2008 Woodie Awards
Inside The Lines: The coolest game on Earth
J. Andrew Horvath
Issue date: 11/15/07 Section: Sports
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In a country where the NFL is the king of all televised, publicized, and scrutinized sports leagues, other games are often thrown to the wayside. So goes the joke: The biggest sporting event every year is the NFL season, but the second biggest is the NFL offseason. Well, since the result of Super Bowl XLII seems to be a foregone conclusion, maybe it's time to devote a little less attention to the gridiron and a little more to other athletic endeavors.
How about the coolest sport on earth?
I'm thinking of the sport of Sid the Kid, Lady Byng and Lord Stanley.
Old time hockey, baby.
The NHL season opened about a month and a half ago, and America and the tri-state area in particular has heard more about Barry Melrose's comments about Newark from a few days ago than the games themselves. As an aside, Melrose basically said Newark was a dangerous city, and can anyone disagree? The city of Newark had the fourth highest murder rate in the country last year.
With NHL2Nite long cancelled and Thursday Night Hockey no longer playing any games and just highlights, we are forced to turn to a few games a week on Versus (if you have it) and other, less valuable ways of finding out whether the Canucks beat the Panthers.
However, this is not to say that the NHL is not trying to keep its product afloat. The various rule changes to open up the game, including the shootout and the four-on-four overtime, are attempts to make the game faster-paced and more offense-friendly.
Fans go to see points and the NHL is trying to accommodate that without fracturing the integrity of the game the way that Major League baseball has with the gradual implementation of spaceballs, whose purpose is to be jacked as often and as far out of a ballpark as possible and the lowering of the mound (not to mention the DH in the American League).
The NHL spiced up their uniforms league-wide this season: the league has switched entirely to the Reebok "Rbk Edge" jersey, which is 14% lighter, 4-10 degrees cooler, and more form-fitting than a traditional hockey sweater. The goal is to improve the play on the ice with these sweaters, and so far it seems to be working. The new contract from Reebok has yielded better sweaters that breathe more easily and deter clutching and grabbing. In fact, the new gear has been such a success that Nike is starting to muscle its way into the cut.
How about the coolest sport on earth?
I'm thinking of the sport of Sid the Kid, Lady Byng and Lord Stanley.
Old time hockey, baby.
The NHL season opened about a month and a half ago, and America and the tri-state area in particular has heard more about Barry Melrose's comments about Newark from a few days ago than the games themselves. As an aside, Melrose basically said Newark was a dangerous city, and can anyone disagree? The city of Newark had the fourth highest murder rate in the country last year.
With NHL2Nite long cancelled and Thursday Night Hockey no longer playing any games and just highlights, we are forced to turn to a few games a week on Versus (if you have it) and other, less valuable ways of finding out whether the Canucks beat the Panthers.
However, this is not to say that the NHL is not trying to keep its product afloat. The various rule changes to open up the game, including the shootout and the four-on-four overtime, are attempts to make the game faster-paced and more offense-friendly.
Fans go to see points and the NHL is trying to accommodate that without fracturing the integrity of the game the way that Major League baseball has with the gradual implementation of spaceballs, whose purpose is to be jacked as often and as far out of a ballpark as possible and the lowering of the mound (not to mention the DH in the American League).
The NHL spiced up their uniforms league-wide this season: the league has switched entirely to the Reebok "Rbk Edge" jersey, which is 14% lighter, 4-10 degrees cooler, and more form-fitting than a traditional hockey sweater. The goal is to improve the play on the ice with these sweaters, and so far it seems to be working. The new contract from Reebok has yielded better sweaters that breathe more easily and deter clutching and grabbing. In fact, the new gear has been such a success that Nike is starting to muscle its way into the cut.
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