One of the many things I find so enjoyable about this sport on ice is the symmetry and ability of lines of players passing a puck around in the hope for a score or a clearing. Add an occasional hard hit and the contradictory sight of this game really grows on you. Poetry and violence.
In 1968 there was a war raging in Vietnam that had a level of unpopularity in the states. I am just waiting to see which politician(no doubt on the Democratic side)dares to try to compare Vietnam to what is currently transpiring in Iraq and Afghanistan. For one thing, another 27 years must pass before you even have the same amount of time for both wars. You also do not have anywhere near the number of casualties in this current war as you did in the sixties and early seventies.
Remember where you were this day in 1977? I do. I saw history with my own 13 year old eyes. Reggie Jackson, with a walk in between, on three swings off three different pitchers would homer three times in a convincing 8-4 Game Six win over the L.A. Dodgers. Three homers and five ribbies. Jackson had also homered in Game five, a 10-4 drubbing by the Big Blue.
Not even two weeks after a pro football player puts a cleat to man's face, I witness a kick holder getting brutally attacked, a Miami player take his helmet off and whack an opponent over the head with it, an FIU player getting DDT'ed to the ground, but best of all was watching the Canes come off the field with their helmets held high like a scene from 1979's 'The Warriors'. Give me a break!
Maybe I'm just getting older or times have become that much tougher. Security was tight at the entry way with the magnets sniffing out the beep caused by cellphones, carkeys, and loose change. It cost ten dollars to park, 13 for an all day ticket. If you chose to eat while at the Fair you bought coupons that were to be used as cash. Few things if any were on the cheap side.
Saturday, October 21, 2006 at 6:48AM