2008 Woodie Awards
NHL gets no respect amongst peers
Joey LeMay
Issue date: 2/11/08 Section: Sports
Every group of friends has a misfit.
"Saved By the Bell" had Screech, the "Rugrats" had Chuckie and "Southpark" has Kenny.
Life is no different amongst the circle of friends we call sports. Let's pretend, for a moment, that the big four - the NFL, NHL, NBA and MLB all go out for a night on the town.
In a friendly battle to see who can get the most girls in the bar, the NFL cleans house. MLB gives the NFL the most competition and might even steal a girl or two from the NFL, but in the end, MLB just can't compete.
This leaves the NHL and NBA to vie for the remaining girls in the bar.
In a shallow standard to date men with teeth and see something more aesthetically pleasing, most of the attention trickles down to the NBA.
However, those who do end with NHL realize that he's not so bad and are grateful for giving him a chance.
This is life for our misfit friend, the NHL: a constant struggle for attention against three good-lookers.
But what if we eliminated two of the studs? The NFL gets kicked out for voyeurism and MLB accidentally injects a Jag Bomb/air bubble combination into its bloodstream when it thought it was steroids.
Now it's down to the NBA and NHL - the actual current situation in sports for the big four. With the NFL recently completing its season and MLB still a short ways out, the NHL can now attract some sports fans who want something more than basketball.
But how does the NHL approach these fans who would rather be snuggled up with a different organization?
The answer is as simple as approachability. The NHL needs to put on its best clothes and mingle with the people.
In sports talk, it simply means getting yourself on television and showing the best match-up possible when you do get on television.
For Minnesotans, we get to see the Wild on a regular basis because of local coverage and the fact that we live in a hockey market.
For the rare breed of fans who live in a non-hockey market and still enjoy the sport, there are few options.
"Saved By the Bell" had Screech, the "Rugrats" had Chuckie and "Southpark" has Kenny.
Life is no different amongst the circle of friends we call sports. Let's pretend, for a moment, that the big four - the NFL, NHL, NBA and MLB all go out for a night on the town.
In a friendly battle to see who can get the most girls in the bar, the NFL cleans house. MLB gives the NFL the most competition and might even steal a girl or two from the NFL, but in the end, MLB just can't compete.
This leaves the NHL and NBA to vie for the remaining girls in the bar.
In a shallow standard to date men with teeth and see something more aesthetically pleasing, most of the attention trickles down to the NBA.
However, those who do end with NHL realize that he's not so bad and are grateful for giving him a chance.
This is life for our misfit friend, the NHL: a constant struggle for attention against three good-lookers.
But what if we eliminated two of the studs? The NFL gets kicked out for voyeurism and MLB accidentally injects a Jag Bomb/air bubble combination into its bloodstream when it thought it was steroids.
Now it's down to the NBA and NHL - the actual current situation in sports for the big four. With the NFL recently completing its season and MLB still a short ways out, the NHL can now attract some sports fans who want something more than basketball.
But how does the NHL approach these fans who would rather be snuggled up with a different organization?
The answer is as simple as approachability. The NHL needs to put on its best clothes and mingle with the people.
In sports talk, it simply means getting yourself on television and showing the best match-up possible when you do get on television.
For Minnesotans, we get to see the Wild on a regular basis because of local coverage and the fact that we live in a hockey market.
For the rare breed of fans who live in a non-hockey market and still enjoy the sport, there are few options.