FuckYeahHockey

wut?

nationalpost:

Dave Bidini: It’s not always the best game you can nameThis summer, two hockey players died: a record body count. People will tell you that these deaths were the result of fighting and concussions, and the damage suffered while playing a savage sport. All of this is true, but both players were also emotionally troubled, suffering bleak endings to a kind of life that many of us hold in wonder. We may view the terrible demise of Derek Boogaard, the New York Rangers enforcer who died in May, and Rick Rypien, the recent Vancouver Canuck and intended Winnipeg Jet who died earlier this week, as fall from graces. But this is to assume that grace exists — or is encouraged to exist — in a culture that is rarely blamed whenever a player slips off the Earth. How many songs, poems, open-line laments, sports-talk post-mortems or morning columns must we voice before we study that culture for what it really is? How many stories about dead hockey players do we have to tell before they stop dying? (Don Healy/Regina Leader-Post)

wut?

Dave Bidini: It’s not always the best game you can name
This summer, two hockey players died: a record body count. People will tell you that these deaths were the result of fighting and concussions, and the damage suffered while playing a savage sport. All of this is true, but both players were also emotionally troubled, suffering bleak endings to a kind of life that many of us hold in wonder. We may view the terrible demise of Derek Boogaard, the New York Rangers enforcer who died in May, and Rick Rypien, the recent Vancouver Canuck and intended Winnipeg Jet who died earlier this week, as fall from graces. But this is to assume that grace exists — or is encouraged to exist — in a culture that is rarely blamed whenever a player slips off the Earth. How many songs, poems, open-line laments, sports-talk post-mortems or morning columns must we voice before we study that culture for what it really is? How many stories about dead hockey players do we have to tell before they stop dying? (Don Healy/Regina Leader-Post)

The guy has a point

stevenlebron:

Head case: While we immerse ourselves in the latest college football scandal, debate the merits of pre-season results in the NFL, and await patiently for some sort of meeting between the two sides in the NBA labor negotiations, there’s one story that is not getting enough coverage: Sidney Crosby, the best player in hockey has been out with concussion symptoms since January and now may not be ready for the start of training camp. Granted, I’m not the biggest hockey fan, it’s been 8 years since I followed the sport on a day-to-day basis. But even a casual fan like myself thinks this should be a bigger deal. In the 24 hour news cycle that we live in, where we can spend days dissecting one Brett Favre quote at a time, someone really needs to get to the bottom of what Crosby’s actual condition is, and whether there is an actual timetable for his return. The worst case scenario, which we do not know how real it may be, is that a once in a generation talent will be forced to retire as his career is just getting started. The more likely scenario is that Crosby is eventually cleared to return to play and he and the Penguins are doing their due diligence in making sure that he’s not rushed back. But until someone gets to the bottom of it, we’re just making assumptions and predictions without factual basis. Or maybe we just don’t really care about hockey or head injuries all that much.