Hockey Pictures?

While the two violent hockey photos might not seem to fit entirely with the studious theme of the rest of my blog I assure you that they most certainly must be included. They are a part of our media representations unit which discusses how the media is able to affect our thinking with the way that they present material. In keeping with the whole "Miracle" theme, these hockey photos are an excellent example of how the media shapes the way in which we think. The saying, "I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out" sums up the representations of this sport perfectly. If one were to look through a hockey magazine, or nearly any other publication covering sports, the images of hockey violence abound. Even highlights running on sports center seem to be less about the skill and finess found in the game than they are about the fights and bonecrushing hits that are found here and there. Clearly, the media is representing this sport in a particular fashion. They might be doing it to sell tickets, to increase the size of television audiences or even to distinguish the sport from others. In any case, hockey is a sport that very few people follow and understand in the United States as a small number of states actually have the right climate for which to play. As such, the representations provided by the media speak volumes to people who know very little about the sport. In these situations it is obvious that a select few are controlling the perceptions of a great many through the media. This is just a minor and relatively insignificant example of how media representations affect us everyday, and it should be an eye opener as to some of the effects that much larger forms of media representation can possibly have.