Browsing by Author "Valentine, John"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    Cultural citizenship or commercial interest? The 1962 Grey Cup Fiasco
    (2018) Valentine, John
    In 1962, the Board of Broadcast Governors (BBG), an arm of the Canadian federal government responsible for broadcasting, made the unprecedented move to force the national public broadcaster to televise the Grey Cup, the championship game of Canadian football, ostensibly because it was in the national interest. However, research reveals that this decision was not necessarily made because it was in the national interest, but more so to assist the new struggling private television network, CTV. The important content, allegedly linked to cultural citizenship, was not the national championship, but the television commercials. This paper explores why the BBG intervened and how the dispute was settled.
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    Cultural nationalism, anti-Americanism, and the federal defense of the Canadian Football League
    (2019) Valentine, John
    During the 1960s nationalism flourished in Canada as did American influence, both cultural and economically, as well as separatist sentiment in Quebec. The Canadian federal government became more interventionist to combat threats to Canadian sovereignty: internal threats from Quebec and external threats from the United States. The federal government used sport as a nation-building tool and eventually acted to protect the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a display of resistance to Americanization and in an attempt to unite French and English. Canadian football had become a symbol of the nation and therefore could be used by the government in a symbolic way to resist cultural imperialism and promote national unity. On two occasions the federal government acted to ensure the CFL preserved its Canadian identity; first, to prevent Canadian-based football teams from joining an American professional football league, and second, to prevent American-based teams from joining the CFL. John Munro was the key Canadian politician who formulated policy to protect Canadian football.
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    Football and "tolerance": black football players in 20th century Canada
    (2012) Valentine, John; Darnell, S.
    This chapter draws on the history of Black football players in 20th-century Canada in order to explore and challenge the notion of Canadian racial tolerance in relation to Blackness.
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    New racism and old stereotypes in the National Hockey League: the stacking of aboriginal players into the role of enforcer
    (2012) Valentine, John
    Tracing the roles played by Aboriginal hockey players in the National Hockey League (NHL) from the mid-1970s to 2010, this chapter takes an historical, longitudinal view to explain the abundance of Aboriginals, that is, Indians, Inuit, and Métis men, in the role of enforcer, a one-dimensional player who does little more than fight. "Stacking" is a term that draws attention to certain social factors that account for the position — or, for the purposes of this chapter, the role — a player is assigned or expected to fulfill as a member of a team. To situate the phenomenon of stacking Aboriginal hockey players as enforcers, the place of Aboriginal peoples within Canada is examined, particularly an historically informed analysis of the concept of Othering within democratic racism. To build the case of the stacking of Aboriginal hockey players, quantitative data is analyzed, with penalty minutes, major penalties, and fights examined for each National Hockey League season in which Aboriginal representation made up at least 1 percent of the league's players. The results indicate that Aboriginal NHL players have disproportionately fulfilled the role of enforcer; these results are considered in relation to the history of the culture of racism in Canada.
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    Running-up the score: the athletes’ experience
    (2022) Valentine, John
    Problem Statement: When sporting participants enter the playing field, all are expected to play fairly and to the utmost of their ability, skills, and talent. However, an interesting situation arises when one team is far superior to the opponent. In that case, should athletes still be encouraged to play their best, even when this might result in a one-sided outcome? Running up the score occurs when a team or athlete continues to extend a lead when the outcome of the game is already certain. Attempting to avoid running up the score, might mean that participants are not giving their best effort; or are not trying to score. The majority of researchers have been generally opposed to running up the score. However, while philosophical explorations of running up the score have shed light on the practice, they have over-looked the experiences of the participants. Approach and methods: This research explores i) the effect consistently experiencing one-sided losses has on players dropping-out of sport, ii) feelings of humiliation when opposing teams run-up the score, and iii) the experience of the parents of the players in overmatched contests. Data was collected from players, coaches, and parents of ringette players using informal interviews and an online survey. Ringette is an ice hockey-like game played by girls. This research includes a review of the literature examining running up the score, an exploration of when it might be permissible, an examination of the Blues’ season including a survey of the athletes’ attitudes and experiences during the season, and finally solutions to help avoid running up the score. Results: Results of the study suggest that experiencing one-sided losses does not dramatically affect the players. Players did not drop-out of the sport, they rarely felt humiliated, and they did not seem to be as affected by the losses as much as their parents did. Discussion: Superior teams should utilize nonpatronizing methods to handicap the team and employ them in a way that does not humiliate the opponent. These teams could use strategic easing by playing less competent players, playing players in different positions, playing to an opponent’s strengths, trying to end the game sooner by running out the clock, or by practicing new strategies and tactics
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    The Rocket, the riot, and the revolution: hockey in French Canada
    (2021) Valentine, John; Toal, Brandon
    Hockey has historically occupied an important place in the lives of many Canadians, and this interest is particularly strong in French Canada. The Montreal Canadiens team aligned itself closely with the francophone community by utilizing primarily French-Canadian players and featuring a team name that reflected French-Canadian culture. The team, and the sport, were used to challenge the history of humiliation French Canadians had experienced at the hands of the English. During the Second World War, the team signed a new French-Canadian star. In his first full season, Maurice Richard led the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup championship. In his next season, he broke the goalscoring record. Richard quickly became an icon and political symbol representing French-Canadian nationalism. League commissioner Clarence Campbell, an Oxford-educated, English Canadian, often disciplined the fiery Quebecer. To many French Quebecers, these interactions with Campbell represented another example of English Canada’s dominance over French Canada. Despite their majority status, francophones in Quebec had higher levels of poverty and unemployment, and fewer management positions. In 1955, after an altercation with a referee, Richard was suspended by Commissioner Campbell. Riots erupted in the streets of Montreal, and Quebec society was changed forever. The focus of this research is on hockey in Quebec from its earliest days until the 1960s when Rocket Richard had retired and the number of Quebec-born players on the Montreal Canadiens started to decline (Whitehouse 2010). The importance of hockey in Quebec will be viewed through the lens of English colonization, but we will also focus on Quebec in the 1960s and the societal shifts that resulted in the Quiet Revolution and the separatist movement. While the relationship Quebec had with both hockey and the Montreal Canadiens changed after the 1960s, the passion Quebecers display for the game continued. However, hockey was no longer necessary to provide empowerment to a disempowered people.
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    The state and Canadian cultural nationalism: protecting Canadian football
    (2021) Valentine, John
    In 1974, Canada’s Liberal minority government introduced a bill designed to protect the Canadian Football League (CFL) from competition. It threatened jail for anyone who operated a football team in Canada having any connection with an American team or league. A particular conjuncture of factors prompted the government to act according to the rationale that protecting the CFL was critical to the national interest. Canadian football had become an identity marker that nationalists used to define the country and differentiate it from other nations. In the 1960s, post-war Canadian nationalism heightened concerns about Americanization as well as Quebec separatism. It also brought increasing state intervention, including cultural policies that grew in scope as they became more populist, from a government in a minority position facing a national unity crisis. In this research, the government’s unprecedented intervention is explained, by contextualizing it historically within the cultural, economic, and political conditions of the time. When the Canadian Football League, a national sporting league that represented the nation, began to struggle, the stage was set for the most significant government intervention in the area of Canadian professional sport to date.