The Fight is Over for Bob Probert
Hockey is a beautiful game. Like soccer, if you give it a chance, and if you are up close to the action, it is truly thrilling and breathtaking.
I learned early in my journalism career that the NHL is filled with some of the smartest and most thoughtful athletes in the world. Most have completed college prior to their athletic career, so they have a more healthy relationship with success and fame. One part of hockey always escaped me -- the fighting. I found it deeply troubling to watch two people punching each other in the face repeatedly, blood splattering on the ice and teeth clanking off the glass, while thousands of fans stood on their feet and hooted with delight. But sportswriters far more knowledgeable and experienced than I argued its merit, so I kept my mouth shut. The last thing I wanted was to seem naive about this aspect of a game I never actually played.
Today comes news that one half of the Detroit Red Wings' famous Bruise Brothers, Bob Probert, has died at age 45. This is my favorite line from Joe Lapointe, a journalist I have respected for years, writing today:
One of the Big Myths in sports spread by the media is that "hockey goons are really the nicest guys in sports.'' A few may indeed be friendly, but the role often attracts large, violent young men from disturbed homes who channel their aggression into a sub-genre of a sport for personal profit and public amusement. When they are used up, like all athletes, they are cast aside.
RIP.
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May '10
Re: The Fight is Over for Bob Probert
Ursula -- I don't know what to make of this. I did not grow up knowing hockey players but have met many on Wall Street where they often become traders. The overlap suggests they are blessed with more than their fair share of testosterone, but I've witnessed no brawls in the workplace, and the ex-Hockey stars I've known are -- cliches notwithstanding -- actually pretty sweet guys.
Competitive sports is always at risk of turning violent I think. It is the culture of the game that prevents it from becoming that way. My children play baseball and lacrosse and yes, soccer -- but in every game learn really important social skills about exercising restraint, showing respect, grace under pressure, and channeling disappointment. In other words, the culture of the game helps them resist the temptation to violence, not the other way around.
I don't know why hockey is different or why events like Probert's untimely death shouldn't serve as a wake-up call to parents and/or the sports' governing bodies. But I'm loath to accept the explanation that the sport is merely a haven for mentally-unbalanced and poorly-parented "goons."
May '10
Re: The Fight is Over for Bob Probert
As a Canadian and a hockey fan, I was saddened to hear this news yesterday. But I don't think there's any greater lesson to be learned. Probert seems to have been a volatile personality with a good side and a bad side. He was always a gentleman with interviews, etc. but throughout his playing career was arrested numerous times for infractions involving alcohol abuse and cocaine. He was just another guy with demons, and if his death had anything to do with those demons, then it's a damned shame he couldn't conquer them.
May '10
Re: The Fight is Over for Bob Probert
RIP Bob Probert. He was a great hockey player and a good family man. He was the best enforcer I've ever seen play.
May '10
Re: The Fight is Over for Bob Probert
It should be noted that there is a seemingly large percentage of premature demise, particularly among the very large men who play on the lines in football. A lot of the bulking up done to match the positions is not conducive to longevity (e.g., Reggie White, or, recently, Norman Hand), but it is also true that smaller people in all walks of life tend to be healthier than very large people. And the dementia prognoses for those who are involved in constant collisions is particularly grim.
Note that this bit about size is also true for dogs.... a Shi Tzu usually lives longer than a Golden Retriever.
Re: The Fight is Over for Bob Probert
I've never managed to explain my fascination with the more blood-soaked martial arts to anyone who doesn't get the appeal instinctively. I spend a lot of time with large, violent young men from disturbed homes who channel their aggression into a sub-genre of a sport for personal profit and public amusement. Most people can't figure out why I'd do this.
My friend Mark Law wrote an excellent book about judo called The Pyjama Game. I think he explained it as best as it can be explained. "If there is some chemical compound," Mark writes, "called aggression sluicing around our systems, and it is A Bad Thing, then surely we need to have some way of disposing of this hazard before it starts burning holes in the fabric of society? In fact we have a number of methods; one of them is called sport."
Really, the only part of hockey that doesn't escape me is the fighting. The whole thing with the ice, though, and the puck--well, that's just making things unnecessarily complicated.
Re: The Fight is Over for Bob Probert
Yes, well that's just it, I suppose. The things don't seem to *fit* together. A chess match of positioning followed by a graceful, perfectly placed slap shot, followed by a ... quick boxing match? What if in the middle of an Ultimate Fighting competition, the folks had to do a tap dance or something? Doesn't make sense. By all means, channel aggression into sport. For me, in hockey, the fighting just seems to be a bizarre interlude. The "good" players go off the ice. The goons come on, and fists fly. The officials stand there, shifting in their skates until ... something. Someone or both someones go to the penalty box. I miss the meaning of it. But, of course, millions of hockey fans believe it is the lifeblood of the sport. Beats me (no pun intended).
May '10
Re: The Fight is Over for Bob Probert
Isn't the chemical compound actually called "testosterone"?