Apathy

Yesterday a video made the rounds on social media of radio personality Sid Seixeiro from Toronto radio station the Fan 590 and his passion about the Raptors and their upcoming playoff run.
Back in 2011 he had a similar "rant" about the Canadian Men's National Soccer team.
I loved both of these passionate pleas for change. I've posted the videos below for your enjoyment.

Between the video and a conversation I had with someone yesterday about this very blog, I decided to go back through the past few years and see what I thought of the sports landscape a year a go, 2 years ago. ect.

Not much has changed. I still think the Toronto Rock deserve WAY more recognition that they get, I still think that TFC is the best team to support in Toronto, I still think that the Raptors play second fiddle to the Leafs in MLSE's mind and, I still think that the Jays just need to drop the "small market" b.s., really open up the cheque book and, start being a big game player like the Yankees or Tigers because the money is there with the ownership group.

There is one thing that has changed.
My opinion on the Toronto Maple Leafs.
In 2012, when I decided to start blogging again, I was following the Leafs pretty closely. I thought that the times were changing for the better.

Fast forward to today and I just don't care anymore. Sure, the NHL having 2 lock-outs in 10 year span didn't help either but, the team has simply been given the patchwork treatment for years and years and never properly has been rebuilt. You can't do that in today's NHL. Look at a team like Colorado today, they were a bad team for years. But drafting Landeskog, Duchene and, Mackinnon took them from a bottom dweller to a competitor. Yes it takes years and patience but that is how you properly rebuild a team in today's salary cap world.

The Leafs will always have no issue selling tickets and people will blindly be fans. This is a fact. In Canada's biggest city with a history as rich as the Leafs and talking about Canada's most popular sport this is an inevitability. The thing the Leafs organization needs to worry about is people like me, the fans who have just turned from being a follower to simply not caring.
I don't hate the club. I obviously don't love the club, I just don't care.

A wise man once said "The opposite of love is not hate, it's apathy".

Fighting In Hockey

Clearly this is the topic of the day in the NHL world. It's not a new topic, it seems to come up every time a serious injury takes place. Last night that injury occurred during the Leafs/Canadians game when Colton Orr and George Parros got into their second fight of the night.

A concussion was the result of this fight. Clearly (in my opinion) Orr did not do this on purpose. It was a mistake, a "fight gone wrong". Now Parros (who thankfully was released from hospital this morning) is not sure when/if he can come back to play. Parros is a Princeton educated man, this is a potential waste of what is (dare is even say possibly "was") clearly an above average mind.

I've had a strong opinion on this topic for some time now. Fighting in hockey is, in my opinion, no longer necessary. The notion that each team carries a player or two who plays minimal minutes and does not have the same abilities or skills as the other players on the ice is insane. Of course these players are going to get hurt. Besides the fact that they punch at each other for a living, they also can't skate at the same pace and as a result end up hurting themselves and other players when trying to land a proper body check.

Now don't get me wrong. I understand that hockey is a physical sport and I do not suggest that we take body contact out of hockey. Hitting a player properly in order to remove them from the puck is just as much a part of the game as a proper tackle is in football. I also understand that hockey is a face paced game that involved quick thinking and as a result there are a lot of "gut reactions". So sometimes when you play a sport and you want to win you will feel more emotional. Sometimes that emotion is anger and you'll want to fight. I accept that.

So where does that leave the fighting issue? Well, first of all, because of the emotions, you can't stop it all together. Just like you can't stop people from doing crimes. So just like that guy who steals a candy bar (my point being it's not the end of the world if it happens once in a while but it is still a crime) you develop rules to minimize the potential of fights happening. Much like the person who steals a candy bar knows that if they are caught there is a potential to go to jail, the people who choose to fight need to know they are going to have to "do their time".

It's simple use an escalating scale. 1 fight is 10 minute major and an ejection from the game. Fight number 2 is another 10 minute major and an ejection plus an additional game. From there you get 2 additional games, then 4, then 8 and so on. Essentially, if you really want to fight, that's fine but you better make it worth it because your team will suffer.

This should eliminate all these "fake" fights that the 2 enforcers get into in an attempt to "change the momentum of the game". That's my opinion on what should be done.

Don't get the point of this post confused though. This is not a prediction. I realize that the NHL sees fights as part of the entertainment value and they will probably not change a thing. Personally, I've been to plenty of hockey games in my time and I've seen how the crowd gets when there is a fight. I don't participate. I stay sitting and don't clap. I don't find it entertaining. It's not boxing, it's not UFC, it's not wrestling. There's no "sweet science", it's 2 guys clutching at jerseys and landing the odd punch. That's it.

It's 2013 not 1913. Goalies wear masks, players wear helmets. We've evolved from a large, heavy chunk of wood as a stick to a lightweight material. Jerseys are no longer big wool sweaters, they are microfiber, repel sweat and, weigh less. Players now have to wear visors. Why is fighting still tolerated?