So I’ve finally made the change over to the NHL playoffs. Don’t applaud me too loudly. It took the Pittsburgh Penguins to make the final four of the league for me to give a shit. And I’ll defend myself thusly.
Playoff hockey is a grand departure from the first 6 months of the season. Allow me to elaborate. The regular season doesn’t matter. Case in point, the San Jose Sharks won the Presidents’ Trophy for having the best record in the regular season, finishing 53-18. They then lost 4 of 6 games to a 42-33 team.
Since the lockout ended, two of the last four Presidents’ Trophy winners have lost in the first round. The NBA had the team with the best record in the league lose in 2007. Before that you have to go back to the ’94 playoffs to see the best team in the league lose in the first round. How is that fucking possible? Because playoff hockey greatly differs from regular season hockey.
I had an opinion here for what type of hockey wins in playoffs versus what wins in the regular season. But I don’t have a clue about anything hockey related other than the following: 1) Hockey players smell ~ maybe not them but their equipment. B) I’ll not watch a sport where the regular season is so goddamn meaningless (see: MLB). Purple) Mario Lemieux is the greatest hockey player not named Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky was a whiny little punk bitch.
As I was saying however – wait, I had a point? – I’m enjoying hockey more thus far than the NBA playoffs, which I’ve watched in their entirety. I love the openness of the NHL playoffs. Guys are getting chippy, knees are getting knocked and sometimes fists are needed in order to settle a beef. In the NBA playoffs, guys get suspended for getting off the bench to see if their teammate is hurt in a scuffle.
I know we, as fans, are still dealing with the fallout of the Malice in the Palace. I doubt we’ll ever get back to the way the game was played in the 80s. Do the refs really need to throw that X up over their heads for a flagrant on every good hard play? Does David Stern really expect to see teams allowing guys open, uncontested layups?
What is the fundamental difference between the two games that we have one sport that allows the men to sort it out on the ice within reason and another that polices the proceedings like a prison yard? I’m going to make another list and there are three things on it. A) The NHL has boards and glass that separate the action from the fans. 2) Hockey players wear pads and there seems to be the unwritten law that you must strip before fighting. (Time spent removing garters makes it so hard to fight like a man) Elephant) Hockey players are white and basketball players are black.
Yea, I’m going there. I’m going to devolve this to a race issue. My president is black and so is my favorite basketball player. Look at the 80s. Still no glass. Still no pads. But half the guys on the court were white. Do you think for a second that K-Mart gets away with the McHale clothesline? Survey says ~ show me potato salad!
I have no substantive evidence of this other than liking to rile the masses. I still think David Stern is the best commissioner of the four major sports and hockey (golf has moved up now that Tiger’s back). But the man has serious issues with his referees. It’s to the point that it’s ruining the totality of the product. There are too many shaky and questionable calls for the intent fan to ignore. Let’s get more young men and women calling these games. Leave the old white men to keep the book. Dick Bavetta lost a footrace to Charles Barkley in 2007. The defense rests…
No comments:
Post a Comment