[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHZmQ_JMrTg]YouTube - 11-29-08 Ryan Donally vs. Zach Fitzgerald[/ame]
From the game against the Moose this past weekend.
From the game against the Moose this past weekend.
Iowa Chops' Ryan Donally KO's a guy in Two Hits
- Thread starter Broodwich
- Start date
I think it's painfully apparent to everyone on this board that I am a huge hockey fan. But I _hated_ the Iowa Stars. This is something completely different and special. They are BIG guys. They fight. They win. If you even have a passing interest in hockey, I would strongly encourage you to check them out.
Fighting in hockey isn't just about random violence, it's about enforcement of fairplay and paying penance for cheap shots and dirty play. There are rules to fighting, and it's a part of the game for a reason.
Yes, and it's also the reason that the NHL is by far the least
attended, and lowest paid of the four major professional sports.
Your argument is like saying that there are rules for a batter charging the mound--and bench clearing brawls are hurting baseball. All thuggery harms a sport.
i'm old enough to remember the Lake Placid Olympics. Now that was hockey as it should be played. Teamwork. Skill. And no fighting.
It's definitely not THE reason that the NHL is the least popular... I don't even know if it is a contributing factor. If fighting were frowned upon, then why is the UFC so incredibly popular?
And usually in international play such as the Olympics fighting is a little more frowned upon.
And usually in international play such as the Olympics fighting is a little more frowned upon.
Wrong.
There is less violence per minute in a hockey game than there is in a football game (the vast majority of the 22 players on the field get hit in some fashion every single play, while only 3-4 players receive any kind of contact in any given minute during a hockey game), yet violence isn't a deterrent against people watching football.
Americans don't watch hockey for two reasons:
1. They associate it with Canadians, and Americans typically don't like them.
2. People who aren't familiar with the game, when they try to watch it on TV, aren't able to follow the puck. They assume if you can't follow the action on TV then you can't follow the action live at the rink, which is a gigantic fallacy.
I really don't like watching hockey on TV but being there during a hockey game is awesome!
That's a fallacy. Do you know what sport has the average lowest salaries? The NFL.
And about attendance, read these:
NBA and NHL attendance - SportsBiz - Sports Business Commentary - Washington Times
NHL vs. NBA: Hoops fans meekly strike back at hockey's surge - Puck Daddy - NHL - Yahoo! Sports
While I respect your reasons for not appreciating professional hockey, I don't think fighting is the root of the problems with the NHL. I think much of it has to do with the lack of a TV contract and residual problems from the lockout.
:biglaugh:
H
HGPuck
Guest
IMHO by far the biggest reason hockey is less popular than some other sports is that it is not a good TV sport. There are a lot of reason for that but fighting isn't one of them. Some of them are difficulty seeing the puck, two intermissions, less scoring, and just generally harder to follow the action on TV. I'll agree with the others that have said there is a big difference between watching in person and on TV
Who cares! If you like it watch for whatever reason you want to. If you don't want to don't. But why bother telling someone why they should or shouldn't like something???
Crap now I'm starting to tell people how to post..... yeah I know, I know - hypocritical. I'll leave the thread now.
Crap now I'm starting to tell people how to post..... yeah I know, I know - hypocritical. I'll leave the thread now.
Just to throw some fuel on the fire, check out this tribute to NHL legend Wendell Clark.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEltpSMTDPM]YouTube - thanks "ALL HEART"[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEltpSMTDPM]YouTube - thanks "ALL HEART"[/ame]
"Average"? Would you really like to match up the top 22 salaries of every NFL roster against the 22 man rosters of the NHL? Or how about simply total salary, since that's what payroll really is. However you look at it, the NHL is the lowest paid.
I especially liked this paragraph:
During the 2007-08 season, the NBA averaged 17,396 fans per game, compared to 17,268 for the NHL. Through November 24 of this year, using the most recent data compiled from ESPN.com, the NBA is edging the NHL in average attendance, 17,178 to 17,119.
Lowest is still lowest. And that doesn't even include how a 71K match bumped up the NHL's average.
And of course the lack of a TV contract has nothing to do with the fact that TV viewers were actually happier with the NHL on strike. After all, those same TV slots garnered significantly higher ratings without the NHL
Just my opinion, but it would seem to me that the NHL needs to fix their problems (i.e., rampant violence) before they can expect to land a TV contract.
The last time I tried to watch an NHL match (pre-lockout), in that half hour there was more time spent related to fighting (three long, drawn out fights) and penalties than actually playing hockey--no exageration. I finally gave up in disgust.
Spoken like someone who has absolutely no knowledge about hockey. Like I said, per minute the NFL has more violence than the NHL - and it doesn't detract from its viewership.
Does hockey have its problems? Yeah. But the rampant violence you keep insisting is hardly it, and the fact you keep insisting that's the problem with hockey shows how little you actually know about the sport.
You beat me to the punch. Good work. I was reading the thread hoping someone else would point out the attendance figures.
As for the success it has in the American household. It's largely dependent on a number of things. Not a good TV contract, game does not translate well on TV but is better in hi def, lack of personalities that people need to be interested in sports (See: Chad Johnson, TO, Kobe, A-Rod).
It sucks too because I firmly believe hockey is the sport that requires the most natural skill mixed with hustle that exists.
The Chops guy got it handed to him another time though:
YouTube - Guillaume Desbiens vs Ryan Donally
YouTube - Guillaume Desbiens vs Ryan Donally