After the ceremony, Dawson reflected more on the fans of Les Expos:

"To see them out there today was great. I didn't play the game to be a crowd-pleaser. When I went out there I didn't want to disrespect the uniform or disrespect the fans. Whatever fans show up, I'm most appreciative of that."

Given how few opportunities that are left to honor the legacy of the Montréal Expos, Sunday was a nice treat. The coverage from the MLB Network showed a lot of fans in Montréal garb, some of them were wearing Expos and Cubs gear at the same time.

I do want to finish this tribute for Andre Dawson, and it's a story of him with the Cubs. Dawson was intentionally walked 5 times in a game — an all-time record. Current Cubs manager Lou Pinella was running the Cincinnati Reds on May 22, 1990 in a 16-inning contest. The first four times — the strategy worked. Dave Clark drove in the winning run after the 5th intentional walk.

I know this story oh so well because I was there. I sat in the bleachers that day, and I saw Dawson in the outfield for the Cubs. Since the Expos didn't get much publicity, other than watching them play the Cubs, this was the first opportunity to see how great Dawson was on the field.

But Dawson put up some amazing statistics while wearing the rouge, blanc, et bleu of Les Expos. And despite what the experts say, without his time in Montréal, Dawson wouldn't be in the Hall of Fame.

photo credit: Mike Groll/AP

MLB Extra Innings shows us one Toronto Blue Jays hometown feed in free preview

We noted that when MLB had its first free preview for its Extra Innings package — at the beginning of the season, there were no Toronto Blue Jays feeds from Canada. Every Blue Jays game came from the other team's feed.

Things weren't much better in the second and final free preview of the 2010 season. There was exactly one Toronto hometown feed in the entire week — the Wednesday afternoon contest in Kansas City.

Rogers Sportsnet is the home for the Blue Jays, and we finally got a chance to hear Buck Martinez and Pat Tabler call the action. Often, you will get two feeds for a game, but Toronto — at least during the free preview periods — has had the short end of the straw.

So what exciting commercials did we see during the one game?

There was a public service announcement from the Ontario Provincial Police, reminders fishers not to go near hydro dams. A commercial for Fido cell phones pointed out that they have phones made from recycled water bottles.

Of course, there was a Tim Hortons ad for its Chicken Caesar Wrap Snacker. Blue Jay promos rang through the broadcast. There was an Indiana Jones type feel to a commercial for Bick's pickles.

The first minute of the breaks were covered by promos for MLB Extra Innings. So we may have missed some good ads. And I don't count commercials that are similar to U.S. ads, mostly for cars and trucks.

One afternoon contest isn't a good cross-section of Canadian commercials. Heck, just keeping the topic to sporting events makes this not a good example. But it is a nice peek into the world of commercials on Canadian TV.

'18 to Life' latest Canadian show to air on U.S. television

You may think you haven't seen too many Canadian TV shows, but you would be surprised to find that some Canadian shows are on U.S. television.

Usually U.S. networks buy the rights to shows and do their own versions. U.S. hit TV shows based on British shows include "All in the Family," "Three's Company," and "The Office."

"Flashpoint" and "The Bridge" are drama that airs on CTV in Canada and CBS in the United States. The shows are produced in Canada for original broadcast on CTV. "Rookie Blues" is a drama that airs on Global Television in Canada and ABC in the United States."Rookie Blues" just got renewed for a second season on ABC.

The "newest" Canadian TV show airing on U.S. television is a little different in that the program — "18 to Life" has been airing on CBC and is getting a trial run on the CW Network this summer. Episodes air in the U.S. starting August 3.

The movement to air Canadian TV shows on U.S. television isn't so much about the fine programming in Canada, though it should be, but more about U.S. networks wanting to save money.

Canada will join U.S. in having two nightly female anchors

My American readers generally don't watch Canadian news. Heck, even Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he doesn't watch Canadian news.

But in the near future, Canada will have something in common with its neighbors to the South: two of the three primary over-the-air newscasts will be anchored by women.

Katie Couric and Diane Sawyer have established this mark in the United States, though Barbara Walters and Connie Chung have co-anchored nightly newscasts.

Currently in the big three chairs in Canada — CBC, CTV, and Global — men anchor the news. But at CTV and Global, changes are coming.

Dawna Friesen (left) has spent the last 11 years as a reporter for NBC, based in London. Before then, Freisen worked as an anchor and reporter for CBC and CTV.

Friesen will take over the Global nightly news chair on August 20 for Kevin Newman.

If Newman's name sounds familiar, you might remember him from his work at ABC News from 1994-2001. Newman has been in the Global evening news chair since 2001, launching the network's first nightly newscast.

The other new female anchor has a longer wait before she starts this chapter of her career. Lisa LaFlamme (left) will take over for long-time CTV National News anchor Lloyd Robertson in mid-2011.

Robertson has been the sole CTV anchor since 1984 and first starting anchoring the CTV news in 1975. Robertson spent a long time at the CBC before jumping to CTV.

LaFlamme has a mixture background, serving as the national affairs correspondent and substitute anchor and previously as the parliamentary correspondent.

She also has been a co-host on Canada AM, similar to Today and Good Morning America.

Couric and Sawyer rose to their positions by spending long years in morning shows and/or nightly newsmagazines. Friesen and LaFlamme have stronger news backgrounds leading into their ascensions to the evening news chair.

Peter Mansbridge is still the anchor of The National, CBC's nightly news show, and has been since 1988. Mansbridge is probably the most recognizable anchor to U.S. audiences, either from C-SPAN coverage of Canadian federal elections or Americans who live on the border and can better access Mansbridge and the CBC, especially in Buffalo, Detroit, and Seattle.

The transition in the U.S. was positioned as a youthful change from the long-time anchors of Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, and Canadian Peter Jennings. While Robertson is 76, Mansbridge is 62, but Newman is only 51. Freisen is 46 and LaFlamme turns 46 later this month.

For Canadians, having a single female nightly news anchor will be something new. But if they watch the American newscasts, which they can easily with cable and sometimes even without cable, and we know Stephen Harper watches the U.S. newscasts — they will know they have seen this somewhere before.

photo credits: Dawna Freisen, Lisa LaFlamme from CTV

Regis and Kelly Day 4: Regis hosts a clambake with no clams

The skies were sunny on "Thursday" in Prince Edward Island. Okay, it was the second show Regis and Kelly taped on the sunny skies on Tuesday. By the way, the actual forecast in Charlottetown on Thursday was similar to Tuesday's.

Even if all the shows weren't live, Regis and Kelly were very enthusiastic about their stay in Prince Edward Island. And this is all set up to showcase the little-known Canadian province. Kelly noted that she and her husband Mark were planning their return trip before they leave.

So let's go the Day 4 highlights:

Kelly must have had enough sugary, butterfat ice cream from Cows since she didn't mention Cows once. There was no entourage as they took the stage. There was a reception from two Canadian Air Force CF-18 jets from the 425 squadron, and a shoutout from the audience to Moncton, where Regis did a concert at a casino last weekend.

There were also custom made Regis and Kelly cake toppers, tying in their trip to PEI.

The final local chef was Liam Dolan of Peak's Quay & Old Dublin Pub restaurants. Dolan brought out an oyster tossed in potato flakes, scallop and lobster sausage with an orange reduction, mussel bouillabaisse flavored with PEI vodka (made from PEI potatoes), and a clam slider with ketchup because Regis loves ketchup.

Dolan also mentioned the International Shellfish Festival going on for three days — September 17-19. This was a nice reminder to inspire a future trip from the TV audience to have a specific destination in Charlottetown.

Speaking of that, someone won the trivia question and won the trip to PEI. She won a 7-day, 6-night stay in "Canada's #1 golf destination." The winner gets to stay in one of a variety of hotels all within 20 minutes of Charlottetown and tickets to a performance in the Charlottetown Festival.

The show played beautiful highlights from the area in coming back from commercial breaks. There was a beautiful bridge that you can walk along the marshes at Greenwich in PEI National Park, Wood Islands Lighthouse, PEI Fishing Harbors, and the links at Crowbush Cove, where they had the clambake.

Regis hosted a clambake without clams. The segment shown on Wednesday saw Regis collecting the food that was for the beach clambake that actually was Monday night in reality. Once again, the seafood was beautifully on display — lobsters, oysters, and mussels.

As for the guests, actor John Corbett talked about how he had been all through Canada, but this was his first time to PEI. Turns out, Corbett will be staying in the Maritimes, going to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to shoot a Christmas movie with Sam Elliott.

Corbett told the story about shooting Serendipity in Toronto, and being recruited at a bar to be the lead in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which was also shooting in Toronto. Corbett was there to promote his new movie "Ramona and Beezus," which was shot in Vancouver.

Corbett brought his girlfriend, Bo Derek, and she was sitting in the audience.

Canadian native Elisha Cuthbert grew up in Calgary and outside Montréal, but became a recent convert to Prince Edward Island. Cuthbert noted that she was CFA: Come From Away.

Her boyfriend Dion Phaneuf was in the audience, and Cuthbert noted that Phaneuf brought her to the island and she enjoyed being there. Phaneuf's day job is the new captain of the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs, a fact that Regis told us and he got that right. Given the careers of Cuthbert and Phaneuf, they spend their summers on the island.

Coming to Prince Edward Island sounds like a really nice time for its natural beauty. If there are celebrities to meet, that can't hurt the tourism opportunities.

Regis and Kelly Day 3: Kelly rides a horse, Regis 'hunts' for seafood

Regis and Kelly did Day 3 but clearly the show wasn't live from Prince Edward Island. I had read where they only taped two days. Wednesday's weather matched Monday's, and we didn't have a temperature update.

Given the Monday/Wednesday taping schedule, it was no surprise that Kelly came out in pants for Wednesday's episode. As you may recall, Kelly had an upskirt incident just as the camera showed her on Monday. The wind was more intense for Wednesday's episode.

Regis and Kelly came in accompanied by a bagpipe group — College of Piping and Celtic Performing Arts of Canada.

Food once again ruled the show. As the two read a couple of e-mails, one of the e-mail referred to poutine. So Regis and Kelly got to try poutine. As Kelly put it after eating the poutine:

It's delicious. Why is everything so good in Canada?

Kelly mentioned Cows once again. If she ever does a commercial for the ice cream, you'll know why. The extra butterfat makes the difference.

The local chef of the day was Ted Grant, an instructor from the Culinary Institute of Canada and Holland College. Ted brought out in order a fried oyster sandwich, known as a po' boy on the island (and elsewhere), mixing in prosciutto and what sounded like okra. Grant also served linguine vongole "clams" and a gazpacho shooter with little bit of mussel inside.

Even if Regis seems reluctant, the rest of us are salivating, especially given how fresh the seafood is. Regis got to find out for himself in a taped segment.

Regis is throwing a clambake, even if the menu didn't mention clams. We saw Regis go after lobsters, potatoes, oysters, and mussels — all known quantities on Prince Edward Island.

In the crosstalk segment, Regis noted that the first settlement in PEI started around 8500 BC. They ran the Kelly horsebacking segment that they ran out of time for on Monday.

We saw them ride through beautiful green fields and streams, even if the weather was a bit stormy. Kelly saw her first uncaged eagle, a majestic sight.

Speaking of majestic sights, we got to see the Confederation Bridge, a relatively new way to get to PEI with a car. Before the bridge was built in 1997, you could only get to the island via a ferry, or as they noted, swimming.

We saw island notables as they were coming back to the show — highlights from the Canada Day Boat Parade as well as Point Prim Lighthouse and the summer harbor behind their stage at the park.

Regis and Kelly play the trivia question, and the participant was playing for a trip to Prince Edward Island. I knew the answer to the question, but the woman didn't get the question. So no trip. This is also bad because in winning, they describe the trip. No trip, no description.

Stephen Moyer was the primary guest. Moyer had mentioned that he has worked in Vancouver and Toronto, and also had a Great Lakes adventure. Moyer's fiancee is Oscar-winner Anna Paquin, who was born in Winnipeg before her family moved to New Zealand when she was four.

Melanie Fiona was the musical guest: the R&B singer from Toronto did a really nice job. Regis and Kelly talked with her briefly after the musical number, but there wasn't any Canadian connection to her roots in the conversation.

Tomorrow is the conclusion, and if the pattern holds, the weather will be beautiful (as it was Tuesday). Regis will show his clambake, and Canadian actress turned Hollywood star Elisha Cuthbert will be on the show.

Canada in the 2010 All-Star Game: Finally a live O Canada

The National League snapped a long streak, winning its first All-Star Game since 1996 with a 3-1 win in Anaheim. So how did the Canada contingency do in the game?

John Buck (C, Toronto) had the most interesting night at the plate. Buck came into the game in the top of the 6th inning and went 1-for-2. But that isn't what was interesting.

Buck hit a ball to St. Louis' Matt Holliday, who is known for dropping balls in crucial situations, had the ball hit off his glove. Buck was awarded with a generous double.

In Buck's second at bat in the 9th inning, Buck "singled" to right field, but Marlon Byrd threw out David Ortiz at second base — a forceout instead of a single.

Scott Rolen (3B, Cincinnati, former Blue Jay) went 1-for-2 — his single in the 7th was a crucial part of the NL's 3-run rally. Rolen went from first to third on a single and scored on Brian McCann's 3-run double.

Buck's two Toronto teammates — Jose Bautista and Vernon Wells — each went 0-for-1. Bautista pinch-ran for Josh Hamilton.

Vladimir Guerrero, the long-time Expo, went 0-for-2, striking out once, as the American League's starting DH.

For the winning National League squad, Joey Votto (1B/DH, Cincinnati, Toronto native) went 0-for-2, seeing only 2 pitches in the game. Roy Halladay (P, Philadelphia, long-time Toronto Blue Jay) pitched ⅔ of an inning, giving up 2 hits and getting 1 strikeout. Chris Carpenter (P, St. Louis, long-time Toronto Blue Jay) did not pitch.

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We promised we would report on the Canadian National Anthem issue. As we noted, O Canada ran on tape in the previous two All-Star Games.

As we predicted, FOX refused to show the presentation of O Canada.

Amber Riley of the FOX show "Glee" un-coincidentally sang the U.S. anthem. The Canadian Tenors sang O Canada, singing in French in the middle (see video above).

With all of the pageantry in the pre-game, which seemed to last forever, carrying an extra 3 minutes wouldn't seem a burden. At least the Canadian anthem was live, even if the American audience didn't know.

Regis and Kelly Day 2: Kelly goes Anne of Green Gables

On Day 2 of Regis and Kelly in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, we saw a lot more Canadian content in the program. Monday's episode had no Canadian stars or Canadian content, unless you count the RCMP, and I don't.

The talk show duo was welcomed in by the house band of the day, Grass Mountain Hobos, a local PEI folk band. Unlike Monday, there were no skirt issues for Ms. Ripa.

Sunshine reigned on Tuesday, and Regis and Kelly came on in sunglasses. The Canadian maple leaf graphic said the temperature was 70º F 21º C and it must have felt warmer on Tuesday than Monday, even if the temperatures were similar.

There have been reports that Regis and Kelly only shot two days in Charlottetown. So if Wednesday is cloudy and Thursday is sunny, or vice versa, it will be more obvious. Would have been better to shoot for all four days, but we'll see how that goes.

In the crosstalk segment, Regis mentioned that (Michael) Gelman's wife is Canadian; she is known for her work on the Mom Show. Regis said he watched some of her show and the topic was not one of his favorites: breastfeeding.

They mentioned that the second most Googled topic was Prince Edward Island, which proves that the province is getting some strong publicity. Americans know very little about the Maritimes and they are eager to learn more.

One thing Americans generally associate with Prince Edward Island is Anne of Green Gables. Kelly did her own version of Anne of Green Gables, featuring her real-life husband as the suitor.

The local chef for Tuesday was Wesley Grant of the Ship to Shore restaurant. Grant introduced a talk show taco with a fried oyster, a clam cupcake w/candied clam on top, ceviche oysters, and mussels wings — mussels shaped like chicken wings.

Regis ate a couple of the oysters as he struggles to like raw seafood.

I confess to being severely puzzled as to why Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin were featured guests on this week's shows. Turns out they have a nearby home on an island where they try to spend 5 weeks a year. Would love to have that kind of life. Rinna and Hamlin were also pushing a new reality show. A better reality show would be wondering why her lips look so freaky (she has had considerable plastic surgery).

The other highlight of the interview was the beautiful sailboats that were behind them for the interview. The sky was beautiful and the water looked gorgeous — great showcase for Charlottetown and Prince Edward Island.

Though there wasn't as much time for her segment, and she wasn't there to push anything, Caroline Rhea made for a really nice guest. Rhea is from Montréal and came to the U.S. in 1989 "when I was 4, that's the Canadian math."

Rhea had a funny story about going to school in Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Rhea was trying to get on a flight, and met a hockey player from Dalhousie. Rhea went there but only ran into him on the last day of school. Things didn't work out for them. Rhea slipped back into being a Canadian when she told the story.

Vernon Wells hit 2 HR in Derby; Justin Morneau scratched from AL lineup

The Canada chance to shine in the late afternoon sun at Angel Stadium in Anaheim wasn't likely to last. Vernon Wells of the Toronto Blue Jays was a right-handed hitter in a park where right-handed hitters were at a disadvantage.

The last righty to win the Home Run Derby was former Montréal Expo Vladimir Guerrero in 2007.

Wells finished with 2 home runs, one of them was saved by a fan who reached over the fence to catch it; otherwise, he would have been stuck at 1. Wells finished 7th, ahead of Arizona's Chris Young with 1.

ESPN's Chris Berman did mention that Wells' father played professional football, as a wide receiver for the CFL's Calgary Stampeders.

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Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins was scheduled to be the starting first baseman for the American League squad. This would have been Morneau's first start. Unfortunately, Morneau suffered a concussion on a play at second base last week, and will miss the All-Star Game in Anaheim.

Morneau grew up in New Westminster, British Columbia, adjacent to Vancouver.

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FOX is almost certain not to air the Canadian national anthem before the All-Star Game. U.S. networks tend not to air the Canadian anthem if it can possibly help it.

The Canadian Tenors will perform O Canada later tonight. But the Canadian Tenors are there because of the backlash over the Canadian anthem for the last two All-Star Games. The Canadian anthem was a taped rendition compared to a live U.S. anthem (Sheryl Crow both years).

FOX won't likely show you the Canadian anthem. Rogers Sportsnet will show the anthem. And we will report how that turned out.