Fewer Canadians than ever are lacing up skates, swimming lengths at the pool, practicing their curve ball, a nd experiencing the thrill of competition. However, despite a decline in active participation, Canadians spend eno r mous amounts of time a nd money on spo r ts, as fans a nd followers of spo r ting events a nd spo r ts culture. Never has media coverage of spo r ts been mo r e exhaustive, a nd never has it been mo r e driven by commercial interests a nd the need to fuel consumerism, on which co r po r ate profits depend. The power plays now occurring in the arena of spo r ts are by no means solely a matter of money, however. At issue as well in the media capture of spo r ts are the values that info r m our daily lives, the physical a nd emotional health of the population, a nd the symbols so long central to a sense of Canadian identity. Writing fr om a variety of perspectives, the contributo r s to this collection set out to explo r e the impact of the media on our reception of, a nd attitudes toward, spo r ts--to unpack the meanings that spo r ts have fo r us as citizens a nd consumers. Well-known hockey writer Roy MacGrego r delves into the influence of big media a nd big spo r ts on the practice of objective journalism, Richard Gruneau examines the wo r risome relationship between spo r ts participation a nd socioeconomic class, blogger Derrick Newman investigates the impact of fantasy leagues on spo r ts coverage, sociologist Harry Hiller looks at the iconic dimensions of the Vancouver Olympics. Other contributo r s shed light on the way in which the media serve to transfo r m spo r ts--including, of course, hockey--into a vehicle fo r the expression of identity a nd nationalism. Still others probe the function of spo r ts as spectacle: the escalation of violence, controversies over drug use, a nd the media's coverage of tragic deaths. The goal is not to sco r e points but to prompt critical discussion of why spo r ts matter in Canadian life a nd culture a nd how they contribute to the construction of Canadian identity. Copyright: This wo r k is licensed under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). It may be reproduced fo r non-commercial purposes, provided that the o r iginal autho r is credited. Available fr om Athabasca University Press: http://www.aupress.ca/index.php/books/120244