Thursday, June 7, 2007
Lord Stanley Gets A Tan
I'm sure that excitement has never been higher for hockey in Southern California than it is right now. The Anaheim Ducks are the Stanley Cup champions, and if you ask me, they were the best team all playoffs long, even though they really weren't the most talented.
The cool thing (pun definitely intended) is that the Ducks' captain, Scott Niedermayer, is the only active player to have won the cup four different times (all three previous came with the New Jersey Devils, who I hate...although not as much as the Philadelphia Flyers or the Detroit Red Wings).
It's also the first time in the 82-year history of Lord Stanley's Cup that a team on the west coast has won the championship. There have been lots of Western Conference winners like the aforementioned Red Wings, the Stars and the Colorado Avalanche. But with the Cup a stone's throw from the Pacific, it makes one wonder if it's time to reconsider the impact of this largely Canadian sport.
When hockey was first invented, it seemed obvious that it needed to be played in a cold-weather climate. You just don't find that many frozen ponds here in SoCal, so Canada became the logical birthplace. But civilization has caught up enough that I was able to go ice skating with some friends just last weekend, even though it was at least 65 degrees outside at 8 p.m.
The problem lies in the fact that sports fans are a pretty stubborn breed by nature; if you don't believe me, try talking to a supposed sports fan about NASCAR and see how long it takes before they just start laughing at you. My personal record is 13 seconds.
Basically, most sports fans hold to the idea that if they didn't grow up with it, they're not going to follow it. The NHL and NASCAR are the two main sports now that fall into that category, even though they're far and away more entertaining than the NBA or Major League Baseball.
Here's what I'm getting at...now is the perfect time for sports fans in Southern California to jump on the bandwagon of something pretty amazing: the NHL. It will only happen if you give it a chance. I know a lot of you have full enough sports plates as it is, but weed out some of the dead weight (ie. the NBA, college sports, and 80% of the MLB season) and take another good look at hockey.
Because if you don't, then I'm going to make you watch NASCAR with me. And you will love it.
The cool thing (pun definitely intended) is that the Ducks' captain, Scott Niedermayer, is the only active player to have won the cup four different times (all three previous came with the New Jersey Devils, who I hate...although not as much as the Philadelphia Flyers or the Detroit Red Wings).
It's also the first time in the 82-year history of Lord Stanley's Cup that a team on the west coast has won the championship. There have been lots of Western Conference winners like the aforementioned Red Wings, the Stars and the Colorado Avalanche. But with the Cup a stone's throw from the Pacific, it makes one wonder if it's time to reconsider the impact of this largely Canadian sport.
When hockey was first invented, it seemed obvious that it needed to be played in a cold-weather climate. You just don't find that many frozen ponds here in SoCal, so Canada became the logical birthplace. But civilization has caught up enough that I was able to go ice skating with some friends just last weekend, even though it was at least 65 degrees outside at 8 p.m.
The problem lies in the fact that sports fans are a pretty stubborn breed by nature; if you don't believe me, try talking to a supposed sports fan about NASCAR and see how long it takes before they just start laughing at you. My personal record is 13 seconds.
Basically, most sports fans hold to the idea that if they didn't grow up with it, they're not going to follow it. The NHL and NASCAR are the two main sports now that fall into that category, even though they're far and away more entertaining than the NBA or Major League Baseball.
Here's what I'm getting at...now is the perfect time for sports fans in Southern California to jump on the bandwagon of something pretty amazing: the NHL. It will only happen if you give it a chance. I know a lot of you have full enough sports plates as it is, but weed out some of the dead weight (ie. the NBA, college sports, and 80% of the MLB season) and take another good look at hockey.
Because if you don't, then I'm going to make you watch NASCAR with me. And you will love it.
Labels: hockey, opinion, sports
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