Dave Ling made an interesting point about "Canada's Game" in his latest post here. In this post, which mainly discusses the trade of Andrew Raycroft from the Bruins to the Leafs, he had this to say, "To me it's my least favourite of the professional league sports -- basketball, football, baseball, heck probably even lacrosse. I find preverse pleasure the fact that game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals drew fewer television viewers then WWE's weekly showing of Monday Night RAW." The reason I mention this is because I was planning on making a post on the same subject.
I am Canadian.
I'm not obsessed with hockey.
I mean, don't get me wrong. If I'm given the choice between watching hockey and watching rabid wolves tear my nieces apart, I'll watch the hockey. But I'm not the kind of chest painting, schedule planning, life dedicating hockey fan that tends to populate this barren wasteland we call a country.
I own a Boston Bruins jersey. I think I still have a Cam Neely poster somewhere. I also have an autographed picture of Bobby Orr's goal that a London Knight who used to room at my parents' place got for me. But hockey isn't the be all and end all of my existence. I'll choose NFL Football over the NHL any day. Same with MLB and NBA. Possibly even NASCAR. And certainly I'll take wrestling or MMA over hockey.
Why is this so? I have no idea. But I do have some theories.
First of all, I never played hockey as a child. And this is one of my biggest problems with hockey as opposed to other sports. The investment involved in hockey is much greater than the other major sports. If a kid wants to play hockey, beyond playing some road hockey with their friends, (which is quasi-illegal anyway) then the parents have to shell out big bucks. Skates, pads, sticks, socks, registration fees, replacement blades, etc, etc. And thats just to play in a league. Then they have to shell out extra money for tournaments, transportation, hotel rooms. And its more than just a financial investment. Canadian parenting tales are filled with stories of parents (often fathers, but such a generalization would be incredibly sexist and would greatly diminish the contribution of those mothers who take an interest in their children's lives) who take their kids to hockey practice at 5 am every morning because thats the only ice time available.
Not all families can afford this kind of investment, both the financial and the time. Compare this to a game like basketball where the parents need to buy a ball, and if the kid shows some interest, a pair of decent sneakers. Or baseball, which involves sneakers and a glove, and, every now and then, a bat and ball.
And then there's football, which should cost just as much as hockey. But from what I can understand, football doesn't involve the same investment, particularly not in the U.S. I consulted with my buddy Daubs, because he's an escaped American living in Canada. And from what he says, Pop Warner football provides the equipment, rather than requiring the kids to provide their own. This must make football a more affordable choice than hockey.
So children growing up in Canada who want to participate in Canada's game must have parents who are willing and able to make the commitment to get their children involved in the game. And some parents aren't. Some can't afford the money or the time. Some choose not to make the commitment to that game, and instead choosing to get their children involved in other activities. And given the chance of being assaulted by another parent at a midget game, I can't blame them.
I never played hockey. I believe it was a combination of the money, the time, and my mother's neurotic opposition to sports.
A few years ago, there was talk of offering tax credits to parents for hockey equipment. It seems that the government decided to address a truly pressing national crisis, that of declining interest in hockey, before dealing with others like unemployment or health care. I was incredibly opposed to this plan, because it didn't offer similar tax incentives to parents who wanted to buy their children a musical instrument, or a computer, or any of the other expensive items that kids need to have an advantage in the job market when they get older.
Basically, I don't like hockey because its an incredibly exclusionary sport. It demarcates who can and who cannot participate, and to hell with anyone who can't.
Plus, Don Cherry is a loudmouth jerk.
And I'm sick of NHL broadcasts pre-empting Monday Night Raw.
And finally, hockey is responsible for what I like to call "The Second Worst Christmas Ever." This holiday saw me at the store with my dad in the sporting equipment aisle. I asked why we were there, and he told me that someone (my stepmother) thought somebody (me) wanted a new pair of skates for Christmas. I responded that I had absolutely no interest in a pair of skates, and under no circumstances should they purchase me a pair of skates. Come Christmas morning, I am the proud recipient of, you guessed it, a pair of skates. I used them once. A few months later, my stepbrother, who played hockey and whose skates were getting tattered, claimed my Christmas present as his own, with no recompense to me. Conspiracy? Possibly.
No comments:
Post a Comment