I was watching Sportscenter this morning and they were showing a clip from David Letterman last night; it was the top ten list that Letterman has made so famous. On this particular list they had a few baseball players come on the show and say the top ten which was, "Reasons why you should watch the World Baseball Classic." There were a couple of funny ones, but then they reached number 1 and my mood shifted 100 percent. Derek Jeter (who I hate anyway being a dedicated Red Sox fan) came on and read this as the number one reason why you should watch the World Baseball Classic, "What else are you going to watch, Hockey?" Now I enjoy a good laugh anytime of the day, probably more than most people, but this was just an ignorant comment about a sport that people don't invest the time into to comprehend the rules. I have watched and played hockey since before I can remember. It's attitudes like this towards hockey (the best, most intense, and skilled sport of the major four) that make the sport a laughing-stock. People who don't understand the sport or don't like it because it's slow or boring (which is not true) undermining the talent required to play it.
In my opinion the NHL is the best of the four professional leagues and it suffers from not having a television contract with ESPN. MLB, NFL, and the NBA all have games on ESPN and other national television stations multiple times a week. The NHL has a game on Versus once a week if it's lucky. If people can't watch the sport how can they like it or even understand it; especially in markets such as Phoenix or Tampa where people didn't exactly grow up with an understanding of the sport. It saddens me to think that people out there are missing out on everything professional hockey has to offer its fans. In the NHL players can legally fight each other, if you did that in the street you'd be arrested.
The comment just really rubbed me the wrong way and I had to say something about it.
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