he following rants from the breadmans vault serve to express views on current affairs. The players may have changed but the issues are the same.
Another blow to hockey ( June 16th 2007 )
Although I whole heartily agree with the severity of the problems concerning blows to the head, I worry about the trend to domesticate the game that has endeared fans of the game with its reckless abandon and sheer energy. I worry the fierceness and aggression that defines its appeal will be whitewashed in the name of political correctness. Most certainly there is intent when a hit is delivered, the intent being, in most cases, to demobilize the opponent, not to injure. Although blows to the head are unfortunate, they are inevitable.
I believe the issue at hand to be easily managed. Equipment has exceeded requirements. In the pursuit of safety for the individual, design and materials used in protective pads have made them a menace to the whole. A simple elbow, that Mr. Hockey made famous, can now be classified as a weapon not because of intent to injure but because the pads are now rock hard.Shoulder pads are nothing short of body armor.The equipment hockey players wear is meant to absorb energy,not generate lethal consequences. One could argue the players are bigger and stronger in todays game but I believe the advances in technology present proportionally a greater risk than remedy.
Creating a blanket ruling penalizing blows to the head, regardless of if they are intentional,could spell the end of body contact in hockey.
Please,let us think these things through before we institute yet another change to our great game in the name of appealing to demographics that care little for its survival.
Charging is a penalty! ( April 17 2007 )
There has been a lot of discussion on the legality of the hit Armstrong dished out to Eaves during the latest playoff contest involving Pittsburgh/Ottawa. Much of it in the context of yet another head injury. Any real fan of hockey will tell you its a hard, rough, game. Any reasonable fan will tell you brain damage is not an acceptable consequence of his need to be entertained. That being said, the issue of how to deal with this real concern continues to exist. As much as I love the hard, physical game, my concern is the league is going to do something about it and that worry's me. My advice is to enforce the rules that already exist. What has happened to the charging penalty? Has it been stricken from the books? In any given game, all year long and into the playoffs, you will see guys coming from across the ice surface to deliver a hit with no intention of playing the puck. Why no penalty? The existing rules state one can travel only a matter of feet before landing a check. If the league were to enforce this rule it would act as a deterrent regardless whether it was clean or the player had his head down.
Rule 47 Charging
Charging shall mean the actions of a player who, as a result of distance traveled, shall violently check an opponent in any manner. A "Charge" may be the result of a check into the boards, into the goal frame or in open ice. A minor or major penalty shall be imposed on a player who skates or jumps into, or charges an opponent in any manner. When a major penalty is imposed under this Rule for a foul resulting in an injury to the face or head of an opponent, a game misconduct shall be imposed, and an automatic fine.
I can't stand it any longer! ( June 02 2008 )
You kids talk like you just invented the game yesterday.
Saying players are better today than when some of the best hockey players to ever lace up their skates played,besides being irreverent,is akin to saying money buys more now or car racing was boring in the 50's.I guess you haven't been around long enough to know that all things are relative.
It may be that equipment was elemental,tube skates,wood sticks,cloth and leather pads etc.,but to slight the accomplishments of these great players by stating that none of them could skate in todays game is just ignorant!
No Gretzky was not a fairytale your Dad told you,he did score 50 in 39 and he capped it with 5 in one game and if he were playing in todays game,at his prime, in this day of the phantom penalty,he would make hay once more.
And please,hockey players may not have always had the advantage of trainers but they have always been the fittest athletes in sport, thats 1st through 4th line.
diary of a breadman (August 13 2008 )
...Gary Bettman,for the love of mike,start protecting the game we have and stop worrying about the market we don't have....
...this new age of sport,money and entertainment make for strange bedfellows....
...little do they know that under the oiler hat,underwear,socks,tattoo...is the cavernous shell of a fan,void of joy, fixed on maintaining his bruised heart till next time,next time his team breaches the threshold of success hoping that beyond all hope a Saviour,a man of the twine will lead his oiler nation to the promised land and deliver them from temptation...amen !
...most enforcers couldn't skate with the fourth line in to-days game.What has developed,with the resurgence of the open ice hit,is a much more dangerous evolution....
...the league brings this attitude of disrespect onto the itself when players are left with no option but to act themselves...
...in the day,guys like Yarko were irritating rats, but they were rats with eyes in the back of there heads because they knew they could only go so far,so far before the big dog on the block would chase them back into their hole....
...the speed,physicality and aggressive nature of our game coupled with creativity and momentum simply cannot be obtained without total commitment,pure emotion....
...let us think these things through before we institute yet another change to our great game in the name of appealing to demographics that care little for its survival....
...a decision made at ice level, with no regard for the press box or how much money was at stake or who could take his job.The man was in charge!He was proud to wear his name on his striped jersey....
...now the stripes carry two sets of books,one book to call the minor infractions and one tells them the number of Gary’s lackeys upstairs....
...the powers that be have twisted the game to suit outside influences squeezing out role players,focusing on offense and damning defense....
...my wish is that the sporting world open their collective minds to the reality that these are people we are judging,not inanimate objects on some game box....
...if the Canadian fan base is undermined there will be no foundation to build on....
...passion is a timeless spirit, traveling to one place and then another all the while multiplying,re birthing itself with each fresh stride,every rising shot ringing the post....
...sport can be all about numbers, but that’s not what turns my crank.It’s the people,they are the juice....
...before the instigator rule and video review there was instant accountability,
fighting was a mechanism of control, respect by decree....
...Mr. Campbell...your obvious morphism to lap dog stature strikes me as regrettable and as disgusting as Dave Hodge making a case for the shootout, siting TV time constraints!!!
...true fans of hockey appreciate the game for its defensive qualities too.A defensive game seems to bring out a certain grade of excitement....
...#9 Glenn Anderson...the powers that be slight our hockey legacy when excluding his appointment....
...as a fan of hockey allow me to apologize for supporting a league that continues too deny the game its dignity....
That ought to make clear what edbread is about when it comes to hockey!
No comments:
Post a Comment