984 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

Ah, that’s easy.

Because hockey is more ingrained in Canadian cultures, partially because in many parts of the country you can play and hone your skills outdoors. Almost every pro athlete has been elite since a very early age.

But it’s as much about the culture as the temperature. Canada has zero international cricket stars as that sport culture is not recognized here. As hockey is not played so much in Arizona (even though one of the NHLs best players is indeed from Phoenix).

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 14 June 2023 - 12:53 PM.

[Mike K.]

Right.

So we proudly export Canadian players, to go win championships for American cities in the desert, where true hockey fans must live and must love the sport.

Clown world, grown man edition.

[Victoria Watcher]

It’s give and take, dude. Lots of Canadians in the NBA (one just won the championship) and even the NFL. But lots of US players in the CFL too.

Elite people are free to move.

1 million Canadians live in the US, contributing. It’s a good deal!

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 14 June 2023 - 12:59 PM.

[aastra]

 

I'm with aastra here

 

And you've been a member of this board for only ten years? I've been known to boast that I can make anyone warm up to me if given enough time, but that has to be a VV record.

[aastra]

 

...we’re conditioned to believe a specific city is responsible for their skill and success. The players could care less where they play...

 

When were we ever conditioned to think that way? New York City is a big place (you might have heard of it) and the Yankees have been playing for a long time, but most of the famous Yankee greats weren't from anywhere near there. I've actually noted the point on this board before, how the professional athletes who eventually become definitive symbols of the cities they played in are often from the most unlikely places by comparison: Larry Bird from podunk Indiana as a symbol of Boston; Magic Johnson from Michigan as a symbol of Los Angeles; Brett Favre from Mississippi as a symbol of Wisconsin; Shaquille O'Neal from New Jersey as a symbol of Miami & Los Angeles; Tom Brady from San Francisco as a symbol of Boston/New England. Heck, even Wayne Gretzky as a symbol of Edmonton is pretty crazy.

 

Heck, as fans of the Blue Jays in the 1980s I'd say we were conditioned to think the Dominican Republic was responsible for most of the team's success.

[aastra]

Michael Jordan from North Carolina as a symbol of Chicago is another big one.

[aastra]

Like I say, of all the aspects of pro sports that are worthy of criticism it seems crazy to be criticizing this. This is one of few half-decently "magical" aspects of pro sports that still remains: the multiplicity of places and personalities, and the transformation of logical disconnections into illogical connections. The possibility that a hockey player from a small town in Finland might end up making a ton of money in St. Louis and develop enough of an attachment to the community that he sticks around to raise his family and live out his days running a successful sports bar IS absurd, but it's also really neat. The idea of Winnipeg facing down NYC in any kind of competition IS absurd, but it's also really neat. Go where things take you, even if it's not where you expected to go. Don't be like Eric Lindros or Steve Francis.

[Victoria Watcher]

I suspect Mike doesn’t understand that a very talented 14 year old player is likely to never play in his home town ever again. And that’s the Canadian dream for him and his family.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 14 June 2023 - 01:47 PM.

[LJ]

The one thing I don't like about pro sports is the ridiculously high salaries paid to the players.

[aastra]

High salaries are an irritating aspect of modern life, but they're one of those things you just have to grudgingly accept.

[Victoria Watcher]

[Mike K.]

I suspect Mike doesn’t understand that a very talented 14 year old player is likely to never play in his home town ever again. And that’s the Canadian dream for him and his family.

I’m saying, that cheering for a city sports team, and saying X city is better than Y city, is what’s at the core of the charade. The city has nothing to do with it. Las Vegas doesn’t make hockey players, but it gets all the glory.

Then Don Cherry has to remind everyone that it’s a Canadian hockey team playing out of the desert.

[Victoria Watcher]

I’m saying, that cheering for a city sports team, and saying X city is better than Y city, is what’s at the core of the charade. 

 

Sport might not be unique in that aspect.  

 

We tend to cheer for Canadian companies (Bombardier) or inventions (Robertson screwdriver) or we might also cheer for (and indeed vote for) a politician from our area.

 

We might take pride in a food item even (Nanaimo Bar).

 

We might like the local Canadian musical artists (we even have radio play laws to favour and promote them).  We take pride in David Foster, but he hasn't lived here for decades.

[Mike K.]

Dude. Nobody cheers for Quebec-based companies.

Anyhoo, Vegas winning the cup is what is wrong with professional league sports, in my opinion.

[Victoria Watcher]

Dude. Nobody cheers for Quebec-based companies.

Anyhoo, Vegas winning the cup is what is wrong with professional league sports, in my opinion.

The way you want to set it up is such that only the largest cities would win the championships. Every year it would be NY, LA, Toronto and Mexico City winning everything.

[Mike K.]

Isn’t that the scam now, pretty much?

[lanforod]

Dude. Nobody cheers for Quebec-based companies.

Anyhoo, Vegas winning the cup is what is wrong with professional league sports, in my opinion.

 

Sure we do, Quebec brands / companies are lauded and pushed by Canadians, generally because its Canadian, not because its from Quebec (unless you're from Quebec, or have a last name that rhymes with Turdough...).

Bombardier, Molsen Canadian (even if its no longer Canadian owned!), Canadian Tire, Blackberry, Crown Royal, Cirque du Soleil...  etc.  

Maybe a Polish immigrant doesn't have that same sense of pride of Canadian accomplishments.

 

Back to sports, there is nothing wrong with supporting a major team locally and yes, the city it is based in (or state/province) IS relevant, no matter at all if the players are from that location. As we are seeing play out in slow motion in Arizona, a team will not survive without the support of both the fanbase and the jurisdiction its in.

Las Vegas wins. Canada wins. Both can be true.

[AllseeingEye]

Ahem,,,,the only Quebec-based company we cheer for here is the Molson-family owned Montreal Canadiens*. All other Quebec firms are superfluous!

*See what I did there? Steered the convo back into the sports realm....

[Matt R.]

Mae West, Joe Louis, Vachon. Need I say more?

[aastra]

^Let's not revive the great Jos Louis debate. Some people will say, "I grew up in Vancouver/Victoria area, so we didn't have them," whereas other people will say, "I grew up in Vancouver/Victoria area, so of course we had them."