Beautiful sunshine with the glistening water and gorgeous mountains in the background: This is the vision of Vancouver we have seen from the Fox outdoors studio for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. If you remember where the Olympic torch burned during the 2010 Winter Olympics, this is where Fox is located.
As we learned from the Colbert Report during those Olympics, the sun does shine in Vancouver.
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The idea of CFL stadiums on display on over-the-air TV in the United States still blows my mind. Fox carried 4 soccer matches from tiny Moncton Stadium. Wow. But that is the power of soccer, or football, around the globe.
You can't tell too much detail of the CFL in these stadiums since FIFA has unveiled brand new artificial turf, complete with the little black pellets shooting out. We've seen the same pellets at Rogers Centre recently during Blue Jays games.
We covered the artificial turf controversy earlier. If you missed our story, please click here.
U.S. audiences have seen B.C. Place Stadium and Olympic Stadium and to a lesser extent, Commonwealth Stadium before the World Cup. As for Lansdowne Stadium (Ottawa) and Winnipeg Stadium, other than a few Blue Bombers games on ESPN2 last season, neither stadium has been on U.S. television. Those CFL stadiums are known by other names, but the corporate names have been removed by FIFA for the duration of the tournament. The 2 CFL stadiums will be shown on ESPN2 for CFL games this season.
Moncton Stadium was on display at the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, but otherwise hasn't been seen too much outside Canada. None of the Touchdown Atlantic games were carried on U.S. TV.
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For the U.S. telecasts, the cameras in Ottawa showed the North Side stands instead of the South Side stands that we are used to seeing in CFL games. For those who don't know the scenario in Ottawa, the South Side stands are considered the good stands.
The shot at Moncton Stadium was of the good stands. The concrete setup looks much nicer than the metal benches that comprise the "bad stands." Other than fancy bunting, the stadium looked just like it did when I was there for Touchdown Atlantic.
The capacity for Moncton Stadium was given at 13,000. The crowd might have been larger if the rain and wind hadn't been significant factors. The second day of soccer brought much nicer weather and a sellout crowd.
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While we aren't crazy about ignorance about Canada, we have to appreciate honesty and hope for a desire to learn more. Sideline reporter Julie Stewart-Binks talked about how French captain Wendie Renard spent a week in Moncton in 2008 and trained with the Universite de Moncton men's team. Stewart-Binks noted that Renard was helped out since 32% of the population in Moncton speaks French. Justin Kutcher and Aly Wagner in the booth noted that neither of them speaks French.
Speaking French certainly isn't a requirement, but Kutcher and Wagner learned that Canadians outside Quebec speak French.
Later in the France-England game, Kutcher was talking about the starting time for the next game and noted that in Moncton, they were in Atlantic Time. Both Kutcher and Wagner admitted that they had never heard of Atlantic Time.
We don't know whether they thought that the Maritimes were on the same time zone as New York City and Toronto or whether their maps stop at Maine. If they ever end up in St. John's, someone will have to explain the half-hour difference from Atlantic Time.
As odd as their on-air confession was, they know about the time zone now and will probably impress people back home with their newfound knowledge.
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John Doyle from The Globe and Mail had a cute take on Moncton.
"As soon as a World Cup or Euro tournament is about to unfold, we're gone, off to a country and cities that throb with soccer passion. There's dazzling pageantry and exotic adventures galore. It's addictive. And then when a World Cup happens in Canada, you end up in Moncton. Where the Tim Hortons shuts at 6 p.m. It's not a soccer city, but I'll take it."
Moncton is a bit slow and laid-back. I expected that in New Brunswick, but figured the larger cities would be a bit more lively.
"The other evening here, near the Tims that shuts at 6 p.m., I saw a kid on a bicycle, wearing a Mexico shirt, cycling along the sidewalk. World Cup fever! He was the only figure on the street for blocks. And blocks."
I don't know if that scene was in downtown Moncton, but I was surprised at times how few people there were in downtown Moncton.
I did find Moncton charming during my stay. But yes, having a difficult time imaging Moncton in the context of a World Cup.
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"What is Winnipeg?"
No, we aren't mocking the Jeopardy contestant. We were curious about the answer from Americans who made the trip to Winnipeg or the first 2 U.S. games.
Winnipeg isn't as well-known as Vancouver, site of the final U.S. game in the opening round. But Winnipeg is certainly on the bucket list for your humble narrator.
The surprise came with news reports that major activities, such as The Forks and the Canadian Museum of Human Rights, weren't open longer and not ready for an influx of tourists.
FIFA decided to keep the tourist events localized to the stadium area. Of course, the stadium is out by the University of Manitoba, nowhere near downtown. There were complaints about a lack of signage, construction that could have been delayed for a week, and a lack of soccer-related activities. We even heard fans wonder why they didn't have an option to buy more soccer-related merchandise.
The design of the World Cup is that fans had several days in between the first 2 matches and not much to do outside soccer.
To be sure, restaurants, hotels, and other amenities have greatly benefited from the money from soccer-loving tourists. If nothing else, the Liquor and Gaming Authority of Manitoba allowed bars and restaurants to serve alcohol for an extra hour until 3 am during the FIFA Women's World Cup.
Winnipeg is on my bucket list, but I'm more driven than most Americans in visiting the city. Hopefully, the impression of Winnipeg is positive.
Americans going to Vancouver for the final opening round game won't have to worry as much about finding non-soccer activities.
photo credit: Fox Sports
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