By now if you follow hockey, you've heard about Matt Cooke's hit on Ryan McDonagh that happened on March 20th (if not, see below). You've probably also heard about the suspension, but if not, let me enlighten you.
Cooke was suspended for the rest of the regular season (10 games) plus the first round of the playoffs, so a potential 17 games. I'll be honest, I was just expecting 10 games for him but the NHL had to make an example out of a head hit since it was a huge topic of conversation at last week's GM meetings. But I also think that the suspension by the league isn't nearly as damaging as the punishment from the Penguins may be. Shero released a comment soon after the NHL's ruling and it makes me feel that something is brewing in the Pens' head office.
"The suspension is warranted because that's exactly the kind of hit we're trying to get out of the game. Head shots have no place in hockey. We've told Matt in no uncertain terms that this kind of action on the ice is unacceptable and cannot happen. Head shots must be dealt with severely, and the Pittsburgh Penguins support the NHL in sending this very strong message." (NHL.com)
The part that sticks out most to me is:
"We've told Matt in no uncertain terms that this kind of action on the ice is unacceptable and cannot happen."
Matt Cooke is known for dirty hits and was hit with a suspension earlier this year because of the same kind of behavior in addition to a dirty hit on Marc Savard last year that went unpunished. Mario Lemieux has come out with statements talking about changes on the ice in relation to hits and getting rid of Cooke makes a statement that he is dead serious about the issue. With over three hits in the past year, I'm thinking "Cookie" can say bye bye to his Pens jersey soon.
I have no doubt that if Cooke gets released, someone else will snatch him up. He is a good player when he plays clean, it's just keeping his game clean that is the hard (if not impossible) part. But I feel that if he doesn't shape up soon, he will be saying bye bye to the NHL and trying to find ice time somewhere else.
Is this a bad thing? At this time I really don't think it is. If he can't play clean, he has no place in hockey, especially if the only thing he focuses on at times is hurting other players instead of going for the puck.
My opinion may be harsh, but I believe that more responsibility needs to be taken for intentional actions, especially those that are obviously aimed to hurt someone. A 17 game suspension is a step in the right direction and if that doesn't get the players' attention I'm not sure what will when it comes to head hits other than kicking repeat offenders out of the league. If we want players to keep playing, intent to harm needs to be addressed no matter who the offender is.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Egypt and Journalists
As a "wannabe journalist" like the title of this blog says, I try to keep myself updated on what is happening in the world. I'll admit that I don't focus on the "real" news as much as I should since my real love is sports, hockey, NASCAR, and horse racing to be specific, but the conflict in Egypt has held my attention for a week now.
After doing some research about the Egyptian government and what the people of Egypt were protesting for, I took a pretty educated stance on what side of the "fight" I wanted to be on. I also took more interest in this than I have other conflicts because Egypt is a pretty big ally to the U.S. and what happens over there will affect our country as well. But over the last few days, another issue has caught my attention when it comes to Egypt, the violence towards journalists.
At first, we heard of a little violence towards journalists, such as the police taking away equipment and arresting journalists but now the violence has heated up and been focused towards those trying to get the news out to the world.
"There was no control. Suddenly a man would come up to you and punch you in the face." Anderson Cooper of CNN reported.
Yet another journalist was escorted to her hotel at gunpoint and the Hilton Hotel in Cairo was raided by pro-Mubarak supporters looking for journalists. Throughout the day, I've seen lists of injured and unaccounted for journalists and their assistants grow longer. I find it incredibly sad and unsettling that the people trying to get news out of Egypt to let the world see what is going on are literally putting their lives on the line to get us this information.
As someone that hopes to get into the journalism ranks in the next few years, this definitely opens my eyes to some of the risks I knew there were in the profession but never really thought about. Does this make me rethink my career choice? No, but it does make me rethink where I want to go when I get out of school. It definitely opens my eyes that there are more than just sports when it comes to journalism choices. Will I reconsider the idea of going to sports and hopefully working on a Kentucky farm or at a racetrack? I honestly cannot answer that question at this time, but it is something that has been floating around my brain over the past few days.
After doing some research about the Egyptian government and what the people of Egypt were protesting for, I took a pretty educated stance on what side of the "fight" I wanted to be on. I also took more interest in this than I have other conflicts because Egypt is a pretty big ally to the U.S. and what happens over there will affect our country as well. But over the last few days, another issue has caught my attention when it comes to Egypt, the violence towards journalists.
At first, we heard of a little violence towards journalists, such as the police taking away equipment and arresting journalists but now the violence has heated up and been focused towards those trying to get the news out to the world.
"There was no control. Suddenly a man would come up to you and punch you in the face." Anderson Cooper of CNN reported.
Yet another journalist was escorted to her hotel at gunpoint and the Hilton Hotel in Cairo was raided by pro-Mubarak supporters looking for journalists. Throughout the day, I've seen lists of injured and unaccounted for journalists and their assistants grow longer. I find it incredibly sad and unsettling that the people trying to get news out of Egypt to let the world see what is going on are literally putting their lives on the line to get us this information.
As someone that hopes to get into the journalism ranks in the next few years, this definitely opens my eyes to some of the risks I knew there were in the profession but never really thought about. Does this make me rethink my career choice? No, but it does make me rethink where I want to go when I get out of school. It definitely opens my eyes that there are more than just sports when it comes to journalism choices. Will I reconsider the idea of going to sports and hopefully working on a Kentucky farm or at a racetrack? I honestly cannot answer that question at this time, but it is something that has been floating around my brain over the past few days.
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