Addiction to Sport
Any nation has its most popular sports, and Canada is not an exception. While Europeans spend days in front of TV sets and on stadiums watching their favorite soccer teams play, North-Americans, Canadians in particular, prefer baseball, basketball, and football. Thousands of youngsters as well as adults, male and female, spend their time and money watching another baseball play-off match. Some prefer sitting in front of the TV at home, munching junk food, while others decide to attend a match at the stadium. Thus, in general Canadian society is addicted to sport, and this addiction is obvious.
In many families children call their father “coach,” many couples wear the exact same leather team jackets, even more people consider a season ticket a great holiday gift, - all of these are signs of sports addiction. No matter what kind of sport is most honored in the family, there are in many cases many evidences that this sport penetrated into everyday life of people. Manifestations of such tendencies can be seen in nearly any home, baseballs with signatures of favorite players, Steve Nash’s college shoes, or T-shirts with the dearest number. All of these symbols testify nation’s addiction to sports. In lieu of just watching a game on Sunday night, most Canadians identifies with the group described above. 
Unlike in many other countries of the world, Canadian educational establishments consider physical training and studying different subjects is inseparable. However, in most European countries, when a student goes to college, he or she does that to learn business administration (or some other major), but not to learn how to play football. Thus, there is a clear distinction between education and sport (but this system does not prevent Englishmen from being zealots of soccer). In the Western world, on the other hand, there is absolutely no visible line between sport and education. Youngsters naturally want to compete and perform better in a given kind of sport; therefore this so-called “addiction” to sport is fostered since early childhood. And even though not all students become prominent or famous players, they still support their home teams. These “students” then draw no line between sport and their everyday life and family, following Canadian education system.
Are we as a society too addicted to sport? Certainly “yes!” With millions of posters and cards, with thousands of tickets sold weekly, Canadian culture is saturated with sport. Beginning from high school, Canadians receive this feeling that sport is an extremely important element of their lives. With the flow of time zeal to football, baseball, or basketball develops, and fans may distort their priorities in life, putting sport and favorite team ahead of work or leisure. 
Having discussed the issues above, it becomes even more obvious that the attitude of Canadians to sports is too unnatural (in a positive way). Canadians as a society are way too addicted to sport, and they spend hundreds of hours watching favorite game, be baseball, basketball, or football. Canadians spend hundreds of hours in front of the TV and attending live matches. As we can see, sport has become an inseparable part of Canadian society, without which the nation would lose its identity. 
Bibliography
1.	Heather. (2004). Help Me With My Husband’s Addiction to Sport on TV. From The Stanton Peele Addiction Website at http://www.peele.net/faq/sports.html
2.	Gerby, J. (2002). Sports: the All-American Addiction. University Press of Mississippi. 
3.	Howell, M. (1985). History of Sport in Canada. Stipes Publishing.
4.	MacKeracher, D. (1984). An Overview of the Educational System in Canada. TVOntario.