The Schoolyear of Scott

First of all, please watch the video below.

I’ll wait…

I just love that song.

The other day I was having an argument with a friend who shall not be named (to save him from embarrassment) over whether or not Hockey is the most boring sport to watch.  I, being right-minded and sane, argued that Hockey is by far the most exciting sport to watch, while my misguided friend compared it to Soccer.  I would like to delve into this argument some more on this forum because it really touched a nerve with me.

Hockey is one of the three, so called, “fringe” sports that I am a huge fan of (the others being Mixed Martial Arts and, of course, Nascar).  Unlike with Nascar and MMA, though, I grew up being a hockey fan, having the privledge of going to numerous Washington Capitals games with my dad, back when the Caps were the Atlanta Braves of Hockey (making the playoffs 14 straight years and never winning the Stanley Cup).  At only eight years old I became a fan of Scott Stevens (totally due to his name; at that point I couldn’t have realized I was watching a future Hall of Famer, could I have?) and Kevin Hatcher (my brother is named Kevin) and was totally hooked.

I remember cheering wildly for goalie Jim Carrey throughout the 90’s (again, totally because of the name).  I remember the 1998 playoff run and watching the Caps get swept in humiliating fashion by the Detriot Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals.  I remember the excitment two years later when the Caps traded for Jaromir Jagr in 2001 and the disapointment that followed when, after scoring a $77 million contract, decided that he was going to stop putting forth any effort in hockey.

Most vividly, though, I remember Game 6 of the Opening Round of the Playoffs, when the Caps played the hated Pittsburgh Penguins.  The game was on a weeknight and, I guess due to the game running late and having to get up early in the morning (I had to get up at 5:15 for high school, but thats neither here nor there), my Dad, brother and myself each were watching in our respective bedrooms.  The Caps took the game to overtime and, facing elimination, Sergei Gonchar fumbled the opening faceoff pass from Adam Oates in the Capital’s zone and before anyone could realize why just happened, the Penguins recover and score to win the game.  The shrieks that came out of each of our bedrooms was pure comedy, especially considering that my dad was watching on Tivo, thus delaying his reaction by two seconds.

Hockey Refs are Funny

So anyway, back to the argument.  My friend says that nothing happens during a hockey game and that no one ever scores.  He couldn’t be more wrong.  Hockey is the most exciting sport because it is 60 minutes of players doing anything they can to get the puck into the net.  Since scoring is so rare (relatively speaking), every goal is important and the enthusiasm shown by the players after they score is evidence of this.  I would even argue that a game with fewer goals scored is more exciting than one with many goals scored.  Unlike football and baseball, there is constant action for the entire game and all 60 minutes of play matter, unlike basketball, where it all comes down to the final minutes.

If everyone would just give hockey a chance instead of blindly hating on it, I think their opinions would change.  Alex Ovechkin, who is the Michael Jordan of hockey, is in just his 4th year in the league and is the most exciting player on the ice at all times.  Anyone who watches him play is hooked immediately.  Thanks to the beauty of the internet, I have been able to watch nearly every game he’s played this season, streamed illegally in HD, and am enjoying every minute of it.

If you are a hockey hater, check out this highlight reel of Ovie’s and watch a game or two.  Then come back to me and tell me that hockey is boring!

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 26th, 2009 at 4:37 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.