The (sports) Gospel According to Mark: The Lockout Stinks

mark_chalifoux · January 24th, 2005, 10:45 PM

Hockey fans everywhere were recently given a unified voice in the form of dying words from lifelong hockey fan Archie Bennitz when the elderly man used his obituary as his platform to provide the planet Earth with the best known description of the NHL Players’ Association Director Bob Goodenow and...
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Shane · January 25th, 2005, 12:51 AM

HERE HERE!!!!

Well said Mark, and I applaud Archie for his stand as well. It's time us real fans stood up to "the man" and make enough noise to get these two skunks out of there.

I will be writing letters to the powers that be (as soon as I figure out who that is at this point), and voicing my opinion.

Great fucking article man.

Ishkur · January 25th, 2005, 03:57 AM

Who the hell is Chris Moneymaker?

KP · January 25th, 2005, 04:48 PM

"Why can’t they understand that the casual fan simply does not need the NHL, but that the NHL needs the casual fan?"

Truer words have not been spoken on this board in regards to this issue.

Except for this one:

"This has turned into what’s best for Gary Bettman and the owners and what’s best for Bob Goodenow and the players instead of what’s best for hockey. The fact of the matter is if they loved the game even half as much as many of its fans, I could watch an NHL game tonight. Their greed is utterly ridiculous and the fact that they aren’t even trying to fix the game anymore is unfathomable."

Take the rest of this year. Take next year as well. Take as long as you want. Who cares?

focal22 · January 26th, 2005, 12:36 AM

Nascar is a fucking sport.

Chris Moneymaker is a professional poker player and damn good one.

Shane · January 26th, 2005, 12:57 AM

And Ishkur is living under a Canadian rock. Please forgive/ignore him.

KP · January 26th, 2005, 08:57 AM

NASCAR may be a sport, but its the cars that are the athletes. The drivers are the coaches; the crew chiefs are the GM's.

mark_chalifoux · January 26th, 2005, 05:44 PM

I talked to John Buccigross from ESPN's NHL 2NIGHT this week on my radio show and he had some interesting things to say. He made the point that if they players were going to create their own league as owners, the first thing they would do is implement a salary cap.

We also talked about Sydney Crosby and rule changes. John thinks they should get rid of hooking and clutching and grabbing (he compared it to pass interference in the NFL) and that there should be bigger nets. He also thought they should get rid of the red line. I dont know how I really feel on his suggestions. I like bigger nets and less hooking, I just don't know if I like the cherry picking that would happen if they took out the redline. Any thoughts?

Shane · January 26th, 2005, 10:17 PM

First off, Bucci is the only guy on ESPN that doesn't make me want to puke in my shoes. Very cool that you got to talk to him.

As far as rules go, I say leave the red line, go back to touch up offsides, eliminate the clutching grabbing hooking that you mentioned, eliminate the instigator rule, and quit moving the nets back and forth trying to make more room in Gretzky's office.

Any one of these would improve the flow of the game and make it more exciting, IMO.

focal22 · January 27th, 2005, 12:05 AM

just play fair. makes it easier.

KP · January 27th, 2005, 10:13 AM

(Bear with me guys, I'm not as knowledgeable about hockey and its rules as ya'll are.)

You make the nets bigger, you get more scoring. That's the purpose of it, right? Makes it more exciting for the fans. Good idea from that perspective.

However, you make the nets bigger and more goals get scored, wouldn't that be an impetus for players to drive up salaries? "Hey, I scored 75 goals for the last three years, I want a raise." This quote could then come from more than just a couple players like it does now. More, better stats equates to bigger,fatter wallets.

When you say eliminate the clutching and grabbing, do you mean by calling penalities or by not calling penalites? I suppose if you let those go without calling penalties AND you increased the size of the nets, the number of goals scored wouldn't be so great, but then you retard the purpose of increasing the nets. If you did call those penalites, shoot, you're almost giving the offense a free pass to the larger net. If that's the case, better get Konishiki (the sumo guy) some pads and a stick.

BtownJay · January 27th, 2005, 10:26 AM

1st, if the league sets a salary cap, the players won't be able to get more money because teams simply won't have it to give. Plus, with all scoring going up, players and owners should be smart enough to realize they are still on the same level as before (we would hope.) I personally don't think the nets need to be made any larger... making pads smaller and getting rid of clutching and grabbing will directly lead to more scoring.

Which brings me to the second part... when talking about 'eliminating' clutching and grabbing they mean call EVERYTHING. Most officals now let most of it go and only call the obvious penalties. But if you call it every time it happens, players will stop doing it or the coaches will not play them. Sure in the begining there will be a TON of penalties called, but that would slowly die down.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KP

If you did call those penalites, shoot, you're almost giving the offense a free pass to the larger net. If that's the case, better get Konishiki (the sumo guy) some pads and a stick.

EXCELLENT! I agree 100000000000%! IMO, you can't do both. The scores would start looking like a laccross (sp) game. I am starting to worry that hockey is going to change too drasticly to attract more fans. But in the same time lose alot of die hard fans in the process... is that something that will make the game better? Only time will tell on that.

mark_chalifoux · January 27th, 2005, 04:38 PM

The clutching and grabbing is something that has evolved defensively in the past decade or so. Gretzky didnt have to go through things like that, and I dont think it would make scores too ridiculous. You can still play defense against someone, you just cant follow them down the ice trying to grab their jersey and hook them with your stick. Making the nets bigger would increase scoring, but not to the proportions people are thinking. I think smaller equipment for goalies would work too, but the nets getting bigger will just mean more 3-2 games instead of 1-0, it wouldnt be like doubling the size or anything.

I really dont know if I like taking away the red line, because cherry picking hurts the game IMO

January 24th, 2005, 10:45 PM	#1
mark_chalifoux Loyalist Join Date: 07-02-2004 Posts: 305 Tournaments Joined: 0 Tournament Wins: 0	The (sports) Gospel According to Mark: The Lockout Stinks Hockey fans everywhere were recently given a unified voice in the form of dying words from lifelong hockey fan Archie Bennitz when the elderly man used his obituary as his platform to provide the planet Earth with the best known description of the NHL Players’ Association Director Bob Goodenow and... Full Article

January 25th, 2005, 04:48 PM	#4
KP blank Join Date: 07-08-2002 Posts: 1,988 Tournaments Joined: 0 Tournament Wins: 0	"Why can’t they understand that the casual fan simply does not need the NHL, but that the NHL needs the casual fan?" Truer words have not been spoken on this board in regards to this issue. Except for this one: "This has turned into what’s best for Gary Bettman and the owners and what’s best for Bob Goodenow and the players instead of what’s best for hockey. The fact of the matter is if they loved the game even half as much as many of its fans, I could watch an NHL game tonight. Their greed is utterly ridiculous and the fact that they aren’t even trying to fix the game anymore is unfathomable." Take the rest of this year. Take next year as well. Take as long as you want. Who cares? __________________ It's a RANT DADDY world.....and we're all just livin' in it!

January 26th, 2005, 12:36 AM	#5
focal22 Rant Addict Join Date: 08-07-2002 Posts: 6,506 Tournaments Joined: 0 Tournament Wins: 0	Nascar is a fucking sport. Chris Moneymaker is a professional poker player and damn good one. __________________ Everyone must :allpraise LONG BEACH's finest Transit Instructor: RAIDER ASSASSIN. Who needs a good upside his big bald dark head. All he knows how to do is :4-argue: Most the time he is and pussy :whipped: by his dog. bunch of over educated inbred sue happy people.

January 26th, 2005, 08:57 AM	#7
KP blank Join Date: 07-08-2002 Posts: 1,988 Tournaments Joined: 0 Tournament Wins: 0	NASCAR may be a sport, but its the cars that are the athletes. The drivers are the coaches; the crew chiefs are the GM's. __________________ It's a RANT DADDY world.....and we're all just livin' in it!

January 27th, 2005, 12:05 AM	#10
focal22 Rant Addict Join Date: 08-07-2002 Posts: 6,506 Tournaments Joined: 0 Tournament Wins: 0	just play fair. makes it easier. __________________ Everyone must :allpraise LONG BEACH's finest Transit Instructor: RAIDER ASSASSIN. Who needs a good upside his big bald dark head. All he knows how to do is :4-argue: Most the time he is and pussy :whipped: by his dog. bunch of over educated inbred sue happy people.

January 25th, 2005, 03:57 AM	#3
Ishkur Crazed Fan Join Date: 12-27-2003 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 438 Tournaments Joined: 0 Tournament Wins: 0	Who the hell is Chris Moneymaker?

January 26th, 2005, 05:44 PM	#8
mark_chalifoux Loyalist Join Date: 07-02-2004 Posts: 305 Tournaments Joined: 0 Tournament Wins: 0	I talked to John Buccigross from ESPN's NHL 2NIGHT this week on my radio show and he had some interesting things to say. He made the point that if they players were going to create their own league as owners, the first thing they would do is implement a salary cap. We also talked about Sydney Crosby and rule changes. John thinks they should get rid of hooking and clutching and grabbing (he compared it to pass interference in the NFL) and that there should be bigger nets. He also thought they should get rid of the red line. I dont know how I really feel on his suggestions. I like bigger nets and less hooking, I just don't know if I like the cherry picking that would happen if they took out the redline. Any thoughts?

January 27th, 2005, 10:13 AM	#11
KP blank Join Date: 07-08-2002 Posts: 1,988 Tournaments Joined: 0 Tournament Wins: 0	(Bear with me guys, I'm not as knowledgeable about hockey and its rules as ya'll are.) You make the nets bigger, you get more scoring. That's the purpose of it, right? Makes it more exciting for the fans. Good idea from that perspective. However, you make the nets bigger and more goals get scored, wouldn't that be an impetus for players to drive up salaries? "Hey, I scored 75 goals for the last three years, I want a raise." This quote could then come from more than just a couple players like it does now. More, better stats equates to bigger,fatter wallets. When you say eliminate the clutching and grabbing, do you mean by calling penalities or by not calling penalites? I suppose if you let those go without calling penalties AND you increased the size of the nets, the number of goals scored wouldn't be so great, but then you retard the purpose of increasing the nets. If you did call those penalites, shoot, you're almost giving the offense a free pass to the larger net. If that's the case, better get Konishiki (the sumo guy) some pads and a stick. __________________ It's a RANT DADDY world.....and we're all just livin' in it!

January 27th, 2005, 04:38 PM	#13
mark_chalifoux Loyalist Join Date: 07-02-2004 Posts: 305 Tournaments Joined: 0 Tournament Wins: 0	The clutching and grabbing is something that has evolved defensively in the past decade or so. Gretzky didnt have to go through things like that, and I dont think it would make scores too ridiculous. You can still play defense against someone, you just cant follow them down the ice trying to grab their jersey and hook them with your stick. Making the nets bigger would increase scoring, but not to the proportions people are thinking. I think smaller equipment for goalies would work too, but the nets getting bigger will just mean more 3-2 games instead of 1-0, it wouldnt be like doubling the size or anything. I really dont know if I like taking away the red line, because cherry picking hurts the game IMO