Dumb Things to Say

Torri Hunter, outfielder for the LA Angels:

This is what Los Angeles Angels outfield Torii Hunter said, to USA Today: “This is supposed to be an honor, and just a handful of guys wearing the number. Now you’ve got entire teams doing it. I think we’re killing the meaning. It should be special wearing Jackie’s number, not just because it looks cool.”

What upset Hunter, he says now, was this: The Houston Astros had no black players on their team last April, and yet the entire team wore No. 42. Said Hunter: “That got it away from, ‘OK, we don’t have any blacks,’

So, you can have an entire team of people, mixed races, all honoring the contribution of Jackie Robinson not only to sports but race relations in the US, and it’s wrong? Is Tori really saying the only people who can wear 42 are black athletes? So much for showing solidarity.

Tori’s comment may be understandable because Houston didn’t have any black players, but there were a handful of Latin players on the team in 2007. I think it would be ignorance to say that Jackie Robinson didn’t open the door for them as well.

Ten Reasons I Love Hockey

10.  Athletes in shape.  Hockey players have the average lowest body fat of any of the professional sports.

9.  Fighting is allowed, sort of.  People get into fights in hockey and nobody stops them.  In fact, people cheer.  And the fighters get penalized, but go back on the ice later (in most cases).

8.  Skill shooting.  Use a wooden stick to fire a little black puck past a guy covered in pads and into a tiny little goal.  You try it.  It ain’t easy.

7.  Love of the game.  Hockey players love the game.  And hockey fans love the game.  And hockey players love their fans, and vice versa.  You don’t get that kind of dedication in baseball, football and the NBA.

6.  Power plays.  You screw up, your team plays down a man for 2 minutes.  It’s a Time Out, and it’s exciting.  You don’t see man advantages in baseball, football or basketball.

5.  Line changes.  The ENTIRE BENCH plays.  Two minutes of skating is tiring.  So to keep everyone fresh they cycle in changes, which pits different players against each other.  Strategy at its best.

4.  Possession changes.  A team gets the puck and immediately turns around and attacks, and vice versa.  There are no “downs” or innings, nor is there a shot clock.

3.  Stanley Cup.  There’s no better trophy in all of sports.  Lombardi’s is cool, but you can’t drink out of it.  And it’s not called Lord Lombardi’s trophy.  It’s called Lord Stanley’s Cup.

2.  Canadian teams don’t suck.  In every other sport, they do.  Don’t tell that to the Ottowa Senators.

1.  The last two minutes of the game are awesome.  No time outs.  No NBA fouling back and forth.  The close games have the goalie pulled and they risk a goal to try and overpower the other team.  It’s like pulling the outfielders and adding 3 more infielders, or pulling the offensive line to get 8 receivers instead of 5.

It’s the NHL playoffs.  And they rule.