I am about an eyelash away from washing my hands of the NHL. As the ball-less Hockey News pundits have been hammering away at just about any physical contact in the sport, thereby turning the NHL into a glorified ice capades, the NHL GMs are now in favor of eliminating any sort of "staged" hockey fight. This is their first step to eliminating fighting in the sport altogether. Once that happens, the NHL will become dead to me. I will forfeit my season tickets and find something else to spend my money on.
In another "unrelated" story, some "geniuses" released this story about youth hockey injuries. Uh...I hope they didn't waste too much money on that one. Pretty soon they'll determine that leg injuries from baseball are mostly caused by running the bases and eliminate running them altogether or figure out that tackling is the number one reason for concussions in football and start handing out waist flags.
Honestly...in the age of pussy'fication of sports, is it any wonder that folks flock to something I have utter disdain for? Ultimate fighting...
Sports figures make an incredible amount of money these days and are more unwilling to shed an ounce of blood for it as time goes by. Modern day gladiators they are not. Winning becomes less important than achieving individual glory. Less seasoned fans who don't know any better justify that the focus of sports should be on keeping the stars healthy rather than keep the competitiveness of the sport intact. Legislating injuries away now seems to be the norm. Stars in the sports play the game without any fear of contact. Guys in the NHL actually skate through the neutral zone with their heads down or with their backs to the play in front of the boards with no fear of getting lit up...it sickens me.
Who ever said that playing sports was safe?
Our sports are slowly being deteriorated by "bitches" who never scraped a knee on concrete, let alone put on a set of pads. If you are offended by this comment...I was talking about Gary Bettman, but you probably qualify as well.
I once dove face first into a metal chain link fence in centerfield to catch a fly ball in little league. I was ugly for a few weeks and I'm pretty sure I got a concussion. I did it because I wanted to win at all costs. That's what sports should be about...sacrificing the body if need be, to win.
Well, those days seem to be long gone and I really thought I'd be writing this type of crotchety article when I was 60, not 43. I guess with the new brand of player out there, my favorite past-times will have to change.
But, this edict will kill hockey anyway. The pseudo fans will be there, but the heart and soul will be gone.
Women's Field Hockey anyone? Now there's a sport I can get behind!
2 comments:
What was that recent comment about you being bitter lately? Seems your vacation wasn't long enough Bluey! :-)
Zing! You go LiLi
Bluey, I enjoy a good hockey fight as much as the next guy when it is a by product of the raw emotion of the sport or if it is one player standing up for another. That said, I think I'm at the point where the side show fights need to end. Guys like George Laraque, Colton Orr, and Eric Godard have arguably about as much hockey skill as you and I do. They don't even do any enforcing or protecting teams stars..because enforcers only fight enforcers nowadays. Its getting to the point where they start taking helmets and equipment off before the fight..I feel like I'm watching Ned Braden at the end of Slap Shot for god sake.
As much a of a train wreck as Sean Avery is off the ice, at least he can skate and play with some skill. Guys of his ilk like Hartnell, Lucic, and Rick Tocchet (back in the day) that are actual hockey players can still drop the gloves and stick up for their teammates, but I'd be OK if the traditional "goon" goes the way of the dodo.
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