One too many smacks with the stick

Let's break the blog silence with a few words on this morning's big sports news. And it's even a sport I don't care much about! It is, of course, Todd Bertuzzi's suspension.

There's a lot of things to say here, not in the least that hockey's had a moment like this coming for a long time, seeing as how they barely-secretly encourage fights and violence for the fan's extra entertainment (apparently the actual game of hockey isn't enough). What really steamed me was reading some hockey meathead pointing out on ESPN that, if this had been a late hit on a QB in football, no one would be outraged. Come again?! If a late hit on a QB had resulted in the QB having his neck broken, the guy doing the hitting would at least be fined tens of thousands of dollars and probably suspended within a couple of days. And the media would have fired their outrage engines over it, talking about how dirty players have become. Sometimes it feels like half of the coverage in football is outrage.

Hockey fans arguing that the violence is part of their game is one thing. The fights aren't a part of the actual game, but if that's what revs you up...go for it. But don't bring football into it. The NFL gets criticized (unfairly, I think) for fining and suspending too much, AND the hits ARE part of the game. If a player throws even one punch, they get an immediate suspension. Compare that with hockey, where they'll stop the game and the referees will stand around watching the game.

Let's face it: it's the hockey culture—not the game itself—that's violent. And I don't expect that to change anytime soon.