better than advertised
I've spent a good deal of time lately covering a pair of sports for which I have not always hidden my distaste: wrestling and hockey.
Now, I want to preface this. I still greatly prefer in the winter season to cover basketball. And I am not ready to call myself a big fan of either other sport. But, as far as high school sports go, there are worse things than having to watch competition on the mats or the ice.
First, I'll talk about wrestling, and while I could never imagine a situation in which I would want to participate in wrestling, I will say that the unique team/individual format leads to exciting moments. Nothing is more intense than seeing two entire teams screaming from the sidelines as two men battle it out with key team points on the line. The Art Powers Duals a few weeks ago were riveting, as Berlin knocked off three very good teams. The clinching matches are among the best spectator events in high school, and there is an excitement that cannot quite be described when the ref slaps his hand on the mat to signal a pin.
Ironically, for an individual sport it is the team aspect that makes wrestling so interesting.
Now, on to hockey, a sport I think is severely flawed. All sports (soccer, field hockey, lacrosse come to mind) in which a team can regularly outperform another and still lose frustrate me. It happens because there is simply so much luck involved in scoring a goal in those sports. A great play may result in nothing and a fluke play might become a goal. While hockey is not quite as guilty of this as the others, it can still be bad.
But what I do like about hockey at this level, at least when the referees keep the whistles in their pockets as much as possible, is the purity of play. There is less banging and bruising and more stick and skate control. With constant action, the sport is exciting to watch from up close, although I still find it hard to write about descriptively. I saw a perfect example of this in a game between Glastonbury and Southington earlier this week. The first penalty was called late in the second period, and up until that point the pace was good and the game exciting.
So keep it up wrestling and hockey. I won't often be complimenting you.
Now, I want to preface this. I still greatly prefer in the winter season to cover basketball. And I am not ready to call myself a big fan of either other sport. But, as far as high school sports go, there are worse things than having to watch competition on the mats or the ice.
First, I'll talk about wrestling, and while I could never imagine a situation in which I would want to participate in wrestling, I will say that the unique team/individual format leads to exciting moments. Nothing is more intense than seeing two entire teams screaming from the sidelines as two men battle it out with key team points on the line. The Art Powers Duals a few weeks ago were riveting, as Berlin knocked off three very good teams. The clinching matches are among the best spectator events in high school, and there is an excitement that cannot quite be described when the ref slaps his hand on the mat to signal a pin.
Ironically, for an individual sport it is the team aspect that makes wrestling so interesting.
Now, on to hockey, a sport I think is severely flawed. All sports (soccer, field hockey, lacrosse come to mind) in which a team can regularly outperform another and still lose frustrate me. It happens because there is simply so much luck involved in scoring a goal in those sports. A great play may result in nothing and a fluke play might become a goal. While hockey is not quite as guilty of this as the others, it can still be bad.
But what I do like about hockey at this level, at least when the referees keep the whistles in their pockets as much as possible, is the purity of play. There is less banging and bruising and more stick and skate control. With constant action, the sport is exciting to watch from up close, although I still find it hard to write about descriptively. I saw a perfect example of this in a game between Glastonbury and Southington earlier this week. The first penalty was called late in the second period, and up until that point the pace was good and the game exciting.
So keep it up wrestling and hockey. I won't often be complimenting you.
posted by Ryan Pipke at
7:19 PM
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