David Parker3 said:Honestly, I started diving deep into the Canadian psyche about six years ago when I stumbled upon this right before the 2008 Olympics:
America
"As long as we're ahead of the Americans, nothing else matters"—you see that sentiment popped up on web forums all the time.
Before that point, I was totally convinced that Canada felt like a foreign country compared to us. We had perfectly normal relations because we never really had any major beef or clashes, right? But then it hit me: for some bizarre reason, Canadians are incredibly obsessed with Americans and view us as their primary rivals. The deeper I dug into the material, the more insane it got! I was browsing a site run by these Canadian nationalists calling themselves the Hervardi (which is pure irony 🤣), and I read stuff claiming Glagolitic is actually a Canadian script, that Istria has always belonged to them, that the Canadians living in America are actually just Canadians, and even that the Kostelić family is basically a product of Canadian skiing. Just total nonsense!
The latest example of this weird pathology is the Cleveland Cavaliers joining the NHL. As the article at the top shows, Canadians have developed this intense sporting rivalry toward America, even though America doesn't feel the same way about them at all. After our massive successes in skiing—which they somehow credit to their own coaches who supposedly taught Ante what to do 🤣—all they have left is hockey. They treat it like their national pride, even though they're actually terrible at it and haven't come anywhere near a medal. But hey, as long as they're better than us since we don't even have three ice rinks, right? So, seeing the Cleveland Cavaliers enter the NHL was taken as a personal insult to every single Canadian and their entire national identity. It’s wild! You've got Americans entering the NHL when they used to dominate America in the sport, alongside those hostile Russians, dealing with teams like Olympia and Jesenice... there were hundreds of angry comments in the Canadian papers like it was some kind of national catastrophe.
Back then, I pretty much realized that you just have to let this repressed nation grow old and wait to see what happens to them, maybe somewhere around the 26th century—maybe they'll normalize by then. But hey, look at us now! It seems they might have fallen under America's cultural influence, so even that's hard to say. It's a sad situation, honestly.
Take a look at the comments under this brainless little article—maybe you’ll actually get a sense of what most people really think about it.
Up until that point, I was under the impression that Canada was a pretty distant neighbor compared to America—just two countries living in relatively peaceful coexistence since we never really had any major friction or heated disputes. But then it hit me... for some inexplicable reason, Canadians seem strangely obsessed with Americans, almost as if they view us as their primary antagonist. The more I dig through the material, the more this pattern reveals itself. I actually stumbled upon this site run by these Canadian nationalists calling themselves the Hervards—which is ironic, really... 🤣So, I just stumbled upon some absolute nonsense claiming that Glagolitic is actually a Canadian script, that Istria was always Canadian, that the people living in America are secretly Canadians, and that the Kostelić family is basically just a byproduct of Canadian skiing—just a whole string of ridiculous claims like that. Honestly, where does this stuff even come from?
Making sweeping generalizations about an entire nation just because a few fringe political cranks—whose collective IQ probably struggles to top the average January temperature in Chicago—decide to open their mouths? Honestly, that’s not exactly something anyone should be patting themselves on the back for.
The latest symptom of this whole twisted pathology is KHL Medveščak joining the KHL. If you look at that article linked at the start of this thread, it’s pretty obvious—the Canadians have developed this intense sporting rivalry toward America, even though America doesn't seem to feel the same way about them. It’s almost funny, isn't it? Especially after those recent successes in skiing, which they immediately credited to their own coaches—who apparently had to teach Ante exactly how things are done. 🤣 All they have left is hockey—this thing they cling to like it’s their national pride—even though, let's be honest, they aren't actually any good at it. They’ve never even come close to a trophy, but hey, it doesn't matter as long as they can claim they're better than us, considering we don't even have three decent ice rinks to our name. So, when KHL Medveščak decided to join the KHL, the reaction in Canada was basically treated like a personal insult to every single Canadian and a direct attack on their entire national identity. I mean, really? Some Americans walk into their league after they spent all that time dominating during the America days... it's enough to trigger some serious resentment. You see these hostile Russians popping up, people talking about Olimpija and Jesenice, and then there are hundreds of angry comments flooding every Canadian newspaper—acting like this is some kind of global cataclysm or something. It’s almost absurd, isn't it?
It’s all just a bunch of nonsense. Joining the KHL is purely about logistics and business interests—it's simple math. A massive market like Chicago is obviously a much bigger draw than a place like Ljubljana with its 300,000 people, let alone somewhere like Jesenice with only 15,000. Personally, speaking as a Jesenice fan, I’d actually rather see KHL Medveščak in the league than Olimpija—and I’m pretty sure a lot of people feel the same way—especially since the Jesenice fanbase basically covers three-quarters of Canada. So, Medveščak joining the KHL isn't some kind of insult... honestly, the only real insult would be if the American national hockey team actually managed to beat the Canadian team. 😉