So I will be the first to admit that I am a basketball fan and grew up playing ball so I never got into hockey because it was the same time as basketball season, so yesterday I watched the Penguins and Capitals game.

First off, it was actually a good watch and it ended in a shootout what could be better than that? The only problem I had is that you got a shot of Crosby or Ovechkin every 5 seconds, I mean I understand that they are the two biggest stars in the league so you gotta flash shots of them, I mean they were the reason I tuned into the game. During the game I couldn’t get over how much I wanted to just smack Crosby, that dude is soft as hell, he is such a cry baby that expects that just because he is “Sid The Kid’ he deserves every call and that no one should be able to rough him up, where on the other hand Ovechkin is a bad ass man, dude enjoys a good smack down. I think on pure skill alone you gotta go Ovechkin over Crosby, however yesterday if your the best player in hockey like I think Ovechkin is, you gotta make a shootout goal where its 1-1 with the goalie. The Penguins won the game in case everyone wasn’t watching.

But for real if you have never watched a full hockey game. Tune into NBC on Sunday afternoon and watch from start to finish and I promise you will enjoy it.

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People often ask why hockey is among the greatest sports ever played.  Simple question, simple answer: only in this sport can you take a wooden stick and swing it at an opposing players head, sucker punch someone from behind or smash someone’s face into (essentially) a wall without going to jail, or at least losing your job.

We would lose our jobs and be arrested—instantly—the following, not so much:

Claude Lemieux (not related to Le Magnifique) checks Kris Draper (video here—first 0:20)
Draper (Detroit) comes away from the incident with a broken jaw, broken nose, and broken cheekbone as well as an obvious concussion; he has to undergo extensive reconstructive surgery. Lemieux (Colorado)? The NHL hands him a 2 game suspension.

Wayne Maki clubs “Terrible” Ted Green over the head with his stick:

Green (Boston) had three life-saving operations and a steel plate put in his head, and after a year of recovery, rejoined the NHL only to receive a 12 game suspension for the fight. Maki (St. Louis) was handed a 30 day suspension from the NHL. Both players were later charged with assault, but were acquitted by Canadian courts (read why here).

Todd Bertuzzi retaliates against Steve Moore (video here):

After a wicked sucker punch to the back of Moore’s head, a stretcher takes him off the ice.  The resulting 3 fractured vertebrae, ligament damage, and more has kept Moore (Colorado) from playing since.  Bertuzzi (Vancouver) was initially suspended indefinitely by the NHL, but has since been reinstated after serving only 20 games; legally, he plead guilty to assault and was given 1 year probation.

Marty McSorley slashes Donald Brashear (video here—slow motion around 1:35):

McSorley (Boston) slashes Brashear (Vacouver) in the side of the head, causing him to fall backwards and hit is head on the ice.  Brashear fully recovered, McSorley received a 23 game suspension.  Even though the NHL would allow him back, he never returned to play for the NHL again.  He was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and put on 18-month probation.

This kid was allowed to keep playing:

Jesse Boulerice was with the Ontario Hockey League in 1998 when he did a double-handed, baseball style swing at the head of Andrew Long (video here).  Almost 10 years later, while in the NHL with Philidelphia, he cheap shots Ryan Kesler of Vancouver (video here), resulting in a 25-game suspension.

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So back in the day whenever I received money, the first thing I did was ride my bike down to the local card shop and buy a pack of cards. Kids now a days are buying these pokemon and magic cards. What happened to buying a deck of baseball cards hoping to get your favorite player or a rare card worth a lot of money? I’m just saying, what happened in ten years where sports card collecting went from a huge market to a minescule market? I mean I’m not saying I have been helping the cause because I don’t think I have bought  a single card since I was 12 years old, so that’s 10 years of no card buying for me, how long has it been for you? I thought of this because I am packing my shit to move soon and ran into the thousands of baseball cards I have in separate boxes. I started to go through and realized my Bonds and AROD rookies won’t be worth a shit anymore, but hey I still got my Kobe rookies. I say we make the movement to start buying some sports cards so that when when the market goes up and the values of cards rise again we can make out like bandits.

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