Sports in Canadian culture - Page 336

HomeInMyShoes · #**6701** Posted **Dec 14, 2018, 9:25 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by esquire

It would work until the stadium is 25 years old, at which point it will stop working unless a new subsidized stadium can be built, pronto. (Did that sound too jaded?)

No, that sounded just about right. Although maybe 30 years. I'm really hoping that robots are the ones playing sports by then and we can stop paying these athletes millions of dollars and pay geeks like me to code the AI hundreds
of thousands of dollars instead.

Actually, in 30 years I'll be dead and my children will be living in a pseudo-Mad Max type world. So why not; let's bring baseball back to Montreal. I'm willing to put in $50.

elly63 · #**6702** Posted **Dec 14, 2018, 10:03 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

I'm really hoping that robots are the ones playing sports by then and we can stop paying these athletes millions of dollars and pay geeks like me to code the AI hundreds of thousands of dollars instead.

Atlas Updates - Amazing Humanoid Robot With Artificial Intelligence From Boston Dynamics

elly63 · #**6703** Posted **Dec 14, 2018, 10:18 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JHikka

If they join CPL, and it flops spectacularly, you'd think CONCACAF would let them move back into the USL anyway.

Yes

Quote:

Originally Posted by JHikka

What confuses me is that there are two other CFL ownership groups involved in the CPL (Hamilton & Winnipeg) so to see a third, with a soccer team already operating, so adamantly against it is...odd, I think. You would think there would be some cohesion and groupthink going on. They all have the same goal of maximizing revenues and maximizing dates their facilities are in use.

Yes

FrankieFlowerpot · #**6704** Posted **Jan 3, 2019, 3:17 PM**

https://leaderpost.com/pmn/sports-pm...0-8da0f5638bab

Quote:

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu has recorded a massive tennis upset.

The 18-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., stunned world No. 3 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of the ASB Classic on Thursday.

Andreescu, who had to qualify just to make the season-opening tournament, is ranked No. 152 in the world.

The win over the reigning Australian Open champion sends Andreescu into a match against former world No. 1 Venus Williams in the quarterfinals.

“Honestly, I can’t believe it right now. I’ve dreamed of playing on this stage against top players and now I’m here,” Andreescu said on-court after the match.

megadude · #**6705** Posted **Jan 4, 2019, 3:32 AM**

I like the direction tennis in Canada is heading. We could very well in the next ten years have multiple men and women seeded players in tournaments.

So many of our ranked or up and coming players are of Eastern European origin. Of course, many of the top ranked players in the world are from there, particularly on the women's side.

They have cold winters and in some countries just about on par with us in Southern Ontario. Tennis is cheap to start with and get good at when you can play outdoors on any one of a million public courts, many with good surfaces and not just asphalt. But in winter that option is gone and playing in the indoor facilities is expensive. Plus adding a coach is hella expensive.

Regardless, it seems like there could be an opportunity to steer more kids to it who eventually get good enough to maybe sponsor or subsidize their indoor and/or coaching costs.

isaidso · #**6706** Posted **Jan 4, 2019, 5:49 AM**

Canada seems to do well in any sport it becomes interested in. It's only the ones we don't care about where we're not competitive. As soccer gains traction I wonder if this pattern will repeat.

FrankieFlowerpot · #**6707** Posted **Jan 4, 2019, 1:29 PM**

And she downs Venus Williams today as well - into her first semi-final.

On the other side of the draw Genie lost her QF

isaidso · #**6708** Posted **Jan 4, 2019, 7:39 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrankieFlowerpot

And she downs Venus Williams today as well - into her first semi-final.

Holy crap.

Sticking with surprising news, tomorrow's Ryerson Rams vs Carleton Ravens men's basketball game @ Maple Leaf Gardens is sold out. The last 3 men's basketball games I've attended at Ryerson there were only about 40 people in attendance and the opposing team had 3-4 times as many supporters. Perhaps university sports is finally gaining a little traction in Toronto.

FrankieFlowerpot · #**6709** Posted **Jan 5, 2019, 1:26 PM**

And Bianca's winning continues - now into the final

isaidso · #**6710** Posted **Jan 6, 2019, 1:30 AM**

Is there a live feed of the final? I certainly won't get it on my tv; I can't even get football. I suppose Canadian viewership of the Australian Open will skyrocket.

FrankieFlowerpot · #**6711** Posted **Jan 6, 2019, 2:57 AM**

Streaming service DAZN have the rights to WTA Tour

isaidso · #**6712** Posted **Jan 6, 2019, 6:35 AM**

Thx

JHikka · #**6713** Posted **Jan 6, 2019, 2:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrankieFlowerpot

Streaming service DAZN have the rights to WTA Tour

They must have just picked this up. TSN used to show the occasional WTA tour event.

Edit - August 2017, as it turns out:

Quote:

Originally Posted by DAZN

DAZN has also secured deals to bring coverage of the Sky Bet EFL (English Football League) and Carabao Cup (EFL Cup) to soccer fans in Canada, as well as extensive coverage of the WTA tour and ATP 250 tennis events. DAZN will also be the home of all live PDC darts events. The full list of sports offerings is available below.

https://media.dazn.com/ca/press-rele...rights-canada/

FrankieFlowerpot · #**6714** Posted **Jan 6, 2019, 7:45 PM**

Bianca Andreescu lost her final this morning - Genie won the doubles final though - her first doubles win

TiaRichardson · #**6715** Posted **Jan 6, 2019, 10:41 PM**

Sports played a huge part in making Canada more international. Look at the Raptors, they have players from all over the world and it matters a lot. Speaking of the Raptors, I met Demar DeRozan once, when he was recovering from a kidney injury, I recommended him to use kidney warmer and it is still to this day the greatest moment in my life.

isaidso · #**6716** Posted **Jan 6, 2019, 11:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrankieFlowerpot

Streaming service DAZN have the rights to WTA Tour

Wait, does that mean I can't watch Canadian Open or US Open women's tennis unless I sign up with DAZN?

JHikka · #**6717** Posted **Jan 7, 2019, 12:00 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by isaidso

Wait, does that mean I can't watch Canadian Open or US Open women's tennis unless I sign up with DAZN?

US Open would be a separate entity as it's a Major and TSN still owns the rights to the Majors. The Canadian Open, as a Premier 5 event, may also be a separate entity outside of general WTA Tour rights but i'm not 100% sure. But yes, if you wanted to watch the Auckland Open this past week you would have required DAZN (or a WTA-specific subscription).

In general DAZN is soaking up more and more sports events rights as the years pass by. Champions League is theirs and the EPL will be next year. They also bought up NFL Sunday Ticket and the FIBA rights in Canada, including the FIBA World Cup.

Acajack · #**6718** Posted **Jan 7, 2019, 12:37 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by TiaRichardson

Sports played a huge part in making Canada more international. Look at the Raptors, they have players from all over the world and it matters a lot. Speaking of the Raptors, I met Demar DeRozan once, when he was recovering from a kidney injury, I recommended him to use kidney warmer and it is still to this day the greatest moment in my life.

Are you sure you don't mean "sports teams like the Raptors played a huge part in making Toronto and Canada more know in U.S. hip hop culture"?

The Raptors aren't particularly "international". The vast majority of their players are from the U.S., and while they do have a number of non-U.S. players, it's about the same as how many the Blue Jays have, and half or less of how many different countries are represented on Toronto FC and the Maple Leafs. (Yes, the Maple Leafs.)

esquire · #**6719** Posted **Jan 7, 2019, 1:45 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

The Raptors aren't particularly "international". The vast majority of their players are from the U.S., and while they do have a number of non-U.S. players, it's about the same as how many the Blue Jays have, and half or less of how many different countries are represented on Toronto FC and the Maple Leafs. (Yes, the Maple Leafs.)

I think there is some truth to that. It may be because the NBA tends to draw players from countries that we aren't used to hearing about on sportscasts (Cameroon, Lithuania, Poland, Congo, Turkey, etc.) as compared to the NHL, which has been sourcing its players from the same overseas locales for years now (Russia, Sweden, Czech Rep., Slovakia, etc.). Same with baseball, which tends to draw mostly on the same handful of Caribbean countries for talent.

So by comparison, the NBA looks a little more exotic even if the numbers aren't vastly different.

I wonder if the international flare also comes from the international appeal that the NBA has? I'm just going with intuition, but from what I've seen abroad, I'd suspect that of the 'big 4' US sports leagues, the NBA has by far the broadest appeal. Some of that may be due to intertwining with the global appeal of hip hop culture, but I think basketball is the most globally popular of those sports... I mean, for all Super Bowl hype you hear, there isn't a whole lot of serious football interest once you get off this continent.

Acajack · #**6720** Posted **Jan 7, 2019, 2:48 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by esquire

I think there is some truth to that. It may be because the NBA tends to draw players from countries that we aren't used to hearing about on sportscasts (Cameroon, Lithuania, Poland, Congo, Turkey, etc.) as compared to the NHL, which has been sourcing its players from the same overseas locales for years now (Russia, Sweden, Czech Rep., Slovakia, etc.). Same with baseball, which tends to draw mostly on the same handful of Caribbean countries for talent.

So by comparison, the NBA looks a little more exotic even if the numbers aren't vastly different.

I wonder if the international flare also comes from the international appeal that the NBA has? I'm just going with intuition, but from what I've seen abroad, I'd suspect that of the 'big 4' US sports leagues, the NBA has by far the broadest appeal. Some of that may be due to intertwining with the global appeal of hip hop culture, but I think basketball is the most globally popular of those sports... I mean, for all Super Bowl hype you hear, there isn't a whole lot of serious football interest once you get off this continent.

Yes, I would agree with you that of the big 4 U.S. leagues (NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL) the NBA has the most and broadest interest worldwide. And as you say, the top dog domestically (NFL) is probably the least popular globally - even a bit behind the NHL arguably.

That said I am still not sure what having the Raptors does for Canada's international renown beyond a quick "oh... so you guys play (high level) basketball too? cool.".

The first time I went to Australia the people I stayed with were big basketball fans and took me to a Sydney Kings game, which back then (at least) had a definite NBA flair to it. I had a good time, but I didn't necessarily think Aussies were more "with it" just because they had a team that played b-ball in a somewhat flashy arena. I was more interested in sampling AFL (referred to derisively by my Sydneysider friends as "aerial ping pong"), rugby and stuff like that... but maybe I am just weird and that most people truly think that what really makes Johannesburg and Kuala Lumpur interesting is that people in those places have Kanye West on the radio and line up to see the latest Marvel superhero blockbuster at their local multi-plex.