100 Greatest Moments in Canadian Sports

Veronica: Hi! I am Veronica of watchmojo.com and today we are speaking with the author of '100 Greatest Moments in Canadian Sports'. A book that sure to has sports fans arguing. James Bisson: There were a few things I wanted to do accomplish. I wanted a chance to create a reference material for people where they could go and they could say, oh, you know, all of the greatest sports moments are in one place. I wanted something that looked good. But most of all, we wanted something where people would argue with the water cooler or complain over beers of the bar, and I think we've really accomplished that. Veronica: What did a moment, need to have to make in your top 100? James Bisson: For me it was about do I remember where I was when this happened? Or when I found out about this, and I worked from that template basically and beyond that, I worked with the ones that I thought extenuated Canada's role in the world sport scene, which is why you see a lot of things where you've got figure skating, where we win world titles. For me, I most proud of when a Canadian does something that the rest of the world stands up and pays attention to. Veronica: When you think of sports in Canada you think of hockey, do you think this book is going to change that? James Bisson: Hockey moments are always going to dominate the Canadian sport scene, but if you look at the top 10, you've also got golf. You have events like basketball where Steve Nash winning two MVPs. So there is a lot more covered and I think for me, it really warm my heart to see that we were able to recognize other sports other than hockey. While at the same time preserving the fact that we are a hockey country. Veronica: Is the number one moment that was selected also your favorite moment in sport's history? James Bisson: Summit Series is number one, as far as a significant sport moment goes, you don't get any more significant than that. It was more than a hockey game. It was more than a hockey series, when you see schools shut down. When you have 3000 Canadian fans in a Russian arena, waving the Canadian flag as proudly as they have ever done it, it goes so far beyond sports. Veronica: Would you say that sports helps to find our country? James Bisson: The world isn't always a great place to live in, it always seems there is something to be stressed out about. With sports you know that the arguments are always playful, and I think here in Canada we are so good at recognizing our athletes and giving them the attention they deserve. So I think that this country is defined in great detail by sports moments. I think, man or woman will tell you, their best memories, a lot of them have to do with sports. Veronica: Thank you very much. James Bisson: Thanks for having me, I appreciate it.