take the juxtaposition of two teams in different sports in two different cities on back-to-back nights...
cleveland and buffalo are the red-headed stepchildren of professional sports cities...they're mocked and ridiculed by pundits and "experts" throughout the sports world...they have a very similar demographic make-up within declining cities and both have a rabid, loyal fan-base who's sports teams have not won a championship in decades...yes, they both yearn for a triumphant parade in their hometown, but, in lieu of that, what they ask for, at the very least, is an honest effort game-in, game-out...they want the players to match their passion...
in cleveland thursday night, it was the return of lebron james to the city he jilted for the greener pastures of miami...expectations were high, fans were indignant and the cavaliers were expected to match the intensity of their scorned fan-base...after all, the team and players were dissed just like the city was...
james was introduced to a full chorus of boos during his introduction, and he was booed resoundingly throughout the game...one of the questions; will he do his narcissistic "talcum-toss?"...would he have the audacity to slap his former teammates, team and city on national tv again with this pre-game ritual of self-indulgence?...yes, he did it, amidst the jeers of those court-side as his former teammates looked on...it's not that i expected any cavalier player to do anything, especially after all of the "hey-buddy" warmth they displayed for him pre-game...ok, fine...i guess they'd show it during the game, play hard, play intense, play like james and the heat were there to impose their will on the team and that they'd have no part of that...play like they had a passion for the team and it's fan-base and would not be an embarrassment to themselves on their home court...
after a rather robust start, the cavaliers caved...they laid down like the wimpy little rich-kids that they really are, more interested in coddling their former teammate than defending their turf...james walked all over them and no one even tried to stop him...no harassment, no hard fouls, no disguised cheap-shots...nothing...he torched them so thoroughly that colin cowherd called it "the validation" of james' decision to leave because this cavaliers team was empty and useless, devoid of skill and, most importantly, they lacked an inner passion to compete...the cavs completely embarrassed themselves, cowering on their knees like a jilted lover waiting for an apology which will never come...
the following night, the buffalo sabres were home for their first game in six days, vs. the columbus blue jackets...the sabres were still reeling from a very poor start to their season, especially at home...the sabres are also a team that can be intimidated into folding, as has been seen for the better part of a decade, and if you play tough, and impose your will upon them, they'll wilt and fall into submission...
unfortunately for the jackets last night, the sabres fought back, and fought back with a vengeance in an atypical display of grit an toughness...mike commodore of the jackets got decked by cody mccormick after a commodore just finished serving a 5-minute major for boarding...the sabres' steve montador dropped 'em with jacket tough-guy jared boll to take one on the chin (and in the face as well) for the team..and patrick kaleta...wow!!!!...patrick kaleta pummeled derek dorsett after dorsett tried to mess with sabres leading goal-scorer thomas vanek:
and that's why fighting in hockey is good...
you don't see the pre-game narcissistic antics of lebron james in hockey...would he have tried anything like that in warm-ups, he woulda been jumped, and a fight would have broken out as the opposing players would have taken it for what it was--showboating...and, if you're gonna showboat, you better be able to back it up...
that's hockey...
dany heatley didn't showboat in his return to ottawa, but the sens laid down just like the cavs on the very same night, no less, having been shut out in an embarrassing 4-0 loss on their home ice...the disdain for heatley by the fans did not spill over onto the ice as the passionless sens embarrassed themselves, their team, their owner and their city...just like the cavaliers did...
oh...and...not one single fight in the game, only a token roughing penalty by sens-pest chris neil in the third when the game was pretty much decided...
there's your reason for fighting in hockey, and not those crappy staged fights between resident heavyweights in a programmed side-show...i'm talking about fights while in defense of your turf, your teammates, your team, your city and/or your dignity...fights that say, "i give a sh!t"...
those who argue that fighting should be banned are of the colin cowherd pencil-necked geek variety who were no closer to organized sports than intramural play...they never played at home with friends like every game was for the championship of the world, and that even your blood-brother was your enemy, if he was on the other side,for however long the event lasted...they'll never know the that inner-passion to compete is a victory, even if the game ends in defeat...never know that defending your turf is never embarrassing, even if you get blown out...they'll never know that a black-eye for the team means more to the fans than a pretty smile for the camera...
for those who want fighting banned, i offer a simple solution...shut your traps...or go follow basketball...
