wdg3rd Wrote:Can't stand football, soccer, baseball, basketball, hockey or any other "team" sports. The main sports I like to watch are fencing and women's gymnastics. While there are fencing and gymnastics "teams", everything happens due to individual effort, talent and skill, not "teamwork".
I could possibly tolerate baseball played by the North American Confederacy rules, as described by L. Neil Smith in The American Zone (Chapter 16). And football might be fun if they took all that armor away from the players and issued one team baseball bats and the other hockey sticks. (For some reason I don't understand, a lot of kids want to grow up to play professional football -- my changes to the game would provide a lot more job openings).
I assume you are in favour of fighting in Hockey, then?
So the goalie in ice hockey requires no individual effort, talent or skill? You have obviously never seen Patrick Roy or Martin Brodeur play net (or Henrik Lundquist, or Nik Backstrom, or Roberto Luongo, or...). the three qualities you list are the quintessential skill-set for a hockey goalie; the player that stands alone against one or more opponents during shootouts, breakaways, power plays, etc.
Hockey teams without good goailes never get anywhere, and there is only one of them at each end of the playing surface, not unlike fencing...they both wear full-face masks.
There is no other sport like hockey, except maybe Lacrosse (no I don't count soccer as a sport).
If you live in NJ, take in a Devil's game some time. As much as I hate that team, Brodeur is poetry to watch.
-Wapitikev, proud Canadian