Hockey: Canada's Conservative Religion
One of the things I keep hearing on TSN, Sportsnet and The Score, on various programs, is how bad it is that all these penalties are being called every night in the NHL pre-season. I will assume it is trickling into print media as well, though I couldn't be bothered to look. I always thought that baseball fans were the most conservative when it came to their game, but watching this unfold over the past week and a half, thrown in with the Bertuzzi assault on Steve Moore and the player's subsequent forgiveness of The Primate, has made me rethink it all. Canada can legalize gay marriage, decriminalize marijuana, as well as provide socialized medicine to every man, woman and child in the country, whether they need it or not, yet the thought of eliminating the clutching and grabbing in hockey (never mind vigilante justice) is so alien and progressive as to be commonly derided? I just don't get it. How is the game ANY better with this kind of play? Sure, it keeps guys like Wes Walz in the league for ten years, but is that REALLY a good thing? I don't understand how the massive penalty totals every night can be anything other than a positive sign. NHL players are going to have to learn to adjust, and if they can't then they have no place in the game. Send 'em home. As far as I am concerned, there are six too many teams, and one too many Jacques Lemaire, in the damn league, anyways.
I am leaving the stench of Calgary soon, and heading back to the City of Champions. Feel free to discuss while I am absent.
One more thing before I go: how the hell does Brad May end up in an Avalanche uniform?
posted by andy grabia @ 4:35 PM
3 long time listeners, first time callers
3 Comments:
Who's complaining about the penalties? Everything I've read has pointed towards your exact conclusion - for once they're finally following through on the committment to crack down on clutching and grabbing (good ol' C & G - it sounds so dirty). The penalties are up as the players adjust. It means the play is junk for now, except for those open stretches where the players actually follow the rules and the game has flow to it. So far there has been optimism, or is this just wishful thinking?
As for conservatism in hockey, outlawing C & G is one more instance of greater government interference being a benign influence in our lives. Otherwise the invisible hand would pull your sweater over head and faster than you can say laissez faire your vertical integration would come to an untimely finish, smashed to bits with a Rockefellerian monopoly.
Andy, Great post, I linked to it on my site and probably will again on a related topic.
If you haven't you have to check out the book "The Joy of Sports", don't be fooled by the corny title, it's the definetive Sports/Religion/Philosophy book out there. It might be tough getting ahold of but worth every effort.
Oddly enough, it might be a book that my Granddad has in his collection. I will have to loook for it. Thanx!
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