Enough with Dave Hodge and The Hacks

Tim Thomas is still taking his lumps for not visiting the White House the other day.

Here's Billy Courtice trying to keep the non-story alive: While Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas set off a firestorm on Monday for refusing the White House’s invitation to visit, the team was not surprised by his absence...."[Expletive] selfish [expletive],” the source told the Globe.

It took me a while to figure out what [Expletive] selfish [expletive] could mean. Hint: if you end with jerkoff or asshat, you'll have an easier time of it.

Over-the-hill hockey commentator Dave Hodge decided he'd throw in his two cents by Tweeting: Don't know if it's fair to point this out, but Tim Thomas has three children named Kiley, Kelsey and Keegan.

What a simple, old hack. You don't know if it's fair to point out that you think Tim Thomas named his kids after the KKK? Then again, it's been so long since anyone cared what Dave Hodge thought about hockey, that's it's probably good to see him wander off into linguistics and race baiting.

But let's be fair to old Hodge. Here's what he had to say in his own defense, as quoted by the CBC: The tweet — and what some saw as a reference to KKK — drew plenty of social media attention and Hodge subsequently tweeted: "To clarify, yesterday's tweet was simply a satirical, tongue-in-cheek observation meant to be humorous and not intended to be offensive."

C'mon. What else could he have possibly meant?

I was watching Pardon the Interruption last night, where two of sports' mature broadcasters reside. Tony Kornheiser thought Tim Thomas should have gone to the White House, while Mike Wilbon didn't care one way or the other. They both said that goalies are like place kickers: they're off in their own world and they're probably a little weird or crazy. Then Wilbon went on to point out just how many people have skipped going to the White House, such as Manny Ramirez, James Harrison, and Larry Bird - Manny because he probably didn't know there was a President or a White House, and Bird because, as Bird himself said, "If the president wants to see me, he knows where to find me."

I have to figure that this story is big only because Tim Thomas is a hard righty who wears Tea Party stuff on his helmet, and therefore he's an easy target for the lefties that tried to make it in journalism, failed, and somehow wound up at the sports desk.

Letter to Dave Hodge: can you and your buddies get over it and get back to reading final scores? Thanks.

Chris Pronger and The Answer to the Concussion Epidemic

NHL defenseman Chris Pronger is out of the Philadelphia Flyers' lineup for the rest of the season due to concussion symptoms.

I'm not a doctor, but if they're ready to declare the rest of the season a bust, then he must be a wreck.

I've only had what I think were two concussions in my life, both when I was a kid. One hurt like hell and left me dizzy for more than a day. Another left me with a headache for a while, but not much more. I can't imagine what it must be like to stumble through several months with a scrambled head.

The Twitterverse is going bonkers right now, with thousands of tweets discussing a concussion epidemic in the NHL, and what to do about it.

How about: stop playing hockey? And football?

I'm sure any hockey fan or football mom would accuse me of being trite with that answer, but I really don't know what else to say when I see tweets like this:

Expert neurologist Dr. Charles Tator suggests 95% of hockey concussions are preventable. Now let's hear all you hockey doctors make excuses!

That's from a hockey writer named Adam Proteau, who has penned a book called Fighting The Good Fight: Why On-Ice Violence is Killing Hockey.

Here's another tweet from sports agent Adam Walsh: But there is no concussion epidemic in the NHL. RT@BComptonNHL: #Flyers confirm Chris Pronger's season is over. Awful.

If you're not hip to Twitter yet, the "RT" means Walsh was re-tweeting somebody. His own "But there is no...." is tongue in cheek.

I'll give you one more, from Senators reporter James Gordon: Anyone else tired of seeing every good player get a concussion?

I could list dozens of them, but you get the idea.

I wrote many years ago that tens of thousands of concussions are reported in high school football in the United States each year. From little league on up to the pros, guys are getting their heads bashed in all the time. (I also wrote that in 1905, football was almost banned because 18 college students died playing it. In 1908, 33 more were killed. You want to talk epidemics?).

Here's the pertinent part:

What's incredible is that our forebears stood for it, and that college students still wanted to play the game. Helmets, pads, and various rule changes throughout the years have made the game safer, but only safer in the quotation mark sense. Today, about 8 players a year get killed playing football. That's from all levels combined, making it small potatoes compared to the old days, though a staggering number of injuries flood the locker rooms each weekend.

Concussions, for one. 40 000 of them are reported annually among high school players alone, and those are only the kids that get treated. Concussions are such a certainty that NFL teams have a chart for each player. If a player gets nailed in the head, they know what questions to ask that particular man in order to find out if he's still got all his marbles. And even if he does, that's not to say that he'll have them later on. Former players report nausea and forgetfulness well after they retire, a chronic symptom of having your head kicked in. It will be with them for the rest of their lives.

What now strikes me as strange about that football piece is that I never heard anyone talking about a "concussion epidemic" back in 2006. Indeed, the paragraph I wrote about concussions was just that: a paragraph. More or less a footnote. I took it for granted that people get concussions while playing contact sports. It came with the territory.

It still does, but the epidemic label is very recent. I am not convinced that more men are getting concussions, only that it seems like more men are getting concussions. I can't prove that. Yet. But I suspect that a) we see it more because we're looking for it. b) a rash of concussions have affected star players, with the bigger pay cheques bringing a greater focus. c) concussions make good copy right now, and sports reporters talk about it endlessly. d) teams are now ordered to look for a concussion and keep a man off the field/ice if they remotely suspect that he has one.

That last one is critical. A 'dinger' that you shook off ten years ago is now a 'concussion' that gets you pulled from the game. When's the last time you heard the words "mild concussion?" You don't hear them anymore, because our whole perception of concussions has changed.

I'm not arguing that the new perception is a bad thing. Concussions are an awful injury. But when I hear people talk about the brutal nature of the game in such broken hearted tones, I am reminded of the scene from Cinderalla Man where Braddock says, "What are you going to tell me? That boxing's dangerous?"

In the scene, several people are showing Braddock a film clip of his opponent, and telling him that there's a good chance he's going to get killed in the ring. His attitude is, "When did this become news?"

When I read the sports pages, I'm sometimes left to wonder if someone is taking a gun, putting it to a player's head, walking him out to center ice, and ordering him to stand still while someone else smacks him in the temple with a sledgehammer. The concussion stories read like reports of innocent people getting hit by lightning.

Nothing could be further from the truth. These men are going onto the ice to do one of two things: score points, or hit someone. When they are hoist on their own petard, the least surprised person in the arena should be that player (and make no mistake, if you Google Chris Pronger now, you'll find a lot of heartfelt stories about concussions; Google him a month ago, not so much; a bunch of suspensions and being booted out of playoffs games kind of ruins the tragedy narrative, so you can read up on your own time).

So yes, concussions are bad for a player's health, and seemingly everyone in North America wants to make sure that no one suffers another concussion ever again. But what to do?

Simple. If you want to play professional football and hockey, but do not want to receive a concussion, then you cannot play professional football and hockey. If you want to make hockey and football safe from concussions, then you must completely remove hitting from the games, or ban the games outright.

There. Problem solved. Until you do either of those things, there will be concussions in the game. You might as well get used to it or turn off the TV.

The men that play these games know the risks. They just do it anyway. That is why they are the toast of the town, have massive bank accounts, and get to meet pretty girls. Physical danger is the price of doing business.

If the NFL was flag football, nobody would give a damn about it.

Pronger Photo: Andre Ringuette/Getty Images

The Bus Arrives: Bruce Boudreau

Black Monday was pretty dark for a couple of NHL coaches. Bruce Boudreau got tossed under the bus in Washington DC, and Paul Maurice got his pink slip from the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Boudreau dismissal is getting more press, and the talking heads are saying things like, "Ovechkin had his best season under Boudreau, but..."

The Washington GM said, “[Boudreau] pushed every button he could push. … You make the change and hope that a new voice and a new way of doing things and a new focus gets the best out of these players.”

That's a laugher. Just a couple of years ago, Ovechkin inked a 13-year, $124 million contract extension. His teammates Semin and Backstrom currently make $6.7 million/year each, and Mike Green pulls in $5.25 million. If that kind of money doesn't get the best out of somebody, nothing should. General Managers must want to send desks through windows when they discover that a player isn't "motivated" by Fort Knox.

Best for the Capitals means the Stanley Cup. The Capitals have won their division for the past four years, but always got booted out of the playoffs early. Nothing short of a Cup will be enough for the management and fans.

It's axiomatic that if you own an expensive player, then they own you. You aren't going to fire somebody worth $5 million to send a message to the team, and everybody knows it. And so: bus meets coach.

Thank you...Sir?

I was watching the highlights of the Memorial Cup's opening game and saw an interview with the kid that scored the OT game-winner. His name's Maxime Frenette, a fresh faced kid who probably couldn't grow a decent beard if he tried (and he's trying). Here's TSN's take:

The 18-year-old from Boisbriand, Que. was only in the lineup because star forward Chris DiDomenico was injured, but he backhanded in the game-winner 8:56 into overtime to lift the Voltigeurs to a 3-2 victory over the Windsor Spitfires on Saturday at the MasterCard Memorial Cup.

At the end of the TV interview, the interviewer wished Frenette luck the rest of the way. Frenette replied with a sincere, "Thank you, sir."

Refreshing. Cool to see. A couple of years of pro hockey and a free agent contract will knock that kind of talk out of him in no time, but for now we can enjoy it.

Wings Win Round 1

One stunning fact occurred to me last night: if the Wings won game four, they'd be the first Stanley Cup champ in seven years to win the next year's first round series. I hit the internet and found out that Colorado was the last champ to do it since 2002. Weird.

The Wings looked like a veteran team last night, though a sloppy one. Maybe a 3-0 series lead had put some complacency in their skates.

They had a 3-1 lead...and blew it. They had a 5-3 lead...and blew it. They won the game anyway, 6-5. Ironically, it takes a good team to blow two two-goal leads yet keep their wits about them and pull out a win.

Columbus fans were angered by a late penalty call for too many men on the ice, but the refs had to make the call (and I am no fan of refs): when the one-too-many-man is the first one to touch the puck when he comes off the bench, then he forces the ref's arm to go up.

I've always believed that teams need a loss once in a while, just to teach them a lesson. While the Wings didn't lose last night, it was good that Columbus gave them a dogfight and reminded them that playoff hockey isn't supposed to be easy.

Photo: Getty

Looks Like Trouble

I've spent the last two months blogging about the US election. It's a good thing I held off until September, or I'd be totally burned out by now. Still, pondering the ups and down of this election cycle is nothing compared to the worrisome news that I got last night.

The Red Wings have turnover trouble. A lot of it. I haven't seen the Wings give away the puck this much in years, if ever. Last week I watched a game and thought, "Ah, they're just rusty." Then I watched Wednesday's game against Anaheim. The Wings lost 5-4 in overtime, and a lot of it had to do with turnovers and penalties (they gave the Ducks two 5 on 3 power plays; that is not how you win hockey games). Last night I watched the San Jose game, and it was more of the same. The Wings managed to stay out of the penalty box, but again they turned the puck over like a hot potato. One turnover in their own end was so outrageously bad that I wondered if it was an intentional pass.

It was the second game of a back-to-back, so I can cut them some slack if they had slow legs, but open ice turnovers are mental errors, not physical. When you add the fact that every team gears up to take on the Stanley Cup champs, turnovers are deadly.

There's no need to panic. The Wings are still first in their division, and they've won 7 of their first 11 games. The last two losses, however, are a bigtime wake up call. Anaheim and San Jose are good teams. They're hungry. Both teams believe they should have been in the Cup final last year, instead of the Wings. They are the Red Wings' biggest contenders for the Western Conference this year, and they have just sent the Wings a message: you need to play your best hockey to beat us.

What's troubling about the turnover trouble is that it's a discipline issue infecting the whole team. The Wings have always been a team with extraordinarily crisp passing, but lately it seems like none of them wants the puck as much as the other guy. Coach Mike Babcock is going to have to kick some ass in practice and tell these "champs" to get on their game before this becomes a habit. If not, the Wings will have a winning season and get booted out the second they face San Jose or Anaheim in the playoffs.

Hockey Takes Over

I started watching hockey a little too early.

This happens a lot. Just as the World Series gets going, I start watching the Wings play hockey. Then it becomes an eternal battle of the "last" button: hockey - click - baseball - click - hockey hockey hockey - click - bas - click!

The World Series has to be pretty compelling for me to switch back and stick with it for two innings in a row while the hockey game's on. This year is no exception, and I'm having a harder time staying with the Series than I thought I would. Tonight I'll bet that I only watched one solid inning from top to bottom. The rest was a fit inducing carnival of channel surfing.

I thought I'd be more into the World Series this year because it is the first time the Rays have a shot at winning the title. Not so. It would have been a far better story line if the Red Sox and Dodgers had won, so we could see Manny getting booed like crazy in Fenway. Still, it was nice seeing the Red Sox lose and not even make it.

I'll keep rooting for the Rays, but I'm back in Wing Land and that's how it's going to stay.

Anyway, Philly won tonight. They're up 2-1 in the series.

Photo: Yahoo Sports

Sean Avery - Moron

Here's a clip of Sean Avery from last night.



A 5 on 3 powerplay. Rangers have the puck, up 2-1. Avery goes to the net and proceeds to wave his arms and stick in front of Brodeur's face, in a 6-year-old's street hockey move. He does it for about a minute.

He wasn't the only jerkoff in the building. You already know how I feel about sportscasters, but the guy in the booth proved what a loser he is by declaring Avery's antics, "Great stuff." He said, "Avery's tactics are like nothing I've ever seen before."

Newsflash, idiot. The reason you haven't seen it before is because no self-respecting professional hockey player would act like that in order to try and get a goal.

I was listening to the radio today, where the usual crap came out. The DJ deplored Avery's methods, but said he'd love to have him on his team. The producer of the show agreed instantly. To their shame, Kelly Hrudey told them during a later interview that he wouldn't take Avery, and that, "If people want that guy on their team, they can have him."

The NHL came out with the following rule this morning:

"An unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty (Rule 75) will be interpreted and applied, effective immediately, to a situation when an offensive player positions himself facing the opposition goaltender and engages in actions such as waving his arms or stick in front of the goaltender's face, for the purpose of improperly interfering with and/or distracting the goaltender as opposed to positioning himself to try to make a play."

How embarrassing is it to have to add a rule like that? With any luck, Avery gets a stick in the teeth and his ass booted right out of the playoffs. Go Devils.