On July 1, Canada will celebrate it's 150th birthday. In the history of countries, it's like a Sweet 16, or maybe more accurately, like a first birthday party. But one where the parents invite their adult friends and serve alcohol.
We may be a baby on the global scale, but 150 years is still worth celebrating, and so are all the amazing things Canada has accomplished during that time. Certainly, our country is far from perfect. But birthdays aren't about celebrating perfection. They're about reflecting how far we've come and looking forward to what the future holds.
Over the course of the next 10 days, I'd like to offer Canada a birthday gift of my own by documenting 150 reasons why Canada rocks, to be preserved in perpetuity on the blockchain like a virtual time capsule. Each day, I'll choose a topic and give you the top 15 reasons why I think Canada is killing it in that area. Feel free to share your own thoughts on what you think makes Canada awesome.
Today's topic is sports. Let's get started, eh?
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15 reasons Canada rocks at sports
Hockey is our official national sport, for good reason. We invented it. According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, the first game of organized hockey was in Montreal in 1875, where a McGill University student named J.G.A. Creighton created a set of formal rules.
Canada continues to birth half the players in the NHL. In fact, the number of Canadian hockey players in the league didn't drop below the 50 per cent mark until the 2015 season, and was well above the 75 per cent mark until the 1990s, meaning Canadian talent has dominated the league for nearly all of it's 100 year history.
We also gifted the sport the first Stanley cup, which was donated by Lord Stanley, our governor general at the time, for the 1893 national championship. And goalie masks. You can thank Canada for that too.
Our second national sport, lacrosse, is also awesome and gaining momentum across the country. So don't be surprised if you see Canadians dominating that sport too in the near future. This shouldn't come as a surprise. After all, Canada has won more Olympic lacrosse medals than any other country. :-)
We also hold the most Olympic medals in ice hockey and curling. Again, not surprising since most Canadians take their first steps on ice.
Speaking of Olympic medals, Canadian Clara Hughes is the first and only Olympian of any country or gender to win multiple medals at both the Winter (four medals) and Summer (two medals) Games.
Canada also gave the world basketball. The sport was invented by Canadian James Naismith in 1891. Your welcome America.
Guess what else we invented? Five-pin bowling. Can you imagine a world without that?
Our football fields are longer and wider, our ball is bigger and we allow less downs to score. It's almost like American football was too easy so we had to kick it up a notch. ;-)
Speaking of football, Canada is home to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. 'Nuff said.
We gave the world some of it's best athletes in a variety of sports: Wayne Gretzky, Nancy Greene, Donovan Bailey, Silken Laumann, Gordie Howe, Mark McMorris, Lennox Lewis, Georges St-Pierre, Steve Nash, Mike Weir … I'd continue, but we'd be here all day.
We have Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod. I don't care how many fitness videos you watch on YouTube, you'll never find a more upbeat or inspiring duo than these two.
We have some of the best ski resorts in the world.
Our rugged environment is perfect for challenging and extreme outdoor sports, like canoeing, kayaking, mountain biking, snowboarding, motocross, rock climbing, and much, much more.
We even make watching sports fun. See Don Cherry's collection of sport jackets if you need proof.
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Hockey is our official national sport, for good reason. We invented it. According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, the first game of organized hockey was in Montreal in 1875, where a McGill University student named J.G.A. Creighton created a set of formal rules.
Canada continues to birth half the players in the NHL. In fact, the number of Canadian hockey players in the league didn't drop below the 50 per cent mark until the 2015 season, and was well above the 75 per cent mark until the 1990s, meaning Canadian talent has dominated the league for nearly all of it's 100 year history.
We also gifted the sport the first Stanley cup, which was donated by Lord Stanley, our governor general at the time, for the 1893 national championship. And goalie masks. You can thank Canada for that too.
Our second national sport, lacrosse, is also awesome and gaining momentum across the country. So don't be surprised if you see Canadians dominating that sport too in the near future. This shouldn't come as a surprise. After all, Canada has won more Olympic lacrosse medals than any other country. :-)
We also hold the most Olympic medals in ice hockey and curling. Again, not surprising since most Canadians take their first steps on ice.
Speaking of Olympic medals, Canadian Clara Hughes is the first and only Olympian of any country or gender to win multiple medals at both the Winter (four medals) and Summer (two medals) Games.
Canada also gave the world basketball. The sport was invented by Canadian James Naismith in 1891. Your welcome America.
Guess what else we invented? Five-pin bowling. Can you imagine a world without that?
Our football fields are longer and wider, our ball is bigger and we allow less downs to score. It's almost like American football was too easy so we had to kick it up a notch. ;-)
Speaking of football, Canada is home to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. 'Nuff said.
We gave the world some of it's best athletes in a variety of sports: Wayne Gretzky, Nancy Greene, Donovan Bailey, Silken Laumann, Gordie Howe, Mark McMorris, Lennox Lewis, Georges St-Pierre, Steve Nash, Mike Weir … I'd continue, but we'd be here all day.
We have Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod. I don't care how many fitness videos you watch on YouTube, you'll never find a more upbeat or inspiring duo than these two.
We have some of the best ski resorts in the world.
Our rugged environment is perfect for challenging and extreme outdoor sports, like canoeing, kayaking, mountain biking, snowboarding, motocross, rock climbing, and much, much more.
We even make watching sports fun. See Don Cherry's collection of sport jackets if you need proof.