I get what you're saying, and I'm not trying to single you out at all, but the pearl clutching that goes on when something ugly happens is really hypocritical. The really ugly thing that happens is just a natural consequence of the slightly less ugly, but absolutely routine things that happen in the sport daily. If we really, really cared about these guys, the NHL would not exist. Boxing, NFL, MMA, car racing, etc. would not exist.
These guys risk their health and their lives purely for our entertainment. (I realize that they're doing this voluntarily, but I don't think that changes anything. I bet you could find lots of people who would still do MMA, but with swords and axes and fights to the death if they were paid well enough. Hell, make it available only to those sentenced to the death penalty with money going to their families. You could make a killing on PPV, literally and figuratively. Would that be OK with everyone?) The very significant risk of severe injury or death is part and parcel of many professional sports, including hockey. It is an unspoken truth that we, as a society, have decided that despite the absolute certainty that some percentage of participants in this form of entertainment will be crippled or die, it's worth it because we all like watching it. Let's be honest, in part that's exactly why we like watching it. Each one of us, as individuals, has also decided that it's worth it. You could make the NHL a LOT safer than it is. But I don't see a lot of clamor on this or any other hockey board to completely eliminate fighting. Or eliminate checking. Or require the use of full face shields. Because it won't be as fun to watch. So what if some enforcer who was in the league for two years ends up dead down the road. I will have long forgotten about him. It's not my problem. And I never have even heard of the dozens of Montador-type players who never made the NHL, maybe because they weren't quite talented enough. Or maybe because their bodies broke down before they could get there.
Hockey celebrates the Montadors. The toughness. The "playing through pain." But we don't like to see the cortisone needles and piles of prescription pain pills. Professional sports keep the ugliness well-hidden because they know we're squeamish when we accidentally get a glimpse at what's behind the curtain. Professional athletes know it too, and issue public apologies when they get caught at the border with prescription drugs they've gotten addicted to.
So if we accept all that, at what point do we demand that these guys not be allowed to continue to make the big bucks because they're playing through ugly injuries, despite the fact that playing through ugly injuries is often what got them to the NHL in the first place? At what point do we say "Mike, you're now too injured to play anymore. The customers are complaining that you're making them feel funny"?
I know we all want to enjoy our sausages without seeing how they're made. But every time a story like this comes around and we all shake our heads and demand that "something must be done", I can't get rid of the feeling that the real issue is not what happened to Mike Montador (or Derek Boogaard or Johan Franzen) but is our ability to enjoy our entertainment guilt-free. So we all point our fingers at those who are giving the customers what they want instead of at the mirror.
Anyway, I did not mean to get so heavy, wordy and holier-than-thou on a Friday morning. I mean, that McDermid fight yesterday was pretty awesome, right?
