They Don't Build Them Like They Used To. Do they?

[Chas]

Now, I used to be a hockey fan. Used to, is the operative word. The rot truly set in when the Great One left for LA and an insane amount of $$. Now, not that I would like to see a return to the days when the owners milked their players mercilessly, and many of the greats died in penury, but....

I think this applies to Baseball, as well. I happen to be a big baseball fan. SF is my team; ever since "Will The Thrill". I'm glad Bonds is gone....

Sidney Crosby and his ilk are just too damn pretty....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw9qDXgKXYg

This is when hockey was wicked fun to watch....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7lfalLsI44&feature=related

My childhood hero...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKg9XhwOzkI&feature=related

Old time hockey!!

 

[Twitch]

I've never been a sports fan but heartily agree that it has become more and more off-putting that sports have become nothing more than another business arena pitting agents and managers against others! Funding groups thwarting other groups! Concession companies winning contracts! More profit for all. And more out of the pocket of the fans.

Players now enter professional sports as millionaires and their skills are less important than who they have "handling" them. Where team owners used to be wealthy guys with a love for sports and even the need to show some losses for the IRS we now have beady-eyed conglomerates that need to see profit at every level from parking lots to stadium seats. They dictate what cities will do and provide. The cities respond to the extortion for fear they will go to some other town.

So some mega-dung complex is built at a gazillion dollars and then is deemed so crappy by the next power monger group in 15 years that it is torn down. And the cycles repeats in every urban area and perpetuates the concept that sports guys are some kinda heros with super accountants or something when they are little else beyond businessmen with coincidental athletic talent to varying degrees.

 

[Chas]

Hear, hear!

There was a story- now, I can't corroborate, but a rookie once dropped the Montreal Canadiens jersey on the floor of the dressing room, didn't pick it up and Frank Mahovalich punched him out for it.

Now the free-agents are pretty much rent boys for the highest bidder.

Ridic.

 

[Benny Holiday]

It's the same all over, fellas. Rugby league is the big winter sport here, and it's been ruined by money. Talented kids who come up through the grades to the A League end up being signed to clubs on contracts with six-figure seasonal salaries. Before long, they're in the papers for a violent assault at a nightclub or casino, for taking drugs, drunk-driving or rape. The fame, money and pressure to perform messes with their egos and their heads. Every week during the winter the media is full of stories of the latest fallen 'hero' who has become his club's newest liability.

A lot of people say that over the last decade, the sport has lost its heart.

 

[shoelessjoe]

Thanks for sharing those video links ... sure brought back some great memories. I still remember the first time someone finally handed "The Hammer" his lunch ... was a kid from Pittsburgh by the name of Bob "The Battleship" Kelly -- what a great scrap!

Couldn't agree more with your thoughts on Cyndi Crosby and might I add, Mary-O Lemieux? Not only is the former the poster-child for the NHL, he's also been tagged as the league's biggest whiner, picking up successfully where his owner left off. Why, if the two of them had their way, pucks would be replaced with black marbles and the 6X4's, with soccer goals!

"They Don't Build Them Like They Used To. Do they?"

Some still do ... 'In Lou We Trust'
http://www.nhl.com/intheslot/read/features/lamoriello_qa120904.html

My childhood hero:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbWDTvuLBzI

My Present Hero ... who, when inducted into the Hall of Fame won't have to decide whose (Hab or Avs) sweater to wear!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFp2qoJ_uhs

Old Time Hockey ... Mr. Devil:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXgzVnfby20

 

[Story]

Vintage Toronto Ads: Hockey Night in the 1930s

http://torontoist.com/2008/01/vintage_toronto_49.php

 

[LocktownDog]

Bernie Parent and Bobbie Clarke. *sigh* I miss those gents.

Now we have a league full of high-paid pretty boys who worry about dental care more than finding the puck. Sure ... my Broad Street Bullies weren't in the original six, but they really played like they were. Old school cutthroat wall-pounding brutality with a touch of grace on the ice.

As a certain Mr Red Green has said repeatedly: Keep your stick on the ice.

Richard

 

[panamag8or]

I don't much care for hockey, but I do like this trend of playing a few games each year outdoors.