The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 27, 1998, Page Page 21, Image 21
Monday, April 27,1998
Folks atl
FOLKS continued from page 19 ^
can
on how effectively the league markets froi
itself over the course of the playoffs. froi
ho\
Is it something in the Rules? tial
Others believe the problem has to thh
do with hockey's "complex" rules. anc
Not too long ago, USC radio announcer
Charlie McAlexander me
stopped by the office. I took the op- kee
portunity to ask him, a most es- sid<
teemed source indeed, what he bes
thought of the sport. phj
"I like it alright," he said. "I just bea
don't have a very thorough grasp of boa
the rules. I remember one time some- pUC
one tried to explain to me what 'offside'
meant and it literally seemed to tea
take him all day." ___
"It's simple," I told him. "The fen,
puck has to be the first thing across i ]
the blue line." -,j
"That's it?" replied a puzzled
fWlip Map 6H|
That's it. Yet rules like "offsidp" ?ur
and "icing" continue to confound
many Southern audiences, as periods [es
of skating, skating, and more skating ~?l
are followed (with no apparent rhyme .
or reason) bv periods of... well, not P
skating. corI
"We had a great time at the Hur- "gl
ricanes game," said one of radio host "^ac
Kevin Cohen's guest callers last Fri- Elli
day .."But we didn't know what was
going on most of the time and there rul(
was nobody in the crowd to help us." tha
I promise, once you understand NH
two simple rules, you've got it. ally
Much like soccer, 'offside' in hock- fror
ey is a rule designed to help keep cros
?
j
NAM YOU C/
It's the end of
address isn't go'
house.) But as )
The answer is qu
to Brussels to Ba
address is total"
4 * r
empts t
ags fair for the defense. Players
i't "cherry-pick," or hang out in
it of the net just waiting for a pass
n the other end of the ice. "Icing,"
vever, is a bit more tricky, kssenIy,
it's the rule that tries to keep
ags fair for the offense. Let me try
1 explain.
You see, in hockey the only
thod of scoring consistently is to
p the puck in the attack zone (ins
the opponents' blue line). The
t way to do that is through plain
rsical strength, by banging and
ting your opponents along the
rds so that you keep control of the
:k.
Well, that's tiring. And when one '
m is consistently getting banged
[ beaten way back in their own desive
end, they tend to get someat
desperate. Sometimes, a player
[ just shoot the puck down the
*th of the ice to take some prese
off of his goalie and give his
mmates a rest. Well they get their
t, but as long as the offense
iches up" first at the other end of J
ice, the referee will stop play, (
c up the puck, (usually a good
lmercial opportunity), and bring it
it back to the offensive end for a
:e-ofT (at least as soon as Chris
ot's newTostitos ad is over). ,
Anvwav. once vou learn those two
;s, and just accept the premise
t most of the other maxims in the j
L's labyrinthine rule book are re- ,
only there to keep these guys j
n killing each other (i.e. hooking,
>s-checking, boarding, interfer- i
t 4
\N GET YOUR EMA]
the year. Summer is here
ing to do you a lot of goo<
'ou surrender to your wan
ite simple: Hotmail. Hotm
iton Rouge. You can check \
ly free for 1i fe. That's a
Sports
The Gamecock
o explain
ence, tripping, and my personal fa- Grant Fuhi
vorite, slashing), then you've got it. scribed on 1
goalkeeper
Is it a Racial Issue? 1980's, bea
"Absolutely not." contends NHL African-Air
Vice-President Brian Burke, but this helping rev
is a very sticky subject this season in goalkeeper
particular. The most publicized inci- his unorthc
dent occurred on Nov. 8 when Wash- Unlike i
ington Capitals' forward Chris Si- 1970's-80's
mon, a Native American, directed a same move
racial slur toward Edmonton Oilers' p?hr never
forward Mike Grier, who is black, same patte;
which instigated a postgame melee than once. ]
that marred the Caps' 2-1 victory. dictable am
Burke's office quickly condemned the fundament
remark and handed Simon a one- cally-sound
game suspension. (combined i
Wrc all of different national!- stkkhandli
ties, said Edmonton captain Kelly f,, p .
Buchberger. "You don't just fire , , whj
words like that around. It shows no ' ,
class." mamsapla
Indeed, the NHL has players
from all over the globe, though the ,
majority still come from Canada, the S1 ? 1
United States, and northern Euro- ou ?
pean nations like Finland, Sweden, thing ,u
Czechoslovakia, and the former Sovi- 1 can r'
et Union. But the NHL is not without father and
its legitimate African-American su- a ^mmay a
perstars. The aforementioned Grier ?oocb hn?c^
and Boston forward Anson Carter, brawl withe
for example, are both immensely-tal- some form (
ented wingmen playing big-time min- "senseless"
utes with top lines on playoff teams. "It's par
Both have rifle slapshots, crisp pass- would say.
ing skills, and devastating hitting "Well it
ability. Both can simply play the familiar rep
rame. Well fig]
But black athletes aren't just a In fact, a fa
aew novelty in the NHL, either. probably sa
; - . ? '% m I
B i *
m i
. ? I
L | w? mum
^ X ^ 'l
JM|'?
N^p^ppPl^r *
f
", :i
> .-fe. - - .?.?.,.... >
jh?. .JHHHMm^' iiiiiiiiii
L. NO MATTER WHERE Y(
and soon you'll be off to isolated
j. Like a white sand beach beside a <
derlust, there is one question: he
ail is free portable email you can
lotmail from any computer with Web a
lot of adventures. So start packinc
To sign up for your free Hotmai
_i
) .
profession
who had his name in- 'em in the rink if you can
'our Stanley Cups playing in the alley."
with Edmonton in the See, without the two
ime the first big-name slugfests that erupt duri
lerican in pro hockey, hockey game, countless s
olutionize the wav the and skill players from ev
position was played with wduld be defenseless aga
>dox style and quick glove. ?f flagrant, cheap shots a
so many goalies of the sidious attempts to inten
era who relied on the jure them. Having one 01
s to make their saves, ers (?r enforcers, as they1
seemed to stick to the commonly referred to) or
rn of shot-blocking more insures that the various
He was just as unpre- uq? over the course of a g
i innovative ais he was tween two teams are sett
ally proficient and techni- fight.
His quick reflexes in net Monitored closely by
vith amazingly-agile (wb? always seem to bre<
ng ability) made him one n^ht whfthe* Set fod
dangerous goalies of the n? m?re dan^erous ^
ich is probably why he re- f6 ' , ma7 Seer^.u^ 0
.j ,, but the only viable altera
yon goahe today with the , , , . , ,
lues at the aee of 35 be a leagUe m which Sup(
iUco dl tile dec UI Od. tit n , i t
& Wayne Gretzky, Jaromir
, . _ Kariya, Steve Yzerman o
? T, ?' spent more time on hospi
m l ve got to say some than on the ke where
s". . , . Hockey clearly has so
emember the last time my left to overcome tefore it
[ were able to sit down on ^ ]ishes itself in the Southt
fternoon and watch a side such staple sports fa
.down-dragout hockey ball, men's basketball, ar
>ut my mother offering The "barriers to entry" di
if offended protest at the here are substantial and
display of violence. ly be difficult to overcom<
t of the game," my dad disturbingly they could ri
the tip of the iceberg. Bui
_1 ? J_l_ _ * i . .
snouian i De, came tne does have an addictive p(
>ly. know. It hooked me. I've
titing is part of the game. hook others,
mous old hockey saying I cite three rather ine
ys it best; "You can't beat necks I sat with at Ichab<
Hotmail.
from Microsoft
*
?*????*
)U END UP THIS SUMMER
places where your University email
distant azure bay. (Or your parents'
>w are you going to keep in touch?
take with you anywhere - from Baja
ccess. And best of all, your Hotmail
h
i. visit: www, hotmai 1. com
-v
Page 21
ml hockey
i't beat 'em during last Thursday night's KingsBlues
game. Initially uninterested,
or three before long they were chanting wildly
ag a typical for the players to "Get the ball! Get
iuperstars the ball!" (Puck, fellas. It's called a
ery team puck). But by game's end they really
^ sor^s seemed to be getting the hang of it.
ind other in- Qne them even fended most delii_on
y m~ cately through the glossed-over beer
two brrns- , . , , ,, ,
haze to remember a remarkably obi
, , scure piece of commentary I'd offered
l eacn uencn . . . ,. ?? .
"issues" aris- m a *ew moments earher. Gosh
ame be- darnit," he said to me after a rather
led in a fair g?al by the Blues' Brett Hull, "I
see whutcha mean. That guy is pirty
the officials tricky with the biscuit. He'll be liftin' ik
things up * that mug in no time."
), it's really It shouldn't be too much longer
the game it- before more Southern fans start to
some fans, appreciate ice hockey and the Stantative
would ley Cup Playoffs, too. The world's
Brstars like greatest sporting event can't stay so
Jagr, Paul hidden for too much longer,
r Brett Hull
:tal beds 77ie author wishes to thank the
y belong. National Hockey League, the Edmonme
hurdles ton Qners Hockey Club, The Washfully
estab- mgtQn Post> ,and Dr w Randoiph
as a an? Folks, Jr. for contributing to this col,j
umn. Also, thanks to the staff of The
scussed Gamecock (especially BJ and Nate)
will certain- for their suPPort throughout the year
b and more an<^ Kerry Tharp, Brian Binette,
epresent just Michelle Schmitt, Tommy Amico, Jat
hockey mi Dock, Ryan Johnson, John Butts,
>wer. I and Tom Price of the University of
watched it South Carolina Sports Information
Department for their support and enbriated
red- couragement. Until fall, it's time for
)d's Oasis me to ride off into the sunset of life.
TURNIPSEED
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