Lecture 6 Flashcards
who was Ned Hanlan
sports superstar in rowing
first canadian sports superstar
at a time when rowing was very popular
he was best rower in world for a period of time
what year was Ned Hanlan the best
1870s-1880s
what were the things that Ned Hanlan’s career highlighted
- was a showboat
- developed team around him so he could focus exclusively on his sport
- takes advantage of new technologies that give him huge leg up over competition
- was a working class irishman
examples of ned hanlan showboating
he would get really far ahead and pretend to fall asleep, lay his paddles down and blow kisses to crowd
why was neds showboating interesting
- goes directly against prevailing norms of sport at the time, and more broadly canadian sporting norms
- not supposed to show off, be humble, play right way, not too excited when win)
why was ned hanlan still loved even though he violated norms
loved for it because if you’re exceptional at your sport, the rules dont apply to you
what did hanlan developing team around him show
- benefit of professionalization
- gave him huge advantage over people who didn’t have this
- train rest train rest
- everything taken care of for him
what did Ned hanlans team doing everything for him allow him to do
win multiple world championships
what gave hanlan a huge advantage
new technologies
- brief period it gave him huge advantage
- advantage was short-lived, everyone started doing it
what 2 things can happen there’s huge technological advances
everyone starts using it and becomes norm for sport or they ban it
why was ned hanlan excepted even though he was a working class irishman, not a popular ethnicity to be in canada
if very successful at sport people will accept you regardless of race or class
how many people did Hanlan row infront of one time
100,000 people
what did louis rubenstein do
figure skater
what are 4 interesting things about louis rubensteins career
- how sports can dramatically evolve
- people who know the sport are going to have advantage over people who pick it up later
- he was jewish
- sports can become gendered
how was figure skating completely different
would skate patterns, making figures in ice with skates, judges would come on ice and look at figures
what was louis rubenstein known for
would champion at making figures
why did rubenstein have advantage
he made the figures up
he made the rule books for figures that could be drawn
why was there a problem he was jewish
antisemitism has been very prevalent part of canadian history since the beginning
who went to russia to compete and russia tried to stop him from competing because he was jewish
louis rubenstein
so good they embraced him during
Was figure skating gendered when rubenstein partook
when he was skating it was not viewed as feminine, it became feminine later
what was louis cyr
strongmen
all about doing feats of strength
example of louis cyr doing strongmen
he would grab 2 ropes and horses would pull in both directions
3 important parts of Louis Cyr’s career
- he was french canadian
- cyr is an entrepreneur
- cyr dies young
why was Cyr being french canadian important
First french canadian sport hero
reflects prevailing values of french canadian society (emphasizes strength)
what did Louis Cyr represent
Bush masculinity
french canadians were made up of difficult factory workers, miners, lumber
cyr embodies this
what did louis cyr do to become an entrepreneur
- as simply the star he learns he has limited power, more power and money if controlling revenue stream
- buys bar and people pay to come see him do crazy things
what would louis cyr do at his bar
challenge people
would draw crowds to watch and generate income
why may louis cyr have died
- athletics at highest level can take powerful toll on the body (especially violent ones)
- his lifestyle and things he did to maintain strength did not help his longevity
what tends to happen to professional athletes in sports that emphasize violence
tend not to live that long and not be in good shape once they hit 60s
what was barbara ann Scott
world champion figure skater
what did women athletes face
a way higher bar then male athletes
- beauty and femininity attached to female athletes
what criteria did barbara fit into
she was most famous for being beautiful
what did people who knew barbara say about her
- unbelievable work ethic
- trained crazy hours, won olympic championships and world championships
what ideal did Barbara ann scott embody
beautiful, demure, quiet, conservative
embodied this ideal at the time time that it was embraced by canadian society
who was Maurice Rocket Richard
one of greatest hockey players who ever lived