Jeremy Roenick sounds off about fans

[Rex Hudler]

It IS ironic those rednecks for beating the s*** out of each other goes to jail, but the players just skate away, sit for 5, and come back out.

 

But what about boxing?  It's legal.  In fact, encouraged? 

 

Or karate contests? Oh, self defense.

 

Hockey, in the United States, is probably the most misunderstood game we have.  It's all about image, as we've touched on in these last few posts, and hockey has a terrible image.  JR's comments don't help, to be sure.

 

However, I don't want someone in the stands like someone else in this thread sitting there saying "f*** HOCKEY", and that is exactly what JR was trying to say in an absolutely s***ty way.

 

Edit: what about baseball brawls (on the field)?  They happen... do these people go to jail? No.  It's the same thing - "it's a part of the game sometimes" is what you hear, so why is it different (besides you think that hockey is marketed that way)?

 

Boxing is fighting....... its regulated and they wear gloves. You don't have to like it, but at least you know what it is. The fighting IS the sport. Karate, basically the same thing....

 

Baseball brawls are very different in that they are very rare. They are unfortunate and most of the time caused by idiot players that charge the mound for no reason (or at least stupid ones)..... Brawls are not part of the game. Never have been, never will be. They happen, yes. But they are not the reason people go to games. They are considered incidents, not a part of the game.

[Texsox]

[Pauly8509CWS]

But they are not the reason people go to games.  They are considered incidents, not a part of the game.

 

What kap has been trying to say is, fighting is not the reason people go to games. Fights dont happen every single game. I'd probably they happen in a quarter of the games that I've been to the past 3 years.

[kapkomet]

What kap has been trying to say is, fighting is not the reason people go to games.  Fights dont happen every single game.  I'd probably they happen in a quarter of the games that I've been to the past 3 years.

That's sort of what I'm trying to say. The *real* fans don't go because of the fighting, but the fan that knows nothing about hockey goes for that reason, which is Rex's point.

 

As I said, hockey is VERY misunderstood and if more people understood it, I definitely think they could close ranks and become a "major" sport again instead of the distant fourth sport that they are now.

[Kyyle23]

That's from a person who likes anything competitive but hockey.  So if you're so anti hockey why would that even turn your stomach?  Basically what I'm saying is, for someone so against hockey, you probably wouldnt notice the hard work JR and players like him have put up with.  See him get hit in the face with a 90+ MPH slap shot and then come back a week later.  Really, kyle, keep the "f*** hockey" out of here, this is from someone who has actually watched the game.

 

Pauly, I can say what I need and what I want about a sport on this messageboard. Thats what it is for. Im not making it personal, but you took it that way.

 

I can say f*** Hockey. I can say f*** the sport of Hockey for depriving their fans of the sport they love over money. And I can say f*** Hockey for saying stupid things about their own fans and wondering why the fans react the way they did.

 

JR f***ed up, whether I like Hockey or not.

 

So if you're so anti hockey why would that even turn your stomach?

 

Am I not allowed to have an opinion on a public figure? Since I observed the moronic and ill-timed press conference by JR, I felt I would like to comment on what he said.

 

I may not follow everything Hockey and be a huge fan, but I pay attention to the sporting world and what happens within it. If you dont like what I have to say, Ignore it. I didnt attack you, and I didnt attack you for loving your sport. I say f*** Hockey for the people like you who actually care about the sport and yet sit there and watch your icons bash you to your face. If you dont like it, TFB.

[Pauly8509CWS]

Basically you've misunderstood the whole point of my post. I'm trying to say that you dont understand hockey, and saying f*** Hockey is ignorant. I dont know anything about some sports, and I dont say, f*** (insert sport). You take it as such a personal attack, but basically you're being very ignorant to the whole situation. Yes you're entitled to your opinions but some things just don't need to be said.

[Kyyle23]

  I'm trying to say that you dont understand hockey, and saying f*** Hockey is ignorant.

Why do you say this? Because I dont LIKE Hockey then automatically I dont understand Hockey? My brother played Hockey, I have been to both minor league and NHL games. I found the sport increasingly more boring with the increasing salaries and egos during the 90's. The style of play became less defensive and more based on scoring, and took away the subleties that made Hockey a unique sport. More rules, less strategy, more scoring, less interest. Dont get mad at me for losing interest, the plummeting attendance and loss of an entire year due to a labor dispute show that I was not the only one to lose interest. Baseball f***ed up, but at least they knew that they couldnt afford to lose an entire season.

 

You assume I dont know anything about the sport because I decided to abandon the sport AFTER the sport abandoned me as a fan. I watched it bury itself in the sand and pretend that everything was ok and tell everyone that the NHL was thriving and all will be fine. The NHL needs to expand! The fan base needs to be more diverse, the sport needs more scoring! All this BS that they fed us and forced us to believe, and now JR goes out and throws more fuel on that fire.

 

I understand more than you would like to believe. I am ignorant of the NHL now because the NHL became ignorant of the people that got them there.

[Pauly8509CWS]

My brother played Hockey, I have been to both minor league and NHL games.

 

That has no bearing on understanding the game. Hell there are kids on my team that don't understand hockey...

 

 

 

The style of play became less defensive and more based on scoring, and took away the subleties that made Hockey a unique sport.  More rules, less strategy, more scoring, less interest. 

 

There, ya go, That's exactly why they've been hammering out new rule changes to INCREASE scoring. Because, ahem, there wasnt enough of it. Scoring has been down, and defense has been up. That's how the Lightning, Devils, Panthers, and Ducks made it to the finals in years past.

 

The NHL needs to expand! The fan base needs to be more diverse, the sport needs more scoring!

 

But then, you decide to contradict yourself and say the sport needs more scoring... :headshake

Edited July 4, 2005 by Pauly8509CWS

[CWSGuy406]

The style of play became less defensive and more based on scoring, and took away the subleties that made Hockey a unique sport.  More rules, less strategy, more scoring, less interest. 

 

Are you kidding? The problem with the game is that there is too little scoring because of all the clutching and grabbing going on, and the refs not calling it.

 

Yep... you know a hell of a lot about hockey -- keep saying f*** hockey. :rolly

 

Look, don't give me the, "this is a message board and I'm free to say whatever I want" garbage. Yeah, that's fine, but this isn't your roadside to leave your s*** on. People pay for this site, and it'd be nice to have some good conversation rather than "f*** hockey" -- and then you say that too much scoring is the problem in the NHL? Oh my goodness...

[Kyyle23]

But then, you decide to contradict yourself and say the sport needs more scoring... :headshake 

 

that was supposed to be in green, but then again I thought it was tongue-in-cheek enough to see.

 

I dont really feel that way, that is just the way things happened in the nineties.

[LowerCaseRepublican]

I think there is only one explanation of where all the blame lies for the strike:

 

Blame Canada

Blame Canada

With all their hockey hullabaloo

And that b**** Anne Murray too

 

[Pauly8509CWS]

that was supposed to be in green, but then again I thought it was tongue-in-cheek enough to see.

 

I dont really feel that way, that is just the way things happened in the nineties.

 

Of course, my mistake I should have known, I almost forgot that you were a knowledgeable fan.

[Kyyle23]

Of course, my mistake I should have known, I almost forgot that you were a knowledgeable fan.

 

One more time making it personal. Whatever.

 

:finger

[soxhawks]

fighting and too little scoring is not the problem, it is the little pussy europeans who dont hit anyone. people watch hockey because it was physical in the 80's. Hockey would be better off had the soviet union not collapsed

[Pauly8509CWS]

fighting and too little scoring is not the problem, it is the little pussy europeans who dont hit anyone.  people watch hockey because it was physical in the 80's.  Hockey would be better off had the soviet union not collapsed

 

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

fighting and too little scoring is not the problem, it is the little pussy europeans who dont hit anyone.  people watch hockey because it was physical in the 80's.  Hockey would be better off had the soviet union not collapsed

 

 

Pussy Europeans like Alex Zhamnov. Watching him out on the ice made me want to vomit. I would have been better off at the Ice Capades. The day we traded Roenick for that soft ass slug was one of the saddest days in Chicago sports history.

[LosMediasBlancas]

I'm a hockey purist you could say. Fighting is part of the game. There is a difference between "goonery" and fighting, though. The number of pure fighters has gone down in recent years, as has the number of fights, IIRC.

 

Hockey is a rough sport, and checking is a beautiful part of the game. As a result, fisticuffs take place.

 

The problem is, Rex, if you completely take fighting out of the game, you know what's going to happen? Stickwork and cheapshots will go up. Yeah, you can threaten them with suspensions all you like. But i've played the game for years, and even at travel and high school levels, it gets very intense. In the NHL, fighting is an outlet to let the guys let off some steam.

 

I don't like the fans who are only there for the fighting. Are fights exciting? Sure. Am i there just to see them? Certainly not. It has it's time and place. I don't like brawls, and i don't like cheap play. There's a reason fighting basically disappears in the playoffs.

 

I don't follow hockey too closley, so (for once) I'm not being a smartass here, but when is the right time and place for a hockey fight?

[CWSGuy406]

I don't follow hockey too closley, so (for once) I'm not being a smartass here, but when is the right time and place for a hockey fight?

 

Say you got a goon on one team who keeps going after your scorer, let's say in this case, Martin St. Louis -- and this goon keeps going after him, giving him some bumps or cheap shots -- then the guy on St. Louis' team job is to go after that guy. Basically let him know that it's not cool that you're going after the number one scorer on your team, and a little guy at that.

 

Or -- I've seen over the past couple years Ryan Vandenbusche, formerly of the Hawks, go after a guy to fire up the team, say, they go down 2-0. And I'm not talking about going up behind the other player and punching him in the face, not a cheap shot -- just, drop the gloves, and go at it, awaken your team a bit.

 

EDIT: I'd almost compare it to baseball, where, if a pitcher on the other team gives up a homerun, and then intentionally hits the next batter -- you want your teammate (pitcher) to go out there and stick the other team's batter right in the numbers on the back. Again -- not talking throw the ball at his knees or at his face, but plant him right square in the back, get the message across, and move on.

Edited July 6, 2005 by CWSGuy406