Sadly, this writer has not followed much of the Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey. We’re proud to see the USA take it to the finals against the land where people chop wood, beat seals, and play hockey. (Hey, we’re just teasin’ ya, Canada, you hoseheads.) Team USA gave up a two point lead only to tie in the final seconds sending the game to overtime. However, the Canadians would be too strong and scored the necessary point in overtime. There is no question Ice Hockey is a great sport. The action is fast. The game is full of excitement the talent and competitive spirit that is required to play is on the highest level of all sports. What other sports have their athletes putting it all on the line like hockey?

Certainly not baseball or basketball, but surely NFL players give their bodies to their sport and think of the fine line of survival auto racers face. Hockey must be in the same class.

So why is this writer not a hockey fan?

Very simply, the fights, the sport obviously encourages it. We’ve all heard the joke, “I went to the fights and a hockey game broke out.” The effect is to take a sport of tremendous skill and high intensity and reduce it to the level of professional wrestling which isn’t a sport at all. Sports should always be controlled aggressiveness where all the fight and fury is channeled into excellence in effort playing the sport. There’s no denying tempers run hot and passions are high. Fisticuffs will break out from time to time in all sports. Surely, it’s NASCAR legend what happened at the end of the 1979 Daytona 500. On the other hand, is there anything sillier than a bench clearing brawl in baseball? How about two NFL combatants slugging it out in full armor? However, in all other major sports, weeks can go by without an episode anywhere in the sport, in the NHL, fights are a nightly occurrence to where some fans go to the game not thinking if but when the fights will break out. Mom and dad, is this what you want your kids to see?

Okay, living in Baltimore, we don’t have a hometown team or a suitable venue thus we’re diverted to the Washington Capitols, a team that certainly does rise to the occasion at times.

The other problem with hockey is the same problem the NBA has. The regular season is long, but of what importance is it when more teams than not make the playoffs and the playoffs begin in May and don’t end until deep in June? A fan must be truly dedicated to the sport to follow the regular season at all aside from a handful of well established rivalries. Nevertheless, look at how teams have gone deep in Dixie: two teams in Florida, Nashville, and the Raleigh/Durham area, but are they putting butts in the seats?

With better television technology, bigger TV’s, and the myriad of sports networks, hockey can be televised very effectively now with HDTV with screens of 40” and larger, fans can really see the game develop and the puck is visible. Hey, this Olympic stuff when on the NBC mothership where HDTV is available is great but how many games did the worst network in the business push off to MSNBC?

Perhaps if the NHL gets a new generation of owners, more enlightened leadership, they can address the game’s nagging problems, but this fan is not holding his breath. The violence does appeal to a core audience and somehow if the NBA and NHL both feel long drawn-out playoffs is the way to go, it must be the way to make money. Still, they play have the number of games baseball does but going to a baseball game means something.

Thirty years ago, before ESPN had caught on, no Internet, just over-the-air TV, America was held spellbound as the USA team beat the Soviet Evil Empire in Lake Placid, New York for the Gold Medal. This year’s Silver Medal sure drew much attention. It’s a wonderful sport. Let’s hope it doesn’t take the NHL 30 years to get it together and bring forth an appealing sport. There’s a load of talent in the league. How many NHL players played in the Olympics?

For this writer, College Basketball is THE winter sport. There’s no denying a better NHL package without the idiot fights could be quite appealing. It’s a great sport but a lousy business in the US and Canada when not fought on Olympic ice.