Two Ours Traffic

I mentioned on Facebook once about how European hockey tournaments always have cars - specifically Skodas - on display. That is, just beyond the boards in the corners, on stands that I presume are over top of seats. That's a sad commentary on the popularity of the sport: Presumably Skoda pays more for this space than tourney organizers could get selling the seats. There's no way that would make financial sense here.

This week, while watching the World Hockey Championships, I noticed that the message board under one of these cars was displaying the hashtag #itsourgame. I had that experience of not being sure where the words begin and end - surely there's a word for that, it happens with hashtags, e-mail addresses, URLs and so many things in our world. So I misread it as, "it sour game." Okay, sure, Slovenia-Norway isn't one of the more important games of the tourney, but there's no call for ridicule from the main sponsor.

Quickly, I realized it was supposed to be "it's our game." Is it too much to ask that you capitalize the words so it's easier to read? (#ItsOurGame) That does have a name: CamelCase.

Anyway, I've mentioned before about how Canadians have a neurotic need to tell everyone who will listen that hockey is our game, even if "everyone who will listen" is usually just us. And we love being reassured that it's our game so much, that we'll even hear it from foreign brands.

But wait a minute - Skoda doesn't sell on this side of the Atlantic. They were sending out that claim on the sport's ownership to their fellow Europeans. It's not often you see that. Whenever Canadians have proclaimed that "this is our game," I always wondered who was arguing against us, and now I finally know.

I wondered what form this argument might take, so I went on Twitter and looked up the #itsourgame hashtag. I wasn't sure what I'd find. Boorish Swedes that mirrored our Canadian hockey blowhards? Maybe a huge flame war as Canadians took umbrage with the claim?

Actually, it was mostly Skoda promoting the tournament and various games within it. A few Europeans of different nationalities had picked it up and were using the hashtag to check-in that they were watching it too. There were indeed a few Canadians using the tag, but they mostly seemed oblivious to its use with the World Championship. (Interestingly, one of the Canadians was referring not to hockey, but to the CFL.)

While reading one tweet from a French fan that used the hashtag, it hit me: the tag is in English. I know, what did I expect, Esperanto? Of course, they have to choose one language and go with it, and English is the most universal alternative. (Although from what I’ve seen of the European Union, I’m surprised there isn’t some regulation that hashtags have to be translated into all members’ official languages.) English is a widely spoken second language in Nordic countries, which probably account for a lot of the tournament’s audience, so I get it. But the situation still demonstrates just how complete the domination of English is: To reach European hockey fans, they’re using a language whose only European speakers are fond of neither Europe nor hockey.