Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. has been a staple of many a childhood since the ’90s and beyond. Created by the legendary Masahiro Sakurai, “Smash” presents itself as a cuddly, kid-friendly fighting game wherein a greatest hits of Nintendo characters duke it out for supremacy by attempting to knock each other[Read More…]
Behind the Bench
Behind the Bench: How fans shape ticket prices
The essence of fandom is hard to capture in words; fans tend to have a more familial connection to their favourite team than to other organizations or businesses. The emotions they invest into sports transcend those of any other service that is provided to the common person. Yet, the reality is[Read More…]
Behind the Bench: Rooney Rule Ramifications for Female Representation
Diversity and minority visibility in professional athletics has recently made international headlines, with the inauguration of new professional women’s sport leagues, such as the WNHL, the MLB implementing programs to increase female and minority job candidates, and new awards like the British Ethnic Diversity Sports Awards recognizing the diversity of[Read More…]
Simplicity in concept, duplicity in design: The precarious state of daily fantasy sports
I have never purchased a lottery ticket, gone to a casino, or joined any online poker site. I can count on my fingers the amount of times I have made serious wagers with friends, and raffle tickets have always revolved around the spirit of charity rather than the thrill of[Read More…]
Discouraged and overlooked, but still competing: A club athlete’s experience at McGill
It’s 6:30 a.m. on a Monday, the November sun is just rising over Percival-Molson Stadium, and I’ve already been up for an hour so I can practice Lacrosse with my teammates. Based on the inconvenient timing, you wouldn’t know that my team represents McGill across North America. Some of the[Read More…]
Behind the Bench: Athletes as activists
Following weeks of protests over racial tensions at the University of Missouri, dozens of members of the school’s football team announced that they would not practice or play in any games until members of the university administration resigned. Within days, the president of the multi-campus university system stepped down, and[Read More…]
The NHL has a character crisis
“Character” and “leadership” are terms thrown around a lot in professional hockey. Hockey culture expects players to fit into a specific mold of physical and mental toughness, applauding those who play through pain and injuries. Unfortunately, these expectations can condone violent, harmful behaviour while castigating players for things outside of[Read More…]
Behind the Bench: Ladies in the locker room
Misogyny is alive and thriving in the boys clubs of sports and sports journalism. Three female reporters were temporarily barred from entering the Jacksonville Jaguars’ locker room after the team’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts by an usher who, according to Graham Watson of Yahoo Sports, was unsure whether women[Read More…]
Behind the Bench: Just don’t let it be a tie
The very last tied game in NHL history was played between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Florida Panthers on April 4, 2004. It was anything but slow. The Hurricanes took an impressive 4-0 lead in the first period before allowing six unanswered goals to start out the third. Carolina recovered[Read More…]
Behind The Bench: A September to remember for Marcus Stroman
The last time the Toronto Blue Jays were atop the AL East this late in the regular season, the European Union did not exist, Billboard’s No. 1 song was Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” and Liam Neeson was nominated for an Academy Award. Since the transcendent 1993 World[Read More…]
