Uh, Oh, Oh, Canada Gets an Apology

The owner of Las Vegas’ Canadian Football League team has apologized to all Canadians after singer Dennis Parks mangled the words and tune of their national anthem.

Posse owner Rick Mileti apologized for Parks turning “O Canada” into “Uh Oh Canada” July 16 before the first CFL game in Las Vegas, a 32-22 overtime victory against Saskatchewan.

“By way of explanation, but not excuse, this singer was recommended to us out of Los Angeles as a professional who had sung your anthem many times for the Olympics,” Mileti said in a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien. “Obviously, we were misled.”

Add anthem: Vice President Al Gore, in Ottawa for a meeting with Chretien, even mentioned the incident in a speech.

“I was certainly glad to see that the U.S. football players reacted so strongly and better than the singer,” Gore told reporters.

Trivia time: Who is the oldest player to win the American League batting title?

Family life: Craig Griffey, younger brother of Ken Jr. and an outfielder with Seattle’s Double-A Jacksonville farm team, finds the attention being paid his brother amusing.

“It’s not a big deal at all to me,” Craig told Paul Meyer of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I think it’s kind of funny. It’s weird seeing all the reporters wanting to talk to him. I’ve known him a long time. I wonder why anybody would want to talk to him.”

First hand: Former Raider defensive end Greg Townsend and former Eagle linebacker Jerry Robinson were roommates when Townsend joined the Raiders.

“I’ll never forget when I first came in the league and all he ever talked about was Philly this and Philly that,” Townsend said after signing a one-year contract with Philadelphia. “Every night, I heard about what a great place Philly was. I guess I’ll get to find out for myself.”

It’s a fact: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, born Lew Alcindor, weighed 12 pounds at birth.

He can’t hide: Simon Hobday, the new U.S. Senior Open champion from South Africa, once had a terrible problem with his putting. At one tournament, he played with a wide-brimmed straw hat.

When he missed a putt that lipped the cut and spun away, he look skyward and said: “Oh, God, I hoped you wouldn’t recognize me in this hat.”

Trivia answer: Ted Williams, who was 40 in 1958 when he hit .328 for the Boston Red Sox.

Quotebook: Associated Press reporter Jimmy Golden, on Buffalo quarterback Jim Kelly: “At 34, the Bills’ quarterback may not be over the hill, but he can see the top of it.”