Dollar value

Too foolish to talk about -

I like hockey. It is a fine blood sport. Now I know, on times it does look foolish. A pack of men chasing a little back rubber disk over the ice. When one captures the disk, it looks like a couple of other men are trying to murder him. And all those men have their favourite weapon called a hockey stick. It is used for slashing, spearing, high-sticking, and tripping.

With all the body armour they are wearing, the league should be thankful the players don't get killed, they just get hurt. But they get hurt badly. No wonder they get paid big money. Whenever they step on the ice, their lives are on the line.

I remember the days of Johnny Bower. He had enough guts to fill up the stadium. Not only that, he had more nerve than a toothache. One day, he tried to stop the puck with his mouth. It worked, but he lost some teeth and had to go for stitches. After he got stitched up, he was back in the net. Someone asked him if it hurt. Bower said, "Only when I smile"

Our Armed Forces are underpaid and hockey players are overpaid. Yes, I know their lives are on the line, but our Armed Forces' lives are on the line too. A hockey player has to chase after a rubber disk and have body contact with the opposite player with a wooden weapon. Now let us look at what a soldier has to do.

Our soldiers have to avoid booby traps on the highway. They have to keep a close eye on a vehicle - it could be full of explosives. A woman in a family way could be carrying explosive inside their clothes instead of an unborn baby. Then there are terrorists with guns ready to take a human's life. Now, are our soldiers worth a million dollars a year?

Of course, the hockey players can be tougher. And they can also fight dirty. Gordie Howe, who used to play, had elbows that were classified as deadly weapons, and he still had his stick. He could use that for spearing, faster than a Beothuck Indian after a caribou.

Now if the army had any sense, they would have started a breeding program with Gordie Howe. With an army of Howes, they'd win any battle.

But can our soldiers march back out into battle after getting wounded? A hockey player can. Bobby Baun, who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs did. He broke his ankle out on the ice, went to the dressing room and got it bandaged and frozen. Then he went back out and score the winning goal with give them the Cup.

I have seen players go completely foolish when another player gets the rubber disk. If he was getting a breakaway, it was small stuff to use the stick and slash him across the ankles. Hmm, maybe the people of St. John's should consider arming their selves with hockey sticks. A couple of weeks ago, an elderly gentleman got robbed and beaten with a baseball bat. Now if that gentleman had a hockey stick, he could've knocked them to kingdom come - whatever or wherever the kingdom come is.

There is never a boring minute when watching a hockey game. I have seen one player pounding another up against the net. I think he was trying to knock some sense into him. Now maybe this is something our law enforcement should do. Instead of carting young offenders off to jail, pound them up against the wall or bounce their head of the ground. That would knock some sense into them.

Hmmm, I had my head bounced off a school desk a few times. It didn't knock any sense in my head, but it knocked a lot out.

It seems to me that Cup is a very important thing. Like a lot of young people around here, the players are crazy for a drink. It a very bad thing for the news to say that the players are having a drink from the Stanley Cup. It will encourage our young people to fill their mugs with booze instead of good coffee or tea.

But the hockey players are not the only ones who go foolish. Look at the hockey fans in Montreal. On St. Catherine's Street, they went wild. If hockey can make people go foolish, ban it and play at something safe.

Like coping over the ice pans.