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I like hockey, an ex was really into it, but I don't follow it closely. Avs/Wild seems like it's been a pretty good series.

I watched the Bruins get whipped like tired slaves last night. It was ugly. Montreal scored 2 in the last 3 minutes, and the last one was spite, pure spite.

I like hockey. Weird.

As long as unscripted fighting is allowed I will never consider hockey a sport. Until the league insists that players that commit assault and battery get prosecuted for it, it's nothing more than organized crime to me.

I could probably get into college hockey if I knew someone who was already into it.

It has to do with the whole mirror neuron response.

I am a montreal/Sens fan, and sympathize with the Red Wings. The Habs are doing well this year. I wanted them to win over Boston and they DID! I wouldn't watch too much hockey though. Only the important games.

Hmm. This can also be a factor in the enjoyment of porn. E.g., watching a video of someone licking bourbon off of a cheerleader is more arousing if you've previously licked bourbon off a cheerleader yourself. I've noticed. I mean, not that specifically, but the general principle.

This would also explain why watching team sports is not particularly interesting to me, since I've almost never played them in my life, and when I did I didn't enjoy it. But I do kinda like to watch automobile racing (since I drive) and sometimes wrestling a little (since I've kinda sorta done that).

Yeah, I've seen a few, but only one sticks out in my mind. They are significantly more common, however, than hat tricks or penalty shots, each of which I have seen exactly once.

Gordie Howe possibly has the distinction of having been both the greatest and the dirtiest hockey player of all time.

I think it was the first time he retired (remember he made a couple of comebacks) all the press in Canada were having this huge Gordie lovefest when one of the Toronto sportswriters described a picture that he had that showed Gordie with some opponent pinned to ice with his right fist cocked back ready to drive it home. He didn't print it though and I've never seen it but the image does spoil the innocent Saskatchewan farmboy image.

I loved the second Canada-Russia series (Da Da Canada-Nyet Nyet Soviet) possibly the greatest display of Canadian chavinism (you didn't think there was such a thing, did you?) ever.

It was great to see Gordie at fifty-three years old intimidate twenty year old Russians. Phenomonal.

If a fight like this ever happened in soccer, the players would be banned for life.

I never could understand the point though. I mean, why would the ref stand there watching and wait until some point when he intervenes. None of that makes any sense. Hockey without the barbaric fights would be awesome.

The ref stands there because he doesn't want to get pounded, keep in mind that the players are largely wearing padding, not allowed to hit with sticks, and knew what could happen when they signed up. The general rule in the NHL is to let the players duke it out until it goes to the ice, then break it up from there. Safer for the refs that way, as long as not too many players get involved.

There was an incident with Todd Bertuzzi a couple of seasons ago that should have resulted in his banishment, but didn't. That's a case where I agree that charges should've been pressed. It's one thing to get in a little scuffle, it's another to do something like this:

Unlike Richard I, I do not eat Muslim children.

On the advice of my lawyer, I will not make any comment about the raping and pillaging.

Edit: Confusing my Plantagenets with my Yorks.

No problem. If you watch some of the fights you'll also notice that it's really hard to get a good solid punch while on skates. Not that I'd like to get hit by one of those guys, but you don't have real solid footing on skates so it's not like being in a boxing match.

Warren - What do you think about Boxing and the like, is it also not a real sport? Should its participants get arrested?

Nor do people who live across the border from them.

Enough Canadian bashing, Red Wings vs Avalanche. It starts tonight.

We hates them. Yes we do. We hates them very much.

If something is against the rules explicitly, if there's a penalty against it, it's part of the game.

Ever seen a football team take a strategic delay of game penalty? Ever hear mention of how many fouls a basketball player has to give?

You can win hockey games by getting really physical with an unphysical team. You can win hockey games by rushing the crease, hitting the goalie and making him start playing the man rather than the puck. You can win a hockey game by putting a great big goon on the other team's star or slashing him. So your goon takes a power play--how many coaches would trade a power play to get an Ovechkin or Crosby off the ice? Every one.

Fighting and the threat of fighting is the remedy to all of that. The game cannot be properly played without some fighting some times. The league has done what it can to discourage fighting--just look at the instigator rule. ...probably the most unpopular rule in the NHL. There was a problem for a few years before the strike--when the Europeans, especially the Russians, started flooding the NHL and hadn't gone through the Canadian system and learned "the code". ...but that's not an issue anymore.

I hope hockey never gets too popular. Look what popularity has done to football. In my book, of course, Troy Aikman's will always be partially to blame.

College sports are elitist.

Ken-

What are the numbers after the players' names here:

http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/scoreboard

as in

PHI >> J. Down (1)

What's that '(1)' for?

I used to follow hockey, back in the day, but it was a slow progression out of it- starting with teams migrating from cities that should have hockey teams to places that shouldn't (yeah Dallas, I'm looking at you and my formerly beloved North Stars), through the lockout and I have to say the bertuzzi thing really soured me, say what you will about any codes and that the game has always been like that and whatnot, it was fucking barbaric what he did to that guy. Maybe it's arbitrary, but with violence in sports you have to draw the line somewhere. If I want never ending retaliation, I can watch the news from the Middle East.

I lived for a year in Ft. Wayne Indiana, and went to Komets games all the time though. As in baseball, minor league is where it's at.

Go Red Wings.

Working in Eugene, I see a lot of Ducks (the U of O team) propaganda. And like Jennifer, I just don't get it. When I was going to school at OSU (not "the" OSU, but Oregon State), I couldn't make myself give a damn how the Beavers were doing, either. The thing is, I don't know any of the people on those teams, so the idea that I should be emotionally invested in their success seems silly.

I went to OSU for an education -- I purchased a service from them. Why, therefore, should I care how some meatheads (who were in none of my classes) do on the football field? I purchase groceries at Safeway; does that mean if Safeway bought the Cleveland Browns I should get excited about their performance because I shop there? Why's it different for geography?

I mean, people trash talk each other about teams when: neither of them is on either team, neither of them know anyone who's on either team, and neither one has any real stake in how either team performs. That gives me my entire USRDA of WTF.

I have some residual fandom for sports from when I was younger, but it's diminished a lot because it's basically "our hired ringers are better than your hired ringers!", even in college.

And I guess that's yet another reason I enjoy minor league sports- everyone is just out for themselves. Everyone knows that the players are on their way up or out, everyone knows the players are just playing selfishly to get noticed, everyone knows the franchise is in your shitty small town so you have something to do in your boring small town. The whole thing just seems more honest.

Sure, but I don't get that feeling from sports. The difference, I'd guess, is that you get to know, in some small way, characters in a movie, or even the contestants on a reality program or a game show. Whereas identifying with sports players is difficult, because there's no sense of this mattering to them (I'm sure it does, but that's not generally conveyed to the viewer). They're just random guys in uniform throwing a ball around.

There's no compelling reason to root for one team over another (except for "these guys are from a town slightly closer to me than the other guys," or "I like the green uniforms better than the red uniforms."). At least with a reality show, you can say, "Oh, that guy's a dick. I hope he loses." With football, though, it's may as well be a bunch of automatons in helmets. It doesn't seem to have that connection to humanity like other forms of entertainment.

On the other hand, back when I watched the Olympics, my least favorite part was the stupid little biography of one of the American competitors the networks would show before an event. Maybe just brief interviews...

I think there is another element as well: If you know the game, you like to see the people who are best at it play. In general, truly excellent performers draw you into the game by the skill they bring to it. This applies in the arts as well as in sports.

Man, I saw the end of the game last night, that was a hell of a thing. Pittsburg scoring with a minute to go on a 6-4 power play? That glove save to keep Pittsburg from tying? Damn.

I was very glad to see the Red Wings win yesterday. Especially after that abysmal performance by the damned Pistons.

And as Tymothy, that last shot could have easily went in. That was interesting.

But I think, I am now ready to move. Put Detroit and Detroit teams behind my back and become more loyal to my new town Boston. I've felt like a traitor around here for not cheering for either the Celtics, the Red Sox, the cheating Patriots nor of course the miserable Bruins. Though, I did cheer for the Red Sox a little last year in the World Series.

I was pulling for the Penguins, but hadn't had much chance to watch the series.

:(

Meh. At least they aren't the Pirates.

Not that surprising, there are only like five Newfoundlanders.

By the way, for any of you who may be interested...

I'm playing in another fantasy hockey league this year. I usually do the more expensive leagues, but times are tough so the buy in's cheap--$29.95. The payoff if you win is $180. It's all done through CBS Sports. It's a public league, there are still 8 spots open.

The draft is this Monday at 8:30 PM, eastern. If you don't know much about hockey, or you haven't been following or you'd like to get in, this is a great way to do it. If you do join, message me here, I'll send you the ranking/cheat sheets I'll be using to help with your draft if you like... Why would I show you my hand like that?

It won't matter if you see my hand--Evel Monkeys cannot be stopped!

Games are getting easier and cheaper to watch online too--no need for Direct TV anymore. So let me know... Hope you join...

Just click the link...

http://goldmeeting.0.hockey.sportsline.com/splash/invite/5114/1780/7d384139c957ff1d

But hurry! Fantasy Hockey Season is upon us, and this league could fill up quickly.

...I was just kidding by the way. Gee, no reaction?

Oh, and the league's full. Maybe next year.

I thought "beating the Trojan" just sounded dirty.

After coming across a mention of it the other night, now I really want to see chess boxing. The competitors alternate between playing chess for a fixed number of minutes and going a round in the ring. A match can be won by checkmate, KO, or decision, but don't ask me exactly how the judging works.

To me, the difference between that and hockey, or boxing or MMA or even football or whatever and hockey, is that in some of them, violence is inherent to the sport: it's how you score points, it's how you win. In hockey, it's just sort of a cultural thing. All the "well, it's only if they really want to fight" or "it's only maybe once per game" doesn't carry much water with me. Would it be OK if Nadal jumped over the net and started punching Sanchez during a tennis match? Even if it was only once per match and they were both OK with it? Would that improve the game somehow?

OK, in retrospect I retract that question, given that this is tennis we're talking about.

I have three main attractions to pay leagues, in no particular order...

1) I can win money. I'm in three fantasy football leagues. I'm beating the crap out of everybody in the pay leagues and doing as well or badly as you are in the one we're both in. When I'm playing with people I don't know so well, the money makes it more interesting--I can't say it doesn't. ...and I often win the pool.

2) The league in a pay league is commissioned by CBS Sports, so I don't have to worry so much about cheating. There's nothing worse, whether it's a pay league or not, than cheating. Even in the free leagues, you put a lot of thought and effort into something, and you get robbed when people cheat. CBS may not always call it right, but there aren't any biases...

3) People are less likely to abandon their teams when they pay for them. They just are. I don't have the statistics, it's just something I've noticed.

...why did Desert Thunder play Wes Welker last week? I didn't deserve that win. Desert Thunder--you've got some 'splainin' to do!

*shrug*

You know what I care about? Games Workshop tabletop miniatures games. I like painting the minis, and I like playing the games. Ken, do you prefer the Eschers to the Delaque? Sure, you could tell me you don't know anything about Necromunda, and therefore don't care which gang wins a given game, but I just don't think I can believe you.

After all, if I care about something, so must everyone else.

The Trojans are the sports teams from one of the LA colleges, Univ Southern Cal. UCLA is the Bruins.
Football, baseball, wrestling, it don't matter. All the teams at a given college/university have the same moniker.*

For the completely irrelevant reason of geography, I half heartedly root for Univ of Mich Wolverines, but really don't give too much of a shit since no scholarship offers have materialized in my mailbox.

* Sometimes the women's teams are called the the Lady Whatevers.

EDIT - The University of Michigan is a perennial football powerhouse but far more important is that it houses the best burn treatment center in the world and is responsible for many advances in that area of medicine.

The name "Lady Jacks" tends to lead to unfortunate headlines, though.