Friday, October 26, 2007

PTI: Fighting is bad, Blah Blah Blah

For whatever reason, I still watch PTI. Kornheiser and Wilbon are pretty entertaining. And when Mercury is aligned with Mars, they talk about hockey, usually pejoratively. Today was no exception, when they talked about the big Koci-Chara fight that left Koci a big bloody mess:



Barry Melrose Rocks had a post on this, in the glorious theme of "Dan LeBatard is a moron", but I'll talk about Tony. Like LeBatard, he knows nothing about hockey, and doesn't care to find out. Fine by me, but when you open your big yap, all the mystery dissipates. You're a moron.

Tony:

I'm sick of fights; I'm sick of designated goons. I know in the arena, these are very popular things. I thought as a culture, we had gone beyond this.

Yeah, which is why UFC is the fastest growing sport. Get over yourself. Clearly you have no idea that there is an unwritten code in hockey that still exists. Unlike basketball, their ridiculous comparison, where nobody knows what the hell is going on, and no one knows how to fight anyway.

Tony again:
The people that run hockey are old hockey players. And they believe this is a test of masculinity, and it's nonsense.

Thanks, Dr. Gray. This from a guy that does color for Monday Night Football every week, a sport that is more dangerous, and more tied with masculinity than any sport I can name other than cockfighting. Where a guy taunted another guy who was unconscious on the field.

Listen, David Koci is a dope. If he doesn't fight, he's out of the league in about 30 minutes. There aren't too many people like Koci in the league any longer, and that's a good thing. I'll be honest. Fights are entertaining to me, mostly because the participants are willing and able. If fighting was one or more guys ganging up on a weaker player, I would be leading the charge to ban it. And I think that fighting does sometimes serve a purpose to the game.

Funny how they didn't mention that the guy who rearranged Koci's face is Zdeno Chara, a highly skilled and coveted player in the NHL. Proof positive it ain't always scripted theater.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well said. I'd given up on ESPN some time ago, so this doesn't surprise me. It's unfortunate that we, as hockey fans, call for more coverage - but this is the coverage we get.
Seems to me that those that don't understand hockey - even the basics of the amount of skill involved - always focus on the one thing they understand - fighting. But they don't get fighting in the NHL.
Instead of talking about this incident, PTI should be talking about Rick Nash's goal, Pascal Leclaire's 4th shutout, and just how good Ken Hitchcock is at coaching.

Anonymous said...

The ignorant fear what they do not understand. I fear Orange men and people with names that rhyme with LeRetard and they fear hockey.