Why do people care about Superbowl?

[Cort Haus]

Don't act like a ****ing ******.

The fact is that this concept that different sports require strength in different areas is a half-truth. There is significant overlap between sports because the human body is only capable of certain activities and strength in one activity has carryover into others. Think about how many sports involve running, jumping, and changing direction.

I'm the ******?

Running, jumping and direction change might be shared attributes, but the context means everything. Furthermore, specific techniques for the individual sport, as well as development of the physical strengths in context are what's important. American football, association football, tennis, cricket, basketball and high-jump all require jumping, but in very different contexts. Each of these sports requires different physical priorities. It's also worth mentioning that how high you jump is almost irrelevant if you can't time it properly - or do whatever it is you're supposed to do once you have jumped.

[Asher]

We'd play most sports for a couple months a year but hockey was always the main winter sport.

Many hockey players would play lacrosse in the off season.

Yep. Lacrosse and soccer. Both share a lot of similarities with the fitness required for hockey.

And for every football player like Dexter, there seems to be a lot of these:

[Supr49er]

Alby, the reason I asked if you have ever played hockey is because if you have not, you won't appreciate just how athletic it is.
If you have, and also played football, I will accept your opinion that football players are more athletic.

[Asher]

I would pay $1000 for someone to put Alby through a full bag skate.

[Asher]

Doesn't matter.

See this article?

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/31238-open-mic-which-sport-has-the-best-athletes

It says how football is the most physically demanding sport. Who says it? Some guy named Jeff Little who blogs at bleacherreport.com. Says he played all the sports at some unknown level. Am I taking his word for it? No. Neither am I taking your word.

Anecdotes don't mean much.

I like this one better.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1246132/the_worlds_best_athletes_hockey_players.html

The World's Best Athletes: Hockey Players

Kurt Simonsen, Yahoo!

Millions of people dedicate Sunday afternoons not to post-religious family gatherings, nor to pumpkin and apple picking; instead, they reserve these final precious weekend hours for what has grown into a pure phenomena in American culture: football. Likewise, each October fathers and sons huddle on couches across the nation to watch the two best baseball teams settle the American past-time's most prestigious event, the World Series. Outside the continental United Sates, fanatical footballers pack pubs and family dens, rise at all hours of the night, and drape themselves in colors of allegiance to follow each strike and pass of the World Cup. Yet, despite the fans fervent emotions and remarkable dedication, and in spite of the athletes' tremendous talents, these sports simply do not showcase the most versatile and physically gifted competitors our collective athletic arenas can hold.

Although Pele could undress defenders with exquisite balance and precise ball control just before rainbowing himself and finishing a full volley in the top corner, his abilities do not match that of a man who skates at breakneck speed in small spaces while stick-handling a puck that wishes for nothing more than escape. Yes, Josh Hamilton can launch an endless string of homeruns into the New York night, but his skill set wanes in comparison to the toothless veteran streaking past the blue-line whose slap shot eclipses 95 mph. And even the immortal Joe Montana, who guided countless comebacks from South Bend to San Francisco with an effortless eloquence and a rifle for an arm fails to equal the grace of a Canadian-born rookie cutting the freshly zambonied ice before slamming the opposing center into the boards and earning the icing call.

Simply put, professional hockey players represent the best overall athletes the world offers. While devoted football, baseball, soccer, and basketball fans would generate compelling arguments that support their sport's dominance, one just cannot debate the true condition, dexterity, and skill a hockey player requires versus his professional counterparts. Physically, these athletes must possess Adonis-like strength and the speed of a cheetah; no beer bellies or slugs allowed on the ice at Madison Square Garden. Skill-wise, they must have the pure balance and grace of a prima ballerina and the hand-eye coordination of the most accomplished top gun pilot. On top of that, they must be mentally tough, mean, and willing to sacrifice their body to the lightning quick puck or the hard charging beast of a man who wants to paste them permanently into the glass.

While taking nothing away from the obvious talents of other professional athletes, not as much is demanded of them. First basemen can routinely fail to see their own belt buckles and would have trouble defeating their own shadow in a race. Linemen, while quick for their size, have the endurance of the eighty-six year-old woman stricken with emphysema playing the slots at Mohegan Sun. And world-class forwards, those who draw drunk and sober fans alike to the pitch, maintain the true upper body strength of a prepubescent boy who was forced to take his shirt off at his middle school crush's pool party. They all succeed within the confines of their own sports, yet none hold the raw ability and trained skill across the dynamic athlete spectrum as the hockey player.

Hockey will never receive the respect it feels it deserves here in the United States, nor should it. Our country's athletic cornerstones appear in towns in Florida and Arizona when pitchers and catchers report during February, and in tailgating parking lots each Sunday of stadiums so massive that they could hold all of Rhode Island's residents. NBA basketball and its annual lottery that insures that some thug will make millions draws countless fans, and the final round of even the smallest professional golf tournament captures the interest of more people than hockey ever will. However, although it will probably never reach the status in the American sports landscape that tennis or WWE wrestling cherishes, the point is simple: hockey players are the fastest, strongest, and most skilled athletes in the world.

[Wezil]

Which sport would be better training for the Marines - football or hockey?

This should be good for another half dozen pages.

[Asher]

Which sport would be better training for the Marines - football or hockey?

This should be good for another half dozen pages.

I think hockey actually would've helped Alby here. At least it would instill some discipline in him.

[Kidlicious]

Depends on where you're from.

Indeed, Canadians suck at football.

[Asher]

As corny as that Yahoo article is, it sort of gets at what I'm saying. There's more to terrific athletes than simple brute strength -- that's the domain of football. It's also why I find the sport pretty boring. Hockey is a more dynamic sport that requires far more well-balanced athletes than football. This is why it's absurd to look simply at raw strength in a couple cherrypicked tests.

Hockey players need speed, endurance, agility, upper body strength, lower body strength, core strength, hand/eye coordination, excellent technical skills, and a mental toughness that no other sport requires. It's the sum of the parts that makes hockey players terrific athletes. Yeah, NFL players could bench more, but what other NFL players have all of the above?

Not to mention durability! Hockey players can play 3 games in 4 nights, some of the games right after they got their teeth knocked out or got 30 stitches after being plastered into the boards. NFL players play a ridiculously tiny number of games just once a week. And anyone who says football players take more abuse per game hasn't watched a game of hockey, where the hits come at far higher speeds.

[Supr49er]

I would pay $1000 for someone to put Alby through a full bag skate.

[Kidlicious]

And even the immortal Joe Montana, who guided countless comebacks from South Bend to San Francisco with an effortless eloquence and a rifle for an arm fails to equal the grace of a Canadian-born rookie cutting the freshly zambonied ice before slamming the opposing center into the boards and earning the icing call.

[Elok]

NHL players shed the padding before a fight.

Really? All of it? Damn, do the refs even pretend to want to break it up?

Anyway, the ice handicap remains, they can't be at all accustomed to kicking, and I'll just take it as conceded that nobody wants to see a hockey player rollerblading around in short-shorts and a skimpy top. Holy crap, what a horrific concept. Anyway, my original point, if I had one, was that the difficulty of a sport doesn't necessarily make it a "good sport." Then again, sports in general hold little interest for me, so why am I even arguing this?

[Wezil]

[Asher]

Really? All of it? Damn, do the refs even pretend to want to break it up?

The equipment can actually be more dangerous (broken hands on helmets, etc). In fact, it's illegal and a suspendable offense to fight with some types of equipment on (like a wristguard).

And no, the refs don't bother breaking up a fight until there is a clear victor. If you actually can hear the refs, they usually just say "Give them some space, guys" and back the other players away.

You usually see them toss the helmet and the gloves to the ground at the start of a fight.

[Docfeelgood]

IMHO
Must be very agile to be able to skate.