"I went to a fight the other night and a hockey game broke out"
- Rodney Dangerfield
TV isn't lacking for punchFighting is waning in the NHL; so why is it all over the highlight shows?
Chris Zelkovich
Toronto Star
Fighting is down in the new National Hockey League and the one-dimensional enforcer is apparently an endangered species.
The statistics certainly indicate that's the case, with NHL players exchanging blows almost 40 per cent less often than they did before the league decided to turn roller derby back into hockey. But you certainly wouldn't suspect such a thing if you tuned in to any of the games, talk shows or highlight shows that surround the NHL. If there's a decrease in fisticuffs, the media sure aren't reflecting it.
Hockey Night In Canada opens every Saturday night with a highlight reel that includes several punch-ups, all to the tune of "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting."
Rogers Sportsnet has decided every edition of Sportsnetnews must include ``the fight of the night" and caps the week with a bloody ``The Friday Night Fight Fest."
This Friday's edition, if you're wondering, featured eight bouts.
If there's a highlight show that opens without a hockey fight, I must have missed it.
And if there's a highlight show that doesn't feature a disproportionate number of fights, I haven't seen it, either.
On Saturday night, for example, there were 49 goals scored and five fights.
TSN's SportsCentre showed 37 goals and five fights. That means 12 goals were considered too inconsequential to make the highlights.
As for the fights, well, they were obviously sacrosanct.
Sportsnet showed 36 goals, but it, too, managed to get all five fights on the air.
As for The Score, it showed 32 goals and three fights in its NHL highlight reel. No doubt the two missing fights will result in stern warnings today.
There was only one fight in the NHL Friday, a number that no doubt caused much weeping among hockey fans, but every network managed to record it.
Most of these bouts are accompanied by hoots of joy.
"The second-best fight I've seen this week," crowed Sportsnet's Peter Loubardias on Saturday. "The other was in Sarnia and what a beauty that was."
The likes of Loubardias have nothing on the CBC's Don Cherry, who practically sheds tears when he decries the absence of fisticuffs. He manages to get a fight highlight on almost every edition of his show — and Saturday did one better.
The segment featured a still of Bobby Orr pummeling Pat Quinn 30 years ago with the accompanying message that Orr was truly a great if he could beat them in the alley, too.
There are two reasons for this love of fights. One is that they make good images, which is why newspapers, including the Star, print them so often.
The other is that the networks — and papers — know violence sells. It's all about the lowest common denominator.
Toronto Star
Fighting is down in the new National Hockey League and the one-dimensional enforcer is apparently an endangered species.
The statistics certainly indicate that's the case, with NHL players exchanging blows almost 40 per cent less often than they did before the league decided to turn roller derby back into hockey. But you certainly wouldn't suspect such a thing if you tuned in to any of the games, talk shows or highlight shows that surround the NHL. If there's a decrease in fisticuffs, the media sure aren't reflecting it.
Hockey Night In Canada opens every Saturday night with a highlight reel that includes several punch-ups, all to the tune of "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting."
Rogers Sportsnet has decided every edition of Sportsnetnews must include ``the fight of the night" and caps the week with a bloody ``The Friday Night Fight Fest."
This Friday's edition, if you're wondering, featured eight bouts.
If there's a highlight show that opens without a hockey fight, I must have missed it.
And if there's a highlight show that doesn't feature a disproportionate number of fights, I haven't seen it, either.
On Saturday night, for example, there were 49 goals scored and five fights.
TSN's SportsCentre showed 37 goals and five fights. That means 12 goals were considered too inconsequential to make the highlights.
As for the fights, well, they were obviously sacrosanct.
Sportsnet showed 36 goals, but it, too, managed to get all five fights on the air.
As for The Score, it showed 32 goals and three fights in its NHL highlight reel. No doubt the two missing fights will result in stern warnings today.
There was only one fight in the NHL Friday, a number that no doubt caused much weeping among hockey fans, but every network managed to record it.
Most of these bouts are accompanied by hoots of joy.
"The second-best fight I've seen this week," crowed Sportsnet's Peter Loubardias on Saturday. "The other was in Sarnia and what a beauty that was."
The likes of Loubardias have nothing on the CBC's Don Cherry, who practically sheds tears when he decries the absence of fisticuffs. He manages to get a fight highlight on almost every edition of his show — and Saturday did one better.
The segment featured a still of Bobby Orr pummeling Pat Quinn 30 years ago with the accompanying message that Orr was truly a great if he could beat them in the alley, too.
There are two reasons for this love of fights. One is that they make good images, which is why newspapers, including the Star, print them so often.
The other is that the networks — and papers — know violence sells. It's all about the lowest common denominator.
3 comments:
Love the fights, keep them coming, it has been part of the game since it was sanctioned, so keep it that way. It shows a couple of things. 1) Fighting brings in the fans.
2) Fighting brings teammates together.
And 3) fighting shows that your willing to sacrifice your body to stand up for your team or fire them up. Besides, millions of people love the UFC don't they..?
Ahh...the "it's part o' da game" argument...I would caution against over-using this argument (see my other response). Remember that tube skates, wood sticks and no goalie masks were part of the game too....
Re your points:
1) fighting brings in fans
Where is your evidence? How about all those possible customers who do not come to a hockey game because of fighting?
2) fighting brings teammates together
So too does a great bodycheck, killing a 5 min penalty, a sweet save and a tic-tac-toe goal. Relying on fights to unite your team seems like an act of desperation.
3)fighting shows that you're willing to sacrifice your body to stand up for your team or fire them up.
I am aware of the psychology of the fight. I have no problem with a spontaneous fight between Jarome Iginla and Vincent LeCalvalier. A skirmish in the heat of the moment, once in a while can be effective AND entertaining. However, many fights are staged, often between guys who play less than 4 min a game. For example, Derek Boogard vs. Colton Orr part III does not interest me. They are clowns. Their value to the team is akin to a mascot or a DJ.
4) Millions of people love the UFC don't they?
Perhaps. Count me as one who does not. But this is an apples and oranges debate. The point of UFC is to beat your opponent up. Last time I checked, the point of hockey is score more goals than the other team.
I'm going to have to disagree with you Mitch. I love hockey I have since I was in middle school and my dad took me to my first game.
Maybe its because the fights always disappointed my dad, but I never was a fan. Every other sport has ways of showing aggression: football has tackling, basketball has blocks, charges, bumps, rugby has taclking,and hockey has bodychecks.
Theres no need to drop the gloves and fight. I find it a waste of ice time and a waste for the players that have the talent to play the game as it should be done.
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