Watching the World Cup and wondering why Canadians may always have to watch the thing with no serious stake in it?
About ten years ago, I read The Struggle for Canadian Sport, and as I recollect it, it explains the whole thing. It's by Bruce Kidd, long-ago Canadian Olympic long-distance runner, now a University of Toronto prof. A serious read, but still worth looking for.
Kidd argues "high performance" is always going to be the aspiration of athletes and fans alike. We want the best. And in North America, high-performance sport was delivered by commercial sport from an early time. By the 1920s, when Canadian hockey players and teams were already heading south, commercial sport had won out over rival systems like community-owned teams and leagues.
And for Canada, commercial sport would always have to accept a North American market dominated by American tastes and traditions. Cricket, lacrosse, soccer were going to be marginal, unless they got traction in the American market.
Oh well, it's fun to watch the Cup events without any particular allegiances gettin in the way. I'm Trini to the bone this week.
