Sports in Canadian culture

[megadude]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Is it a NCAA - U Sports clash?

Since it would be regular season then I guess not. There's lots of these mini tournaments all across the US and down into places like Bahamas.

Not sure I'd classify it as gigantic for the province. The same thing has been held in Van and TO last two years. Don't think they were life altering events by any stretch of the imagination.

Now if the eights teams were Duke, UNC, KU, UK, 'Cuse, etc. then it would be a huge story. Look at the teams in the TO tournament that just passed. They don't exactly move the needle.

[esquire]

One thing I've learned over the years is that neutral site games are not really that a big a deal... you can do it once at most because of the novelty, but then it drops off fast. Neutral site NHL games, the Bills in Toronto series, Touchdown Atlantic, hell, even the Packers/Raiders pre-season game in Winnipeg probably made about as much of a splash as a Bomber pre-season game typically does.

[elly63]

Hayton, Thomas star as Canada storms back to beat Russia, win World Juniors
Barrett Hayton overcame a shoulder injury to get Canada back in it and fourth-liner Akil Thomas finished the job minutes later, scoring his only goal of the tournament - the golden goal - to crown Canada the 2020 World Junior Champion with a 4-3 win that won’t soon be forgotten. Frank Seravalli has more.
Frank Seravalli TSN.ca January 5 2020

OSTRAVA, Czech Republic — Go ahead and etch the name ‘Barrett Hayton’ into Team Canada lore.

Because Hayton authored one of the most incredible chapters in Canada’s rich history at the World Junior Championship on Sunday.

Less than 24 hours earlier, Hayton writhed in pain on the ice with an audible ‘yelp’ so loud that you could hear it across Ostravar Arena. His injury was as unfortunate as it was unnecessary late in a semifinal rout over Finland.

The initial diagnosis from team doctors on Saturday was not positive. He appeared to have a separated shoulder, or some kind of significant shoulder ailment - an injury that almost surely would’ve kept him out of a regular season game on Sunday if he was back playing for the Arizona Coyotes.

Team Canada went to bed thinking Hayton would be a “longshot” to play.

But this was Canada-Russia for all the marbles. This was Hayton’s chance to bring home the medal he couldn’t help deliver last year in Vancouver.

After untold hours of manipulation, therapy, and who-knows-what kind of cocktail to provide relief, Hayton didn’t just suit up for Team Canada.

He scored to bring them back from the brink.

After barely being able to muster a shot in warmup, Hayton blasted a snapshot off the post and in to erase a 3-1 deficit and make Canada whole again.

Believe it.

Fourth-liner Akil Thomas finished the job minutes later, scoring his only goal of the tournament - the golden goal - to crown Canada the 2020 World Junior Champion with a 4-3 win that won’t soon be forgotten.

For the 18th time, Canada reigned supreme at the World Juniors.

Sunday marked the fifth time Canada (5-4) topped Mother Russia in the final since the gold medal game was first introduced in 1996.

And man did this one feel sweet, especially after the Big Red Machine dealt Canada the country’s most lopsided loss in its sterling, 43-year run at the World Juniors. Russia has not won gold since 2011.

Maybe in some ways, Sunday played out exactly as it had to for this Team Canada. Because there were no easy roads in Ostrava.

Any one of the five or six incidents that Canada went through - physically or mentally - at this 12-day grind of a tournament might have broken a lesser team.

They were embarrassed in a 6-0 blowout to Russia, 18-year-old star Alexis Lafreniere left with what appeared to be a serious injury, their captain Hayton nearly caused an international incident at centre ice when he failed to remove his helmet, and Joe Veleno earned a one-game suspension for headbutting … and that was just Day 3.

Coach Dale Hunter switched netminders from Nico Daws to Joel Hofer. He shuffled the lines when sniper Nolan Foote was ejected 53 seconds into the quarterfinal against Slovakia. Then Canada leaned on 17-year-old defenceman Jamie Drysdale in the quarterfinal when top pair blueliner Bowen Byram fell ill.

Through it all, Canada kept climbing. All the way to the top.

Their heart was on full display, embodied by the captain when Hayton stepped onto the ice for warmups in the gold medal game.

“It means a lot,” Dylan Cozens said. “We saw how he went down in that last game, but he’s putting that behind him and just working for the boys. He’s putting it all out on the line and that’s leadership right there. He’s playing through pain. We’re really proud of him.”

Hayton made an entire country proud, showing what it means to be Canadian.

He admitted his mistake and apologize for keeping his helmet on. He played through an immense amount of pain, leading Canada to gold on adrenaline.

As the red Maple Leaf raised to the rafters, it produced a feeling of ecstasy and a memory that will last longer than any pain felt.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by megadude

Since it would be regular season then I guess not. There's lots of these mini tournaments all across the US and down into places like Bahamas.

Not sure I'd classify it as gigantic for the province. The same thing has been held in Van and TO last two years. Don't think they were life altering events by any stretch of the imagination.

Now if the eights teams were Duke, UNC, KU, UK, 'Cuse, etc. then it would be a huge story. Look at the teams in the TO tournament that just passed. They don't exactly move the needle.

The all US triple header I attended at Scotiabank Arena (is that what it's called now?) was half full at best. What struck me was how many Americans came up for the game. For the Tennessee game it looked like 20% of the crowd were from there. LOTS of Americans in attendance.

Torontonians don't really 'get' college sports imo. They don't understand why you'd watch it. They'll wear a Michigan jersey for fashion but don't have a connection to the school, players, or the culture that surrounds all of that. It's totally foreign to them. Despite all the oohing and ahhing displayed by Toronto media over the NCAA, Toronto is a pro sports town almost exclusively.

As someone who grew up with college basketball/football, it makes Toronto's relationship with it all the more bizarre. It comes across as pretentious and fake to me. 99% of them do not follow, support, or go to games. By US standards I'm no die hard, but when a student I went fairly often: 3-4 football games and 10-15 basketball games each season. After graduation I still went but less often. I still go now that I live in Toronto but usually by myself. Torontonians I've asked are either oblivious to its existence, disinterested, or just look at me like I have 3 heads.

[WhipperSnapper]

People participating in the extra extracurricular activities only enhances them. Why hold it against someone having not watched the on field product for wearing a team's logo, celebrating a team's championship or, placing a bet? That's pretty self righteous.

[Djeffery]

There was also the International Bowl NCAA New Year's football game played in Toronto from 2007-2010. They had teams from the Big East and MAC and actually drew 40k the year Buffalo was in it.

[megadude]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

There was also the International Bowl NCAA New Year's football game played in Toronto from 2007-2010. They had teams from the Big East and MAC and actually drew 40k the year Buffalo was in it.

I went to all four of those as CFB is tied with soccer for being my favourite sport. Ya that UB-UConn game was a good atmosphere and I sat behind UB's band for that one so that was a bonus. And as is way more common than it should be with US sporting events, two fans were trash talking each other after the game in my section and it almost came to blows.

Have to admit, although I despise these obnoxious types that I often come across at college games, they do add to the spectacle. Though you could say the same thing with TFC games when sitting with a supporter's club like when I used to sit with the Red Patch Boys.

I remember for the first one Ball State's band played NPS in front of City Hall. Was really cool. I'm a big fan of college bands and the presence of the band is essential for me in college sport.

One of the games Evan Solomon of the CBC came late and sat down beside me. Just talked to him for a minute. He came with someone else and they were both noobs to the college game and were quite interested in what was going on with the play on the field, the cheerleaders and the bands. Of course, he got fired a few years later for abusing his position at CBC to act as a middleman for selling high value artwork.

[megadude]

I'd say at least half of people here who have on US college gear are just wearing it because they think it is cool and they bought it cheap from Foot Locker or wherever. Remember Campus Crew? Store has been gone for years now but I always found it funny that we had such a thing. A store just selling US and Canadian university gear.

Winners and Giant Tiger are the two other places I've seen the gear when they happened to get big liquidation stock.

I have tonnes of college gear for tshirts and hats. Last week a guy in Burlington stopped me and asked my connection to West Virginia. Said I went to a game there. He said he drives by there and stops there all the time. A guy at Fishing World in Hamilton stopped me once and said he's from there but married a gal from Hamilton and started a family. I had to give him advice on how to stream WVU games on the internet.

Other times I will ask people in a social setting what their connection is and some say the shirt looked cool or funny in the case of South Carolina when you see a bro wearing a 'COCKS hat. Others say they have a family connection like when I had a ND hat on this summer at the beach at the cottage and a dude said nice hat, then stood up and showed me the ND shirt he had on. Said his son goes there.

I moved to my current street five years ago and saw the dude across the street three houses over with MSU sticker on his car then he showed me his flag and tent out back. Said he used to work there a long time ago. I showed him the MSU sticker on my car. On the other side of my car I had the UM sticker and my bro in law's neighbour saw that one day and said cool, that's where I went to school.

My second cousin also went to Michigan even though he's from here and it wasn't for sports. Then you got guys who went on a scholly to US schools for sports and came back. Another second cousin did that for soccer and won two NCs with Maryland but funny enough you'd never know because I don't think he even has any of their gear since he came back.

Anyone remember from the 80s to mid 90s how popular Georgetown was? I had the winter coat. Everyone loved the Hoyas led by John Thompson and remember players like Ewing, Mourning and Iverson. Back then, at school, I don't think any of the kids could tell you Georgetown is in DC, but they were "in" team at the time.

When I was a young teenager I also had a couple Canadian shirts. U of T because they were local and I watched them win the Vanier Cup and Queens because my cousin was going there and I had him get me one. As a teen that was more for the cool factor. Good schools! Though I did follow CIS football very casually back then. Then when I went to school, two different ones, I didn't buy a single shirt or bumper sticker curiously enough.

And when I see Americans walking around town wearing gear, and you can tell they're American because they have the shirt/jacket and hat on, I will make a comment and they get a kick out of that. Like a guy wearing full Oklahoma gear and I walk by and say BOOMER, then he says SOONER. Last week I saw a girl with Arkansas shirt on so I said WOOOOO PIG SOOOIIIEEE and she said RAZORBACKS! Or GO GREEN for MSU like I did to a couple this summer or GO HOOSIERS a couple years ago to a family of four all wearing Indiana gear walking down Bay St in Toronto.

Anyway, TLDR, I can agree there's tonnes of people who have no connection or a loose understanding of US college sports but you see them wearing UM gear like you mentioned. UM along with Duke, UNC and Notre Dame I'd say are the most popular schools over the past 20 years.

If we see someone wearing Canadian school gear, it's 99% certain they went there or a family member did.

By the way, as I have gotten older, I find the college team support in some college towns or the whole state to be overwhelming and obnoxious.

[Djeffery]

About 15 years ago we were visiting friends in Lexington Ky, and as we were out shopping, I stopped in the Casual Male big and tall store. I grabbed a UK golf shirt, because it was nice, and mostly because it was on sale for about 20 bucks. A couple years later, my wife and I were going on a cruise, so on boarding day, I threw that shirt on. As we were walking towards the end of the line outside the port in Ft Lauderdale, a couple guys from (or fans of) a competing school starting giving me the gears about the basketball game they apparently beat UK at the night before lol. I mean, what am I gonna say, "it's just a shirt?". Lame. So I said something like "well, you and I both know that call with 2 minutes left was BS, that probably cost the game right there". I'm sure they got on the ship and tried to figure out what call I was talking about lol. They probably didn't recognize me in my Blue Jays or Maple Leafs t shirts the rest of the week to ask me lol.

[megadude]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

About 15 years ago we were visiting friends in Lexington Ky, and as we were out shopping, I stopped in the Casual Male big and tall store. I grabbed a UK golf shirt, because it was nice, and mostly because it was on sale for about 20 bucks. A couple years later, my wife and I were going on a cruise, so on boarding day, I threw that shirt on. As we were walking towards the end of the line outside the port in Ft Lauderdale, a couple guys from (or fans of) a competing school starting giving me the gears about the basketball game they apparently beat UK at the night before lol. I mean, what am I gonna say, "it's just a shirt?". Lame. So I said something like "well, you and I both know that call with 2 minutes left was BS, that probably cost the game right there". I'm sure they got on the ship and tried to figure out what call I was talking about lol. They probably didn't recognize me in my Blue Jays or Maple Leafs t shirts the rest of the week to ask me lol.

Lol. Ya that's the risk of doing that.

I have the same risk to a certain degree for rugby. I wore my England rugby jersey I got on clearance from Si Vous Play Sports after they beat NZ in the WC SF a couple months back. Two guys made comments at the grocery store about how big a win it was. If they started going in depth about the game and the players then I'd be out of my element. I also have SA and FR jerseys.

I also have some soccer jerseys from say the Argentine league for a legendary club like Independiente that I got for 10 bucks but I couldn't talk their games or players. Three years ago a few days after Nacional of Colombia won the Copa Libertadores I was in a diner in Hamilton and saw a guy wearing their gorgeous green and white striped jersey and I had to go over and say beautiful jersey, nice win.

Today I went to Walmart wearing my Team Canada hoody and didn't receive a comment. I did see a guy wearing a generic hat with a maple leaf on it and for a second I asked myself if I should give him a high five, but it wasn't Team Canada so I couldn't know for sure. Didn't wanna look awkward.

[elly63]

Larry Walker sees big jump in support in early Hall of Fame balloting
Sportsnet Staff Sportsnet January 6, 2020

Canada’s Larry Walker appears to be in a good position to be elected into Cooperstown in his last year of Hall of Fame eligibility with approximately one third of ballots now known, according to Ryan Thibodaux’s voting tracker.

Walker has 84.4 per cent of the vote as of Monday and needs 75 per cent support in order to be enshrined. It’s already a big gain for the Maple Ridge, B.C., native, who finished last year at 54.6 per cent.

Even with those significant gains, the 53-year-old still needs 195 more votes to be officially elected. The Baseball Writers’ Association of America will announce the balloting results on Jan. 21.

Walker finished his 17-year MLB career with a .313 batting average while hitting 383 home runs, driving in 1,311 runs and generating 72.7 wins above replacement. He was the 1997 NL MVP with Colorado Rockies, a five-time all-star and also played with the Montreal Expos and St. Louis Cardinals.

Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling, Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa are some of the other 14 names returning to the Hall of Fame ballot this year. First-year entries for 2020 include Derek Jeter, Bobby Abreu, Jason Giambi and Cliff Lee.

Jeter currently leads the bunch with 100 per cent support while Bonds and Schilling also have over 75 per cent of the vote, as tracked by Thibodaux.

The Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on July 26.

[WhipperSnapper]

Starter jackets were huge when I entered high school. I wore my Raiders jacket religiously (cost me most of my summer's earnings) and attracted attention from people that couldn't tell you what league the team played in.

I started to take a half dozen Jays ball caps with me to Germany for my summer breaks because they were so popular. Half the people thought Toronto was American so doubt they knew much about MLB. I could have sold or given away Intercounty London Majors caps just the same.

It's just fashion. I don't get it most of the time. I only know conforming to these trends opens doors to fun times. I'm going gladly participate than hold it against anyone.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by megadude

Anyone remember from the 80s to mid 90s how popular Georgetown was? I had the winter coat. Everyone loved the Hoyas led by John Thompson and remember players like Ewing, Mourning and Iverson. Back then, at school, I don't think any of the kids could tell you Georgetown is in DC, but they were "in" team at the time.
(...)

Anyway, TLDR, I can agree there's tonnes of people who have no connection or a loose understanding of US college sports but you see them wearing UM gear like you mentioned. UM along with Duke, UNC and Notre Dame I'd say are the most popular schools over the past 20 years.

If we see someone wearing Canadian school gear, it's 99% certain they went there or a family member did.

By the way, as I have gotten older, I find the college team support in some college towns or the whole state to be overwhelming and obnoxious.

I came of age around that time and Georgetown was for sure a hot item for the Starter jacket crowd. Most kids followed pro hockey and the other major pro sports, but few if any really had a hot clue about the NCAA yet everyone still had their UNLV, Duke, Notre Dame, Michigan or whatever gear. As whipper noted, it was more about style, such as it was, as compared to actual fandom.

100% true though about being able to spot the Americans because they wear not just a college shirt/jacket, but also the hat!

I have a lot of fan gear for the teams I like but I tend to keep it for the games and seldom ever take it out town. You'll never see me at the Louvre or whatever wearing my Jets or Bombers jersey.

[EpicPonyTime]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

I started to take a half dozen Jays ball caps with me to Germany for my summer breaks because they were so popular. Half the people thought Toronto was American so doubt they knew much about MLB. I could have sold or given away Intercounty London Majors caps just the same.

I spent the summer working in Germany and I'm surprised at how common Blue Jays hats were. I certainly wasn't in a tourist area either.

[JHikka]

It's a bit OT but the Professional Darts Championship (PDC) will be heading overseas in 2020 with an event at MSG in New York. I imagine Canada will end up with an event at some point in the near future:

https://www.economist.com/britain/20...to-prime-time?

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by EpicPonyTime

I spent the summer working in Germany and I'm surprised at how common Blue Jays hats were. I certainly wasn't in a tourist area either.

When?!? Maybe I started the trend in the 1990s for either spending money or other services! LMAO.

[Djeffery]

Prior to the early 90's, the Canadian Forces had several bases in Germany. Even after the forces left, they might have left behind a bit of Canadian cultural influence. I lived in Lahr and somewhere else for 4 years as a kid, unfortunately too young to remember any of it.

[EpicPonyTime]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

When?!? Maybe I started the trend in the 1990s for either spending money or other services! LMAO.

Literally this past summer! It was the new Jays logo as well. I want to say I saw more Jays merchandise than I did Yankees.

[JHikka]

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/s...kent-1.5417046

Acquiring Canadian stars top priority for Toronto's new pro swim league club

"As expansion franchises, Toronto and Tokyo have been granted an exclusive window until Feb. 15 to negotiate with swimmers from their respective nations, and Kent said his top priority is to secure the likes of Canadian stars such as Penny Oleksiak, Kylie Masse and Kayla Sanchez.

Those three, along with 10 other Canadians across four teams, swam in the league's first season.

...

Kent said the plan is for Toronto to host at least two events next season. No dates or venues have been announced, but Kent said the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, built for the Pan Am Games in 2015, is the ideal choice, though he's not had any discussions with the venue's officials yet.

"It's pretty much the only one that works," Kent said. "Hopefully we'll have no problem selling that out. At its biggest, and it depends how it gets configured, it could hold about 6,000 spectators.

"We still have to see which weekends are available and how they coordinate with the rest of the league but we'll be making a big deal of it when we firm up the two dates."

[esquire]

^ That's interesting. First I've heard of it.