Latvian ICE Hockey Part 4: Why so popular in Latvia?!

Рет қаралды 746

Ай бұрын

Sveiki!
Ice hockey is undeniably the most popular sport in Latvia but why? Soviet influence or northern heritage - find out in this video@
Mentioned:
Archive footage of Hockey played in 1937:www.redzidzirdilatviju.lv/lv/...
Varia Vīķe Freiberga NATO 2002 speech: • Vaira Vīķe Freiberga N...
Brencis, Ozols, 2010 article eis.ktu.lt/index.php/EIS/arti...
My reddit research: / research_on_latvian_ic...
If you can’t wait for the next part and want to see the full film now (35 minutes of hockey goodness), head over to my Patreon page : / irregularlatvian

Пікірлер: 17

@ktfgopro2002 28 күн бұрын

i love your lessons and it has enhanced my relationships with the Latvian people.

@mysterkourdo8967 Ай бұрын

I am not Latvian, my wife is. She is a reasonable, polite, balanced and calm person. Attentive mother and wife... Until (and only) when Latvija Ice-Hockey team plays a game. Fascinating to see really.

@irregularLatvian Ай бұрын

😹 for some reason that makes me instantly very proud of your wife :):) True Latvian you’ve got there

@jean-michel.a 24 күн бұрын

Merci

@TotalRookie_LV Ай бұрын

Basketball and volleyball were also pretty big in Latvia, IIRC in 1990s Latvia set world record for the number of participants in streetball contest. Nearly everyone played it to some degree, even I, despite being a bookworm.

@irregularLatvian Ай бұрын

I was so jealous of people who knew how to play basketball. I… sucked at sport SO much :D

@pigscanflyhigh8464 Ай бұрын

I'd say hockey became so popular due to early success and that in turn made it a vehicle of our national expression and kind of fueled our further success consequently engraving the sport into our national identity. Also Role models like Sandis Ozolinš, Artūrs Irbe, Sergejs Žoltoks played their part. Before them Helmuts Balderis (Soviet-Latvian hockey superstar) was someone to look up to. I assume basketball in Lithuania followed similar route. As far as I know Estonia didn't have similar success or traditions in neither Hockey or Basketball.

@irregularLatvian Ай бұрын

Thanks for this perspevtive. :) Apart from singing, what are other areas Latvians excel at?

@lkrnpk Ай бұрын

Ice hockey became popular in Latvia in 1930s, but Soviet era Riga Dinamo team and its coach Viktor Tikhonov played a huge part in making it as popular as it now. Also the 1988 Soviet league where Dinamo dud not win, but got to the final. Before Tikhonov in the 70s hockey was definitely less popular than football/soccer which yes, before that was the top sport in Latvia, and also less popular than basketball. But in the Soviet league it was hard for a football club from small country to be successful, so football lost its pre-war popularity in time. Also Tikhonov’s Dinamo rise in the 70s coincided with time when basketball was also not doing that well, which helped hockey’s popularity. So in a way Soviet era is the answer why it is so popular. If not for Soviets, most likely football would still be most popular sport here at least when it comes to domestic competition as it would be hard to compete internationally. And you might say there is still way more money in Latvian football league than in basketball or hockey leagues, it might be Russian oligarch or local Russian businessmen/company money, but still…

@lkrnpk Ай бұрын

But I mean, who knows. But ice hockey was also popular in Estonia until it wasn’t and Tikhonov bringing struggling Riga Dinamo team back to top hockey competition and rise of Helmuts Balderis is the difference between the two. And pre independence 1988 was important date too, again coincided with lack of results in basketball at the time

@irregularLatvian Ай бұрын

Thanks for your comment! This was one interesting video to research. I really went with a feeling that there’s more to ice hockey than sport in Latvia. I backed it up by the info I got on Reddit, from friends etc. But when I read comments like yours it just makes me so humble and aware that societal things are complex. History and culture are so cool!

@gordonstewart5774 Ай бұрын

Could the geography of Latvia with its large coastline distinguish it from its neighbors? (I have been wanting to say, you look like you are holding a cookie in your left hand.)

@irregularLatvian Ай бұрын

Hahaha, you mean the microphone? What do you think - it’s a new one. Is the sounds better than before? :)

@gordonstewart5774 Ай бұрын

@@irregularLatvian It's not that much better. I prefer when you talk with both hands ;)