Media Gaze: The MSM Microscope

Image courtesy of joeclark

I came across this quote today in Eileen Kennedy and Laura Hills, Sport, Media and Society, which states that, “Male sport celebrities are regularly subjected to an invasive media gaze that moves beyond the surface of the body to probe beneath the skin.” I want to touch on how this statement resonates with the Toronto Maple Leafs, as they inhabit one of the most “invasive media gaze” bubbles in the NHL.

I mentioned this briefly in my last post, and it has been discussed numerous times in the past; how much more difficult is it for a professional athlete to perform under the microscope of a rabid mainstream media, and a fan base starving for a winning product. The city of Toronto is the sports mecca of hockey, even when the team sits at the bottom of the barrel, they still sell out the Air Canada Centre.

So, how does an athlete cope with being examined, celebrated, and scrutinized so frequently? I pose this as a question that I have no factual answer to, I’m no professional athlete, but I have a sense of how the added pressure of playing in hockey starved cities such as Toronto and Montreal can weigh on a player. In turn, I completely understand why players choose not to sign/stay here in order to avoid the never ending spot light. Furthermore, with the addition of a struggling franchise, such as Toronto, in the middle of a rebuild, why would a player like Brad Richards want to come here when he knows how quickly the city can turn on a him if he happens to go through an extended slump, a la Kessel.

This is of course is just one possible scenario. First of all, money talks, and the Leafs have a lot of it. Yes, we live in a cap era, but the Leafs will have plenty of cap room to throw big money at UFAs this summer, if the player is deemed significant enough. (I realize the UFA pool is very shallow, so taking on salary via trade is also a possibility, Stastny please?). We can also consider the possibility that some players want to be in that spot light, they want to compete in a market that may crucify them when they’re down, but will consider them royalty if they’re on top of their game.

It’s a bitter sweet world as an athlete in Toronto. The recent social media revolution has only escalated the situation. With up to the second information, comes up to the second negativity, and it can spread like wild fire in an international network. Fortunately, positivity can spread just as fast, but that emotion is much harder to come by in recent years as a Leafs fan.

Kennedy and Hills description of the media gaze is a perfect representation of a pro hockey player’s situation in Toronto, as it “[moves] beyond the surface of the body to probe beneath the skin”. The players who thrive in this city, are the players who don’t let it go past the surface. They begin to falter when they allow the gaze to get under their skin. I’m no sports psychologist, I’m not a pro, and no Andy Sutton, I’m not an expert, but I have played competitive hockey for the majority of my life, and playing when your head isn’t on straight will have some serious effects on your game.

It’s an interesting phenomenon. One that becomes so much apparent in an area like Toronto. In the mean time, as Leafs fans, we have to hope management is able to recognize players that have enough back bone and desire to play in a market that will forever attempt to drain you. Not an easy task, especially in drafts where the players are still so young and raw. As much as I dislike hearing the phrase “Burke-type player”, he does have a “type” and it does involve players with an attitude strong enough to succeed as a Toronto Maple Leaf. I for one think Burke and Nonis have done a great job establishing that type of core young players, but obviously, there is still lots of work to be done.

Kadri is the epitome of this test, lets hope he shows that special attitude and skill set tonight versus the Carolina Hurricanes (7:00pm ET on TSN (HD), and FS-CR (HD)).

Follow me on Twitter @theajmorris.

Kennedy, Eileen and Hills, Laura. Sport, Media and Society. Oxford: Oxford International Publishers Ltd. 2009.