Do most Americans know Hamilton or Ontario?

[No Fun Shogun]

It's a pretty big city it has roughly 700,000 people if you include the townships attached to it (Binbrook, Stoney Creek, Ancaster etc). That would put it roughly in the top 20 if it were in the US. I agree because there are no major connection in sports though that it gets little recognition. The Hamilton Tigers almost won a Stanley Cup

Put a town of 700,000 people next to a city the size of Toronto, and it immediately gets forgotten. Sorry, that's the way it works.

There's probably a few dozen towns of a quarter million or more in the U.S. that Canadians have never heard of or know nothing about. How many Canadians do you think don't know anything about Riverside or Chula Vista or Bakersfield? All big Californian towns that get overshadowed by their larger neighbors. How many people would know anything about Jacksonville, if not for the fact that they have an NFL team, despite being the largest city in Florida and the 11th largest city in the U.S.?

Also, you have to look at the simple fact that Canada just cares more about the U.S. than the U.S. cares about Canada. The vast majority of Canadians live relatively close to the U.S., the Canadian economy is utterly dependent on the U.S., every major professional sports league that Canada participates in, with the exception of the CFL, is majority American in its market cities, and Canadians are far more exposed to U.S. entertainment than vice versa. As a result, it's only to be expected that Canadians would know more about us than we know about them.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Most people couldnt tell you who hosted the Winter Olympics before Vancouver, much less what happened in 1988.

Yeah, I'd say the Winter Olympics has a very very marginal impact on recognition. I actually watched the 2006 games and had to look it up just now to remember it was in Turin. The Calgary games were squeezed between Sarajevo and Albertville (anyone want to take a guess what country? I bet most don't know!) and I would not say that either of those places benefitted very much from the exposure.

Also, there is a difference between "knowing about" a place and "knowing of" a place. Take for example...

Fresno is in California, Fresno Grizzlies AAA Ball. Des Moines, Iowa, actially a french name, home of the Cubs' AAA team, and of the Iowa Barnstormers of the AFL. There be corn here.

Other than knowing of the location of AAA baseball teams, that post demonstrates no actual knowledge about these places. Even the remark about corn is inaccurate -- Des Moines is an insurance and data hub, a white-collar city.

 

[Highlander23]

Yeah, I'd say the Winter Olympics has a very very marginal impact on recognition. I actually watched the 2006 games and had to look it up just now to remember it was in Turin. The Calgary games were squeezed between Sarajevo and Albertville (anyone want to take a guess what country? I bet most don't know!) and I would not say that either of those places benefitted very much from the exposure.

Look at my location

 

[Killion]

How many people would know anything about Jacksonville...

Not much, beyond the fact that the closest "Jaguar" to Jacksonville is about 3000 miles away in the Amazonian Basin.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

Fresno is in California, Fresno Grizzlies AAA Ball. Des Moines, Iowa, actially a french name, home of the Cubs' AAA team, and of the Iowa Barnstormers of the AFL. There be corn here.

Yes, I was aware of the fact that some Canadian may know basic things about Des Moines or Fresno, just like there are some Americans who know things about Hamilton.

The point is that you can live your whole life in either country without knowing such things and be perfectly fine. Unless personal or professional matters take you there or require you knowing of them, there's little need or point.

 

[IceAce]

Also, you have to look at the simple fact that Canada just cares more about the U.S. than the U.S. cares about Canada. The vast majority of Canadians live relatively close to the U.S., the Canadian economy is utterly dependent on the U.S., every major professional sports league that Canada participates in, with the exception of the CFL, is majority American in its market cities, and Canadians are far more exposed to U.S. entertainment than vice versa. As a result, it's only to be expected that Canadians would know more about us than we know about them.

You've hit the nail on the proverbial head.

Or as the kids say these days "This"

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Not much, beyond the fact that the closest "Jaguar" to Jacksonville is about 3000 miles away in the Amazonian Basin.

Haha, well, you could make comments about that about any number of teams, such as....

San Jose's inland, so there are no sharks there.

Penguins don't naturally live in Pittsburgh, nor has the town ever really had an issue with piracy.

You're not going to find many Tigers or Lions in Detroit.

There aren't any trolleys to dodge in Los Angeles.

And so on, and so forth.

 

[Grudy0]

But you know what? How many of the die-hard American hockey fans wouldn't know where Hamilton is?

I'm reminded about the 81-82 Edmonton Oilers. Many Americans would be hard pressed to know where Edmonton is on a map. That didn't matter when the greatest player on Earth was a member of the team, on his way to the single season scoring record. Everyone knew who the Oilers were, especially after winning a Cup.

It's like Green Bay and the NFL. After Lombardi left, the Packers weren't all that good. Then take a look at Favre and Holmgren et al, and the accomplishments over the past two decades.

I don't think anyone would care if there were a team called Hamilton. That's especially true if they were good.

Note: Born and raised in DC, but my father was born and raised in Oakville. By the time I was 13 I'd been to Canada about 10 times, and we drove through Hamilton each time.

 

[Killion]

And so on, and so forth.

.... Utah Jazz. Mormons & Jazz. Who knew?.
NY Rangers.. Good luck finding a Saloon in Manhattan.
Memphis Grizzlies. Is Tennessee Grizzly habitat or just around Little 5 Points?.
Calgary Flames. Named after a fire that destroyed Atlanta in 1917. Very creative Alberta.

etcetera etcetra etc...

 

[MayDay]

Id be willing to bet that most Americans dont even know where Hamilton is.

Hamilton's probably a bit of an unknown to most Americans

Hamilton would be a complete unknown to 95% of Americans.

Almost nobody in the United States has heard of Hamilton.

I'm an American who knows where Hamilton is.

But that's only because I'm from Buffalo.

 

[MayDay]

.... Utah Jazz. Mormons & Jazz. Who knew?.
NY Rangers.. Good luck finding a Saloon in Manhattan.
Memphis Grizzlies. Is Tennessee Grizzly habitat or just around Little 5 Points?.
Calgary Flames. Named after a fire that destroyed Atlanta in 1917. Very creative Alberta.

etcetera etcetra etc...

Los Angeles Lakers. Named after the many lakes of Minnesota.

Los Angeles Dodgers. Names after the tendency of Brooklynites to have to dodge passing streetcars.

San Francisco Giants. Named for the skyscrapers of Manhattan.

 

[BlackHawkeye*]

Hamilton metro area: 692,000

Canadians can feel free to tell me all they know about:

New Haven: 862,000
Allentown: 821,000
Worcester: 792,000
McAllen: 772,000
Columbia: 767,000
Springfield: 692,000

 

[Ryan34222]

Hamilton metro area: 692,000

Canadians can feel free to tell me all they know about:

New Haven: 862,000
Allentown: 821,000
Worcester: 792,000
McAllen: 772,000
Columbia: 767,000
Springfield: 692,000

if thats not home to Homer than i got nothin

 

[Steve Passless*]

Calgary Flames. Named after a fire that destroyed Atlanta in 1917. Very creative Alberta.

I read that they kept Flames because Alberta was in the business of generating heat with all that petroleum of theirs. It might even work better there than it did in Atlanta, where you had the fire you mentioned AND a Yankee coming down and torching the place during the Civil War.

 

[TrollololBoyle]

Hamilton metro area: 692,000

Canadians can feel free to tell me all they know about:

New Haven: 862,000
Allentown: 821,000
Worcester: 792,000
McAllen: 772,000
Columbia: 767,000
Springfield: 692,000

Which Springfield?

 

[Killion]

New Haven: 862,000
Allentown: 821,000
Worcester: 792,000
McAllen: 772,000
Columbia: 767,000
Springfield: 692,000

New Haven?. Yale. The Night Hawks.
Allentown?. Billy Joel Song. Yocco's Hotdogs. Bethlehem Steel
Worcester?. Ice Cats. Annual Rock&Shock Convention.
McAllen?. Hidalgo County. Viggo Mortensen movie. Im on a Mexican Radio.
Columbia?. Trick Question.
Springfield?. Indian Motorcycles. Armory. Canuck Naismith perfected basketball there.

 

[Adz]

i'd imagine the hockey folks in Nashville, Pittsburgh and now Phoenix know us.. lol

Sure do.

I also know where quite a few OTHER Canadian cities are, but it wasn't due to having been taught anything about Canada in school. The fact that early Canadians were fur traders and some moved to Louisiana was pretty much the extent of the teaching, but to be fair I didn't have geography past elementary school. I've vacationed in 3 different areas in Canada and was also involved in making a graphic of the places where our players were from for someone in Preds management I guess about 6 years ago. So, yeah, I can find Red Deer, Thunder Bay, Lloydminster, Ft. McMurray, Medicine Hat and Rankin Inlet along with the bigger cities fairly quickly. But until Balsillie showed up, no, I didn't know where Hamilton was.

Most people, American or Canadian probably don't know (or care) about cities in which they don't have any sort of vested interest.

 

[Kebekoi]

What can you tell me about Quebec City 660000 pop?

 

[Killion]

IIt might even work better there than it did in Atlanta, where you had the fire you mentioned AND a Yankee coming down and torching the place during the Civil War.

Well, the only time I think of "flames" in association with Alberta at all are the gas flare burnoffs in the oil patch. Not a major sociological shock along the lines of the double whammy that hit Atlanta, romanticized in Gone With the Wind, an icon of American movie & myth making, one of the seminal points in the Great War of Northern Aggression that did much to shape the South & the country post Civil War & throughout the 20th Century that followed. Somehow, gas flares in Alberta & flames seems a rather weak substitute no?. Calgarys got all kinds of history & imagery to draw from that wouldve been far more appropriate. Cowboys, Buckaroo's, Mountaineers, Bisons....

 

[dronald]

Hamilton metro area: 692,000

Canadians can feel free to tell me all they know about:

New Haven: 862,000
Allentown: 821,000
Worcester: 792,000
McAllen: 772,000
Columbia: 767,000
Springfield: 692,000

Your profile pic is cute <3

 

[Steve Passless*]

Well, the only time I think of "flames" in association with Alberta at all are the gas flare burnoffs in the oil patch. Not a major sociological shock along the lines of the double whammy that hit Atlanta, romanticized in Gone With the Wind, an icon of American movie & myth making, one of the seminal points in the Great War of Northern Aggression that did much to shape the South & the country post Civil War & throughout the 20th Century that followed.

Yeah, but Atlanta being burned down is kind of unfortunate. I don't think getting torched by Yankees is a point of pride. Same principle as "Chicago Fire" over in MLS. Yay for burning the city down.

 

[Adz]

What can you tell me about Quebec City 660000 pop?

The architecture is beautiful, there are a lot of steps, that hotel up on top of the hill has a Starbucks on the ground floor, and they had a fancy bicycle race last September that was simply amazing to watch but made it harder to get around. The people are much nicer than you're led to believe, and it isn't hard to find Nordiques sweaters.

It's in the east, at the bottom of the wide part of the St. Lawrence River (or maybe that's still the seaway, not sure).

Anything else?

 

[headsigh]

Yeah, but Atlanta being burned down is kind of unfortunate. I don't think getting torched by Yankees is a point of pride. Same principle as "Chicago Fire" over in MLS. Yay for burning the city down.

To be fair, it was a point of pride as it was a turning point in the civil war. If the fire never happened, who knows what would've happened.

 

[Hamilton Tigers]

The vast majority of Canadians live relatively close to the U.S.,

I read somewhere that 90% of the Canadian population lives within 100 miles of the U.S. not sure of the accuracy of that.

...the Canadian economy is utterly dependent on the U.S.,

And Canada is, by far, the U.S.'s largest trading partner (although I don't how dependent, if at all ) Even before the recession, the province of Ontario alone traded more with the U.S. than did Japan.

... As a result, it's only to be expected that Canadians would know more about us than we know about them.

Agreed.

 

[Steve Passless*]

Americans should know more about Canadian geography, but we have to learn more about American geography first. "Can Americans find Hamilton?" Most Americans couldn't find their own ***** on a map, let alone Hamilton.