This weekend marked a busy time in the sports world. Fans were glued to the television for week five of the National Football League season, Chicago baseball fans threw things at the television, and halfway around the globe, the puck dropped on the National Hockey League's season in Prague, Czech Republic.
Before the 2004 NHL lockout, the casual fan may have actually cared about the opening of the hockey season, and might mention it in the same breath as football or baseball. Now the casual fan is not only disinterested in hockey - they detest hockey like it's an obnoxious step-cousin who hogs the buffet line at a family reunion.
But if you take a deeper look into the NHL, there is a set of talented athletes who play with the same amount of passion and skill as any other professional athlete. And guess what? There are still fans who watch and care about these guys and the teams they play for.
There are still season ticket holders who sell out arenas; there are still psycho fans who paint their bodies and go to games in the cold of February; and there are still fans who buy $170 hockey jerseys despite the gaudy fashion statement.
When I was growing up, hockey was just there in the mix. It was never a question of relevancy or importance on some grand scale of sports significance. In the summer we watched the Yankees, in the fall we watched the Giants, and in the dead of winter it was all about the Rangers.
When I was a child, I cried and broke furniture just the same when the Rangers lost big games compared to when the other local teams lost big games. I didn't have that mutual respect for another hockey fan in another city just because we both loved hockey and it was the underdog sport.
My grandfather, the most mild and even-keeled man I know, would bite his bottom lip and curse his way out of the room if the Rangers lost to the Flyers or Islanders. It was just the way it was.
It's the same with hockey players, past and present. How many people cringe when A-Rod and Big Papi shoot the breeze and hug during batting practice? Hockey rivals skate past each other during warm-ups and curse and spit on the other side of the red line. When the game starts, they beat the pulp out of each other.
Hockey may never be prominent or mainstream like it once was, but that doesn't mean fans will stop caring about their teams or players will play any differently. I guess it's that unwavering passion that my grandfather sees in hockey games and its athletes that bring out that fire in him like no other sport. He connects with the game; he feels it; and I know for sure there are other fans who feel the same way about the great game of hockey.
You can reach this staff writer at sports@theeagleonline.com.
