Why? Because it serves as a reminder to the winning team that they are not in complete control of the game. It's a way to send a message that does not involve putting a puck in the net. The winning team's defense can be good enough to paralyze the other team's offense, so that team needs a way to show that they are not to be thought of lightly.

Fighting in and of itself is not the appeal to the more educated crowd - I'm only repeating what I read in an EoY NHL marketing study. Thru some kind of market research, the NHL realized that it was attracting a larger percentage of degree holders and a pretty good amount of people that made over a certain income; the number I'm drawing a blank on.

Fighting is more accepted in Canada than in the States, and the Canadian commentators believe that it something to do with pervasive political correctness, FWIW. The Canadian major junior leagues are also still the statistically largest feeder leagues to the NHL. The Canadians bring the fighting and the Europeans bring the embellishment of penalties that has led to diving becoming a penalty in and of itself. The Americans just sit there and :rolleyes: because we know that we're the minority.

College hockey and fighting don't jive because of the full-face cage. You can't reach their faces. :D

Sorry, but I see absolutely zero value in this argument. The "you have to respect me or I'll beat you up" idea doesn't fly for me in a sports match.

Many teams lose games every night of the year in dozens of different sports. But there are two that involve the loser throwing punches, apparently to remind the other team that they are still playing. The other one is boxing.

OK, this is a first for us....

Baglady is not feeling well and is resting in bed. I'm out in the living room with the young ones who are watching a DVD while I read the Box.

The next thing I know, I get a PM from Baglady asking for a beverage & the laptop power cord.

Yikes.

You two must be newlyweds to be communicating by such an archaic means. One of the most frightening moments in my life was when my wife asked, "Would you go get me the thingy off the thingy?" as I was passing through the room... and I brought it to her. Scary

Ain't technology great? :rolleyes:

(Feel better soon Baglady)

Fair enough. If the fights are what draws someone to hockey, they're not true fans anyway. My big complaint about the culture that surrounds hockey is the lack of personal creativity - the players don't think to give each other good nicknames. Example: why is Devils' forward Travis Zajac's nickname not "Pat"? :confused: <rimshot>

I put Moneyball on my B&N list. There are 18 items on said list, and two are DVD sets, while another four are reference works. Add that to the four unread hardcovers sitting on my desk, and I should get around to having those 12 books bought and read within a year or so.

And being the fine plus1 you are, you quickly obliged-correct?

One of the big problems with appreciating hockey is the difficulty of learning and following the game on television. In general, there are patterns and positionings that cannot be observed on the screen as the camera follows the puck around.

It is only those who have watched some number of games in the flesh who instinctively know who is where and why and when something happens can understand why it did happen. For example, a play will develop in the neutral zone and the experienced fan will well know that the defenseman who was supposed to be back there to stop that sort of thing had penetrated too far into the offensive zone and was caught deep when the play broke out.

I certainly do understand that it definitely is not a game for casual TV watching and even some exposure to it at the rink will usually not be enough to bring many people along as true followers. But those who do "get it" are rewarded with some of the best game experiences that can be found anywhere.

As far as soccer is concerned, I do "get it." I even understand the offside rules and certainly can observe when professional teams are simply going through the motions as happens all too frequently in this country. So when I pay my money to see this stuff, I am usually interested in European first division games, unlike hockey where the reds against the blues in a garage type rink in Saskatchewan can hold my interest as long as the teams are equally matched. .

But the big failing of soccer and the true defect in the game is the overweening importance of the penalty kick. It is so important to be able to generate a "penalty" that there is all sorts of faking and histrionics employed in order to try to draw one. I have seen players knocked to the ground groveling in pain who were actually never touched by the opponent but who apparently were unable to maintain their balance when they were exposed to the breeze that he generated as he went by. I do not like and am quite annoyed by the "academy award" performances that have seeped into those games, even in the English league

And some of these bozos do in fact fool the officials into awarding penalties. This has caused an imbalance in the game that seriously detracts from its attractions and does so much more than a spontaneous fight in a hockey game. But I will also admit that there are some fights in hockey that are artificial and not the residue of the tradition of a couple of Canadian guys going out behind the barn to settle the matter with their fists.

LOL. ^

My mother points at stuff in a wide open room and expects me to know what she's pointing at. :rolleyes:

Plus1.

Sort of. He had BL JR bring it to me:)

I feel that FT has brought our relationship to a new level. I believe that level is lower, but it is new.

I believe that quote is TalkMail-worthy.;)

Why is it that I believe that a sufficient amount of Champagne will restore the relationship to whatever level it was before his exposure to FT?:rolleyes:

It's been almost 7 years but our communication skills could be better. I have theories to that but I'll save that for a day when I've been drinking adult beverages ;)

Thank you. Hoping it's a 24 hour bug.

I expect him to read my mind and get frustrated when he doesn't. Sigh. :rolleyes:

:D


It will be interesting to see what a long trip will do to our relationship. Will we speak? Text each other? PM? We do still write old fashioned notes to each other. At least we've kept that.

Sorry, but change what?