Book review about sport journalism

EAC 955 NBA NBB Week 7

Demographics and the Next One?

Future Draft Picks + Sport And Film

Once again, just as I’ve said every other week in this course, this is just a reminder that whenever you see words that are capitalized, in big letters, have been bolded, coloured, underlined, or highlighted, I am simply trying to emphasize something. Please don’t assume that I’m writing in anger here. Thanks. (

Introduction

This unit will cover two totally unrelated topics. One will be on demographics. The other will focus on film and sport. I have chosen to combine these two short topics in order to free-up some reading time for you as we get closer to Study Week. You’re welcome.

In the first section of this unit, we will examine the future of sports by employing the science of demographics. This science, which studies population patterns, is a very useful tool in predicting future trends both in sport and in society. It can also make you VERY rich.

In the second section of this unit, you will be given an opportunity to enjoy watching a quality sports film and then write a review on it. In the process, you will also gain a better appreciation of how film uses sport as the backdrop to a number of important social themes. Remember, doing a film review instead of a regular essay is optional . Many of the themes that I will cover in this section also apply to some of your book or novel choices that you will be reviewing. So reading this section should be quite helpful in this regard.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit, you will be able to:

· Understand the importance of demographics and its impact on the future of sport. And

· Gain a better understanding of how film portrays sport. The knowledge that you gain here can assist you if you plan on producing a sports film review for your Writing Assignment worth 10% of your final grade.

Glossary

· Demographics

· Baby Boom

· Bust Generation

· Millennials

· Echo Generation

· Underdog

· Vicarious

Introduction To Demographics

Demographics is the science that studies population patterns. It is a very useful tool in predicting future trends both in sport and in society. Understanding it can help you decide when it would be best to buy a home; either invest your money in or pull it out of the stock market; as well as determine which sectors of the economy will likely grow and decline in the years to come. For policy planners, it can also be used to predict future societal trends such as voting patterns, social values and needs. The beauty of this science is that it often boils down to a few key concepts. Once you fully understand them, you will be able to make very reasonable and accurate speculations that are sure to benefit you financially.

In the 1990’s, it was an amazingly good tool in terms of predicting when the next great wave of super start talent would be arriving over the next few decades. There have been some key changes to our population that makes predictions less precise. I’ll explain why in a few minutes.

There is a reason why players such as Lebron James and Syndey Crosby arrived into the North American sporting scene at around the same time just as was the case with both Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky. Likewise, the draft classes of Connor McDavid, Austin Matthews and Jack Eichel were not accidents. I predicted their arrival (sort of) about a decade ago- you can ask my former students. I did not know WHO would be drafted, just that the odds of a bumper crop draft happening around this time. How did I know? I simply looked at the population of young people and when they would turn 18. The more that were in each group, the greater the odds of a superstar talent emerging from within them. The less in these groups, the lower the odds.

Still confused? Let me explain.

Think of it this way. If 20 people gathered in one spot, the likelihood of one of them being 7 feet tall would be marginal. It might happen, but the odds are not in its favour. Now if you have 5,000 people gathered in one spot, the odds of someone being this tall would increase dramatically. This same principal applies to talent in sport. The more people playing a sport, the more likely it is that sports teams will draft a unique “Waldo” superstar.

Key Demographic Facts

According to University of Toronto demographer David Foot in his best selling book Boom, Bust Echo, the bulk of Canada’s population in the 1900s was based on three distinct age groups. (Foot, 2001)

The largest one is the “Baby Boom” generation born between 1947-1966. They comprise 10 million people. This is generally both Canada’s and the United States’ wealthiest and most powerful population- especially those born between 1947-1961. They went to university and college paying yearly tuitions in the area of $500-1,000 a year. Ouch! They entered the workforce as older employees were retiring. Boomers quickly moved-up the managerial ranks. They also had high paying jobs that were not outsourced by globalization and robotics. And now, given both their wealth and experience, they are firmly in control of most of our political, economic and social institutions. Why do you think politicians constantly talk about health care instead of high college and university tuitions? “He who has the gold rules.”

A smaller portion of the population is known as the “Bust” generation (Sometimes known as Generation X). They were born from 1967 to 1979. This group has generally had a tough go at things in terms of career opportunities- especially those with birth dates close to 1967. They entered the workforce with the older Baby Boomers holding most of the jobs.

It is no surprise then that “angry” sounding “grunge” music developed in the 1990’s. It reflected the mood of many Generation Xer’s at this time. There are approximately 30% more Boomers than the Bust generation. The reason being that in 1964, the birth control pill was made widely available and this led to dramatic reduction in the number of Bust generation births. Where it was quite common for families to have 5 children, by the late 1960s onwards, this number dropped down to less than 2.

Finally, there is the Millennial Generation"- the children of the Boomers born from 1980 to 2000. According to Foot, the older members of this generation, next to their parent Boomers, could not have been born at a more economically opportune time. Aging Baby Boomers began to retire as they started to enter the workforce. Foot predicts that in all likelihood, they will assume prominent leadership positions in the future as a result of the experience that they earned by getting meaningful entry level jobs shortly after completing their education. Many younger Millennials will likely resent their good fortune. Don’t be surprised if there will be some intergenerational conflict as a result of the front end Millennials good fortune.

Similar statistics are shared with both the United States and Australia.

Knowing this information could possibly make you rich. To see how, read the section “Business 101.”

Applying Demographics to Sports

Commonsense dictates that the more youth playing a particular sport, the greater likelihood that a superstar player will one day grow up and become a star from this pool.

During the draft years of Wayne Gretzky and Michael Jordan, the number of 18 year olds was at its highest peak and guess what, the odds of these types of super stars coming forth increased dramatically.

The first Millennial children were 18 years old in 1998. The NHL draft that year included such notables as Vincent Lecavalier, Brad Richards, and Simone Gagne. Not a bad start. If you pull out your calculators, Millennial children born in 1990 (the peak) were 18 in the year 2008- the year of John Taveres. The tail end of the Echo generation was 2013-15 (Hello Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel and Austin Matthews)

Demographics also explains the reduction in superstar Canadian talent from the drafts in the early 1990’s. The number of 18 year olds in the early part of this decade was 30% less than during the 1970’s. Less prospects playing meant less potential superstar talent.

Will Canada Continue To Dominate In Hockey?

Demographics can also help answer the question of whether or not Canada will remain the dominate hockey power on this planet.

The last of the Baby Boomers’ children were born in 1999-2000. From this point onwards, there will be slight declines in childbirths in Canada. This means that the pool of potential talent will not be as large as in the past. Yes, superstar players will be born, it’s just that the odds of them coming in large numbers will be lower going forward. Now throw in the large immigration of people from Asia and South Asia, and the dramatic change in the Canadian family structure, and one could make a good guess that our sport will be overtaken by American talent.

Immigrants from Asia and South Asia do not have many ties to hockey. Enrollment numbers by these groups in youth leagues is relatively low. Add to this the fact that many households in Canada are now single parent dwellings. This is not great news for the game of hockey. Single parents tend to have less disposable income. Hockey is an extremely expensive sport to play. Throw-in the tremendous amount of driving to team practices and games (which if a parent has 2 or more children to chauffer becomes really difficult) plus overnight hotel costs and the like, you can see why these numbers are what they are.

The Americans Are Coming! The Americans Are Coming!

During the 1970’s to mid-80’s, hockey oscillated from being the third to fourth most popular sport in the United States. The U.S.’ “Miracle on Ice” gold medal victory in 1980 turned-on a generation of kids to this game. These factors then might be the reason for the emergence of U.S. hockey stars in the 1990’s. They were the bumper crop harvest planted in the 1970’s and 80’s.

By the end of the 1980s, the share of Canadians in the league was approximately 75%. It hovers now around the 50% mark. The Percentage of American players has risen considerably during the last decade. At the beginning of Millennium the share of players from United States was 15%. Ten years later it has increased to almost 25%.

According to MacLean’s Magazine,

“U.S.A. Hockey, the sport’s governing body south of the border, is on track for its fourth straight year of record enrolment, having cracked the half-million player mark for the first time in 2010-11. The U.S. has yet to catch Canada—we had 572,000 players last year of all ages, male and female. But its trend lines are better. Since the early 1990s, when the NHL embarked on its aggressive expansion into the U.S., the number of Americans playing the game has ballooned by 257 per cent. Canada’s registration levels have remained comparatively flat, averaging 550,000 over the last decade.” (Gillis, Charlie, “The United States”)

What these demographic patterns suggest then, is that the “fluke” victory of the United States over Canada at the 2003 World Junior Tournament and their strong performances that have followed is a harbinger of things to come… ahem… Jack Eichel and Austin Matthews.

Canada Leads All Hockey Nations In

Players, Referees And Rinks (IIHF News)

Canada retains front position in terms of its number of players, referees and hockey rinks according to the recently completed IIHF Global Survey of Players. Canada tops five out of seven categories: registered players (520,651), juvenile players, female players, male referees and indoor rinks.

USA has the most senior players and female referees.

Here’s some interesting points:

 Canada has more indoor rinks (3,350) than the rest of the world (1,576) if USA (2500) is excluded from the world total.

 Canada has more indoor rinks than world 7th ranked Switzerland has senior players (2713).

 Sweden, a country of 8 million people, has 62,370 players, approx. 4,000 more than Russia, which has 150,000 million people.

 Japan has twice as many players as Slovakia.

 Poland, which was promoted to the elite group of the IIHF World Championship, has 290 registered senior players, in a country of 40 million people.

 Sweden has the most indoor rinks (285) of all European countries.

 China, a nation of 1 billion people, had 360 registered players. (IIHF, 2001)

The Decline of Hockey?

University of Lethbridge sociologist and author of The Emerging Millennials, says hockey is losing popularity in all age groups.

"Contrary to the beliefs of Canadian observers . . . interest in the National Hockey League has actually dropped. It's just not a matter that there is a drop off with teens, we're seeing the same thing with adults." (“Is hockey’s popularity waning?” CTV News)

Bibby argues that immigration and an explosion of new entertainment options youth are the main reasons for this decline. I principally blame fast moving video games and mixed martial arts matches which make hockey seem tame.

Among teens, the NHL's popularity dropped a full 10 points between 1992 to 2008 -- from 45% to 35%. According to his findings, only 20 per cent of youths in Toronto, follow hockey. In Edmonton, these numbers are 34%, 41% in Ottawa, 44 in Vancouver, 45 in Montreal and 48% in Calgary. (“Is hockey’s popularity waning?” CTV News)

As mentioned above, the change in Canadian family structure is also an area of concern in terms of the number of kids playing this sport. It’s hard for most single parents to pay for this extremely expensive sport- not when something significantly cheaper like soccer or basketball is available. If you are single and have two or three kids to take care of and no one to help, how do you get them to games and tournaments? This is really tough.

A great article on this issue and the growing popularity of hockey in the US can be found in a MacLean’s article entitled “The United States of Hockey” at: http://www.macleans.ca/society/the-united-states-of-hockey/

Right now, we are the only country that can ice two teams to the Olympics. That’s how well stocked we are with talent. However, I’m getting scared. The Americans are starting to take a slightly higher interest in hockey. That’s all that’s necessary to give them 500,000 more players in the next few decades.

The Americans took a minor interest in lacrosse and women’s hockey and now they either dominate us outright- as is the case with the former; or are beginning to do so if you see our lady’s declining performances with the latter.

I know it seems so impossible but we are looking at things much like the way people see stocks during boom times. We might be deluding ourselves. It would not surprise me if when you are in your late 30s and early 40s onwards, many of you in this class will be lamenting with your children how the game is no longer ours. You might be looking back with fondness to the good old days of the Millennium and early 20’s.

I hope that I’m wrong on this one.

Hockey’s Demographics In Europe

Here’s some additional interesting statistical information published by the International Ice Hockey Federation in 2001. (Based on what data I could find, the numbers have remained surprisingly similar).

· Russia only had 58,040 registered hockey players.

· Sweden, a country of 8 million people, has 62,370 players registered, approx. 4,000 more than Russia, which has 150,000 million people.

· The Czech Republic had 68,416

· Finland 56,602

Why Are There So Many Great Russian Players?

How does demographics fit into the phenomenal success of European players- especially from Russia? It doesn’t. Not yet anyway. Perhaps if hockey takes off more significantly, the pool of talent coming from Russia just might exponentially grow over the next decade. Certainly, the huge KHL contracts teams are now handing-out might give young people the incentive to cash-in on this sport.

So given the small numbers of registered hockey players in Russia, why have so many of them made it into the NHL? The answer is three-fold.

First, you have to keep in mind where most star players come from- usually small towns. I’ll explain why this demographic detail is important in a minute. Hang in there dudes. Second, the cultural emphasis on both boys and girls taking gymnastics at an early age gives players from this country a tremendous developmental advantage. Again, hang in there. I’ll explain why shortly. And, finally, NHL economics tends to ignore developing secondary level skilled North American talent. You know the drill here.

Let me start by explaining the “small town” factor.

The “Small Town” Factor

Kids from tiny communities get to play more hockey than those in urban areas. They do not have to wake up at 4:00 am to squeeze-in an hour’s worth of rink time at 5:00am. Conversely, players from small towns get to spend hours and hours alone practicing their skills in unstructured ways on frozen lakes and ponds.

Historically speaking, the greatest hockey players have usually come from rural communities. Here in Canada, the population numbers of young people playing this game in such places have declined as more and more people have move into the major cities of Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Edmonton and Calgary. While this is also happening in Russia and the Czech Republic, the effects on these two nations have been slower. They might need a decade to kick-in as a result of their economic development from communist to capitalist economies.

Right now, though, most star players from both of these countries come from small towns. It is also interesting to note the state of Minnesota- which is full of thousands and thousands of frozen lakes in the winter is birthplace of a number of American NHLers.

Many kids in Russia and the Czech Republic are not as affluent as those here in Canada. They, learn to play the game with simply a pair of skates, a stick and a puck. This free unstructured play allows them to learn the game differently. Far too many kids in both Canada and the United States today are picking up their hockey know how through structured drills. The problems with drills though, are that EVERYONE uses the same ones. As a result, few “new” things are being discovered in this fast paced game that requires tremendous creativity. Our players “predictably” go to “where they are supposed to go” as opposed to confusing their opposition with some wizardry.

A similar theory helps explain why so many kids living in the U.S.’ inner cities become basketball stars. They too, learn the game in an unstructured way and thus develop enhanced creative skills. The stereotype in the NBA is the opposite of the NHL’s where the “creative” / ”skilled” players come from the States and the “hard working,” “disciplined” ones are from Europe.

The Gymnastics Factor

A second advantage that Russian and Czech Republic players have is that they come from places where there is a cultural emphasis on gymnastics for both boys and girls at very early ages. Sadly, here in Canada, far too many parents feel that this is only a sport for girls. Gymnastics teaches the body the fundamentals of strength, flexibility, balance and agility- key skills for hockey. Before most players lace-up their first pair of skates, they have already developed essential skills that will take them a long way in their future profession.

The NHL Economics Factor

Finally, NHL economics plays a big role as to who is placed on a team roster. It is very expensive to bring a player from Europe into the NHL. Teams tend to draft Europeans for “skill” and North Americans for “grit.” For example, why pay transfer fees to the Russian Ice Hockey Federation for a “plumber-like” player when someone in the U.S. or Canada is readily available and cheaper to develop?

I believe that these three factors are the main reasons why the Czech Republic and Russia have produced so many skilled NHLers despite their small pool of players.

Business 101

Do you want to get rich- really rich? You need to know what markets will be like going into the future. Demographics can do this for you. For example, when for instance, would it be a good idea to buy real estate? When would it be a good idea to not invest in Toys are Us and McDonalds? When would it be a good idea to pull out your RRSP’s?

Try to think in terms of clusters of 5 to 10 years. Divide all three key demographic groups and ask yourself, what will each of them being doing when they are 5 or 10 years older. Will they be downsizing or upsizing their homes? Will they be having children or finishing in this area? Will they be into aggressive youth oriented sports or golfing? Now do the same thing and project how they will be like 15 and 20 years from now just based on their ages and the traditional habits people do when they hit their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and so on.

The largest cluster of people in Canada and the United States is the “Baby Boom” generation born between 1947-1966. Now do the math. How old will they be in five years time? In 10 years? What will these people likely be doing in terms of various sectors of the economy?

“Bust Generation” ( Also known as “Generation X”) were born between 1967 to 1979. Do the math. How old will they be in five years time? In 10 years? Remember, there are 30% fewer of them than the Baby Boom Generation. What will these people likely be doing in terms of various sectors of the economy?

The “Millennial” generation were born from 1980 to 1995. Once again, do the math. How old will they be in five years time? In 10 years? What will these people likely be doing in terms of various sectors of the economy?

Spend some time studying this subject on your own. It just might make this course the most profitable one that you have ever taken.

Sports and Film

Before I begin my discussion on film and sport, you might want to consider some of the themes discussed here for your book or novel reviews. After all film and literature are about storytelling and many great books or novels have been made into movies. So the relationships covered in this lecture might work well with some of the books or novels that you have chosen to read for your main assignment. Enough said. Let’s get this second half of the lecture started. In 5-4-3-2-1- Action….

Hollywood has had a long love affair with sport. I can’t say it has produced “masterpieces” in this genre though. There is no Citizen Kane, The Godfather or Apocalypse Now here but perhaps this is due to economics. Show business is just that, a business. At best, this industry only produces 2-5 amazing films per year and these often don’t do well in the box office. Sports films tend to draw-in certain demographics: the 18-30 male market. Making them high art productions will not likely appeal to the core of this base. This would be like making gourmet hamburgers instead of good ole cheeseburgers for the bulk of this movie going crowd. You could make a similar argument as to why there are so few thinking person’s action movies. Why have art get in the way of a good profit?

Having said this, there have been some good sports films. These movies have managed to capture the “pulse” of what is going on in society or touch on some universal themes that many of us can relate to.

Here now are these themes. I’ve also included some movies related to them that that you might be interested in watching.

Inspiration

In terms of box office hits, theme of “inspiration” remains the biggest draw. This is not surprising. We live in stressful times. A number of our social institutions have let us down. Anything that can give us hope or a mini-boost is widely sought after. The motion picture Rocky started this trend. It basically created an entirely new genre: the struggle of the “underdog” and his or her ultimate triumph against all odds. It also touches on the themes of “good versus evil.” Rocky definitely has not aged well with time but this Academy Award winner for Best Picture has nevertheless influenced a generation of filmmakers and for this reason is still worth watching.

For those of you interested, here is the original trailer for Rocky: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWoE0KqUznQ

Its recent re-boot, Creed has done quite well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv554B7YHk4

The universal appeal of these types of movies likely stems from the fact that most of us are not born into privilege and often encounter difficult circumstances. Watching Rocky, Ruby, or Hoosiers, just to name a few, gives us hope that we too can accomplish great things. These types of films energize us to press on. It is no wonder then that many coaches show these types of movies to their team’s hours before a big game.

Teamwork/Teamsmanship

Sports films often cover the themes of the importance of team play (Remember the Titans), friendships (Brian’s Song and A League of their Own), loyalty, integrity, self-sacrifice, (Chariots of Fire) humility, and redemption (The Longest Yard).

Individualism

More often than not though, sports films, much like the action genre, tend to focus on the actions of an individual rather than a team. Perhaps this has to do with the emphasis that our society places on individuality. Perhaps as well though, this allows viewers to personally identify with the hero and thus vicariously live through his or her triumphs.

The Dark Aspects Of Sports and The Human Condition

Of course, the film industry has not always portrayed sport in a positive light. Some films show the raw reality of sport in terms of its crushed dreams, (Hoop Dreams and Friday Night Lights)

For the most part, Hollywood has perpetuated stereotypes of athletes as typically being intellectually shallow, arrogant bully jocks. Rarely is there a sports film that shows athletes as being intelligent- despite that fact that many of their real life counterparts possess degrees in professions such as medicine, law, administration and engineering.

Darker sports films cover such human failings as selfishness, arrogance, pride, egoism, (Cobb) graft, greed, cheating (Eight Men Out).

Others reveal the cynical “business” aspects of sport. (Jerry McGuire, Net Worth and North Dallas Forty). Just as an aside, in an interview on TSN radio in Toronto, Buzz Bissinger, who wrote the book Friday Night Lights mentioned how the real Boobie Miles (the central character in both the book and movie) only received $1,000 for the film rights- $100 up front. "Here was a $40M movie and this is all that these people would give him. This is not right," said Bissinger.

Violence

Some films have explored the violent nature of sports (Raging Bull, Slapshot and Rollerball).

Social Issues

Some sports films have covered social issues such as racial tensions and inequality while giving us glimpses in history to provide us with a better understanding of times and social issues still challenging our present. (A League of Their Own, When We Were Kings, Ali, Hurricane, The Express and Remember the Titans).

Other sports films give us insights into the “psychology” of winning- both its positive and negative sides. (When We Were Kings and Pumping Iron)

Morality

Then there are sports films that cover morality. That is, being true to oneself and doing what is the “right thing” or tackling a controversial social issue. (Chariots of Fire, Eight Men Out and Million Dollar Baby)

Docudramas and Documentaries

Sport is an important component of our society. Many of us crave seeing the “behind the scenes” aspects of the games that mean so much to us. Few people ever get to personally know or meet their favourite sports celebrities. Some films, allows us to enter their worlds either through docudramas -which involve actors pretending to live through real events- (Hoosiers or Ali); or through real documentaries (More Than A Game or Murderball).

Mysticism

On the opposite end are films that focus on the idealizations of a sport (61). Some of these films border on mysticism (Field of Dreams and The Natural). Almost always, it seems as if filmmakers use baseball when covering this theme.

A sub category of sports films are comedies and science fiction fantasies.

Comedy

As far as the comedies go, they are usually good diversions from our day-to-day lives and when cleverly done either satirized the current state of a particular sport (Slap Shot) or those who take the games that we watch way too seriously (Caddy Shack or Happy Gilmour).

Slap Shot

Most films do not age well. They have expiry dates of approximately 2-3 years. Slap Shot, a crude comedy on hockey violence though appears to be a timeless classic. This was actor Paul Newman’s all time favourite film to make. You can see why. It must have been a fun working with this cast and crew and it certainly comes across in the final product. You really have to play competitive sports to appreciate Slap Shot. It is the Spinal Tap of sports movies. If you have been on a sports team, you’ll likely know someone who farcically resembles the characters on the Chiefs. Slap Shot has often gotten the label of being a “guy’s” movie. What most people don’t know is that it was written by a woman named Nancy Dowd. Also, Newman never played this game and the director George Roy Hill was from Britain- hardly a hockey going nation. The link for the film’s original trailer can be found at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=vW67agGgWAM

Science Fiction Fantasy And Quasi Sports Films

These types of films often depict present day social concerns by using a futuristic backdrop. Roller Ball for instance, reflected the growing concern of violence in 1970’s society. While I would not class the Hunger Games as a sports film, it strongly covers our society’s growing love of violence through sport. In a similar way, Gladiator covers the violence of ancient sport and is a wake-up call in terms of what we may be heading toward. Again, this film, like Hunger Games is at best a quasi sports movie.

Sticking to this theme, movie that could easily have been converted into a sports film was the Academy Award Winning Whiplash .

It is about a drummer who is vying to stay in a very prestigious music program in New York. The conductor is an insanely driven individual who pushes his students beyond what most can endure. In this film, I see significant parallels here with most professional sports coaches. I would hate to be a cusp player on a professional sports franchise. The pressure that top rate musicians and elite athletes have to endure- like cusp musical performers- is incredible.

Someone should take the core storyline of Whiplash and convert it into a sports film.

I consider Whiplash to be the best sports film that is not a sports film ever to be made. If you want, you can review this movie as one of your assignments and argue one way or other as to whether you agree with this statement.

Here’s the trailer if your interested in it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d_jQycdQGo

Fox Sports’ 30 Best Sports Movies of All Time

Finally, Fox Sports has put together a list of what it considers to be the best sports movies of all time. If you’re interested, then visit: http://www.foxsports.com/southwest/gallery/20-greatest-sports-movies-of-all-time-040514

If you know of any other links that would be appropriate for this unit, please forward them to me by e-mail. I would be most appreciative.

Summary

The number of sports films made is quite staggering. Hollywood sees sports as a medium to portray common social themes. Our love of these types of films is as strong as ever. Whether we are looking to energize ourselves with the prototypical “underdog” film, see society’s underbelly or escape this reality through comedy, we can now see why Hollywood also likes to “talk sports.”

Works Cited

CTV News. (“Is hockey’s popularity waning?” CTV News Online. August 15, 2009.

< http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090815/hockey_popularity_090815/20090815 >.

News. “Canada leads all hockey nations in players and rinks.” International Ice Hockey Federation 2001

< http://www.iihf.com/news/iihfpr4501.htm >.

Foot, David K. Boom Bust Echo : Profiting from the Demographic Shift in the 21st Century. Toronto: Stoddart, 2001.

Livingstone, Andrew. “Study shows drafting younger hockey players leads to more success.” Toronto Star. February 28, 2013.

< http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/2013/02/28/study_shows_drafting_younger_hockey_players_leads_to_more_success.html >.

Suggested Links

If your interested in learning more about demographics then visit David Foot’s personal website at: http://www.footwork.com/

Did you:

Read the online materials for this unit?

Are you now able to:

· Understand the importance of demographics and its impact on the future of sport?

· Apply your understanding of demographics on whether or not Canada will dominate in the sport of hockey?

· Determine when the next major crop of draft eligible superstars of sport will arrive?

· Gain a better understanding of how film portrays sport?

If so, you are now ready to proceed to the next unit.

If so, you are now ready to proceed to the next unit.