Sports > October 16, 2008

By Give hockey the credit it deserves | Staff writer

As the leaves start to change colors and the weather becomes cooler, some seasons are beginning, some are continuing and some are ending. Baseball is determining a winner after a long summer, and football is heating up. Another equally exciting season is beginning, almost unnoticed by the sports world, especially in the U.S.

This season lives on ice and demonstrates the raw power and quickness of some of the best athletes in the world; it is hockey season.

Yes, hockey. To some it may come as a surprise that hockey still exists.

Perhaps the most under appreciated sport in the world has begun and is sure to promise yet another exciting season.

Some may say that hockey is boring, but I beg to differ. Hockey combines the best attributes of all of the most popular sports, baseball, basketball and football, into one fast-paced, hard-hitting sport.

Take football. What do people like about football? Is it the hard hitting safeties? The acrobatic catches made by the talented receivers?

Or is it the unique ability of the quarterback to evade the oncoming rush and throw a perfect spiral between two defenders for the touchdown?

If you said yes to any of these, then you should love hockey.

If hard hits are your thing, then watch hockey. Every trip up and down the ice there is an enormous collision between two large human beings. Many of these collisions are hard enough to cause serious injury.

If you like the acrobatic catches, just watch as the goalie slides to his right to make a fantastic glove save, or when he stacks his pads in a last ditch effort to stop an incoming slap shot.

In the last of the football analogies – the majestic throws made by the quarterbacks – just pay attention as players like Joe Thornton squeeze a pass between two sets of legs and under three sticks to the forward sitting in front of the net to score a goal.

Still think hockey is a terrible sport that is not worth watching? Still think hockey doesn’t compare to other sports, like baseball?

Well next time you sit down to watch the Rays play a baseball game pay attention to what you admire about the game.

You admire the strength it takes to hit a ball out of the park, the uncanny ability for a pitcher to spot the ball wherever he wants, and the pure speed of Carl Crawford as he steals second.

After admiring these amazing qualities of a baseball game, sit down and watch a NHL game. You will be amazed by how quickly the players skate as they chase after a puck in the corner.

You will be shocked by the accuracy of the shots as a goal squeaks past the goalie’s shoulder into the back corner of the net. And you will be amazed by the strength of the athletes as they give all of their effort on every shot and every check.

I’m not saying people should abandon baseball or football, but the sporting world should realize that hockey is just as entertaining as any other professional sport. It has all of the qualities of the most popular sports in the world.

NHL players are the best of the best and are some of the most athletic individuals in the world.

So next time you are sitting on your couch, flip over to your local Fox network to watch the local team play and you will be astonished by the adrenaline rush you get when watching one of the best sports in the world: hockey.