Point-Counterpoint

This is a direct rebuttal of falsitudes promulgated by one Jacob Alger, a man I respect and admire, but who has completely lost his faculties. (Perhaps they're on strike.) Mr. Alger, while making many salient points in his most recent post,



http://fatherbest.blogspot.com/2010/06/every-sport-has-its-thorn.html





also opted to make a bold and ridiculous statement about the greatest sport on skates. OK, fine, hockey is the only sport on skates. And don't run at me with stuff like, "What about figure skating or ice dancing?!", cause I'll not honor that with a response. And thus, ice hockey holds its own category, like a car that has no class to be compared with. Ice hockey is the greatest sport in the New World, and herein are outlined the indisputable reasons. Take notes, Mr. Alger, and begin preparing your retraction.

• I grew up in Alaska (sort of) and I should know how to skate. But I do not. And I wish I could, because I wanted to be the kind of athlete that can do what Nicklas Lidstrom does, even at 40 years old. He can move on two razor sharp blades and a sheet of frozen water with more grace and precision than I can on two feet. Just watching him skate causes me to fall down sometimes. By the way, this is why I don't hate The Cutting Edge. D.B. Sweeney's finest work. Anybody think that LeBron could do this?



• With the advent of hi-def, we can put to bed the argument that hockey is hard to watch on TV because you can't see the puck, etc. HD has turned tv hockey into Lady GaGa on ice, a glittering extravaganza of hip checks and icing calls. And because of the speed of the game, the aggression of the players, and the shine of the ice, hockey is more fun to watch on TV than any other sport. And it's not bad to watch in person either.



• Hockey is the ultimate gentleman's sport. These men beat the snot out of each other for 60 minutes, and then they line up and shake hands. Unreal.


• Coolest thing I ever saw on TV: Chris Osgood and Patrick Roy squaring off at center ice in the '98 playoffs. Osgood was much smaller and still took Roy down after delivering numerous solid shots. I've never heard a crowd that raucous. And I'll bet they still shook hands.


• Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, compares to the tension of a playoff hockey game in overtime! Sudden death indeed! No coin flips here.


• At Red Wings games, they throw octopi onto the ice when the Wings score. You can't tell me that's not the greatest tradition ever.


• And finally, there's always a better than average chance that the person who sings the Star Spangled Banner might fall down.

Beat that with a hockey stick, Jake. Now take it back.