Sports in Canadian culture

[SignalHillHiker]

A little look back at how much and quickly things changed here...

Anyone for cricket? It once was N.L.'s most popular sport, say MUN professors

Newfoundland and Labrador is a hockey province — period.

The Newfoundland Growlers are about to embark on their first ever playoff run, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators sold out a pre-season game, six months away, in under 30 minutes, and the province is home to one of the oldest rinks in North America in the St. Bon's Forum.

But it used to be a lot different, according to professors David Liverman and Osvaldo Croci of Memorial University, who are digging into the history of sport in the province.

Football (or soccer) and cricket are the most popular sports in the world, and Newfoundland and Labrador was once no exception to that rule. In fact, cricket was the most popular sport in the province at the end of the 19th century, according to Liverman.

...

The first recorded indication of cricket being played in the province dates back as early as 1824, Liverman said.

Soccer didn't follow until at least 1878.

"I have a picture of I would say the turn of the century, and it's St. George's Field on Merrymeeting Road," Croci said.

"There are about 4,000 spectators around the field."

Compared with today's population in St. John's and King George V Park, it would equal an attendance of roughly 35,000 to 40,000 people, Croci added.

Cricket, according to Liverman, was accessible to the middle-class of St. John's at the time.

In fact, he says the best team from the period were the Shamrocks, with players from middle-class backgrounds.

But the game didn't stop there. It was also popular among the elite of the elite in St. John's.

"You look at the names of the big merchant families — the Ayers, the Bowrings, the Rendells and so on — you'll find those names there quite a lot as well," he said.

In the early part of the 20th century, cricket lost popularity as a major sport in St. John's. Liverman said it was partly due to lack of facilities; one of the best, located in Pleasantville, was deemed too far to travel.

Another reason, he said, is the First World War, which exacted a heavy toll of young men from the province.

...

Hockey arrived on the island at the turn of the century, brought over by the Canadian workers who were employed by the Reid Newfoundland Company to build the Newfoundland Railway.

It exploded in popularity shortly after the First World War, and newspapers were filled with reports, Liverman said.

While cricket was still played sporadically throughout St. John's, hockey all but replaced it.

Baseball appeared in the province shortly after.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfo...tory-1.5077024

[isaidso]

Newfoundland has one foot in the UK and one foot in Canada culturally. It's to be expected given the demographic reality and rather short history within Canada. Rugby, soccer, and now cricket! I suppose Canadian culture will eventually supplant British culture. Hockey has taken centre stage while basketball has recently laid down roots. Baseball and football haven't made any inroads.

70 years after joining Canada Newfoundland still comes across quite British. Labrador felt very Canadian to me however.

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Newfoundland has one foot in the UK and one foot in Canada culturally. It's to be expected given the demographic reality and rather short history within Canada. Rugby, soccer, and now cricket! I suppose Canadian culture will eventually supplant British culture. Hockey has taken centre stage while basketball has recently laid down roots. Baseball and football haven't made any inroads.

70 years after joining Canada Newfoundland still comes across quite British. Labrador felt very Canadian to me however.

Whatever it is that sets us apart from Canadians, it's a gradual decline as you head west. I don't know if you spent much time on the West Coast, but I am confident you would find Corner Brook somewhere in between St. John's and Labrador, and probably closer to Labrador in terms of Canadianess.

What I'm most surprised about in that article is that cricket was so popular. It's just never come up for me. I've seen some old pictures of cricket being played on the grounds of wealthy families, but that's it. Usually anything that used to be here you just kind of learn about through osmosis. I always knew that we drove on the left until after WWII, for example. I never had to learn that, somehow it just came up from grandparents' stories or pictures or whatever. But cricket never, ever came up. It was even the punchline in a local movie, where they're trying to recruit a doctor and they hear he likes cricket so the fishing village pretends it has a cricket league. All these fishermen reading up on the rules the week before the doctor arrives... it's a Quebec story, though, so I don't know if it was also cricket in their original.

Baseball/softball are much bigger here than football. Football basically doesn't exist, at all. But baseball/softball are played in schools. And we do or at least we did have leagues. My father represented the province on the mainland a few times when I was a child, I remember the uniforms were brown and yellow and I always hated that those were our provincial colours

Soccer is still huge in parts of the province, most notably St. Lawrence - easily the most popular sport there. Whatever is second is about as popular as sci fi conventions are to mainstream society. It's no contest. They even have statues of soccer balls.

Basketball is really exciting me. I do genuinely love that it's taken off so well. I'm not sure why I care? But I enjoy it. Maybe it's the courtside local celebrity thing, it has that in a way hockey doesn't.

[Nicko999]

Originally Posted by Prometheus

Epic choke today by FAA. So hard to watch.

It was indeed a big choke but hopefully he learns from this. He's only 18 after all.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Whatever it is that sets us apart from Canadians, it's a gradual decline as you head west. I don't know if you spent much time on the West Coast, but I am confident you would find Corner Brook somewhere in between St. John's and Labrador, and probably closer to Labrador in terms of Canadianess.

What I'm most surprised about in that article is that cricket was so popular. It's just never come up for me. I've seen some old pictures of cricket being played on the grounds of wealthy families, but that's it. Usually anything that used to be here you just kind of learn about through osmosis. I always knew that we drove on the left until after WWII, for example. I never had to learn that, somehow it just came up from grandparents' stories or pictures or whatever. But cricket never, ever came up. It was even the punchline in a local movie, where they're trying to recruit a doctor and they hear he likes cricket so the fishing village pretends it has a cricket league. All these fishermen reading up on the rules the week before the doctor arrives... it's a Quebec story, though, so I don't know if it was also cricket in their original.

Yes it is cricket in the original. Even more incongruous for a small Quebec town.

[esquire]

^ Not sure how it is in the rest of the country, but for as far back as I can remember, cricket has existed around here as a sport played exclusively by visible minority immigrant communities from South Asia and the Caribbean.

All the times I've passed by the busy cricket pitch at Assiniboine Park and I don't recall ever seeing a team made up of white guys. I'm sure some must exist, but I've never seen one. It's somewhat surprising that I haven't seen any teams made of immigrants from England or of just Canadian Anglophiles.

Cricket just doesn't exist in white people Canada (which, I suppose, makes it ripe for a hipster takeover)

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Whatever it is that sets us apart from Canadians, it's a gradual decline as you head west. I don't know if you spent much time on the West Coast, but I am confident you would find Corner Brook somewhere in between St. John's and Labrador, and probably closer to Labrador in terms of Canadianess.

It never occurred to me that they'd be significant cultural differences between St. John's and Corner Brook. I suppose they're not only far from each other but there's not a lot of movement back and forth between the two.

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

What I'm most surprised about in that article is that cricket was so popular. It's just never come up for me. I've seen some old pictures of cricket being played on the grounds of wealthy families, but that's it. Usually anything that used to be here you just kind of learn about through osmosis. I always knew that we drove on the left until after WWII, for example. I never had to learn that, somehow it just came up from grandparents' stories or pictures or whatever. But cricket never, ever came up. It was even the punchline in a local movie, where they're trying to recruit a doctor and they hear he likes cricket so the fishing village pretends it has a cricket league. All these fishermen reading up on the rules the week before the doctor arrives... it's a Quebec story, though, so I don't know if it was also cricket in their original.

Baseball/softball are much bigger here than football. Football basically doesn't exist, at all. But baseball/softball are played in schools. And we do or at least we did have leagues. My father represented the province on the mainland a few times when I was a child, I remember the uniforms were brown and yellow and I always hated that those were our provincial colours

It's surprising how quickly something that used to be common can fall from the public consciousness. Only through doing research on the origins of football did I find out that rugby used to be the dominant football code in Canada, and by a long shot. I doubt many people know that. I also remember a Montreal forum member arguing against MLB coming to the city as baseball was culturally foreign and no one knows anything about that sport. He'd only been in Canada for about 10 years and was completely oblivious to Montreal's rich baseball history. He'd never heard of the Montreal Royals or the Expos.

On another occasion I remember talking about football/flag football with my brother who was visiting from St.John's. He had the most puzzled look on his face like he was trying to remember what football was. This despite us watching the Grey Cup together when we were kids. Btw, I wouldn't want to wear brown and yellow at the same time either.

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Soccer is still huge in parts of the province, most notably St. Lawrence - easily the most popular sport there. Whatever is second is about as popular as sci fi conventions are to mainstream society. It's no contest. They even have statues of soccer balls.

Basketball is really exciting me. I do genuinely love that it's taken off so well. I'm not sure why I care? But I enjoy it. Maybe it's the courtside local celebrity thing, it has that in a way hockey doesn't.

Did soccer's popularity rise at the same time as it did in the rest of Canada or has it always been popular? Regarding basketball it's great that St. John's got a NBL team. Hopefully Ontario will get 2 more teams so St. John's can move to the Atlantic Division where it belongs. In many ways basketball is made for Canada. Naismith wanted to invent an indoor activity that kept people fit during the long cold winter. You can't get more Canadian than that.

[SignalHillHiker]

I want to know how this picture came about...



Was the Governor just walking down Water Street and happened to see his car? It doesn't look like it's today (clothes are LITTLE more spring on average right now), but it's possible it's today I guess.

Anyhow, never really watched hockey but I do know from Ayreonaut and the rest that he was a big deal. Happy retirement, Bob Cole!

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by isaidso

It's surprising how quickly something that used to be common can fall from the public consciousness. Only through doing research on the origins of football did I find out that rugby used to be the dominant football code in Canada, and by a long shot. I doubt many people know that. I also remember a Montreal forum member arguing against MLB coming to the city as baseball was culturally foreign and no one knows anything about that sport. He'd only been in Canada for about 10 years and was completely oblivious to Montreal's rich baseball history. He'd never heard of the Montreal Royals or the Expos.

On another occasion I remember talking about football/flag football with my brother who was visiting from St.John's. He had the most puzzled look on his face like he was trying to remember what football was. This despite us watching the Grey Cup together when we were kids. Btw, I wouldn't want to wear brown and yellow at the same time either.

Awesome. Yeah, it is scary how fast what's normal and near-universal can change. Part of the appeal of everything from Handmaid's Tale to alternate history lore.

Originally Posted by isaidso

Did soccer's popularity rise at the same time as it did in the rest of Canada or has it always been popular?

I have no idea how it went in Canada - here, that article mentions soccer used to be popular, behind cricket. When I was a kid, it was more popular here than it appears to be today.

Some info from Wikipedia about the Laurentians. They're the most soccer-mad town in Newfoundland, easily, so everywhere else, even St. John's, would be less than this:

The St. Lawrence Laurentians is a soccer club founded in 1904 and based in St. Lawrence, Newfoundland.

St. Lawrence is dubbed "Soccer Capital of Canada" due to its great success over the years. With a population of 1,350, the town has 9 organized soccer teams.[1] The senior men's team hold the record for most all-time Newfoundland Challenge Cup wins with 23, including the competition's first season in 1967, and have represented their province numerous times at the Canadian National Challenge Cup (the winner of the Newfoundland Challenge Cup qualifies for the Canadian National Challenge Cup). The club also holds the record for most consecutive Newfoundland titles with 8 between 1995-2002.[2]

The main pitch called St. Lawrence Centennial Soccer Field is on the list of Historic Places in Canada.[3]

[elly63]

Fan tackles Bret 'The Hitman' Hart during WWE Hall of Fame ceremony
Canadian wrestler OK as assailant taken into custody
The Associated Press Apr 07, 2019

Canadian wrestler Bret "The Hitman" Hart was tackled by a spectator Saturday while he was giving a speech during the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

The attacker was promptly subdued by several people, including other wrestlers, who came to Hart's defence. The Calgary native is OK.

The person ran toward the ring from the crowd, spectator Alan Fisher told The Associated Press.

"I couldn't believe that the security had missed him in the first place and the next thing you know there was Shane McMahon and Travis Brown on top of him the crowd was going crazy booing," Fisher said. "Everyone was cheering when one of the wrestlers punched him."

New York City Police arrested 26-year-old Zachary Madsen. He faces assault and criminal trespass charges. An email to the district attorney seeking someone who could comment on Madsen's behalf wasn't immediately answered.

Several shocked onlookers posted footage of the tackle online.

The induction event resumed, with Hart continuing his speech, after the fan was taken into custody.

"He should have never attacked Bret Hart especially at such a special moment in his life," Fisher said.

[EpicPonyTime]

There's a Twitter video going around of the guy getting knocked out by Dash Wilder as he's getting taken away from the ring.

You'd have to be stupid to think you can pull a stunt like that while literally surrounded by wrestlers.

[Berklon]

Originally Posted by EpicPonyTime

There's a Twitter video going around of the guy getting knocked out by Dash Wilder as he's getting taken away from the ring.

You'd have to be stupid to think you can pull a stunt like that while literally surrounded by wrestlers.

Well the guy is a wrestling fan afterall.

[SteelTown]

Ontario to legalize tailgating; amendment to be introduced in budget
Province set to announce legislative change in Thursday's budget

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toron...ium%3Dsharebar

Sports fans in Ontario will soon be able to have a drink and tailgate before a game.

The provincial government will announce in its budget this week that it will legalize the practice often seen in parking lots at sporting events in the United States.

Premier Doug Ford's executive director of strategic communications tweeted that the change means the government is treating adults like adults.

Tailgating will be made possible by amending a regulation that sets out the terms for special occasion liquor permits.

Permit holders would also be able to sell alcohol on their property.

The news comes after thousands of teachers and supporters descended on the legislature over the weekend to protest education changes, including larger high school class sizes.

[megadude]

Earlier I was asking when golf in Canada would catch up with what's happening on the tennis scene here. Well didn't take too long! Now please build on this!

I'm still amazed that virtually all the pros from Canada are not from the big cities, but rather the small cities and towns. Don't know if that's the case in other countries.

In any office downtown you will hear guys 30+ but more likely 50 and up talking about what course they played last weekend or where they're playing this weekend. Or reminiscing about their trip to Pebble Beach or Myrtle Beach or PEI or Muskoka.

Within an hour's drive you can play a couple dozen courses. So much variety and opportunities for the kids of these guys to get into the game and get pro level coaching, yet it's the golfers from small towns where I imagine there to be far fewer courses around who are making it to the pros. I find that fascinating and amazing.

Corey Conners, from Listowel, Ont., won the Valero Texas Open on Sunday less than a week after qualifying, earning him the final available slot in the Masters. Conners only entered the tournament field Monday, and he's the first golfer to win on the PGA Tour after qualifying on a Monday in nine years.

Next stop for Conners: Augusta, Georgia, for next week's Masters, where he will join 2003 winner Mike Weir as the only other Canadian in the field.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by megadude

Earlier I was asking when golf in Canada would catch up with what's happening on the tennis scene here. Well didn't take too long!

Making history at Augusta 'feels surreal' for Quebec's Brigitte Thibault
Former cheerleader lone Canadian in field at inaugural women's golf tourney
John Chidley-Hill The Canadian Press Apr 02, 2019



Even though Brigitte Thibault's parents Josee and Daniel had been avid golfers for decades, she was never really interested in the sport until watching the Masters with her family in 2005. It was then, watching Tiger Woods' miraculous chip-in on the 16th green at Augusta National Golf Club, that golf started to grip her.

The 20-year-old Thibault will be making history at the storied course herself on Wednesday as the only Canadian in the field at the inaugural Augusta National Women's Amateur. Having the opportunity to play that same hole as Woods has given Thibault pause to reflect on how it drew her into golf.

"That chip on 16 was just crazy. I think that's the moment that captured me," said Thibault. "It maybe influenced me because it was just so incredible and everything looked so perfect and everything is mindblowing there.

"I'm not sure what triggered me to really start playing golf. It was so sudden and I feel like someone just took me and said 'this is going to be your future' because now all I see is that."

Pre-business major

Thibault, from Rosemere, Que., was seven when Woods made the big shot en route to his fourth green jacket. At the time her interest was still in cheerleading, but as injuries from that sport started to pile up the attraction to golf grew stronger. She's now been golfing for four years and is on the team at Fresno State University in California, where she is a pre-business major.

Making the field of 72 seemed like a long shot to Thibault, who needed to be in the 30 highest ranked players not from the United States and not otherwise qualified, based on the final women's world amateur golf ranking of 2018.

Thibault was therefore surprised when she was leaving the gym on Jan. 17 and got a call from an anonymous number. It was a tournament official offering her a spot at the elite amateur event.

"I was so excited that I wanted to hang up so I could cry," said Thibault, now ranked 197th. "I didn't want to cry on the phone and so I was trying to keep calm but I was just super excited.

"When the call ended, the only people I could tell was my family. So I couldn't tell anyone for five whole days so everyone was asking me 'why are you so excited?' but I couldn't say anything."

Playing Augusta 'always a dream'

Growing up, the possibility of playing at Augusta was something Thibault couldn't even imagine. Not because she lacked the skill, but because the club didn't allow women to play until 2012. That summer, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore were invited to become the first female members since the club was founded in 1932.

In anticipation of the Augusta National Women's Amateur — the first women's only tournament the course has ever seen — the tournament's Instagram account has posted photos of trailblazing women like Nobel Prize-winning scientist Marie Curie, Academy Award-winning director Kathryn Bigelow, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, and astronaut Sally Ride, among others.

The magnitude of the event is not lost on Thibault.

"It still feels surreal," said Thibault. "It was always a dream of mine, but it was not possible because I'm a woman. That's why this dream was not unrealistic, but not possible, because the rules of the course was that it was men's only.

"The fact that they took the first step in including women on this huge platform, when it's been on everyone's bucket list, I thought it was great."

[elly63]

Brooke Henderson ties Canadian record with win at Lotte Championship
21-year-old captures 8th career victory, defends title in Hawaii
The Canadian Press Apr 20, 2019

Brooke Henderson didn't join the LPGA Tour thinking she would end up amongst the best Canadian golfers of all-time. At least not so soon, anyway.

Henderson tied the Canadian record for most career victories on the LPGA or PGA Tour on Saturday when the 21-year-old captured her eighth career title by shooting a 2-under 70 to win the Lotte Championship for the second year in a row.

Sandra Post had eight career victories on the LPGA Tour between 1968 and 1981, while Mike Weir and George Knudson equalled that on the PGA Tour.

"When I was younger it was just a goal to be on the LPGA Tour, to win my first event," Henderson said.

"And when that happened and I won my first major the year after, things kind of just started to fall into place. I knew the record was eight. Just kept creeping toward it the last three years, which was really exciting."

Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ont., won last year's event in Hawaii for her sixth Tour victory and followed that up in August 2018 as the first Canadian in 45 years to win the CP Women's Open.

"I think starting last year I sort of saw that it was within my reach if I had two good seasons. Last year put me into great position, and coming back this year it's been on the back of my mind every week that I tee it up. I'm just really happy that I have finally done it.

"Looking forward to overtaking it now."

Fellow Canadian and Olympic teammate Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Ont., who finished 2 under for 40th place, watched Henderson play out the round and joined her in celebration.

Henderson finished 16 under on Saturday at Ko Olina Golf Club to beat South Korea's Eun-Hee Ji by four strokes.

Nelly Korda, tied with Henderson for the third-round lead, finished with a quadruple-bogey 8 for a 77 that left her seven strokes back at 9 under. She hit into the water twice on 18, then threw her ball in after finishing. The 20-year-old American also had a double bogey on the par-4 seventh.

Ariya Jutanugarn (73) and 2016 winner Minjee Lee (74) tied for third at 11 under.
Henderson bogeyed her first hole, but that was the only blemish in the final round as she followed that up with three birdies and 14 pars.

She looked to be in some trouble on the par-4 16th, but saved par when she hit a put from off the green.

"It's really amazing to even be mentioned in the same sentence as Mike Weir, George, and Sandra," Henderson said. "This week was really special. I always love coming to Hawaii. Last year was such an incredible week for me, to be able to hoist that trophy for the first time. Coming back I knew I knew the golf course really well."

Henderson takes home $300,000 US for the win. Through seven events in 2019, she has made six cuts, has one victory, three top-10 finishes and one top-15 finish for $498,151 total earnings.

Henderson, ranked No. 12 in the world, has one major among her tournament victories, winning the 2016 KPMG Women's PGA Championship after beating Lydia Ko in a playoff when she was only 18.

[elly63]

Last-play Landry: Canada wins Japan 7s title in thrilling finish
Canadian captain Ghislaine Landry scores winning try and conversion in final play of the game
CBC Sports Apr 20, 2019

A thrilling end to the Cup final at the HSBC women's sevens will see an undefeated Canadian squad come home with the trophy.

Canadian captain Ghislaine Landry scored the winning try on the final play of the match and added the conversion to seal the 7-5 victory over England.

"The whole weekend has been such a grind and such a fight," Landry said after the match. "That final was just the same so to finish it out with a win meant so much. That's what all the training is for.

"We work so hard at home and to able to put it on show in a final and finish when time's up is a testament to the work we are doing back home and I'm so proud of the girls."

Canada went undefeated through the entire tournament, starting with pool match victories over Spain, China and Australia before beginning their string of playoff wins with a 17-14 result against Russia.

Canada advanced to the Cup final after defeating the U.S. 24-12 in the semis.

Bianca Farella led Canada with two tries. Julia Greenshields also had a try, as did Landry, who also contributed a pair of conversions.

Canada finished 11th in Kitakyushu last year, one of its worst performances on the circuit. Coach John Tait said while it was nice to get back on top of a podium, the best is yet to come from his team.

"We haven't been on the top of the podium for a while so it's good to get that back, and that belief," he said. "I don't even think we hit our full stride this week. We played some good defence and some good turnover attack in patches.

"It's pleasing when you can win ugly and still get a result. It gives us a lot of confidence going to our home tournament."

With the result in Kitakyushu, the Canadian women now sit second in the overall HSBC World Rugby Women's Seven Series standings as the series shifts to Langford, B.C.

[elly63]

Wow, Canada moves to number two in the Seven Series (top four qualify for the Olympics) with a brilliant comeback win over England.

On our own 22 with the clock run out and the horn sounded, Canada marches down the field nearly two minutes later and Landry is Ghislaine on the spot and capitalizes on a passing error to send England into misery.

Undefeated in the tournament, Canada was workmanlike (in the best sense of the word) and in the final showed what we are known for, fighting to the last second.

Here is the final two minutes (start at 24:00). You gotta see this.

[Nicko999]

FAA proves once again proves his potential is greater than Shapovalov.

2 sets win (6-2, 7-6) over Denis at the Madrid Masters.

[isaidso]

Hopefully they can feed off each other. It would be nice having both of them in the top 5 a few years from now.