Monday, May 21, 2007

Hockey's a dumb "sport"

The Rockford IceHogs' playoff game of this past Saturday night, as described here, is eloquent testimony to why local government should not own a hockey team.

As I've asked here previously, why don't the authorities arrest these hockey goons for fighting? Such conduct is against the rules of hockey. Such conduct will get you arrested in almost any other setting. Why do these cretins on the MetroCentre ice get a pass?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Actually hockey is a great sport when it's played properly. At the professional level, fighting is encouraged. In any other sport, players are immediately thrown out of the game and suspended for the next several games. There is little or no fighting in college hockey. The National Hockey League could eliminate fighting if it wanted to.

UCrawford said...

Fighting's part of the draw for a lot of current fans. Sadly, it also makes the sport less appealing to a lot of new fans who would be attracted by the skill aspect of the sport. The violence isn't really a draw for new fans, since they can easily go see UFC or boxing if they're more interested in the violence. I suspect that the main reason the NHL doesn't crack down on it, though, is because the NHL management and player union representation is a complete mess and there seems to be a lot of bad blood between players and management so it's difficult for them to come to a consensus on tweaks and improvements in the game. Just a thoroughly mismanaged sport overall and the on-ice product has suffered as a result.

Anonymous said...

Fighting is a part of the game. You must understand that.
Sticking up for your teammates, swinging the momentum to your side, or just shutting another player up when things get heavy. I frown on goons who are just out there to fight but it IS a part of the game.
It is very important and needs to stay.