OT: Jourdan Lewis commenting on fighting in hockey
January 8th, 2018 at 7:21 PM ^
January 8th, 2018 at 7:58 PM ^
January 8th, 2018 at 8:08 PM ^
January 8th, 2018 at 8:11 PM ^
January 8th, 2018 at 9:08 PM ^
January 8th, 2018 at 11:11 PM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 12:57 AM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 10:57 AM ^
Having played it up through juniors, and being 5"9 175, I wasn't exactly a fighter or a fan. I often thought it should be outlawed. But as I've gotten older I've done a 180 and now think it's great entertainment. Hockey fights almost never result in anything close to real injuries, and give the NHL a rough and tumble throwback style that quite frankly, it needs IMO. If I was the commissioner I'd quietly allow far more of it.
January 8th, 2018 at 8:08 PM ^
January 8th, 2018 at 8:04 PM ^
January 8th, 2018 at 8:15 PM ^
JD's suggesting fighting is ok in hockey because it's largely white and it's not ok in football because it has significantly more non-white people I guess? It's kinda racist because it's assuming the differences in how the sports are played are entirely because of the demographics which is naive of him
January 8th, 2018 at 8:41 PM ^
January 8th, 2018 at 9:25 PM ^
January 8th, 2018 at 11:32 PM ^
How about you flip the OTHER script...which is his point.
99% of black guys in a sport fighting and they're called "thugs" and it's absolutely not accepted the way it is now.
But it's not a relevation. Race is race.
People RIP the NFL for lower ratings, a predominately black sport with guys kneeling during the Anthem.
Guess what? NASCAR's ratings are down EVEN MORE!!! And that is a sport that supposedly celebrates the Star Spangled Banner. But you never hear about that, right? The President never tweets about that, right? Maybe because it goes against this narrative that the ratings in the NFL are down because of kneeling. Sure, plenty of people are against it - but you have to dig a little deeper.
But, the NFL has black players and fans kneeling and NASCAR has white drivers and fans waving the flag (along with the Confederate flag - which is kind of...weird). NHL has white guys fighting, part of the game...black guys fight in football or basketball? THUG.
Maybe it's just the difference in the game, maybe if white guys fight in basketball, they're thugs and if black guys fight in hockey, they're fine...but it's not hard to see where the opinion comes from.
My problem, personally, wasn't the comment...it was that it's not original. This was a huge topic during the "Malice at the Palace" or whatever we called it.
January 9th, 2018 at 12:35 AM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 7:19 AM ^
beside the point?
The reason that fighting emerged in hockey, of the history of it, is not the issue.
When there is a fight in an NHL game, do all of the fans think to themsleves 'well this is all normal because once upon a time hockey needed to attract attention to sell tickets, so...'?
The issue is not how or why fighting emerged, but instead that it is perceived as just normal and acceptable (whatever the reason it first emerged) in hockey, but would be perceived differently in a sport that is not almost all white.
That is Jordan's point. And then the question become, why is that the case?
January 9th, 2018 at 7:06 AM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 9:04 AM ^
NHL has white guys fighting, part of the game...black guys fight in football or basketball? THUG.The problem is that fighting ISN'T as much a part of football or basketball as it is hockey. I know fights DO happen, but when one player takes a swing at another during a game, one sport stands around and watches it and the other sports throw a flag and try to break it up. Lewis's comments make as much sense to me as saying, "They only let players of white sports (Golf, Hockey, Lacross) carry sticks."
January 9th, 2018 at 3:26 PM ^
Comparing professional athletes who attack fans during a game to hockey fights is asinine. And you are the one throwing "thug" around, no one else. Come on man.
January 9th, 2018 at 1:36 AM ^
January 8th, 2018 at 8:46 PM ^
Huh?
I don't think Jourdan's statement is that he thinks it's okay that hockey has fighting. He's saying, instead, that the reason it isn't against the rules is because it's mostly white people. It's not racism to point out a difference between the races. It's also not racist to point out how different races are treated differently under systems of governance or otherwise.
It is, however, covertly racist to say that calling attention to racism against Black people is racist.
Truthfully, I don't know if there's an direct evidentiary basis to bear out what Lewis is saying, but I'd be interested to see when fighting became against the rules in football to compare. Was fighting accepted as "part of the game" before WWII? It was a mostly white sport then.
January 8th, 2018 at 9:58 PM ^
January 8th, 2018 at 10:34 PM ^
January 8th, 2018 at 11:33 PM ^
...in your opinion.
He's got a point, you just don't agree with it. There's a difference.
January 8th, 2018 at 11:14 PM ^
January 8th, 2018 at 11:37 PM ^
Exactly...it's just not a relevation. He didn't discover anything and it's not a new topic.
It would be like me saying.
"Racism doesn't only exist in the south."
Well, yes, this is true...but ummm, this isn't new my man. But it's just part of growing up. Sometimes you think you discover shit that people have known for a REALLY long time.
January 9th, 2018 at 6:53 AM ^
... to the world.
OTOH, there are plenty of people for whom that is a new idea to them. So sometimes is can can worthwhile to repeat an idea for those have never heard it or never thought about it,
January 9th, 2018 at 11:57 AM ^
I've been a sports fan for my whole life. I had never thought about the point Jourdan was making, and, at a glance, I think he's got a point.
January 9th, 2018 at 12:43 AM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 6:56 AM ^
comparison invalid?
Fighting IS the very sport for boxing and UFC.
Skating and scoring goals is the sport of hockey. The fights and enforcers are not really the sport itself.
That is why the old joke about 'going to a boxing match and a game of hockey broke out' works.
January 9th, 2018 at 8:35 AM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 8:55 AM ^
it emerged or did not emerge long a go is beside the point.
The issue is today. Today fighting is hockey can persist, but would be a marketin disaster were it to emerge in the NBA or NFL, becasue.....?
I do not have the answer. JL suggests that race is a factor in the anwer. Maybe he is right and maybe he is wrong.
But this is about today, ot the reason fighting emerged decades ago in the NHL.
January 9th, 2018 at 12:45 AM ^
January 8th, 2018 at 8:12 PM ^
That was my sense as well. And football used to feature quite a few fights, but then rule changes altered that. Hell, basketball used to have some crazy brawls but those were ushered out of the game as well.
If anything, I think the reason people in the US don't care that much about fighting in hockey is the fast majority of Americans don't care about hockey.
January 8th, 2018 at 7:22 PM ^
I think this is a dumb topic that will be deleted soon.
January 8th, 2018 at 7:23 PM ^
January 8th, 2018 at 7:24 PM ^
January 8th, 2018 at 7:38 PM ^
Why you dirty no good hoser
January 8th, 2018 at 8:02 PM ^
Best. Movie. Ever.
January 8th, 2018 at 9:20 PM ^
Loved the Hanson's!
January 8th, 2018 at 11:10 PM ^
January 8th, 2018 at 7:24 PM ^
While I love a good hockey fight, I think it's far overused, especially in situations where players start fighting after cleanly delivered big hits. I'd love to see it phased mostly out, and only used when situations truly warrant beating some wholesale ass (e.g., as a disincentive to delivering dirty hits like Claude Lemieux on Kris Draper back in 1996).