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'True North'- a controversy that need not be |
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TRUE NORTH!
Oh by now if you live in Winnipeg and have some sort of access to social media you’ve heard about the latest Jets’ fan outrage- being called shills for cheering on a corporation as part of the Canadian anthem. The issue comes from the first tradition at the MTS Centre of cheering “True North’ louder when it is sung during the anthem.
Now, the ‘chant’ has raised all sorts of opinions and in some cases definitive statements of the fan base and the purpose of the cheer. Some are embarrassed, feel it disrespects anthems, and basically say it’s stupid. There are also some who feel very strongly that the cheer is nothing more than passion for the team and has nothing to do with being a corporate shill.
They are both right and wrong.
If you go back in history to 2011 Winnipeg was a pretty proud and upbeat place to be with an NHL franchise returning after a 15 year absence. I have just recently learned that the ‘True North’ chant was not an organic expression that evolved at the MTS Centre, that it was a planned idea originating on a Jets fan message board. The result was the same it, it stuck and then it spread.
For those who have never seen a Jets game away from Winnipeg the out of town fans bring that ‘True North’ cheer to whatever arena they are in. In the latest flashpoint it was Leafs blogger Jeff Veillette who tweeted this:
You can go through Veillette’s timeline to see the responses and his explanations because they are worth understanding. Basically he does not see a place for it in the anthem, and most certainly not at a TFC game. He’s got a point.
Is that really what Jets fans are doing or is the name coincidental to a bigger meaning?
Back in April 2012 at the last Jets home game fans started a chant (remember when those happened in the MTS Centre) at the end of the game ‘Thank-you True North’. It was a simple expression to the company that purchased the Atlanta Thrashers and moved them to Winnipeg. Is belting out ‘True North’ in the anthem different?
To understand the aspect of ‘True North’ you first have to understand Winnipeg. First and foremost no one is claiming that Winnipeg is the most northern NHL city or that it is located closer to the north pole, or any geographic significance. Winnipeg is an outpost, with it’s closest urban cities being Regina and Thunder Bay, one 6 hours to the west and the other 8 hours to the east. Go south and it’s Minneapolis 7 hours away.
Winnipeg is a place that maybe shouldn’t be here. Cold and awful in the winter, hot and buggy in the summer build on a flood plain and one of the few major rivers that runs south-north in all of North America. It has vast plains to the west, south and north, so flat you can watch your dog run away for a week. To the east is the inhospitable Canadian shield and it’s thousands of lakes and hard topography. Perhaps those who first arrived simple had to stop because they may have been too exhausted to want to continue on. Even in this day and age Winnipeg is the place you fly over or drive through on your way to somewhere else. It exists for all the wrong reasons but thrives for all the right reasons. A more creative, diverse, and welcoming city you may not find in Canada, at least of this size. Everyone there has the same common elements of inconvenience and threat, cold in the winter and bugs in the summer.
The simple reality is that when you live in a place such as Winnipeg everyone is bound together and nothing binds a city built around rivers and outdoor ice rinks like hockey. When the original Jets left passioned fans literally started a penny-drive to help find a way to keep them in the city. It was an original and large scale ‘go-fund me’ campaign.
So come full circle and the fans feel they have something they will not lose again. They have something back that many said they could not get, could not do, and should not have. The bonds grew stronger and perhaps that’s what is missed in the discussion.
The name ‘True North’ is based on a philosophy. For many fans the meaning behind True North Sports and Entertainment is probably unknown. Jets principal owner Mark Chipman rarely discusses the name and the history behind it but yours truly has had that chance to hear him explain the reasoning. This is important to know because if you understand branding, marketing and corporate culture the back story to that name will explain a bit more of why things are as they are.
‘True North’ is a point, a direction and guiding principle for the organization. It is the underlying purpose of the organization, to always aim for the true point, that one route to success.
That culture and belief has been wide spread within TNSE and it’s part of what separates it from other public organizations within the city and province. Call it culture, call it dedication, call it belief, or call it a cult-the results do not change. Isn’t that what the fans are like too? They certainly haven’t affected the results on the ice.
Bellowing ‘true north’ during the anthem is a Winnipeg thing and it obviously relates to the ownership of the Jets but it is more than that too. The spirit is something that is shared and in some cases an identifier of Winnipeg, and Winnipeggers. It’s a far cry better than mosquitos as most identify the city for that. The city has been crapped on forever from those on the outside and when a person hears ‘well we’re not Regina’ as a point of pride you know it’s bad.
The emphasis on ‘true north’ is far more than a salute to the ownership of the team. It may have started that way but the evolution is that it binds Winnipeggers in some way that didn’t exist before. Those same people can be proud and express their pride. It could be worse.
However it’s a Winnipeg thing, not an anthem thing. Not a sport thing. It’s no longer a salute to a corporation as it may have been intended in it’s infancy or inspiration. It’s an identifier and that’s what the Jets have done for Winnipeg, given the city and it’s citizens something else to bind together.
I think most fans would tell you it’s about expressing spirit and support for the team before they said they were cheering a corporation. I also think they’d ask you to excuse them for having a bit of pride and expressing it. The chant may not align with the ‘humble apologetic Canadian’ image but is it that bad?
In fact I’d suggest that in these times of politically charged agendas changing times having a belief in our ‘true north strong and free’ is not a bad thing. We also don’t have to yell it out everywhere we go though, just like chastising it doesn’t have to happen with the same fervour.
Winnipeg Jets Blogger •Winnipeg Jets Writer • 
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