He argues hockey is strikingly the best
In a guest essay for Time magazine, director Kevin Smith argues eloquently on behalf of a sport too often overlooked in the United States: hockey.
One of the best things about hockey, Smith writes, is “At any moment, someone might try to punch someone else in the face. I know that’s not the sentiment the NHL wants to promote, but it’s a big part of the equation. You can’t get it in baseball, basketball or football, and yet that’s rarely trumpeted in the marketing.
“Hockey is a graceful but aggressive game that can elevate to and just as quickly retreat from physical hostilities at the drop of a puck. That’s exciting to watch because it’s passionate. You’re watching the opposite of paycheck playing: that’s playing with heart. And yet they’re all the nicest and most polite/least in-trouble athletes of the sports community.”
And if that doesn’t sway the reader to immediately plunk down cash for Kings tickets next season, Smith offers this: “Heroes! Villains! Costumes! Masks! Fights! It’s like a comic book come to life.”
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Trivia time
Who was the first hockey player to win an Olympic gold medal and the Stanley Cup in the same year?
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A Bengal by any other name
Nine months after legally changing his name, the former Chad Johnson can finally play NFL games under his new name, Chad Ochocinco. That will be the spelling on the back of his jersey this season, which is not exactly how the Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver wanted it. His preference is “Ocho Cinco” -- two words -- but he spelled it “Ochocinco” on his name-change form last year in Florida.
One reason for the delay is that the NFL had a large inventory of “Johnson” Bengals jerseys to sell when the receiver announced his name change. The Bengals complied, but the NFL did not, wanting Johnson to buy the old jerseys before relenting on the name-change issue.
Rightly figuring that to be a dead-end street -- selling Bengals jerseys with any name is a tough go -- Johnson agreed to play out 2008 with the letters “Johnson” on his back.
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Sods and ends
Unable to sell all of their highly priced seats in their new stadium, the New York Yankees hope to fare better selling off pieces of their old stadium.
For $1,999, fans can buy a seat from the old ballpark. For $80, one can purchase a clump of Yankee Stadium sod enclosed in a see-through case.
Proceeds go to the Yankees Foundation, which donates funds for youth educational and recreational programs. And the team is determined to sell off as much of the old facility as possible.
From the website Yankees.com: “One of the coolest artifacts, bar none, is a door that opened into the Yankees’ exercise room. It has a huge gash right in the middle, the result of Derek Jeter hitting it with a bat before every pregame workout.”
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Trivia answer
Ken Morrow won an Olympic gold medal with the 1980 Miracle On Ice U.S. hockey team and the Stanley Cup with the New York Islanders a few months later.
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And finally
From Vancouver comedian Torben Rolfsen, on ex-Nebraska quarterback Sam Keller suing EA Sports over using the likenesses of college athletes in the NCAA 2008 video game: “Can a Cincinnati Bengals class-action against ‘Grand Theft Auto’ be far behind?”
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Go beyond the scoreboard
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