Confessions Of An Idiot

Memorial Day is a day of remembering freedom comes at a cost, and those who have paid that price, we can never repay and are forever indebted. It's also a weekend of cookouts and conversations. If you want to talk hockey with me, I will oblige but you better know what your talking about or I lose interest quickly.

Anyway, I got into an semi-argument about why hockey will never take in America by a semi-drunk guy. He had obviously put some thought into his list of 5 reasons why ice hockey sucks and a waste of broadcast time. So I listened, just to see what he would say. I didn't respond to his reasons, just nodded my head as he spewed his ideas along with some bits of corn and BBQ ribs.

1. "Hockey is too complicated a sport for Americans to understand it. Have you seen the rule book, and what the hell is icing?"

2. "Hockey fans can't pronounce any of the names. When was the last time you saw an all American name like Robert or Kevin do anything in a hockey jersey? It's all Europeans. Like that Over-check-CAN."

3. "It's so boring to watch, dump and chase, dump and chase. They don't have any set plays."

4. "Who can think of hockey in June? It's baseball time."

5. "I bet you couldn't name me once player besides Over-check-CAN or Crosby in the league. Who are all these guys."

Needless to say, my conversation ended right there with him. Well, not quite. I did correct him on how to pronounce Ovechkin and mentioned there were a couple Americans on the Caps squad that represented USA at the World Championships. As far as his first comment, well that said it all for me about the validity of his arguments (he basically said Americans are too stupid to watch hockey). I asked him what the in-field fly rule was in baseball, and all I got was a blank stare.

I had to post, and see if there might be some consensus on his comments. Do Americans really think hockey will die a slow death in the States?