I Went to a Rangers Game Last Night…
Posted on February 28th, 2012 in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
…which was pretty fun, even for a non-hockey fan such as myself. But there were two unpleasant parts.
1) They showed Donald Trump, who was in attendance, on the Jumbotron, and they also showed him in a scene from the Apprentice in which he fired Cheryl Tiegs. “Cheryl,” Trump said, “you’re fired. Get out of here.” Then the camera cut to Trump, and he mouthed, “You’re fired!” A shocking number of the sold-out crowd cheered. WTF? Whether or not you realize what a terrible person Donald Trump is, why would you cheer the act of firing someone when unemployment is such a painful topic now?
2) Fighting. There was a lot of it. I can understand why hockey players might want to fight, given the intensity and physicality of the game. But why is it so tolerated (and why do the fans love it so)?
At one point one of the Rangers and one of the New Jersey Devils got in a fight, and for about a minute, no exaggeration, the refs just stood there and let them go at it, at one point actually moving a goal so that it wouldn’t get in the way of the fight. It was like a scene from Gladiator—the refs standing there just watching, and the crowd roaring its pleasure, the two players holding each other’s jerseys with one hand and slugging each other with the other. Kind of sick, actually. Hockey’s a beautiful game to watch, and to me, the fighting only distracted from the pleasure of that.
Let’s hope, that with all we’re learning about concussions and brain damage, that this will change…
2 Responses
2/28/2012 2:34 pm
Dude, firing Chery Tiegs is an affront to all those on the unemployment line? Pleeeeez.
And the reason the refs stood around is that fighting is only grounds for a penalty, thus in essence they’re allowed to fight, and until they go to the ground or otherwise create an unreasonable danger the refs only job is to monitor and await a finish so they can take them both to the penalty box.
(And no, fighting alone does not create an “unreasonable danger” - although several of the more notorious bruisers have recently died. Statistically speaking…..)
2/28/2012 5:48 pm
It’s not firing Cheryl Tiegs so much-it’s the whole idea of a tycoon seeming to take pleasure in humiliating someone in front of a group and saying, “Get out of here.”
What you say about fighting is well and good, but not really true. The refs could have broken up the fight at any time. They didn’t, probably because the league wants people to fight, since it knows fighting puts fannies in the seats. The fight lasted longer than the amount of time the fighters were penalized..