Absolutely yes. The NFL is at least somewhat observant of racial justice issues (in a woke liberal corporation way) by virtue of 80% of its players being black. Its popularity is so much bigger than other leagues that there is a sizable chunk of fans who recognize how dangerous the sport is, how teams will siphon money from cities to build their pointless superstadiums, how bad military propaganda is, etc.
The MLB on the other hand is basically intermarried with the idea of nostalgic conservatism at this point. Though its history is very rooted in the idea of the working class man's sport it also has by far the most racist history (like straight up Jim Crow segregation). Its playerbase is also insanely religious (see the recent pride sticker "story" or the Yankees almost not being able to play home games this year due to half the club refusing the covid vax). It also has the oldest fanbase by a wide margin.
I can't speak on hockey as much as its the one I know the least about but lets just say (at least in America) that there is very much a stereotype of it being a sport for only rich white kids.
In Canada, hockey is a little bit weird culturally. It's very much still a rich (or at least middle class) white sport, primarily due to costs of equipment and rink time. It's also culturally the Canadian equivalent of the NFL, in that it exists nearly everywhere in Canada, and in fact most players tend to be from large cities or their suburbs, but it's coded slightly culturally conservative and associated with small towns. That being said, every lib I know is into hockey. It's whiter than NBA fandom, and I think Canadians of color would more likely be a raptors fan than fan of any Canadian hockey team, but it's still the national sport and largely crosses identity lines.
Edit: its worth noting that even the conservative friends I have into hockey are very much the American equivalent of Democrats... They're really Liberals by Canadian standards too, they just grew up in a culturally conservative area and consider liberalism to be some weird thing arrogant torontonians are into. Generally they're believers in a milti-ethnic canada, support lgbt rights, etc etc. But also the giant sampling bias I have is that the overwhelming majority of my social circle is millenial and younger. Older hockey fans are probably shitheads.
For those who don’t know who Don Cherry is he was a (formerly) beloved commentator on Hockey night in Canada, known for wearing goofy and extravagant suits on air as well as speaking in a very stereotypical way, think sayings like “good ol’ Ontariyuh boys”.
He was a few years ago fired for going on a weird anti-immigrant rant on air. He was very old school in that he seemed to also be racist against white European players, believing that they were a bunch of ‘sissies’ .
NHL is too Canadian to be chud central but it is white af. I never noticed any racism on the part of the fans though, they are all just white bread lol
As a spectator sport, America took Cricket and somehow made it worse.
Hockey was more fun when it was about fighting. Ever since they stopped the fighting what's even the point?
being a sport for only rich white kids.
That's weird to me. I think of Hockey as being the definitive sport of rural white kids in the northerly climates. Not poor kids, because the gear costs, but like "lower middle class" or whatever. All you need is ice and sticks and a puck and you can get that cheap at a second hand store.
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Absolutely yes. The NFL is at least somewhat observant of racial justice issues (in a woke liberal corporation way) by virtue of 80% of its players being black. Its popularity is so much bigger than other leagues that there is a sizable chunk of fans who recognize how dangerous the sport is, how teams will siphon money from cities to build their pointless superstadiums, how bad military propaganda is, etc.
The MLB on the other hand is basically intermarried with the idea of nostalgic conservatism at this point. Though its history is very rooted in the idea of the working class man's sport it also has by far the most racist history (like straight up Jim Crow segregation). Its playerbase is also insanely religious (see the recent pride sticker "story" or the Yankees almost not being able to play home games this year due to half the club refusing the covid vax). It also has the oldest fanbase by a wide margin.
I can't speak on hockey as much as its the one I know the least about but lets just say (at least in America) that there is very much a stereotype of it being a sport for only rich white kids.
In Canada, hockey is a little bit weird culturally. It's very much still a rich (or at least middle class) white sport, primarily due to costs of equipment and rink time. It's also culturally the Canadian equivalent of the NFL, in that it exists nearly everywhere in Canada, and in fact most players tend to be from large cities or their suburbs, but it's coded slightly culturally conservative and associated with small towns. That being said, every lib I know is into hockey. It's whiter than NBA fandom, and I think Canadians of color would more likely be a raptors fan than fan of any Canadian hockey team, but it's still the national sport and largely crosses identity lines.
Edit: its worth noting that even the conservative friends I have into hockey are very much the American equivalent of Democrats... They're really Liberals by Canadian standards too, they just grew up in a culturally conservative area and consider liberalism to be some weird thing arrogant torontonians are into. Generally they're believers in a milti-ethnic canada, support lgbt rights, etc etc. But also the giant sampling bias I have is that the overwhelming majority of my social circle is millenial and younger. Older hockey fans are probably shitheads.
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The Don Cherry litmus test is a good one.
For those who don’t know who Don Cherry is he was a (formerly) beloved commentator on Hockey night in Canada, known for wearing goofy and extravagant suits on air as well as speaking in a very stereotypical way, think sayings like “good ol’ Ontariyuh boys”.
He was a few years ago fired for going on a weird anti-immigrant rant on air. He was very old school in that he seemed to also be racist against white European players, believing that they were a bunch of ‘sissies’ .
critical support.
If we think you're talking about the jazz trumpeter Don Cherry, do we win anything?
When the NHL union joined the NBAPA wildcat strike in 2020 it really tested the limits of that belief in a multi-ethnic Canada.
Even on here there were folks with garbage takes about Canada not being white supremacist like the US.
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:kkkanada:
Nailed it
Oh yeah I forgot didn't Obama shitcan that?
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NHL is too Canadian to be chud central but it is white af. I never noticed any racism on the part of the fans though, they are all just white bread lol
Ask em about notable black players like P.K. Subban or whoever and you'll find the racism.
As a spectator sport, America took Cricket and somehow made it worse.
Hockey was more fun when it was about fighting. Ever since they stopped the fighting what's even the point?
That's weird to me. I think of Hockey as being the definitive sport of rural white kids in the northerly climates. Not poor kids, because the gear costs, but like "lower middle class" or whatever. All you need is ice and sticks and a puck and you can get that cheap at a second hand store.