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The absence of Montreal in pop culture

graphic by Ana Bilokin

Exploring how the city’s French language hinders it from integrating with larger society

“Montreal? I’ve never heard of it.”

That’s what my cousin from the UK told me when I met her for the first time. She knew I lived in Canada, but the only Canadian city she knew was Toronto.

However, Montreal isn’t a stranger to the world—it’s Canada’s second biggest city. It’s the second largest primarily French-speaking city in the world, after Paris.

We have Just For Laughs, the largest international comedy festival in the world, held in Montreal every July. Dishes like poutine are known to taste better here than they do elsewhere. We’ve also got bagels and smoked meat, that are uniquely made here.

Despite its prominence, pop culture shies away from Montreal. It’s not commonly referred to as the best city in Canada. It’s not a cultural hub for food, sports or music. Why not? What does Montreal fail to offer that other major cities do?

It’s not a question of what the city doesn’t have. It’s what we do—French is what makes the city different, unlike any other North American city. Our official language makes us stand out from others, but it’s also the reason we’re excluded. Living in Montreal and in Quebec, there are things we don’t have access to because of language restrictions.

You won’t find some popular restaurant chains here, and I’m assuming it’s because their businesses don’t offer services in French. Red Lobster, Popeyes, and Nando’s are just a few of the restaurants that are English-based, and nowhere to be found in Quebec. The amount of money they would have to invest for translation purposes and whether these restaurants are in demand from Francophones is another issue to tackle. Not to mention, Quebec’s language laws, like Bill 101, which requires businesses to make French the most predominant language when offering their services.

In sports, we have the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens as a proud part of the city’s culture. The hockey team encourages sportsmanship, and brings people of different ages and backgrounds together to support a representative of Montreal. But back in 2012, Francophones protested outside of the Bell Centre for the exclusion of French-speakers in the Habs management––they had an English-speaking coach at the time and barely any Francophone players on the team, according to CBC News. Montreal is the only city in the NHL league that had to fight for language rights; the other teams are from American and Canadian cities, and are unable to relate to language being an integral part of a city’s culture.

Within the NBA, the only Canadian team in the league is the Toronto Raptors. Previously, the Vancouver Grizzlies existed but was merged into the Memphis Grizzlies. There are investors who’ve expressed interest to the NBA Commissioner in an expansion for a Montreal-based team, and even though the Raptors play an annual preseason game here, the NBA just isn’t French. Yet, according to Sportsnet, a Montreal team in the NBA would most likely be successful, based on a “market attractive index.”

In terms of local talent, Montreal is home to few popular artists. Sure, Leonard Cohen and Celine Dion are highly respected and have received notable achievements, and both called Montreal their home at a time in their life. But today, you probably won’t hear their music topping the charts. Popular artists in this generation are people like Drake, who shared his spotlight with Toronto and is credited for generating $440 million of the city’s tourism industry. Montreal, on the other hand, is lacking a comparable figure. Francophone artists seem to be more promoted than Anglophone artists. We see them given the opportunity to be on French shows like La Voix and Star Académie––opportunities the English-based artists wouldn’t have. The top two Montreal playlists on Spotify are French, with more than half the songs in French.

Pop culture is hard to define, but food, sports and music are just a few components of it. It’s more or less the same in different North American cities, but Montreal isn’t a part of western pop culture. I’m not saying this city lacks culture—I’m saying French makes it harder for us to integrate into larger society.

Graphic by Ana Bilokin

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Sports

Colour commentary: Athletes contracts are too high

Sports Editor Nicholas Di Giovanni gives his take on his latest in sports with his weekly Colour Commentary

Anthony Davis is the next player in line for a big pay day

I was listening to TSN 690 a few weeks ago on the drive to school, only half paying attention to stats and opinions about sports I don’t always understand. Then, I hear “US$240 million” and “five years” in the same sentence.

Anthony Davis, who’s played basketball with the New Orleans Pelicans since 2012, was offered a supermax deal worth US$240 million over five years and could be a free agent next summer. According to ESPN, he turned it down because he wants to be traded.

Now, I don’t really care about basketball. But what I do care about is how much money athletes are paid. If you think Davis’s contract sounds ludacris, it’s not even that extreme. He’s only the 24th best-paid NBA player and the 34th highest-paid athlete in 2018, according to Forbes. And for what? To run a court and shoot a ball in a basket?

But it isn’t just Davis or the NBA. The whole sports world makes no sense. An NBA player’s average annual salary is US$7.77 million; a MLB player’s is US$4.51 million; an NHL player can see US$2.78 million. But for what? To shoot, hit, kick, or throw a ball?

Why do these people need to be paid so much? Sure, they’ve probably spent every day since they were six practising and playing, working hard to get better, all with the dream of going pro. Then one day they achieve their dream, and are now making millions a year.

Professional athletes aren’t the only ones working hard to earn a living and make the best of their lives. It’s not like they’re saving lives or necessarily helping people, which would warrant, at least in my eyes, a much bigger paycheck than someone playing a sport.

It’s the entertainment aspect of the sports industry that’s the problem. The contracts to televise these events are so extravagant and unnecessary. Fans keep watching, which contributes to the problem. The more people watch, the higher the prices for tickets or merchandise is, and the cycle of too much money being invested into a sport is continued.

Just an example: Floyd Mayweather was the world’s highest paid athlete in 2018, according to Forbes, with US$285 million. Most of this was for his one fight against Conor McGregor; the match generated 4.3 million pay-per-view buys. For what? To avoid getting beaten by a UFC fighter with an attitude?

All of this to say that, while professional athletes do put all their blood, sweat and tears into their sport, and while they have made and continue to make sacrifices, at the end of the day, no one is worth that much money.

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Sports

Colour Commentary: A Rose blooms twice

Sports Editor Nicholas Di Giovanni gives his take on his latest in sports with his weekly Colour Commentary

Derrick Rose fights all odds to hit 50 points against Jazz

Derrick Rose, in his 11th NBA season off his injury-filled career, scored a career-high 50 points for the Minnesota Timberwolves against the Utah Jazz on Oct. 31. His game-winning block and basket sealed the win.

Timberwolves players mobbed Rose on the court as tears streamed down his face. They all knew how much this moment meant to him. The basketball world embraced Rose during his days as the youngest league MVP in history in 2010-11 with the Chicago Bulls.

After Rose’s anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear in his left knee in the 2012 playoffs, he had doubters, yet many people believed he would return to his former self. Suffering another injury in the 2013-14 season and having four knee surgeries, those believers were forced to watch him struggle to find a job. After being traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Utah Jazz in February 2018—his third team in three years—the Jazz dropped him without giving him the chance to play a single game.

Rose was almost out of the league completely, as only Minnesota was willing to sign him to a contract. Some would ask how the story of a millionaire athlete could be so inspiring. It’s not about the money, it’s about the adversity he faced within himself that made this performance so special.

Last February, a video surfaced of Rose playing basketball in a local gym in Cleveland. He was not on a roster. There was little press and cameras, no fans, just Rose and a local basketball player helping him workout.

As the injuries continued to pile up, even he doubted his basketball future, contemplating retirement before hitting 30 years old. Tom Thibodeau, his former coach in Chicago, was the only one willing to give him another chance, bringing him to the Timberwolves. Sometimes one person believing in you is all you need to pick yourself back up.

It was only fitting that, on Halloween night, Rose dressed up as his old self and scored a career-high 50 points, ironically, against the same team that waived him just nine months ago. He may never put on a performance like this again, but it doesn’t matter. After all the memes about his injuries and all the people trying to bury him, he never quit on himself.

This game will go down as one of the greatest moments in NBA history and for Rose, when asked post-game about what this moment meant to him, he said: “Everything. I worked my ass off. I did this for the franchise, the fans, the organization. I’m doing everything just to win, and tonight was a hell of a night.”

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Sports

Colour Commentary: Montreal basketball could work

Sports Editor Nicholas Di Giovanni gives his take on his latest in sports with his weekly Colour Commentary

Potential NBA team would need private money, cheap tickets to survive

On Oct. 10, a group of Quebec investors announced they were working to bring an NBA team to Montreal. Former cabinet minister Michael Fortier and Stéphan Crétier, a businessman, said that if the NBA ever expands from its 30-team league, they will be ready with a proposal.

The announcement came hours before the Toronto Raptors and Brooklyn Nets tipped off at the Bell Centre in a preseason game. Over 20,000 fans showed up to watch the Raptors beat the Nets 118-91, and the crowd was energetic.

Montrealers have seen this story play out before with a baseball team. There’s a group who seriously wants to bring an MLB team back to the city, and every year, the Toronto Blue Jays play preseason games in front of large crowds here in Montreal.

So here we are, going through this rodeo again. Rich businessmen want to bring another big-league sports team to a city that surprisingly only has one team in the top-four men’s professional leagues in North America. What makes this basketball project different from baseball is that we have an arena ready for a basketball team. The Bell Centre is a state-of-the-art facility ready to accommodate a basketball team alongside its hockey team. But could it work?

Both Fortier and Crétier said it would cost $1.5 to $2 billion to bring a team to Montreal, with Crétier saying he would invest 10 per cent of the cost. Rather than wanting the public’s money for funding, they want to attract other investors. I’m no finance student, but that price tag seems hefty considering it doesn’t include a new arena. A 2013 study by Ernest & Young concluded it would cost just over $1 billion for a Montreal baseball team, but it included building a new $467 million stadium, with money coming from the government.

Regardless of the actual cost of an NBA expansion team, the group of investors are approaching this from the right angle. They know the government won’t want to contribute public money (and why should they?), so they’re doing it privately.

Having fans at 41 home games every year, on top of 41 hockey games, is a hurdle that a potential team could face. The Canadiens have an average ticket price of $115, while the Raptors sell for an average of $145. I really don’t think Montreal basketball fans, especially young families, will be willing to dish out that money.

If a basketball team were to work in Montreal, its investors would need to fork over the money, and keep ticket prices low. There’s a possibility this could work, and I think there’s a market for a Montreal basketball team, but it will be a long shot.

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Sports

Previewing the 2017-18 NBA season

Western Conference teams got stronger this off-season with multiple acquisitions

Fans of the National Basketball Association (NBA) can rejoice as the wait for 2017-18 season ends on Oct. 17, with the Boston Celtics traveling to Cleveland to take on the Cavaliers. This past off-season was full of league-altering moves, as seven of last season’s All-Stars ended up with new teams. This has hoop fans drooling to see how these new-look rosters will click, and if any teams are good enough to topple the reigning champion Golden State Warriors. Here are three interesting stories to keep an eye on throughout the upcoming season.

Western dominance

Most of the big-time off-season moves saw big-name talent move from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference. Three perennial playoff teams in the Eastern Conference—the Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers and Atlanta Hawks—chose to move their former franchise players to the Western Conference in favour of rebuilding with younger players. Chicago traded shooting guard Jimmy Butler to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Indiana moved forward Paul George to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and forward Paul Millsap was traded from Atlanta to the Denver Nuggets.

The West was already widely considered the more talented conference of the two, winning three of the last four NBA champions. This influx of talent has created multiple contenders to be Western Conference champions, such as the Timberwolves and Thunder.

The Warriors, who didn’t lose a single playoff game in the Western Conference before last year’s final, will undoubtedly have a harder hill to climb in trying to be champions again this year.

The year of the rookie

This year’s draft class is being hailed as the best since the famous 2003 NBA Draft, which saw the likes of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony enter the league.

Now, multiple teams are counting on rookies to make an immediate impact. The Philadelphia 76ers drafted point guard Markelle Fultz with the first pick, and hope his addition to their collection of top prospects will help end their five-year playoff drought. The Los Angeles Lakers used the second pick on polarizing prospect Lonzo Ball. They hope the point guard’s court vision and passing ability can kickstart a new generation of stars in Los Angeles. Ninth pick Dennis Smith Jr. is the dark horse to win Rookie of the Year honours, as he is an athletic, scoring point guard who will play plenty of minutes for the Dallas Mavericks.

Pending free agents (LeBron James)

At the end of this season, James has an option on his contract that allows him to stay with the Cleveland Cavaliers or become a free agent. His big decision is inevitable, as he is likely to opt-out in search of more money, and maybe even a new team. Whether he acknowledges it or not, the success of his team this season will play a heavy role in his decision.

A number of All-Stars, such as Cleveland’s Isaiah Thomas, Houston Rockets’ Chris Paul and the New Orleans Pelicans’ DeMarcus Cousins, also have expiring contracts this year. If those teams are not successful this season, look for them to trade these players late in the season for prospects or draft picks, in case they plan to leave in the off-season.

Graphic by Ze Ze Lin.

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