Author Archives: Gabrielle Ramsum

Bo Jackson

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Bo Jackson

Source Image: Davide Costanzo, "Bo Jackson", 2012, 
Via www.flickr.com/photos/badswan/8282722328

Vincent Edward “Bo” Jackson is an American former professional baseball and football player. While he was in high school he played football and baseball. Although he also was a two time state championship in the decathlon where he did indoor high jump and triple jump.

In 1982, he was selected by the New York Yankees in the second round but he chose to attend Auburn University with a football scholarship. During college, he did football, baseball as well as track and field.

After college, he was picked first overall in the 1986 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, he refused to play for them. However, he did go for the Kansas City Royals, who drafted him in the fourth round in the 1986 Major League Baseball draft. They released him just five years later. 16 days after he was released from the Royals, the Chicago White Sox offered him a three-year deal. In 1994, he signed a one-year deal with the California Angels. After that season, he decided to retire from baseball at the age of 32.

Now in the middle of playing baseball, he was also playing football and was part of the 1987 NFL Draft, where he was selected in the seventh round by the Los Angeles Raiders. He had originally chosen to focus on baseball and didn’t want to sign, however, his interest piqued when he learned the owner of the Raiders was a fan of his. He joined the Raiders just in time for their Week 8 matchup against the New England Patriots. He suffered a career-ending injury and had to retire in 1991.

He had suffered an injury to his left hip. It was dislocated by a tackle during a football game. Apparently he popped his hip back into the socket, which damaged the blood vessels supplying blood to the hip. However, doctors did not find proof that Jackson reset his hip and they did discover that there was a fracture in one of his hip bones. He also suffered necrosis to the bone tissue. This forced his retirement from football and caused him to have a hip replacement in 1992.

After he had to end his career, he went on to get a Bachelor of Science degree in Family and Children Development at the same university he went to back in 1982. Throughout the 90s, he also dabbled in acting. He’s also done a lot of brand deals since. He had become a popular figure for his athleticism in multiple sports throughout the 80s and 90s, one ad campaign that he did for Nike was called “Bo Knows”.

He was inducted into the Royals Hall of Fame in March 2024.

Steve Nash

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Steve Nash and Andre Miller

Source Image: benefit1970, 'Steve Nash and Andre Miller', 2009,
Via www.flickr.com/photos/35054524@N03/4013795016/

Stephen John Nash also known as Steve Nash is a Canadian professional basketball coach and former player.

As a kid, he played soccer and ice hockey with his younger brother, he also played lacrosse and rugby. He didn’t actually start playing basketball until he was about 12 or 13. In Grade 8 he told his mother one day he would play for the NBA and become a star. He was not recruited by any University until the Santa Clara coach Dick Davey and requested video footage. He was awarded a scholarship by Santa Clara University for the 92-93 season. In the 95 to 96 season, he began to attract the attention of national media and professional scouts.

After graduating with a degree in sociology he was selected for the first round of the 1996 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns. Suns fans weren’t very happy about this. During his second season, he ranks 13th in the league 3-point field goal percentage. During the 1998 NBA Draft, he was actually traded from the Suns to the Dallas Mavericks. During the 1999 to 2000 season, he missed 25 mid-season games due to an ankle injury but came back to record 6 double-doubles in the last months of play. He led Canada to a silver medal at the 1999 Tournament of the Americas which qualified the team for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. His career highs came in the season of 2001-2002 with an average of 17.9 points and 7.7 assists per game.

After the 2003 to 2004 season, he became a free agent. He attempted to negotiate a long term contract with Mark Cuban. However, the Phoenix Suns made a better deal and he returned to the Suns for the 2004-2005 season. During the season, he became the first and only Canadian, at the moment, to earn the NBA MVP award. He ended up getting the award a second time the next season. During the 2006-2007 season here under that being one of the few people at the time to average 18.6 points and a career-high of 11.6 assists per game during a regular season. Towards the end of the 2011-2012 season, he was awarded the PBWA’s Magic Johnson Award which was his last season with the Phoenix Suns.

In the summer of 2012, the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Nash in a sign-and-trade deal with the Phoenix Suns. In his second game of the 2012-2013 season, he suffered a non-displaced fracture in his left leg after a collision with a member of the Portland Trail Blazers. He was out of the lineup for about 7 weeks when it was only supposed to be 1 week. He also ended up missing the last eight games of the season with a right hip injury that had caused nerve damage to his right hamstring. He ended up missing a total of 32 games in the regular season. He continued to suffer from nerve problems into the next season. In July of 2014, he announced the 2014-2015 season was gonna be his last. During pre-season, he experienced back pain that also ended up reoccurring during games.

In May 2012, he became the general manager of the Canadian senior national team and transitioned into a Senior Advisor role in 2019. In September 2015 he had taken on a part-time consulting role for the Golden State Warriors. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame three years after his retirement. From 2020 to 2022 he coached the Brooklyn Nets.

Books, Cinema, and TV Shows in Pop Culture

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CB068378

Source Image: Raoul Luoar, 'CB068378', 2011,
Via www.flickr.com/photos/72006245@N05/6506066531/

There are some books that actually helped pop culture. A specific genre that actually helped pop culture is young adult fiction. With books like ‘Harry Potter’, ‘Hunger Games’, and ‘Twilight’. They all became cultural phenomenon’s. Each got its own set of movies. Or you have a book like ‘Ready Player One’, which has just a bunch of references to pop culture.

BookTok became very big on TikTok. Do you know how many books I’ve bought because of TikTok? I probably can’t give you an exact number. But I hear about them and want to buy them or at least read them.

Although some of the films that actually made an impact were ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ which brought global warming to more perspective. ‘Bambi’ caused a drop in hunting. ‘Super Size Me’ gave light to what happens when you eat fast food for an entire month. However, I put ‘V for Vendetta’ into the mix, where it inspired the hacktivist group Anonymous. Even movies like ‘Titanic’, ‘Star Wars’, and ‘The Avengers’ have had an influence in pop culture itself. ‘The Avengers’ just started out as a comic book. Well, at least different comic books that ended up all coming together to form ‘The Avengers’.

Some people would argue that comic books weren’t very popular but got more popular when we ended up with superhero movies.

Sitcoms became very popular. With shows like ‘Friends’, ‘Seinfeld’, ‘How I Met Your Mother’, and ‘The Big Bang Theory’. Both ‘How I Met Your Mother’ and ‘The Big Bang Theory’ both got spinoffs. And I mean ‘Big Bang’ got a spin-off of a spin-off.

Yes, books, films, and TV Shows don’t always go together. But I put them together because they have a different way of influencing us in pop culture. Books are how we got some of our favourite movies and have influenced some TV shows that I’ve even watched. For TV shows that were books before like ‘Game of Thrones’, ‘13 Reasons Why’, ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, or even ‘Pretty Little Liars’ and ‘Bones’. You also have any DC show or Marvel show that derived from the comics.

I can probably bet you that you’ve seen somebody cosplay a DC character or Marvel character. I know I have, but I’ve also been to many, many conventions. But I’ve also seen them online. I’ve also seen cosplays of people from ‘The Handsome Tale’ and ‘Game of Thrones’. And many people have read the ‘Harry Potter’ books, not including myself ’cause I have yet to read them but I do own them. And even though most of us don’t like JK Rowling, I’m pretty sure a lot of us know what our Hogwarts house is.

Counterculture

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Hippies

Source Image: Travis Simon, 'Hippies', 2009,
Via www.flickr.com/photos/travis_simon/4009899340/

Counterculture was an anti-establishment cultural phenomenon and political movement. It was a big thing in the mid-60s to mid-70s. The people that were normally involved in this were called hippies or flower children.

You have so many movements that happened during this era. You have the civil rights movement, The Black Power movement, the Free Speech Movement, the sexual revolution, as well as the Women’s liberation movement. Granted, most of this happened in the US. But to be fair, we watch a lot of what happens in the US.

During this time, there was a lot of experimentation when it came to clothing and Hollywood and music. Musical acts like The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin and Bob Dylan all came with a new sound. That we hadn’t heard really before. The Beatles are one of the biggest bands to exist. There were less restrictions when it came to censorship for films. One of the films created during this time that was very popular was Bonnie and Clyde. And this is when the miniskirt was invented as well. They were very popular as well as jeans were very popular as well.

Of course, this time was mostly known for the movements as well as the protests that happened. It all depended where you were in the world. In France, you had French students uniting and nearly toppling the government. Or in Mexico, you had the youth revolt. Or you had The Digger publishing monthly between 1972 and 1975 and served as a national outlet for many movements within Australia.

Music was a big thing during this time. Bob Dylan himself was a protester and sang it in his lyrics too. And I mean, Jimi Hendrix started his career at the Monterey Pop Festival And ended up at the 1969 Woodstock Festival with other acts like Santana, Sly and the Family Stone, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Creedence Clearwater Revival and even The Who. Or if you want a Canadian band The Band even played.

Again, there’s a lot to go over with Counterculture. But the effect it had on us. I mean, it took. 40-50 some-odd years but some drugs are legalized. We have more women’s rights and expanded our clothing styles. We’re not as afraid to push the boundary.

Yes, counterculture still exists today. But is it ever actually going to go away because I honestly think it probably won’t. But honestly, who knows what will happen in the future.

Cancel Culture

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Microphone head

Source Image: Andy Dudley, 'Microphone head', 2008,
Via www.flickr.com/photos/sparetomato/2641110677

A Culture that is more relevant now than ever is Cancel Culture. Now, cancel culture is a cultural phenomenon in which an individual, usually a celebrity or a public figure, thought to have acted or spoken in an unacceptable manner is shunned. That is the best definition of it that you’re getting from me.

Now, the origin of cancel culture actually started in the 1980s but gained more popularity in the 2010s. Cancel culture does hold that person accountable for what they’ve done, although some people don’t actually care.

This can materialize in different ways. One of which is online mobs which is the one I think we see more nowadays. This can also be categorized as cyber bullying. They try to get people to take their own lives, dox people, or destroy folks lives for minor offences. Now don’t get me wrong, not everybody does do this. But there was an instance in 2019 where the trans community tried to cancel Dave Chappelle. And a young up and coming trans comedian defended him, and the mob turned on her, she ended up killing herself six days later. I remember when author Lauren Hough became a victim of cancel culture. The reason why was because she was reading reviews. Which, if you’re an author, you shouldn’t be doing either way but that is beside the point. People had flooded her Goodreads page with one star reviews because of it. These are awake 2 examples of online mobs.

Another one is trying to get people fired for speaking out. Now, in 2020, a children’s author by the name of Gillian Phillips was fired from her publisher. Now you might wonder why. She has changed her Twitter handle to include the hashtag #IStandWithJKRowling. That is what got her fired from her publisher. Now I get it. Don’t worry, I got it. It’s just people have their own opinions.

Other ways it’s materializes is disinviting speakers, self-censorship, and governmental pressure which yes, can also happen. It doesn’t happen often but it does happen. Now, government pressure is here because the legislators in public officials realized that they can leverage a version of cancel culture to punish corporations who don’t toe the right line. One example of this is that in 2022 when Florida passed a lot of revoking Walt Disney Company special tax status.

I will not say cancel culture is right or wrong because everybody has their own opinion. But I do have to say it’s not right to bully someone into doing anything. But that is the only stance that I have on the subject.

Cosplay, Manga, and Anime in Pop Culture

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Comic Con Sign

Source Image: Gage Skidmore, 'Comic Con Sign', 2007,
Via www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/2168599682/

Anime, also known as Japanese animation, began in Japan in the 1960s. A lot of earlier artists associated with anime were often creators of popular Japanese manga. The first anime that made it to North America was ‘Astro Boy’ in 1963. Four seasons were made, but only two actually aired in North America.

Anime got more popular in the 1990s and early 2000s. This is when it exploded in North America. With shows like ‘Sailor Moon’, ‘Naruto’, ‘Dragon Ball Z’ and ‘Pokémon’ becoming staples in kids programming.

Even now, anime influences a lot of our TV shows and movies. From shows like ‘Avatar: the Last Airbender’ and ‘Teen Titans’ in its style to movies like ‘The Matrix’ that acknowledge the inspiration from works like ‘Ghost in the Shell’.

Even manga has influenced us in our storytelling. Particularly how it is structured and told.

Anime and manga have both influenced the gaming culture. Although, I think the video game that I can think of right off the bat is ‘Pokémon’ which was a cultural phenomenon by itself. With it having an expansive amount of video games, cards for the card game, as well as the anime itself.

Even in all of this it also influences our music and our fashion. In music, it influences our music videos to make them more anime-like. Whereas in fashion we have merch or cosplay.

Cosplay, also known as costume play originated in Japan in the 1970s. It involves dressing up as characters from anime, manga, video games, movies, and other forms of pop culture. It started to gain more popularity in North America in the 1980s.

Cosplay became more popular in the 2000s. Cosplayers would wear cosplays from TV shows and movies. This is also when cosplays got a lot more elaborate and creative. Nowadays you can use 3D printing to help make your cosplays and props.

It influenced us into having conventions. One of the earliest conventions was the Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Comics Convention which took place in San Diego, California in 1970. This convention is now known as the San Diego Comic-Con, an event that people Cosplay at all the time. Although the first anime-specific convention documented was in the US in 1981 and held in New York City and it was called AnimeCon.

Here in Canada, we have Fan Expo as well as Anime Revolution. Fan Expo is our Comic-Con, which I’ve been to many times as well as Fan Expo.

Pop Punk in Pop Culture

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Paramore 03.07.2014 @Parahoy

Source Image: Laurence Dion, 'Paramore 03.07.2014 @Parahoy', 2014,
Via www.flickr.com/photos/laulawsky/13128820715/

Pop punk was a cultural phenomenon. It originated in the 1970s, but became more popular in the 90s and early 2000s. One of the first times the term pop punk was used in paper was in a New York Times article that was published in March 1977. The article was written by John Rockwell to describe Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Bands like the Ramones, The Clash and the Sex Pistols laid the groundwork for the genre in the 70’s. But it was bands like Green Day, Blink-182, and The Offspring that really brought it to the forefront, mostly for the more relatable, rebellious, and catchy lyrics.

Even here in Canada, we had Sum 41, Simple Plan, and Marianas Trench, just to name a few. And I even listen to these ones. Marianas Trench is one of my favourite bands to listen to to this day. They do do more than just pop punk nowadays.

Pop punk didn’t only revolve around music, it also influenced fashion. Pop punk fashion was characterized as having an edgy, rebellious aesthetic, and incorporated elements like ripped jeans, fan T-shirts, leather jackets, colourful hair, and some statement pieces.

Pop-punk fashion has just seemed to stay with us. With stores such as Hot Topic capitalizing on the popularity of pop punk. It sells a lot of punk-inspired designs as well as band T-shirts.

A lot of movies of the 2000s even had pop punk artists appear in them, or at least their songs. Such as Paramore’s ‘Decode’ being in Twilight. Or you have EuroTrip with the song ‘Scotty Doesn’t Know’ by Lustra but in the movie was performed by Matt Damon. The song is used as a plot device in the movie. Although I think one of my favourite instances of pop punk being in a TV show is from One Tree Hill where Fall Out Boy has a three-episode arc.

It started underground, went into the mainstream, and then went back underground. But it’s back in the mainstream again with artists such as Olivia Rodrigo, Machine Gun Kelly, and Yungblud.

Even Olivia Rodrigo’s song ‘Good 4 U’ was inspired by Paramore’s 2007 song ‘Misery Business’. Or at least the chorus was. One of the genres that influenced her for the song was pop punk. And I mean, this song only came out in 2021 so it still influences us to this day.

Pop Culture a Brief History

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John Paul George and Ringo

Source Image: Terry Kearney, 'John Paul George and Ringo', 2017,
Via www.flickr.com/photos/oneterry/32256424340

Culture comes in many different forms. When we talk about culture most people think about traditional culture which includes clothing, ceremonies, and even belief systems. However, culture can also be what we see in our regular lives such as sports, film, anime, etc. Most of this we call pop culture which is short for popular culture. Pop culture is spread through mass media.

The phrase “popular culture” was coined in or around the 19th century. It all started with a serialized novel that became popular. They were published in magazines or newspapers in order to reach a wide range of people.

With the development of film in the late 19th century, people were able to watch recorded video which revolutionized pop culture. In the 1920’s you had the popularity of jazz music, flapper fashion and film.

Even with the introduction of television in the 1940s and 1950s, it brought pop culture into people’s homes. It was much easier to get your fill of pop culture considering it helped raise the rock’n’roll music scene and youth culture. Most notably, you had Elvis Presley and The Beatles. The Beatles became a global sensation during this time.

In the 1960s you had the counterculture movement when teenagers started to challenge mainstream values and norms.

The 1970s went for more hip-hop influences and saw the video game industry begin to flourish with games like ‘Space Invaders’.

In the 1980s you have music and TV combined into MTV (Music Television Channel) and one of the biggest pop stars of the time Michael Jackson revolutionized it with his hit ‘Thriller’ in 1983.

More recently the biggest change in pop culture was the creation of social media in the early 2000s. Social media has become a big part of all of our lives and it’s one of the best ways for us to consume pop culture.

Things have changed so much in the span of just a hundred years. Now we have so many ways to get our fill of pop culture because of the internet. With the advent of the mobile phone, we can now get that content anywhere we go.

There will always be concerns about how we mainly consume pop culture now because we are constantly on our phones. Some people reading this might even be reading it on their phones. You don’t know. But pop culture is so much more than just social media, it’s part of history and we can’t change that.

McDavid VS Gretzky

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Wayne Gretzky

So you might wonder why I have Wayne Gretzky and Connor McDavid in the same article, but I do have some reasons for it, other than they both played for the Edmonton Oilers. The records achieved and the awards received are insane.

Wayne Douglas Gretzky is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player for the Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues, and New York Rangers. His nickname was The Great One and he retired when he was 38 in 1999. Now Connor Andrew McDavid is a current Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL. He is currently 27.

Gretzky has won the Hart Memorial Trophy as an NHL Most Valuable Player 9 times, 8 of which were in a row. Whereas Connor has only had it three times so far in his career. However, McDavid and Gretzky are the only players in the 97-year history of the award to win the trophy by unanimous selection. McDavid has got him beat for being the youngest captain in NHL history at only 19 years old. McDavid and Gretzky are the only two Oilers in history to reach 20 points in 11 games during back-to-back seasons.

Gretzky played with the Oilers from 1979 to 1988. There is even the “Gretzky Rule” that was part of a package of five rule changes to be implemented in the 85 to 86 season. The NHL Board of Governors Society introduced offsetting penalties where neither team lost a man when coincidental penalties were called. The Oilers faced a lot of four-on-four or three-on-three situations with the opponent. Although after winning the Hart Memorial Trophy, Gretzky had criticized the NHL for punishing the teams and players who previously benefited. This is when the rule change became known as the “Gretzky Rule”, although the rule was reversed for the 1992 to 1993 season. He spent 1988 to 1996 with the Los Angeles Kings until he was traded to the St. Louis Blues. But he wasn’t there for long. In the summer of 1996, Gretzky signed as a free agent with the New York Rangers and remained there until he retired after the 1998-99 season. Gretzky has so many records that I can’t even count them. If I did this would be too long. Although I do also have to mention that Wayne Gretzky also has his own award, the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award. It’s awarded annually to the Most Valuable Player in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. Although you also have The Wayne Gretzky International Award that’s presented by the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. And the Wayne Gretzky Trophy that is awarded annually to the playoff championship of the OHL’s Western Conference.

Now McDavid has won the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award. But he also has a few records. Including, obviously, youngest captain in NHL history. McDavid broke 1 of Gretzky’s records this past playoff season. McDavid achieved 34 assists in the playoffs beating Gretzky’s previous record of 31. Who knows what other records he might actually break? All I know is that their stats are pretty close to each other.

Joe Sakic

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Joe Sakic Colorado Avalanche

Source Image: Håkan Dahlström, 'Joe Sakic Colorado Avalanche', 1997,
Via www.flickr.com/photos/dahlstroms/257173433

Joseph Steven Sakic also known as Joe Sakic is a Canadian professional ice hockey executive and former player. He played his entire 21-year NHL career with Quebec Nordiques which later moved to the Colorado Avalanche. He was nicknamed Burnaby Joe, for the fact that he grew up in Burnaby.

Like I said, he was born in Burnaby, BC to 2 immigrant parents from Croatia. He didn’t actually learn to speak English until he was in kindergarten as Croatian is his mother’s tongue. He played hockey growing up. He modelled himself after his idol, Wayne Gretzky, but he had to use his skill rather than size. He ended up scoring 83 goals in 156 points in 80 games for the Burnaby BC Selects while attending school at Burnaby North Secondary. But soon after that, he was added to the Lethbridge Broncos of the WHL for the last part of the 85-86 season. During the next season, the Broncos relocated to Swift Current, Saskatchewan and so they became the Swift Current Broncos.

On their way home on December 30th, 1986, after going against the Regina Pats they faced some bad weather and the bus crashed after the driver lost control just outside of Swift Current. Joe was unharmed but four of his teammates were killed. This had a lasting impact on him and he declined to talk about the crash throughout his career.

He was named the WHL’s Most Valuable Player and Canadian Major Junior Player of the Year for the 1987 to 1988 season.

He was drafted 15th overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft. Instead of making an immediate jump into the NHL, he told the Nordiques management he would prefer to spend the 87-88 season with Swift Current to prepare for the NHL. He made his professional debut in 1988. Joe became Co-captain just two years after he started and then became sole captain in 1992. Under his leadership, the Nordiques made the playoffs for the first time in six years and set a franchise record for wins and points in the process which has since been broken by the 2021-2022 Colorado Avalanche team.

In May 1995, the Nordiques announced that the team had been sold and relocated from Quebec to Denver, Colorado. Joe led the team to a Stanley Cup championship in the first year. While playing his first Olympics with Team Canada, he suffered a knee injury which forced him to miss 18 games with the Avalanche in the 1997-1998 season. He led the Avalanche to their second Stanley Cup championship in their 2000 to 2001 season and instead of hoisting up the cup, he broke tradition and gave it to one of his team members, Ray Bourque, who had waited 22 seasons to win a Stanley Cup.

Joe also played some international games as well. In 1988 he helped the Canadian junior team win the 1988 World Junior Championships. In the 1991 World Championship, Joe helped Team Canada win silver. He played in the 1994 World Championships for Canada and won gold. His first Olympic appearance came in 1998 at the Nagano, Japan Olympics where he suffered a knee injury. Joe also played in the Olympics in 2002 in Salt Lake City where they won gold. His final Olympic appearance was the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy where he was captain of Team Canada. Unfortunately, they failed to medal.

He announced his retirement in July 2009 and the Avalanche retired his jersey number 19 prior to the 2009-2010 season. A C on the banner represents his lengthy service as team captain, having been captain of the Avalanche until he retired. They also named him the inaugural member of the Avalanche Alumni Association.

In 2011, two years after his retirement, he returned to the Avalanche to work in their front office. Joe was named Executive Advisor and Alternate Governor of the team. In 2012, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and in 2013, he was promoted to Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations. In 2014, Joe was named General Manager and remained in this position until 2022 when the Avalanche announced that he would be ceding the General Manager title to longtime assistant Chris MacFarland and assuming a new role as President of the Hockey Association.

He is only one of four players to captain his team to the Stanley Cup championship and win the Hart Memorial Trophy in the same year.