This is pathetic...  Here's a newspaper "editorial" from one of the
Richmond Times-Dispatch's regular sports columnists.  His name is
Bob Lipper.
 
After you read this, I suggest a nice rebuttal to the newspaper at
 
        [log in to unmask]
 
This "story" can also be found online at
    <http://www.gateway-va.com/pages/sports/cols/lipp/0408lipp.htm>
 
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Don't care for fighting?
Don't buy hockey ticket
 
Bob Lipper
 
Wednesday, April 8, 1998
 
There are two things that should never be allowed on ice (well, three
if you count a good Beaujolais).
 
One is sequined outfits at the Olympics.
 
The other is George Foreman trading left hooks with Larry Holmes.
 
Don't laugh. Somewhere out there in hockey country, a promoter with
Don King tendencies and seats to fill is just salivating at the idea.
 
The more hockey changes -- Disney and North Carolina barbecue are now
part of the mix -- the more it dismays the same. At its best, the game
is all speed and finesse and angles and eyepopping skill. At its
worst, it's roller derby on skates, except the combatants don't pull
hair or punches.
 
The building where hockey is played is known as a rink.
 
Better they should maybe call it a ring.
 
Look, if I want to see hand-to-hand dust-ups, I can take in the Golden
Gloves or a Jackie Chan flick. Hockey should be refrigerated ballet
with collisions. But the game persists in selling battle royals along
with royalty (Gretzky, Jagr, Selanne, etc.), and that's where I draw
my own red line. Matters got so ridiculous in the Rangers-Islanders
matchup last Saturday, for example, that the goalies decided to duke
it out. This would be known as grounds for suspension at NBA
headquarters. Among hockey people, it's regarded as mayhem as usual.
 
"When tempers flare and it comes to a point where you've had enough,
you try and settle it with your hands," Richmond Renegades coach Scott
Gruhl said not long ago. "I believe it's an essential part of the
game."
 
Here's my response: Why? Where is it written that fisticuffs and
hockey be wedded? Because of the sport's constant checking? Football
players get hammered on almost every down and rarely throw punches --
and when they do, they're ejected. Because skaters are slammed into
the boards so frequently? Basketball players are elbowed and whacked
routinely around the lane and hardly ever retaliate with haymakers --
and when they do, they're ejected. Because sticks are wielded like
jousting poles? Baseball players get plunked by 93-mph fastballs and
seldom respond by brawling -- and when they do, they're ejected.
 
Only hockey among major-league sports tacitly approves and promotes
fighting. Only hockey would reward an enforcer with limited skills
like Toronto's Tie Domi with a multimillion-dollar contract. Only
hockey rationalizes the drop-your-gloves fracas as part of its
heritage.
 
"I personally have no problem with fighting as long as it's two guys
going at it to release their frustrations as opposed to a bunch of
goons starting something," said Renegades owner Harry Feuerstein. "I
absolutely think it has a place in the game. Fans like it. Players
accept it. It's part of the game. It's part of the culture."
 
And a contradiction as well. The Gades -- like most hockey
organizations in the minors and NHL -- claim they're selling a
family-oriented product. Then they countenance the sort of
testosterone-laced excess that parents discourage among their
adolescent children. Radio ads stress get-ready-to-rumble growls and
sound effects, not grace and artistry. And only a visit to the penalty
box awaits the belligerents.
 
Feuerstein is right about one thing, though: Fighting sells. What
fender-benders are to NASCAR fans, scuffles are to the hockey set -- a
chunk of the game's sizzle and appeal. Film-at-11 highlights
invariably include footage of that night's ruckus. Shrieks in the
background lead you to believe the customers are satisfied.
 
But that doesn't mean we all have to buy in.
 
Said ECHL official Andy Van Hellemond, "If you don't like going to
the game and seeing the odd fight, then don't go."
 
Hmmm, now there's an idea.
 
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