“Sports are about identity and belonging, about our place in the world and how we see ourselves,” says David Taras in the introductory chapter to How Canadians Communicate V: Sports, the newest release from AU Press. The obvious example of how sports define our place in the world is the hockey-loving Canadian. If you are Canadian, people around the word are likely to associate you with the body-checking, puck-flying sport. But Canada’s connections to sport extend far beyond hockey and Canadians encounter sports as both players and fans.
In How Canadians Communication V: Sports, David Taras and Christopher Waddell have collected articles that discuss how sports entertainment has become a complex industry of media conglomerates battling for control. The book covers sports such as hockey, basketball, wrestling, cycling, ultimate fighting, mixed martial arts, luge, and chuckwagon racing as well as the Olympics. Along the way, these insightful articles will help answer almost every question you may have about sports in Canada as well as some questions you didn’t even know you should ask.
Why are NCAA and CIS sports so different?- What’s on the horizon for Hockey Night in Canada?
- How have Fantasy Leagues contributed or detracted from real sports?
- Why did the Vancouver Olympics have such a lasting impact on our nation?
- Are the Paralympics helping to change perspectives on people with disabilities?
- Why are fewer Canadians playing sports?
- Can we rationalize Lance Armstrong’s Tour de France doping scandal?
- Why were the effects of concussions ignored for so long?
- What does “kayfabe” mean and how does it contribute to the illusion of wrestling matches?
- When Nodar Kumaritashvili died on the luge track before the opening of the Vancouver Olympics, how did the media respond to the tragedy?
You may want to read How Canadians Communication V: Sports for some insight into March Madness and to prepare yourself for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
For some more sporty books from AU Press, check out Game Day Gangsters and Icon, Brand, Myth: The Calgary Stampede.
