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At the Intersection of Sports and Culture

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3 Reasons a Hockey Fan Should Watch Game 6 of the NBA Finals

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I had an interesting conversation with a friend on Friday night. We were talking about the NBA and Stanley Cup finals and he was arguing that the fans of these two sports are mutually exclusive. In general, his point as a hockey fan was that they don’t really care about the NBA Finals and vice versa. As an NBA fan, I felt that his argument was incorrect and incredibly shortsighted.  If there were ever a time to care about both, now is that time. Even I can acknowledge the incredible cross continent fight taking place between the Bruins and Canucks.  So to all those hockey fans out there who are unwilling to give the NBA Finals a chance, here are 3 simple reasons why you should care about Game 6 tonight between the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat.

Reason #1: The superstars play the hardest. It’s true. The best players in the game tonight – Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade, and LeBron James, are also the hardest workers.  A lot of non NBA fans are turned off by the perception that all NBA players are self promoting, narcissists who thump their chests after every made layup. And although this may still be the case for some – see Chris Bosh – the majority of NBAers today genuinely care about giving their best effort.

Reason #2: For hockey fans that appreciate a good rivalry, this series has all the essential ingredients . The Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat do not like each other. The James and Wade video mocking Nowitzki’s illness is just the latest in a long line of competitive animosity between these two sides. Wade and Nowitzki have had a rivalry since the Heat beat the Mavs in the ’06 finals and the style of these two teams couldn’t be any more different. The Heat are South Beach glamor personified while the Mavs have come to symbolize veteran savy and work ethic.

Reason #3: LeBron James is the most polarizing figure in professional sports today. Picture the amazing physical skills of Alexander Ovechkin coupled with the disdain for your least favorite politician. This is the complicated formula that besets LeBron as he prepares to take the court in Game 6. Publicly vilified for “The Decision” but universally lauded for his amazing basketball ability, LeBron has been unable to come through in the 4th quarter of this series when it matters the most. All of the pressure rests on his shoulders tonight. Will he help the Heat stave off elimination and send the series to a game 7 or will he head into another offseason in pursuit of his first, elusive NBA Championship?

Stay tuned hockey fans, there is something for everyone in the 2011 NBA Finals.

view from outside the American Airlines Arena courtesy of @aguilaruben

Bruins, Habs Game 7 to Determine Better System of Universal Health Care

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The first 6 months of the NHL calender – aka the regular season – are largely irrelevant. Injuries can change the season, you may end up in the half of the league that makes the playoffs… yes, half. The season is so long that little wrinkles, a win or loss there mean almost nothing. Teams will switch goalies mid-season, and as the Vancouver Canucks proved, maybe even mid-first round playoff series!

Playoff game sevens, however, are entirely different. Playoff hockey in general has an entirely different feel. Players skate faster, shoot harder, hit way harder. It is so exciting to watch for hockey fans and Americans alike. In game seven it is all or nothing, and in a game where one puck bounce will make the difference, players are extra focused and work extra hard. Imagine the USA v. Canada Olympic match every time they take the ice no matter the round.

Which brings me to what will likely be the greatest game 7 this year, between the Bruins and Les Habitants. Take it from me, Bruins fans represent a specific type of Masshole. I’ve only been to a handful of Bruins games, but I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a fight in the stands in every one. You get the impression that Bruins and Habs’ fans don’t care much for each other either. That bad blood radiates from the ice.

Lucic’s hit on Spacek last night certainly shows that there in no love lost between these two member of the Original Six. They are hitting hard this series, and tonight it is both teams’ last chance. It is cliche, but that is what drives excitement in an NHL game 7. The players exhibit tremendous skill and athleticism, but hockey games that are close will often come down to some random puck bounce, or an unpredictable goalie rebound. Watching the game you spend half the night trying to catch your breath.

Whichever side you root for, the new incarnation of the Big Bad Bruins, or the Le Bleu-Blanc-Rouge, tonight will be great to watch, that is if you can take the time to locate VS. on your channel menu.

NHL All Star Draft: Pinstripe Suits and Bad Haircuts for All

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The NHL All Star fantasy player draft was every bit as engaging, entertaining as I hoped it would be. From the cheesy pinstripe suits to the awkward, honest player interviews, the entire affair was a landmark piece of programming for the NHL and hockey players worldwide.  If the league is hoping for a new television contract, this is the type of exposure they should continue to produce.

All credit must go to the players themselves.  The NHL’s best carried themselves with a rarefied aura of humility, uncommon for most professional athletes today.  It’s the same reason why HBO’s “24:7 Road to the Winter Classic” was such a huge success.

In general, professional hockey players are a goofy, good-natured  group of guys who have avoided so much of the pampering that corrupts many of our best and brightest young athletes. There would be too many bruised egos and damaged reputations to pull off this type of fantasy player draft in other professional sports leagues.  I find it hard to believe that NBA/MLB/NFL players would handle themselves with the same generosity of spirit as their counterparts from the NHL.  Take for example Phil Kessel, the Toronto Maple Leafs forward who was the last player selected in the All Star player draft.  He was able to laugh the entire experience off and carried himself with a sense of “oh well, if it had to be somebody it might has well have been me”. After the draft was over, it looked like the entire stage of players were ready to take Kessel out for a drink or two.

Thanks to the NHL for trying something different and for giving us fans a chance to get to know the players. The All Star draft was a great way to market the league and increase its national exposure.  I myself will now be checking in to watch a bit of the skills competition tonight and the the All Star game tomorrow.

view of the NHL All Star draft courtesy of @ESPN_Michelle

Just A Simple Game of Shirts and Skins

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I’m all in on the NHL All Star teams being determined by the two captains, Niklas Lidstrom and Eric Staahl. I think it’s a fantastic idea on multiple fronts. For starters, it’s a fresh, new concept that will help keep the NHL in the headlines after the tremendous momentum gained from HBO Sports’ “24/7: Road to the Winter Classic”. People are talking about hockey again, especially the younger generation of kids who are the present, and future, market for economic growth and expansion.

Next, by allowing captains to pick their teams, the 2011 NHL All Star game has the look and feel of playground basketball. Just about every single North American citizen can relate to the agony and ecstasy that goes along with waiting to be selected for a simple game of “pickup”. The process is both exhilarating and demoralizing. It’s as transparent and democratic an idea as we have in all of sports and competition. Entire athletic careers are determined by the order in which a young kid is selected to a team.

Personally, I will never forget what a validating feeling it was to be one of the first people selected to a team.  At the time, it justified my entire athletic existence. Many of you will probably recall how devastating it was to be one of the last, lonely souls selected. (I choose to block these memories from my consciousness.)

With the decision to have captains pick the All Star teams, the NHL has positioned its players as a group of people we can all relate to. Our empathy will help drive the sport of hockey back into the conversation this Winter.

view of MSG courtesy of @RyanBlair

Igloos Aren’t Just For Eskimos

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At some point, if the NHL wants to increase its popularity it’s going to have to do one of three things:

1)Move all regular season and playoff games outside.  Casual sports fans love outdoor hockey (just check the ratings for the most recent Winter Classic). Hockey purists/players love it because they all learned how to skate on the frozen waterways of Eastern Saskatchewan.

2) Contract and/or relocate 3-4 current franchises.  Phoenix, Tampa Bay, Miami, Nashville should become Winnepeg, Quebec, Hamilton, and Hartford (I live in CT so I would love nothing more than a return of “The Whale”).

3) Partner with HBO for a 24/7 style behind the scenes documentary on the 2011 playoffs.  The “24/7: Road to the Winter Classic” was exceptional television.  It was able to humanize the sport and its players better than any previous interview or retrospective.  I especially liked the scene in the series finale where Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury gave us his best Denis Lemieux impression.

Ultimately, television contracts drive professional sports and unless the NHL can alter its current deal (I heard somewhere that it may be expiring soon anyway) it could be sometime before the sport emerges as the Great Global Game once again.

Share your views.

view of the Consol Energy Center courtesy of @PDPHollie