hockey and hockey player
...l, winning. Although I was never really a hockey fanatic, I followed the sport throughout the years, even learned how to ice skate. One thing that I realized when observing the game, hockey is a very skilled sport and takes lots of practice and effort. Watching the game from an audience point of view, it is very different when one is actually out in the rink. Takes concentration and mainly teamwork, one man cannot carry the whole team. Everyone needs to work together to slide the puck around to make a goal. Hockey is a low scoring sport where the final score is almost never over single digit. The face expressions of the players in the rink were determined and dedicated to winning, no smile whatsoever. It was an all out war all competing for the win. Hockey is a huge money-making sport just like any other sports. Whenever there is money involved, it is automatic that entrepreneurs and big time corporations will try to jump on the bandwagon. Upon observing the game, I noticed there were advertisements on the rink ranging from Jillian’s recreation center to even debt consolidation companies on the corresponding side of the audience bleachers. Also the rink was covered with posters and flyers promoting the Atlanta Thrashers. It is a way for the companies and the promoters to advertise their products and services to capture the eyes of the audience in hope to better enhance their business. As I was sitting in the crowd watching the game, strange observations started to take its toll. Why are there only Caucasian players in the rink? Along with that thought arising to my mind, I took a look around me and also noticed that everyone surrounding me were also Caucasian. Is this a coincidence or just the matter of how the structure of hockey is constructed to gear towards the white people? As I thought back to watching one of the NHL games on the television, I could not think of one African-American player!!! To my knowledge, I have concluded that reason for it was because it has to do with the history of the game and the stereotype of a “hunky” hockey player. Also I believe that since there are no African-American superstar hockey player, young black kids are not inspired to pick up the sport at an early age. Perfect example would be Michael Jordan: He revolutionized basketball in so many different ways. M.J. was undoubtedly the most talented basketball player alive. He was an idol, icon to the black youth. Comparably, Wayne Gretzky was the most talented hockey player alive, and he happened to be white, thus Caucasian youth followed. If there has been a great black hockey player, would the outcome be different? I would think so. Crowd cheered on their favorable team as they scored another point and the sound was loud at the same time barbaric. I looked around once again and observed that there were no women in the audience, except for my companion that I had brought along with me. Hockey has been considered men’s sport; there is no women’s hockey league or anything of the sort. Everything about hockey is very masculine ranging from violence to even the name of the teams. Thrashers, Lightenings, and Sharks symbolizes strong, barbaric persona that a “typical” women will not take interest in. Also during the game, I saw that the smaller sized players had a lower number on their jerseys and the bigger players had the higher number. It was very odd but soon realized that it is implemented into our culture that smaller the faster and sneakier, bigger the tougher and stronger. And indeed the players played up to their number showing their excellent display of teamwork. During the game, I looked up to some noise and movements upstairs and what I discovered was a bar upstairs. It seems that in every American sport, alcohol is a universal mascot. Inside the bar, the people seemed a little more energetic and active than the audience surrounding the arena. Each person had a bottle or cup of alcohol and they each had a smile on their faces as they chatted among each other watching the game. The environment was relaxed and comfortable. When a favored team scored, some of them cheered while others rose up to throw a fist in the air. The audience in the bar was watching the game in one of the three television screens that decorated the room. Among the audiences surrounding the arena, there were also cups and bottles of alcohol being consumed. These people seemed a little more louder and deeply consumed in the games. Without alcohol, hockey or any sport would not be so fun and exciting. In hockey, violence always has a way of springing up. It creeps slowly up a player’s body and begins to bother a person until finally he explodes; these nuisances are what players do to each other by tripping, shoving, and glaring at each other. I witnessed this example of violence when a player from the white side tripped a player from the blue side. Usually, when a player falls or trips they are so determined to win the game, they get right back up. It does not matter how painful or annoying or embarrassing a fall was, the one thought of making a goal drives them on. But sometimes when a player continually picks on another, the victim gives in to the rage that was building up inside them and explodes back with a vengeance. Although that did not happen this game, there were instances where some players were playing “dirty” by talking trash to other players and shoving the other player into the wall. In hockey, however, violence is somewhat allowed. It is part of the sport that has transcended throughout the history of the sport. But when the violence gets out of hand, the referee can throw a player in the penalty box for a certain amount of time before he can return to the game. There are always rules to the game, and one has to follow it or pay for it. As I look around the crowds I noticed there are lots of friends and families meeting up and coming together to enjoy the game. Although the audiences of hockey involve consumption of alcohol and violence, adults still believe that a hockey game is a family event. Throughout the crowd, I notice kids sitting around as their mothers keep their eye on them as well as watching the game. Hockey is a game that will keep the kids from lingering away because it captures their attention with commotion and action. This benefits the moms who do not have to focus all their attention on the kids. One family symbolized the reason hockey is a true family event. The dad sat back and drank a beer while enjoying a good game. The mother relaxed as well knowing their kids are right beside them focused on the same thing as them. And the kids rarely took their eye off the game in fear of missing an...