Well it didn't take long for me to get a rant going here. Most people would actually be surprised I wouldn't have shared one earlier, I have so many things that I rant about on a regular basis that most of my friends have hit the smile and nod button when I get going.
I am a rabid hockey fan. Rabid may be an understatement but I'll go with that adjective for now. Here in Canada it is something of a national past time, we watch it, play it, some people are even trying to get a Church of Hockey started in Canada too. And hey, if we can make Jedi a recognised religion by our federal government why not hockey right?
But I'm getting off topic here. This isn't about hockey as a religion, not sure it could qualify but I'll support the effort. No this is about something that blew me away at a recent Ontario Hockey League game. For those of you who are unversed in the various hockey leagues in North America the OHL is for players up to the age of 18, it is not professional, these kids don't get paid but many go on to the NHL draft where they will end up in that league or in the verious professional minor league affiliates of their NHL parent clubs.
So at the game, two periods are done and hey tie game it's been great hockey fun times with my boy ect.... then a fan appriciation contest starts and to my disblieving eyes there were cheerleaders on the ice. Not wearing skates but knee high boots with heels and pom poms.
I give these girls full credit for being able to walk on 4 inch heels on an ice rink but WTF are they doing there in the first place? This is hockey!!! Not football, or basket ball. There is no half time show. Intermission between periods of play are for resurfacing the ice with a zamboni! It's not as though there is a dug out for them to get the croud roudy like at a baseball game, or the sidelines in football.
This is hockey. There are no cheerleaders in hockey. There is no crying in baseball (ask Tom Hanks). There are no wimps in Football. There are no under payed players in basketball (or any other sport but I have no good refrences for basketball).
I do not begrudge the job cheerleaders do, they do serve a valuable roll getting the crowds excited and cheering on the home team. Despite what many athletes say you can be sure that energetic crowds feed the players energy and resolve to put on a good game. However there is no place for them in hockey. They cannot be positioned to be in the eye line of the crowds because everyone is watching the game, which moves very fast. There is not enough time between plays for them and even for TV time outs there is cleaning of the ice surface. Inbetween periods, well you don't want to get run over by a zamboni it hurts.
While I found out today while looking into cheerleading in hockey I have discovered that this phenomenon is not restricted to Junior hockey. Several NHL teams have them. Now their arenas are larger and they have TV screens in the scoreboards so the little platform they use is broadcast for all to see but still it seems a little much.
Now these cheerleaders have a larger roll in the organisations too. They do community outreach, some even have college degrees in buisness and community programs to make them better ambassadors for the teams. This is a good idea to help grow the team in their parent cities as most are in the USA south of the Mason Dixie line where hockey is ranked somewhere below soccer and above cricket but still it seems a bit much for cheerleaders in hockey.
Thus my rant is done.
More on other topics later.
I am a rabid hockey fan. Rabid may be an understatement but I'll go with that adjective for now. Here in Canada it is something of a national past time, we watch it, play it, some people are even trying to get a Church of Hockey started in Canada too. And hey, if we can make Jedi a recognised religion by our federal government why not hockey right?
But I'm getting off topic here. This isn't about hockey as a religion, not sure it could qualify but I'll support the effort. No this is about something that blew me away at a recent Ontario Hockey League game. For those of you who are unversed in the various hockey leagues in North America the OHL is for players up to the age of 18, it is not professional, these kids don't get paid but many go on to the NHL draft where they will end up in that league or in the verious professional minor league affiliates of their NHL parent clubs.
So at the game, two periods are done and hey tie game it's been great hockey fun times with my boy ect.... then a fan appriciation contest starts and to my disblieving eyes there were cheerleaders on the ice. Not wearing skates but knee high boots with heels and pom poms.
I give these girls full credit for being able to walk on 4 inch heels on an ice rink but WTF are they doing there in the first place? This is hockey!!! Not football, or basket ball. There is no half time show. Intermission between periods of play are for resurfacing the ice with a zamboni! It's not as though there is a dug out for them to get the croud roudy like at a baseball game, or the sidelines in football.
This is hockey. There are no cheerleaders in hockey. There is no crying in baseball (ask Tom Hanks). There are no wimps in Football. There are no under payed players in basketball (or any other sport but I have no good refrences for basketball).
I do not begrudge the job cheerleaders do, they do serve a valuable roll getting the crowds excited and cheering on the home team. Despite what many athletes say you can be sure that energetic crowds feed the players energy and resolve to put on a good game. However there is no place for them in hockey. They cannot be positioned to be in the eye line of the crowds because everyone is watching the game, which moves very fast. There is not enough time between plays for them and even for TV time outs there is cleaning of the ice surface. Inbetween periods, well you don't want to get run over by a zamboni it hurts.
While I found out today while looking into cheerleading in hockey I have discovered that this phenomenon is not restricted to Junior hockey. Several NHL teams have them. Now their arenas are larger and they have TV screens in the scoreboards so the little platform they use is broadcast for all to see but still it seems a little much.
Now these cheerleaders have a larger roll in the organisations too. They do community outreach, some even have college degrees in buisness and community programs to make them better ambassadors for the teams. This is a good idea to help grow the team in their parent cities as most are in the USA south of the Mason Dixie line where hockey is ranked somewhere below soccer and above cricket but still it seems a bit much for cheerleaders in hockey.
Thus my rant is done.
More on other topics later.