Hockey v. Baseball

[357]

Originally Posted by GreekGodX

I honestly only think the toughness of hockey players can be matched or surpassed by MMA fighters or a similar sport (boxing, wrestling, martial arts etc).

Especially before they had visors, helmets, and the armor they call pads now. My dad used to go to a lot of games as a kid and told me story after story of goalies taking a puck to the face (bare face), dropping to their knees and putting their face in their hands. A pool of blood starts spreading around them. They then leave for about 10 minutes to get stiched up and would play the rest of the game. Still no face protection. Unreal. Those guys were flirting with the edge between tough and crazy.

[icehog3]

Lace 'em up and play the game, then tell me how ya feel.

[The Poet]

Originally Posted by icehog3

Lace 'em up and play the game, then tell me how ya feel.

I know exactly how I'd feel . . . sore and foolish.

[Ahbroody]

Originally Posted by The Poet

I know exactly how I'd feel . . . sore and foolish.

Just for you Tom because its Soupy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMDKX...ube_gdata_play

Maybe unconscious provided you could actually skate with the puck. Not saying you of course, but funny how many people cant even skate but dont respect the game.

[The Poet]

Originally Posted by Ahbroody

Maybe unconscious provided you could actually skate with the puck. Not saying you of course, but funny how many people cant even skate but dont respect the game.

I would never deign denigrate the skill set needed to have success on the ice. Yet it can also be said that too many seem to think they could hit a curveball. I've consistently maintained that baseball is the only game where you can fail 7 times out of 10, and if you can manage to do it long enough you end up in the Hall Of Fame. So what's the diff?

As always, just my , and still worth every penny.

[357]

Originally Posted by The Poet

I would never deign denigrate the skill set needed to have success on the ice. Yet it can also be said that too many seem to think they could hit a curveball. I've consistently maintained that baseball is the only game where you can fail 7 times out of 10, and if you can manage to do it long enough you end up in the Hall Of Fame. So what's the diff?

As always, just my , and still worth every penny.

If we're simply talking skill to succeed, I'd argue golf is the most difficult sport in the world to master. So subtle is the difference in swing between being out of bounds to being in the middle of the fairway. Putting is an art in iself.

The best player to date, Jack Nicklaus, played 154 consecutive majors for which he was eligible, from the 1957 U.S. Open to the 1998 U.S. Open and won 18 of them. That's 11.6% or 0.116.

[shilala]

They don't get any more badass than hockey players.
I watched the game when Mario came back from his first chemo and played that night. He actually skated better that night than he had in a week or two. That poor bastard played through more injury than I could even imagine. You could kill him and he'd be on the ice that night.

Our announcer, Tom Lange, got mugged before a game one afternoon. He got all his teeth kicked in and half his face tore off. He called the game that night. Never missed a minute of work.
That's how badass the boys from the Burgh are.

I gotta give it up for Malarchuk. That's a hockey player right there, friends.

[The Poet]

Well, I've never heard anybody say that they went to a fight and a baseball game broke out.


Come to think of it, there's another parallel between hockey and soccer.

[gpugliese]

Ryan Smyth is missing just like his teeth were in the '06 playoffs.

[Ahbroody]

Again my whole interchange with you has been regarding statements you made which I saw as wrong.
First the drawing flies comments which was disproved. Then the importance of meaningless repetitive games which has more to do with the gap that would be left in the US sports calendar giving Americans nothing to do for months.

Again I love both games and have played both games. As a kid in my teens I still remember when guys started hitting mid 70s and in the end some guys would get near 80 or hit low 80. I remember the fear in the head. I jumped out on a few curves. One kids inparticular was evil and I never hit it and ducked even when I knew it was coming.

I thought I was coordinated and athletic till I started playing hockey. Then I realized I had to not even have to think about skating to play the game at even a decent level. Hockey requires your brain to skate, handle a puck, watch for teamates, and watch for opponents all at the exact same time. You are doing all this in a fluid enviornment where everyone is constantly moving. From a sensory processing level they are not close. Football is closer in physicality and processing. While hitting a cureball or a fastball is hard and psychologically difficult I from personal experience dont think its as difficult. Hitting is coordination, guess, and timing.

I love both games though and so does my son. Funny.

[icehog3]

May 24, 2010

In the wake of Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith's puck-to-the-mouth toothsplosion, Chicago area dentists predict the city's newest sports hero will have a long road ahead before he gets his smile back.

In Sunday night's game, Keith lost seven teeth after being whacked by a flying puck, but returned swiftly to help his team earn a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals.

[jmsremax]

Don't forget Stamkos during the Eastern conference finals. Took a slapshot to the face and returned 5 minutes later to play the rest of the game....badass!

[shilala]

Originally Posted by icehog3

In Sunday night's game, Keith lost seven teeth after being whacked by a flying puck, but returned swiftly to help his team earn a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals.

A mere flesh wound.

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by shilala

A mere flesh wound.

But then they turned him into a newt!



He got better....

[mosesbotbol]

Professional Cyclists are the only guys who can hang with hockey players in toughness and stamina.

[jonumberone]

I think anyone who argues that hockey players aren't tough is just being silly, but I think most in this thread aren't giving players from other sports enough credit.

I believe Aaron Rodgers suffered 3 concussions this year and won the superbowl.
Kirk Gibsons home run in 88
and Curt Shilling with his bloody sock are all pretty gritty performances.

I also feel the hockey fans here have pretty selective memories.
No one mentioned when Manny Legace missed time after tripping on a rug on the ice,
or when Joe Sakic tried to give a hand job to his snowblower.