what is your Favorite Sport to Watch when the Pats season is over?

[PromisedLand]

Yeah I understand your concern there PL. Unfortunately that is part of the game. Personally I don't mind watching a fight here and there and sometimes a fight is the best thing that can happen. I mean sorry to sound like Cherry here but sometimes a fight takes away from someone getting smashed into the boards, getting slashed by a stick across the face or something else serious.

Hockey can be a violent sport for sure, some of those guys ain't too small. Not the size of a defensive end or anything like that, but it is a very fast game, and if you don't think so, strap on some skates against some quality players and you'll find out.

Grass roots hockey here in NS, and I am assuming in Maine, Mass. VT, NH or anywhere else is a great sport. The odd fight in the pros is not a bad thing. There are few times that someone goes a bit nuts and the media jumps on the league and says.."see, that is why hockey sucks, it is too barbaric"...but those incidents are not common at all. Keep in mind there are also some barbaric plays in football that occur too....

Agree with the fighting 'reasoning' here: it's to keep the other team honest so that no sh*t will be acceptable (cheap shots, etc.). I would not bring kids that young to the game yet, if u were still in Boston area, take them to a college hockey game. The college game is really skilled at the Division 1 level (I went to BU) and no fighting ~ 99.9% of the time ( I saw 1 in the last 10 years) with most players NHL prospects. I personally like the fighting - big bad Bruins in the 70's would use it to change the other flashy / skilled teams (e.g. Canadiens) style of play (more reluctant to go in front / the corners, etc.). Hockey is the best 'skilled' game on earth!

I'm not sure if you guys are agreeing or disagreeing, so I'll just amplify my thoughts on the matter.

First of all, I don't accept the argument that fighting is part of the game. It is NOT part of the game - it is part of the NHL game. It is part of the NHL game because it is tolerated.

Hockey is played internationally, and in the NCAA (as SavioKid points out), without it being an accepted part of the game, so there is much less fighting in those realms. Yet it is still hockey - it retains the speed and grace and excitement without the ugliness (IMO) of the fighting.

Rather than requiring players to be the police on the ice, the league should enact and enforce strict rules against fighting, as well as against the kinds of cheap shots that you two argue justifies it. If a player were immediately ejected and suspended without pay for throwing a punch, how many would punches would be thrown? Along the same lines, it is the league's place to police the players on the ice. Severe penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct (such as smashing someone into the boards), severe enough to significantly hurt the team's chances of winning, would quickly put a stop to it. And this is not just a hypothetical argument. This is the way it is in international and NCAA hockey, and the game is just fine in those leagues without all the fighting.

Secondly, there is no sport more violent than football, yet you rarely see fights in football at any level. Those few that do break out are quickly broken up and the players involved are ejected. Are there cheap shots? Absolutely. But the rules are in place, and the rules are enforced, so as to minimize them and to punish the players and teams who commit them.

I suspect the acceptance (and even encouragement) of fighting in the NHL is an intentional decision on the part of the NHL governers. They feel it appeals to their fan base, which consists of people who like or at least tolerate fighting. This is the NHL fan base because their is fighting, and people like me who are turned off by the fighting stop being NHL fans.

So it's a self perpetuating situation. Hockey has fighting because their fans like it, and their fans like it because the NHL has fighting. But I also believe the fighting is a primary reason that NHL hockey has remained a distant fourth place amongst the major professional sports in the U.S. The majority of sports fans DON'T want to see fighting. The barbarism of the NHL brand of hockey reduces itself to the level of roller derby and WWE wrestling for those people, in their eyes.

 

[primetime]

Hockey is played internationally, and in the NCAA (as SavioKid points out), without it being an accepted part of the game, so there is much less fighting in those realms. Yet it is still hockey - it retains the speed and grace and excitement without the ugliness (IMO) of the fighting

....

I suspect the acceptance (and even encouragement) of fighting in the NHL is an intentional decision on the part of the NHL governers. They feel it appeals to their fan base, which consists of people who like or at least tolerate fighting. This is the NHL fan base because their is fighting, and people like me who are turned off by the fighting stop being NHL fans.

So it's a self perpetuating situation. Hockey has fighting because their fans like it, and their fans like it because the NHL has fighting. But I also believe the fighting is a primary reason that NHL hockey has remained a distant fourth place amongst the major professional sports in the U.S. The majority of sports fans DON'T want to see fighting. The barbarism of the NHL brand of hockey reduces itself to the level of roller derby and WWE wrestling for those people, in their eyes.

I've played professionally in Europe. International hockey sucks. The referees are way too stringent and the fact that a bump or chip or errant elbow or fist here or there causes someone to go straight to the box is absolutely awful. I, personally, prefer to play in the North American style, where physicality is encouraged, versus the *****-footing International version (and I'm a goalie! I hate being run at, but I'd rather have guys come to my defense or defend myself and a little shoving match go then have that result in a major penalty for either side). Hockey is a graceful sport, yes, but it's graceful in the way that football is; athleticism and speed interspersed with moments of bone-crunching, high-flying hits. If you like the grace of hockey without the hits and fighting, watch figure skating. It's graceful and athletic too. Don't say I didn't warn you, though.

As for the NHL rules encouraging fighting, there's truth to that, but recently (post-lockout) rules have been enforced to attempt to lower the amount of fighting, such as the instigator rule. It hasn't really changed much, but many diehards including myself were very upset by this. There's also a plethora of cheap penalties called which haven't really had their desired effect: scoring hasn't increased and the boring trap remains a viable strategy.

As for barbarism, exactly why is football the most popular sport in America if people don't want violence? You're attributing violence to hockey, but you fail to realize that football is worse. Yes, there aren't the blatant fights, but the entire point of the game is to put someone's butt on the ground as hard as possible on every single play. While checking in hockey is means to an end, a tackle in football is the end. Fighting and violence is a sideshow in hockey, while in football it's the name of the game. Football is your modern-day gladiatorial combat. The reason why hockey is not as beloved is because hockey tends to be enjoyed only by people who grew up playing the game or in a hockey environment. In Canada, this is almost the entire country. In the US, it is limited to its traditional fortresses: New England, upstate New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Colorado, and the Dakotas. Of course, there are exceptions, but the majority of hockey players and thus hockey fans come from these places, which on the whole make up a small minority of the US population. The NHL's (or rather Gary Bettman's) attempt to expand into the Sun Belt, while it worked in some places (San Jose, Dallas - two cities where even youth hockey has begun to thrive), failed in many others (Atlanta? Are you kidding? Columbus? Raleigh over Hartford? Nashville?!).

Hockey will never be more than the fourth sport in the nation. This has nothing to do with fans being repulsed by violence (again, football and rugby wouldn't be two of the three most popular sports in the world if this was the case). It has more to do with simple geographic and demographic factors.

 

[Halifax_Pats_Fan]

I've played professionally in Europe. International hockey sucks. The referees are way too stringent and the fact that a bump or chip or errant elbow or fist here or there causes someone to go straight to the box is absolutely awful. I, personally, prefer to play in the North American style, where physicality is encouraged, versus the *****-footing International version (and I'm a goalie! I hate being run at, but I'd rather have guys come to my defense or defend myself and a little shoving match go then have that result in a major penalty for either side). Hockey is a graceful sport, yes, but it's graceful in the way that football is; athleticism and speed interspersed with moments of bone-crunching, high-flying hits. If you like the grace of hockey without the hits and fighting, watch figure skating. It's graceful and athletic too. Don't say I didn't warn you, though.

As for the NHL rules encouraging fighting, there's truth to that, but recently (post-lockout) rules have been enforced to attempt to lower the amount of fighting, such as the instigator rule. It hasn't really changed much, but many diehards including myself were very upset by this. There's also a plethora of cheap penalties called which haven't really had their desired effect: scoring hasn't increased and the boring trap remains a viable strategy.

As for barbarism, exactly why is football the most popular sport in America if people don't want violence? You're attributing violence to hockey, but you fail to realize that football is worse. Yes, there aren't the blatant fights, but the entire point of the game is to put someone's butt on the ground as hard as possible on every single play. While checking in hockey is means to an end, a tackle in football is the end. Fighting and violence is a sideshow in hockey, while in football it's the name of the game. Football is your modern-day gladiatorial combat. The reason why hockey is not as beloved is because hockey tends to be enjoyed only by people who grew up playing the game or in a hockey environment. In Canada, this is almost the entire country. In the US, it is limited to its traditional fortresses: New England, upstate New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Colorado, and the Dakotas. Of course, there are exceptions, but the majority of hockey players and thus hockey fans come from these places, which on the whole make up a small minority of the US population. The NHL's (or rather Gary Bettman's) attempt to expand into the Sun Belt, while it worked in some places (San Jose, Dallas - two cities where even youth hockey has begun to thrive), failed in many others (Atlanta? Are you kidding? Columbus? Raleigh over Hartford? Nashville?!).

Hockey will never be more than the fourth sport in the nation. This has nothing to do with fans being repulsed by violence (again, football and rugby wouldn't be two of the three most popular sports in the world if this was the case). It has more to do with simple geographic and demographic factors.

Yeah, I agree with this post PT, esp the last paragraph. And the fact that it is not popular in the U.S., at least in the southern US, is fine with me. I don't need the southern states watching hockey for me to want to watch it any more. To me the fact that they don't do this means absolutely 0.

The more unpopular hockey gets anywhere else I could not care less about. it is one of my two preferred sports. I understand the reasoning behind wanting to get more cash for everyone by promoting it's popularity down south, but I got to be honest with you. I dont care about what they watch, just like they don't care about what I watch. Nascar and basketball are two popular sports in the south and they both bore me to sleep.

And to PL, there are an equal number of 'barbaric' incidents in Junior here, maybe more, than in the NHL.

NE ways this is a football forum and reverting back to the post, when the Pats season is over, my attention turns to the NHL. For me hockey and the NHL is a great, fast paced team game. Great to see the kids get into and have fun.

Let's focus on the good shall we. The good is the game, not the almighty dollar...

 

[SavioKid]

I've played professionally in Europe. International hockey sucks. The referees are way too stringent and the fact that a bump or chip or errant elbow or fist here or there causes someone to go straight to the box is absolutely awful. I, personally, prefer to play in the North American style, where physicality is encouraged, versus the *****-footing International version (and I'm a goalie! I hate being run at, but I'd rather have guys come to my defense or defend myself and a little shoving match go then have that result in a major penalty for either side). Hockey is a graceful sport, yes, but it's graceful in the way that football is; athleticism and speed interspersed with moments of bone-crunching, high-flying hits. If you like the grace of hockey without the hits and fighting, watch figure skating. It's graceful and athletic too. Don't say I didn't warn you, though.

As for barbarism, exactly why is football the most popular sport in America if people don't want violence? You're attributing violence to hockey, but you fail to realize that football is worse. Yes, there aren't the blatant fights, but the entire point of the game is to put someone's butt on the ground as hard as possible on every single play. While checking in hockey is means to an end, a tackle in football is the end.
......

Where did u play overseas PrimeTime? & did u play juniors or college? hopefully u played in a more western europe place with 'culture' (partying without KGB!)!

Good points about football violence: statistically (my guess only), football probably has more bad outcomes for serious / life threatening injuries than hockey. Blown out knees / concussions (hockey could be even for this. Broons got 2 this year already) / spine-related crippling injuries..etc. I have practically almost never heard of an NHLer getting seriously hurt from a fight (an even face-to-face one) even though I'm not saying it couldn't obviously occur but (for example) a legal, bone-crunching hit by a Safety / CB over the middle on a WR stretching out for a pass is somewhat likely to have serious injury repercussions! And it is a legal hit occuring on average 1,2 or 3 times a game! So how do you explain that to your grandkids?!?

My point: could the NHL make strict rules to 'police' their own? Yes, but it has the potential to create an almost 'allstar' game feel to me...Fighting is a way to tell the goons from another goon that "hey, u'll have to deal with me if you keep cheapshoting our superstar like Crosby or the goalie" & creates a fun time for all! "And I'm telling you, Broom County is just visibly upset by this display. Get places for the home games. Bring the kids. We got entertainment for the whole family!" (from Slap Shot for those non hockey people)

 

[tedy hagler]

Better to be a blade of grass on an NFL field than the home run king in the majors.

Only a great boxing match can approach . . . and those happen rarely anymore.

 

[Wildo7]

All this talk about hockey fights reminds me of the greatest hockey fight ever:

http://break.com/index/the-worst-fight-in-hockey-history.html

 

[pheenix11]

I have never liked hockey, it just seems too much like a chinese fire drill to me. Except for whistles it is just non stop skating around, up and down. Every time someone scores it seems more like luck than anything else.

I like baseball and football because every few seconds there is a pitch or a play then a little break and then another one. You know when to look for something to happen. Hockey, you look down to take a sip of your drink and someone scores and you miss it because you never know when to expect it. I don't know, when I watch hockey it just frustrates the hell out of me.

Basketball on the other hand has just too much scoring, none of the game matters except for the last 5 minutes. The hockey and basketball playoffs are a joke too because there are too many teams that make it. The regular season just seems useless.

I do like baseball, but it is a different style, definitely more laid back and relaxed. Surprisingly even though there are twice as many games, each baseball game seems more important than a basketball or hockey game because its tough to make the playoffs.

Football really is the perfect sport and the playoff system as it is right now could not be any better. Every game in football matters because there are so few of them. Each game is an event. I guess its economics 101, scarcity.

 

[captain stone]

In no particular order:

Hockey - though I would love to see the NHL limit the # of faceless, mercenery eurotrash on each team's roster.

Boxing - I've seen some good fights on HBO the past 8 months. Too bad that'll end in July, when we move back to Hershey.

Horse Racing - the Triple Crown preps, the Derby/Preakness/Belmont, and the summer races, e.g.: the Travers, Haskell, et. al.

BelichickFan mentioned the NFL Draft; I just realized last week that I'll be in Ireland that weekend. Crap.

 

[Scouse Patriot]

so i will obliged to see sporadically some soccer games (tomorrow Inter-Liverpool)

Nice scenes at the end of the game. Very classy of Inter fans to applaud us. Also seen the banner thanking us for beating Milan in 2005

Us Brits send our apologies for dumping both Milan teams out. (not really ).

Soccer is my #1 sport and that basically never ends. Other sports include Boxing and Formula 1. Lewis Hamilton tearing Australia apart earlier on in a race that only 7 cars finished If I remember right.

 

[Ownagedood]

Toss up between AFL and College Basketball.. I went with AFL beacuse it's still an underdog sport.. But is very exciting.

 

[Joker]

favorite off season sport?

flying south and scoping out bodacious ta-ta's from Panama City to Miami