Five for Fighting

There has been a lot of talk about fighting in the great sport of hockey. It started here in North Texas, just today, due to a video from the YouTube between 2 private clubs at a high school level. A very amateur league. If you haven't seen the video it's pretty graphic and very violent. A senior captain blindsides a defenseless player. In this particular league there is no fighting. None. Zero. Zilch. Nada. This video stirred up a long debate on fighting in sports and the effect it has on the youth and their heroes.

Now the uproar that I've been hearing is about fighting in the NHL and how it's condoned, and the joys of hockey fighting. I can't argue with that. Because I DO love the fighting, BUT here's the kicker. The fighting in the NHL is between 2 very willing and highly (they beg to differ I'm sure) paid men. Not between a couple of high school kids that decided that on their senior year they could break all the rules and go crazy on some other kids that are trying to follow the rules.

From my polling, most people believe that the fighting in the NHL is completely random, with no setup or anything to that effect. The truth of the matter is, the unwritten rule. That rule being that: no one unwilling will fight. So if you don't want to fight then you don't fight. They do this out of respect. End of story. My big thing with the debate is the lack of knowledge of the actual game that non-puckheads have. Then they take the act of fighting out of context and give the game a bad name (Not love). They think that fighting is the only thing that makes hockey a "gladiator" sport. The players wield sticks and start to wack each other and try to stab you with their skates!

I have more respect for professional hockey players than any other sport, and here's why: 1) Hockey players are almost the lowest paid pro athletes. 2) They are some of the nicest human beings that you have ever met. 3) The lack of exposure of the country is making it a dying sport. 3) I'd like to see a pro football player go out and get on the ice. 4) Have you ever stood there with a 190 lb. man barreling towards you at full speed on ice ? 5) Try to ice skate AND shoot a rubber disc about an inch thick at a net.

Now back to the reason I wrote this. This stupid, and it is stupid, move by these kids shouldn't go unpunished. They have made a mockery of a game that already has bad stereotypes against it. From what I have been hearing, some are looking at suspensions that could hurt their possible scholarships. In my opinion this isn't enough. I want these morons set down and charged, drop the charges later and scare these idiots straight. If you go through life thinking that you can do something as dumb as this without repercussions than you need to be beaten.

It comes down to being able to follow the rules.  And from the mouth of one of my favorite broadcasters, "Is it that hard to follow the rules!?"

24 hour addition

The 3-3-11, 11:59 P.M. deadline came and past. The result? A 24 hour extension for the players union and the NFL to come to an agreement. 

I'm not really sure that they know what is really at stake here. The fate of the most popular American sport could really be in jeopardy. Anyone remember the hockey strike? Even what happened during the baseball strike?

The baseball strike for the 1994 and 1995 baseball seasons, just about killed the sport. That one season, the 182 baseball games that never were played. If you ask any fan right now about how they perceived the players afterwards, they'll tell you that they lost such a big part of their respect for the athletes, that it quite literally almost killed the Great American Pasttime. If the oldest sport in these United States could go away in the professional sense, what do you think the American people would do to an entity like the NFL? The American people have a VERY short memory. Meaning we will not remember how good the big game is or how big the next big players contract is. We're a last season society. We will only remember how disappointed we are with the owners and the players.

The fact of the matter is that the American people are looking at a work stoppage where more than 9 billion dollars is at stake. Let's see 9 billion dollars, in an economy where people were and still are losing their houses at the highest rate in the entire history of history! We look to these men for entertainment, to keep our minds off the way life is really going. And these guys can't figure out how to spend 9 billion dollars. Are you kidding me? 9 billion dollars! 

Alright I'm done ranting right now... Here's the way they want the money to breakdown. The owners are getting $1 billion right off the top for the construction of new stadjums. Then they incur the costs of running the building and the rest of the business. They want to double the stadjum money to 2 billion. They essentially want to go from being the 49% share to having the 51%. 

The players want extended healthcare. BUT they also get the crazy contracts. 

As of right now at midnight tonight Eastern Standard time, there will be a full on work stoppage. Or they just might vote to have an even longer extension.

What do you think? Are you going to change your view on football? Are you going to look to different sports for your entertainment?