I'm a Canadian Wanna-be

I've been sitting here watching the 2003 NHL Awards, and it's nights like this that I really miss the CBC. I know, ESPN's coverage of the show is exactly the same as CBC's, but for some reason, it's just better on Canadian TV.

I grew up watching CBC Television and Mr. Dressup was one of my favorite shows as a little kid. I was really bummed out when he died a couple of years ago, and had a hell of a time explaining who Mr. Dressup was to everyone (think of a Canadian Mr. Rogers). There was also a Canadian show called "The Friendly Giant" that I really dug, too.

As a teenager, I always watched the city of Windsor, Ontario's local newscasts on CBET. They always had much better hockey coverage... and even cooler, they had a female sports anchor, the first one I'd ever seen!

Of course, I discovered a lot of other good reasons to watch the CBC... The Red Green Show, The Kids in the Hall (Before they got all Americanized by CBS), and reruns of every British comedy you can think of. And then there's HNIC.

We have directtv in the sports office at work, so I get the chance to watch Hockey Night In Canada (and perhaps more important, Don Cherry's intermission show, Coach's Corner) at work. You just can't beat it.

By the way, I'm quite pleased with the NHL awards overall. Barret Jackman of the St. Louis Blues won the Calder Trophy (Rookie of the Year), Nick Lidstrom won the Norris Trophy (Best Defenseman) for his third straight season, and Steve Yzerman won the Masterton Trophy (For Perseverance... sort of a "Comeback Player of the Year" award).



By the way, for those of you that have heard the evil Scotty Bowman/New York Rangers rumor, take heart. The Sporting News says it ain't so. Phew!