Thought you hockey-l'ers might enjoy this....
 
"
                  Hockey's a better game, eh?
 
 
  Why the heck watch a game played by oversized mutants who can't fit through
 most doorways when you can watch a game played by guys whose biggest flaw is
 that they say `out' like `oot' and can't complete a sentence without saying
 `eh'?
  College hockey wrapped up its season Saturday when Lake Superior State beat
 Wisconsin 5-3 in Albany, N.Y.  College hoops finally ended after a month of
 inanity Monday night when Duke beat U-M 71-51 in a ho-hum game in Minneapolis.
  Despite its numerically superior following, hoops doesn't hold a candle to
 hockey and her's why:
  Hockey requires the highest level of hand-to-eye coordination and greater
 speed and strength.  Anyone can pick up a basketball and shoot it.  Hockey
 requires skates, skill and stamina.  There are no sissy players on the ice once
 the game starts, and there are no players exempt from checks.
  Hockey is played by men who aren't afraid to take a few hits while playing the
 game.  But let the pretty boys like Matt Steigengna or Christian Laettner so
 much as feel a dirty look from another player and they cry foul to high heaven.
  Which leads to the point in hockey, penalties mean something.  Ever seen a
 hoops game played 5-on-4, or better yet, 5-on-3?  Of course not.  Hockey often
 requires three players to defend their zone while five opposition players do
 their best to shoot the puck in the net. ( (Just ask the Wisconsin Badgers
 about this, who most of the second period in Saturday's title game
 shorthanded).
  Hockey players are more relaxed about fans seeing them after games.  After
 hoop games, fans have to wait outside to get autographs.  In Munn arena, fans
 line up outside the hallway leading to the locker room and get all the
 autographs and pictures taken with players that they want, whether the team has
 won or lost.
  Hockey is more exciting, and it doesn't take half an hour for players to play
 the last two minutes of the game.  In basketball, everyone and their mother
 calls a timeout with a minute left to play, leaving viewers enough time to
 finish the last half of "War and Peace".
  Hockey is played by guys who fight while on the ice, but once the game is over
 everyone drinks together.  After being eliminated from the playoffs by the
 Spartans in the first round, the Ferris State players had no qualms about going
 out to the local watering holes to quaff some beer and talk about scoring.  In
 fact, everyone meets after games to drink, from coaches to commissioners to
 writers.
  Hockey players have the class to wish each other luck, even if they're
 longtime rivals.  After the Central Collegiate Hockey championship semifinal at
 Joe Louis Arena March 21, MSU senior Mike Gilmore wished Lake Superior State
 goalie Darrin Madeley the best of luck for the next day's title game.  And this
 came right after LSSU had beaten Gilmore's team to diminish MSU's chances of
 getting a seed to play in the West regionals in Detroit instead of the East
 regionals in Providence, R.I.
  And last but not least, hockey is better than hoops because of the announcers.
  At the professional level, Don Cherry outdoes every other commentator with his
 "Coaches' Corner."  The day has not dawned that "Grapes" is afraid to speak his
 mind, whether this includes insulting every Scandinavian dead or alive.  Dick
 Vitale's claim to fame is how loudly he can get his puny point accross.  Jim
 Valvano is a plastic doll licensed by Mattel Toys.  At the pro level, Doug
 Collins can't make up his mind about what to say and Dick Stockton's voice puts
 more people to sleep than the sandman.
  Besides, how can you not love a sport where a player can say, "I was just
 worried about putting some lumber in my shot eh?"
"
 
-Helene Burr on hockey in
 
         The  State  News
          ______________
 
      MSU's independent voice
 
    (Vol. 87 No 56  4/9/92 page 14)