In a bit of a call-back to the first
few years of the blog, the NFL off-season has meant a bit of an
off-season for this blog as well.
However, there has been a touch of
stories, in (and adjacent to) sports that has a common thread: That
the understanding has become, as a friend of mine has said so
eloquently, that sports fandom must now mean you leave your
conscience at the door. You are, to the leagues, networks, and
sponsors, nothing more than a sports consumer and expected to cheer
on your team or sport or entertainment, circumstances be damned.
Not much outside of the NFL gets that
mindset going than what I refer to as the greatest playoffs in all of
sport: The NHL tournament for the Stanley Cup, which began tonight.
There is a looming problem, though:
The NHL, after being very transparent with their Player Safety
initiatives (even up to and including state-of-the-art video
explaining what is and is not a suspension), has, incrementally,
moved backwards, especially on the concussion front.
As the playoffs begin, there is
continuing call for the NHL to work harder on concussions and head
injuries than they appear to. The Wideman suspension was one very
strong indicator that the league was not doing what was necessary to
protect players from head injuries and their after-effects.
It certainly is not to level of
ignorance that Football Nation America has to justify it's bloodlust,
this is certainly true. But the hitting is still cheered, the
fighting is still part of the game. One has to wonder how much Gary
Bettman will choose to do and how much he will choose to ignore as
“part of the game”.
Events like Game 2 between Columbus and Washington don't help matters any. (Deadspin)Bah Gawd! pic.twitter.com/Co5DHLeclp— Deadspin (@Deadspin) April 15, 2017
Matt Calvert of the Blue Jackets delivered two cheap shots to Pittsburgh's Matt Kuhnhackl -- the first was a cross-check where it looked like Calvert wrapped his stick around Kuhnhackl's back. The second was a shot to the head.
The hit, with 35 seconds to go in the game and Pittsburgh about to win, was only penalized with a two-minute minor. The NHL suspended Calvert for one game, for "sending a message" for Sunday's Game 3.
May not be to the level of the classic Bertuzzi hit, but that was two cheap shots, intent to injure job there guys. Match penalty for intent to injure, and he's gone for the rest of the playoffs plus five games (with the understanding that it's almost-certain Pittsburgh will dispatch Columbus easily).
The NHL appeared to formerly do a good job on it's Player Safety stuff.
Key words: USED TO.
The hit, with 35 seconds to go in the game and Pittsburgh about to win, was only penalized with a two-minute minor. The NHL suspended Calvert for one game, for "sending a message" for Sunday's Game 3.
May not be to the level of the classic Bertuzzi hit, but that was two cheap shots, intent to injure job there guys. Match penalty for intent to injure, and he's gone for the rest of the playoffs plus five games (with the understanding that it's almost-certain Pittsburgh will dispatch Columbus easily).
The NHL appeared to formerly do a good job on it's Player Safety stuff.
Key words: USED TO.
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