Hockey Players Aren’t Just Different…They’re Better
Adam Burish has just been so impressive on and off the ice this season. Perhaps that’s why he is one of the most blogged about players on this site. People say of his play that he’s too small to be an enforcer. Really? Well, nobody told him! And it’s a good thing too, because nobody else can stick up for his teammates, rally the boys when they’re losing, and get the crowd worked up quite like Bur can. Indeed, in Burish’s recent absence while on IR, it took a handful of the boys to fill his skates as enforcer, which is a tribute to Burish’s dedication to his teammates; his willingness to put team over self.
And yet, with all the positive things we know about Burish, he still manages to impress. Look at what he had to say on his blog, ‘Dropping the Gloves’, yesterday:
As hockey players we are obviously grouped into the category of “ATHLETES.” With that comes a stigma. Some of that stigma includes being “greedy,” “trouble,” and “selfish.” But as [General Manager Dale Tallon] said, “hockey players are different.”
You will not see a hockey player call his own press conference in his front yard with his shirt off, doing sit-ups, and saying how great he is. You will not see a hockey player tell the media how stupid practice is, and how stupid his coach is for not starting him. And you will not see a hockey player bring a gun into a club and accidentally shoot himself.
…I know you can argue that hockey doesn’t receive the same coverage other sports do. On one hand, hockey players don’t create the same “drama” other sports do to get that coverage. Hockey players would rather have no coverage than this type of coverage. If there were a Sean Avery on every team would hockey get more coverage? I’ll guarantee it! His story was the first thing reported on ESPN when it happened. Everybody wants to see and read about athletes screwing up. In hockey that behavior is not accepted. Hockey players are proud of the reputation we have created of being good people. Sometimes that means less coverage. Hockey players are fine with that. If you were to go down by the locker rooms after a hockey game, you will not see players walking out with wild jewelry, crazy clothes, or hats. Just your normal, black-and-gray suits, and players stopping to make sure a kid receives his autograph.
There is a code amongst hockey player that you hear in all sports, but it’s at a higher standard here. When you are on a team, you are a part of a “family”, and you do not do anything to put yourself above your family. You don’t blast your teammates to the media, you don’t dress for attention, and you don’t get yourself in the media for reasons outside of your job, and if you do it is dealt with.
As Bur notes, hockey players generally come from blue-collar backgrounds where hard work is expected as a part of a man’s honor. They are taught respect not just for their coaches and teammates, but for people in general. They are humble. In person, they are often shy and unassuming. They have the utmost respect for their fans. There is no disrespecting of women (with the exception of Sean Avery, who as Burish noted, was dealt with); i.e. I don’t think you will ever see a Kobe Bryant-type situation in hockey where a player is accused of rape. You will seldom if ever see a hockey player refusing a child an autograph. Things like that.
To me, speaking as a woman, hockey players are the best of what men can be. They remain untouched by the general emasculation of men going on in society right now. That’s a very big part of why I love hockey. And Burish has a point about other sports. For instance, I never thought I’d ever say this, but all the off-field antics of several of the Chicago Bears this season and last season made me not watch a few games. I had a hard time paying attention to the games I did watch (though part of that could be because after finding hockey, football just simply could not compare). It was almost as if the shine was off the apple, and perhaps Burish has touched on why. Hockey may truly be the last sport unscathed by athlete ego and narcissism. Bur is right. Who wants to watch athletes throwing temper tantrums, holding press conferences about their latest soap opera, and showing utter disrespect to the coaches, their teammates, and even the fans sometimes?
You can make all kinds of excuses — athletes are being signed earlier and earlier, some right out of high school; large amounts of money are being thrown at them; they don’t know how to handle instant wealth and instant fame — but like with most things in life, it’s a choice. You can choose to be a decent, upstanding, respectful human, not just athlete, but human, or you can clamor to get your house on MTV Cribs, hold whiny press conferences, and start trouble. While hockey may not have had quite the following of football or basketball in the past, that may be changing, and Burish has almost certainly pinpointed the reason. This sports fan can verify that she is sick of watching high-priced whining athletes and their on and off-field dramas. It’s so bad, you almost can’t watch Sports Center anymore! (The Brett Favre debacle comes to mind.)
…So, in a world where “friends” are categorized by how much you can get from someone before they are discarded; where people don’t help people very much anymore; where greed, bling, and “gettin’ mine” are the order of the day; and where egos run unchecked, hockey is a great comfort. Would that people in general had the kind of ethics and Golden Rule-type mentality that hockey players have. The world would be a better place for it.
August 10th, 2009 at 9:39 am
[...] he has an entire chicken coop on his mug at this point. Last season he bragged on his blog ‘Dropping the Gloves‘ that, There is a code amongst hockey player that you hear in all sports, but it’s at a [...]