"Sport is part of culture and a good way to learn about another country… To discover why people are so passionate about it, it's like, 'Tell me what your sport is and I'll tell you who you are,' " he said.
It is cool to me how every day interests like sports can be a spyglass into what a culture is like.
"Charity has been the function of the church. Now it's the team who is taking charge of the social life, visiting children in hospitals, inviting children to see a game or giving money to charity… Does that mean they have kind of a religious role?" he asked.
Very interesting parallels to what religions try to teach. The teams try to lead by example outside the game.
Another example of religious behaviour is an expectation of sacrifice, Bauer said.
I volunteer as tribute
"It really strikes something, and it's really fun too. Serious, but with some humour."
Kind of like an "unspoken truth" in a way? Most people subconsciously think it to some degree.
Others include Denis Müller from the University of Lausanne in Switzerland and the University of Winnipeg's Tom Faulkner, author of More Than a Game, Less Than a God: Canadian Hockey.
While some may, in a way, religiously follow the sport, it is not spiritually fulfilling in the same way that worshipping a deity is.
Two years ago, shortly after the minister moved to Montreal, he and one of his students decided the university should offer the opportunity to study whether the Canadiens are, in fact, a faith.
I would be interested in any stats discovered by this study.
In Prof. Olivier Bauer's class at the Université de Montréal, worshippers can argue that their team is their religion.
A university-approved class religion class allows students to claim the sport as divine, in a way. To each their own I guess.
Fans of the Montreal Canadiens pray that the sacrifices made on the ice of blood, sweat and tears will lead them to glory
Sounds quite cultish. Why have I not gotten into hockey yet? What have I been missing?
The Detroit Red Wings would take a 4-1 lead over theRocketless Canadiens, driving a combustible crowd closer to theedge.
The crowd felt that their beloved player made them unbeatable. This leads to a harsh reality shock that only adds to the tension.
The Richard Riot is generally considered the firstexplosion of French-Canadian nationalism, the beginning of asocial and political dynamic that shapes Canada to this day.
This series of events was not just significant around the time that it happened. It is still seen as important today. This may be because I am not well-versed in sports culture, but I cannot really think of a defining moment anywhere near this magnitude in US history.
An instant after the slap, Orlando spun the fan aroundand socked him in the jaw, scattering teeth like jujubes. Therewere shouts, invective, a rumbling in the Forum. The tear gascame 30 seconds later.
An angry slap led to an angry punch which quickly escalated into much, much angrier tear gas.
Mayor Jean Drapeau telephoned Campbell at the NHL officein town and begged him not to attend the game that night.
Connecting to other pieces: this could be why certain people feel right in blaming The Rocket for the violence that broke out.
Montreal was aghast. Campbell's rulingwas considered an act not of justice but of vindictiveness, theEnglish-speaking boss thwarting the aspirations of theFrench-speaking populist hero.
Not only were the people upset that something bad happened to their hero, they also felt that what happened was not fair.
The Rocket's triumphswere the people's triumphs
The people were attached to him such that they felt that his wins were their wins, and his loses were their loses.
four-hour rampage that yielded the requisite fires, shatteredwindows, looted stores, overturned cars and 137 arrests.
Violent and long riot over sports is frightening.
This was the site of the Forum, hockey'stemple,
Very important to the sport
French papers blamed Campbell for provoking the violence. Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau also placed responsibility on Campbell.
I understand that people want to point fingers somewhere, but this seems unfair.
Pockets chanted, “Kill Campbell!”
Even if this starts off as a meaningless chant, an angry crowd can start to take things like this as a challenge.
A dozen or so young men tried to batter their way into the building and tore a door off its hinges before the police turned them away.
That is pretty impressive.
Some of them, like the Robinson brothers, Guy, Robert and André, smuggled in a bag of ripe tomatoes.
Asking for trouble.
The people of Montreal took Campbell’s punishment personally.
This can cause things to escalate pretty quick...
“Freedom of speech is no longer mine to enjoy,” he wrote bitterly. “As a hockey player, I am obliged to obey my employer’s orders.”
Yikes
“You knew — everybody knew — that the game was over right then,”
The intensity just hung in the air.
By 1955, Richard had scored more goals, 422, than anyone in the history of the NHL — 98 more than the next guy on the list.
That's a huge margin to be the best by.
He began training at the Montreal Technical School to get a certificate that would allow him to serve, but the war ended before he completed the four-year course.
He tried really hard to enlist.
And none of them meant to their fans what le Rocket meant to Canadien fans.
I would love the guy simply for having a nick name like "The Rocket"
He refuses to talk to reporters who ask what happened, why the two fought, other than to say, “Ask Laycoe.”
This seems like a smart move to me.
Richard presses a towel to the gash on his scalp, which will take five stiches to close
He fought an impressive amount with that kind of head injury.
For five minutes, the tempest rages
That is a long fight.
Laycoe lunges at Richard. His stick blade clips the Rocket above the left ear and opens a gash. The blood stains his scalp.
From everything I've seen, hockey is a bunch of angry dudes with armor and knife feet. I would constantly be scared about things like this.
Boston zone
What is this?
would lead his teammates to five straight Stanley Cup victories until retiring
What a guy
only quelled when Richard went on radio and TV, asking for calm. He would reluctantly take his punishment.
This man had a lot of power over the people.
Out on the street, the largest riot since Conscription was passed in 1944 (bringing in the draft for the final year of the Second World War)
Wow. This made people as mad as when they are forced to go to war. That's a little crazy
137 arrests
Geez
No. 9 had already previously walloped a referee.
I appreciate the constant, creative reminders that he hit a ref
Either way, Maurice Richard was in trouble.
Hitting a ref usually ends up getting you in trouble
leaving the Habs' star cut on the head after a high stick. A brawl ensued, and the Rocket broke his CCM stick over Laycoe's back.
Hockey never ceases to amaze me with how violent it can get.
How Richard himself, the Rocket, was so much a part of Quebec society that he transcended even organized religion.
That is an impressive legacy
Maurice Richard, left, played with a fire that made him one of hockey's all-time greats but could also land him in trouble — most dramatically in March of 1955.
This doesn't seem like a very helpful picture description. All I see is angry people
"He went astray ... The storm caught him in the burnt country and he halted for a day
He was caught in "the burnt country"?
"Certainly ... Certainly. A black sin indeed if one were naughty on the day when the little Jesus was born."
I like the implication that God gets extra upset at sins that are committed on Christmas, I find it funny.
The women of the Chapdelaine household had no part in the work of the fields.
Showing that there are clearly defined gender roles present: Men --> hard labor outside Women --> general house keeping
Every morning the men scanned the heavens and took counsel together. "The wind is backing to the sou'east. Bad luck! Beyond question it will rain again,"
At first it seemed like this was going to have a religious meaning, but instead it's like a similar saying: "red [sky] in the morning is a sailor's warning. Red at night is a sailor's delight"
His glance strayed contentedly over the meager smoke-filled interior and those who peopled it. In the circle of faces tanned by wind and sun, his was the brownest and most weather-beaten; his garments showed many rents, one side of the torn woollen jersey flapped upon his shoulder, moccasins replaced the long boots he had worn in the spring. He seemed to have brought back something of natures wildness from the head-waters Of the rivers where the Indians and the great creatures of the woods find sanctuary. And Maria, whose life would not allow her to discern the beauty of that wilderness because it lay too near her, yet felt that some strange charm was at work and was throwing its influence about her.
I am all for the descriptiveness of this paragraph. No comment on its place in the story, I just think it is well written.
They fell silent again, patient and determined, like men who face a long war.
This comparison feels out of place to me.
Thither the five men made their way one morning and set to work at once, without a word, for every man's task had been settled beforehand.
Everything was organized beforehand so arrangements would not have to be made in the morning.
Thither
I don't like these words. "To or toward that place"
This word just feels made up to me like seriously, come on bro.
she felt ashamed at the beating of her heart.
Is she ashamed because she misses him or is she ashamed for not seeing him for so long?
The first mosquitos
Kill them with fire
. "Only you wait a few months ... When the boys are back from the woods we shall set to work, they two,
Back from the woods after being there a few months?
Gloomily would he mutter before the empty preserve jar:—"It was the Demon of gluttony who tempted me."
Me trying to make an excuse to myself after I ate an entire box of Cheez Its in one sitting instead of doing homework.
Tit'Bé
How is this pronounced
Au ciel, au ciel, au ciel, J'irai la voir un jour . .
Linked with the previous French quote
J'irai la voir un jour, M'asseoir pres de son trone, Recevoir ma couronne Et regner a mon tour
"I will go see her one day, Sit near his throne, Receive my crown And reign in my turn" Not entirely sure what this means, but it sounds deep and I like it!
Perhaps not being able to attend to our religion every Sunday hinders us from being just so fortunate as other people."
A feeling of failing your religion and subtly being punished for it.
"I assault her with parables," chuckled he. "It's politer."
That seems like an interesting way to put it. On second though, it more so seems like he is convincing himself that he is not being rude.
But it was said jestingly rather than in malice,
I like this line. I speak sarcasm, so this basically describes my life.
Peribonka.
Interesting name. "Peribonka comes from the Innu word periwanga (or possibly from pelipaukau), meaning 'river digging in/removing the sand'"
to baptize them with boiling water
Sounds like something that would have happened in the Salem Witch Trials. I'm totally down to go for a boiling bath right about now.
Two Christians, who escaped from the fire, arrived almost at the same time, and gave us assurance of it.
Like the Biblical story
the girls deeming it an honor, on these occasions, to prostitute their honor itself
"Deeming it an honor?" Why..? Probably better to not know, but interesting.
in order to shed abroad as quickly as possible this grace on those poor Savages
Baptizing the Iroquois?
that is to say, the 19,000 livres appropriated by the king for the affairs of the country.
What does this mean?
1649, APRIL
There is a lot of preaching in this section alone.
I saw and touched all parts of his body, which had received more than two hundred blows from a stick. I saw and touched the top of his scalped head; I saw and touched the opening which these barbarians had made to tear out his heart.
This is extremely brutal.
While they tormented him in this manner, those wretches derided him
Very harsh words
during the past thirteen months, they have baptized [page 16] over 2,700 persons
I'm not an expert, but that does seem like a lot of baptisms.
the missionary returns thanks for promised aid, which is especially needed at this time, when the French are continually harassed by Iroquois raids
Native American attacks happen here like in US history.
September 21, 1649.
That is a long time ago
And, whoever soonest accomplishes this, it is for him to be served [124] again and again, until the kettle be empty. Is it not true, on hearing all this, and several other traits of gluttony,
The wording is confusing to me. It seems like the author is suggesting that this is not gluttony, but it really seems like it would be...
twelve years,
Significance of 12?
They say that, in the beginning of the world, the land was quite covered with water, with the exception of a little Island on which was the sole hope of the human race,- to wit, a single man, whose sole companions were a Fox and a little animal like a Marten, which they call Tsouhendaia.
I enjoy reading about different cultural takes on how the world came to be.
As for the dangers of the soul, to speak frankly, there are none for him who brings to the Country of the Hurons the fear and love of God;
Influence of the missionaries?
he became desperate, and hanged himself to a tree
Mood
when the English defeated the fleet of the Company of New France, whose loss was the damnation of many Canadians and the postponement of the conversion of many others
Extremely devastating defeat
the drought was very great
Great in this context can mean widespread or prominent, but I still find it strange description of a drought.
Of a truth, the Commandments of God [page 15] are very just and reasonable, and they must be less than men who find therein anything to censure. Our Hurons, who have as yet only the light of nature, have found them so noble, so agreeable to reason, that after having heard the explanation of them they would say, in admiration, ca chia attwain aa arrihwaa, "Certainly these are important matters, and worthy of being discussed in our councils; they speak the truth, they say nothing but what is to the purpose; we have never heard such discourse."
Makes it seem that the conversion to Christianity was 100% by the people's choice.
HAPPY DEATH OF SOME HURONS
Hmm happy death..? That's what I am here for.
savage neophytes
No respect towards the people it seems
The Hurons are in constant dread of hostile incursions from the Iroquois; the missionaries promise to assist them in such emergencies
This could be good-hearted aid, but it could also only be to indoctrinate the people in their religion.