HBO 24/7 Road to the NHL Winter Classic

[Machinehead2k5 32]

Let's not go overboard here, the NFL is a brutal league as well. Their training room is full of just as many beat up guys as an NHL room.

You're right, but they (NFL) don't do it 2-4x a week...

I played football from 6th-12th grade and hockey from 16-18yrs old and now 25-28yrs/present. My body is more sore playing hockey than football as a safety.

[Race4LastPlace 31]

Comparing nfl to nhl is apples and oranges. Both are extremely physical sports, but in very different ways. Can you really expect an offensive lineman who is 6'5 320 pounds to go head to head against a d-lineman 40+ times a game, multiple times a week? Both are tough in their respective aspects of the game, its unfair to compare really.

Anyways. Just watched episodes 2 and 3. I really love seeing this side of the sport, and it makes me enjoy watching them play that much more.

[ibeck 38]

You're right, but they (NFL) don't do it 2-4x a week...

I played football from 6th-12th grade and hockey from 16-18yrs old and now 25-28yrs/present. My body is more sore playing hockey than football as a safety.

Hockey is the toughest sport. NFL players don't play 3 games in 4 nights, traveling the country. Maybe an individual football game may be tougher than 1 NHL game but the NHL season is way more of a grind, hands down.

[Race4LastPlace 31]

Hockey fans will have a "hockey is tougher" bias I guess. I mean, comparatively the MLB has a 162 game season. Does that make them the toughest? Again, toughness is all relative. You have to be tough to.compete at the professional level, plain and simple, regardless of sport. Yes, football does not have the aspect of checking into the boards, or skating in general. But is hitting the main aspect in hockey? I mean a big open ice hit, is that the main job of a defenseman? Does a wide.receiver need to worry about getting checked into the boards?

How many times in hockey do 2 guys both about 6'4 250 pounds go skating 100% out dead at each other and hit head on? That's the point of football is it not? To tackle the ball carrier? But can a quarterback deal with constant hits to the boards, slashes, scrums and the other hockey aspects multiple times a week? Its apples and oranges. 2 different atletes bred to be tough in differing sports. Hockey is a sport that includes and relies on hitting in the game, but its not the main point. In football the point is to hit, tackle, and crush a receiver coming across the middle. These same hits happen in hockey, but its not the main focus of the game. However linemen can't block and hit and run constantly, plays comebto.an end, not continue in the way hockey does. Nfl players would have a hard time keeping up if plays lasted in similar lengths to hockey games.

But the players aren't built for that, just like nhl players aren't built to block a 270 pound defensive end trying to get through or around you.

Apples and oranges

So heres a solution. An end all to the argument on toughness. Pick a tough hockey guy. We'll put a flat surface down. Say 10 yards of ice and 10 yards of grass. They meet right in the middle. A hockey player skates straight at a football player who runs at him. They can hit and continue as needed. First one to die loses. I'll take Ray Lewis.

Enough of being off topic. Can't wait to see the next episode after the winter classic!

[mug25 2]

You're right, but they (NFL) don't do it 2-4x a week...

I played football from 6th-12th grade and hockey from 16-18yrs old and now 25-28yrs/present. My body is more sore playing hockey than football as a safety.

NFL players dont do it 82+ games a season either.

I think the girl next to Backstrom at his Xmas party was better. Regardless, both of them are daaaaaaaaaaayuuumm.

I'm with you on that. Brunettes FTW...plus Fehr's wife had that blank bimbo stare...seemed very un-interested in what was going on.

How about that "poor" unfortunate family they were visiting? They had a large flat screen TV and a gaming system....really "poor" weren't they?

[Buzz_LightBeer 962]

Personal preference. I prefer brunette.

He plays in Minnesota, maybe next year.

[flaming_june 2]

Kind of hard to compare intensity versus frequency. Hockey players' gota take checks, pucks, sticks, and have the skills and strength to skate, balance, pass and shoot. But you can't say they are tougher compared to football players when their job is to stop other 250-400lb players with their body. All in all, if you're just talking about the degree of physical toughness, linebackers got that crown. But if you're talking about overall toughness in battling with mental strength and physical endurance, then no doubt professional hockey players are just that, hockey tough. Who's tough enough to dig deep though ups and downs of 82, then sacrifice himself in the playoff, those NHLers are. Therefore football players and hockey players are both tough in their own way. It just depends on what you appreciate more: brutal body strength versus mental and physical endurance, and threshold for physical pain.

[Quintin 16]

How about that "poor" unfortunate family they were visiting? They had a large flat screen TV and a gaming system....really "poor" weren't they?

You can get flat screens and games consoles relatively cheap. Hell, even college students can get those. And they bring a new meaning to cheap.

[JR Boucicaut 3759]

So heres a solution. An end all to the argument on toughness. Pick a tough hockey guy. We'll put a flat surface down. Say 10 yards of ice and 10 yards of grass. They meet right in the middle. A hockey player skates straight at a football player who runs at him. They can hit and continue as needed. First one to die loses. I'll take Ray Lewis.

I'll take Ray-Ray too!

[mug25 2]

You can get flat screens and games consoles relatively cheap. Hell, even college students can get those. And they bring a new meaning to cheap.

I guess our definitions of "poor" are pretty different.

[n3ss 0]

this thread is going no where fast but its not as if the money spent was enough to make a difference in the overall quality of life for the family.. ~$600 isn't going to bring someone out of poverty for more than a week. (now, if the money was spent instead of paying bills or instead of buying i car i might understand)

...

IBTL

[mug25 2]

back on track — the next episode is going to be by far the best.

[ironic_chef 0]

During the Winter Classic broadcast yesterday, Glenn Healy said that one of the Capitals players (not sure, I think Green but it might have been Laich) told him they couldn't wait to get the HBO cameras out of their business. The comment was "we're athletes, not actors" and they felt having the cameras on the team was a detriment to their ability to prepare, etc. particularly in light of the Caps' losing streak.

I can imagine it is seriously distracting for a lot of those players, but it was probably no big deal for Ovie and Sid - they're under a microscope all the time.

Re: Boudreau's swearing - he probably scaled it down for the cameras.

[mug25 2]

During the Winter Classic broadcast yesterday, Glenn Healy said that one of the Capitals players (not sure, I think Green but it might have been Laich) told him they couldn't wait to get the HBO cameras out of their business. The comment was "we're athletes, not actors" and they felt having the cameras on the team was a detriment to their ability to prepare, etc. particularly in light of the Caps' losing streak.

I can imagine it is seriously distracting for a lot of those players, but it was probably no big deal for Ovie and Sid - they're under a microscope all the time.

Re: Boudreau's swearing - he probably scaled it down for the cameras.

Green is a douche so anything he says doesn't count.

[DarkStar50 679]

During his in game interview,Boudreau said he didn't want his team to "screw" up. I'm sure he wanted to say fuck up. It is interesting that in 3 weeks the Caps have gotten their act together again while the Pens winning streak had to end and now we see how things change for them. As soon as these guys, first line or fourth line are out of hockey, no one will give a s*#t that they were NHLers. They should soak up the limelight from the 24/7 while they have it. Once it's over for them, it's gone for good.

[shotty 7]

During the Winter Classic broadcast yesterday, Glenn Healy said that one of the Capitals players (not sure, I think Green but it might have been Laich) told him they couldn't wait to get the HBO cameras out of their business. The comment was "we're athletes, not actors" and they felt having the cameras on the team was a detriment to their ability to prepare, etc. particularly in light of the Caps' losing streak.

I can imagine it is seriously distracting for a lot of those players, but it was probably no big deal for Ovie and Sid - they're under a microscope all the time.

Re: Boudreau's swearing - he probably scaled it down for the cameras.

yeah, it was laich. i was going to mention that in this thread.

right before that, glen said that the nhl BEGGED hbo to do this special, and it happened because mlb "dropped the ball" on their apparent special. glen healy also said something about "57.5%", which i assume is in reference to the percentage of league revenue that the players earn. if this exposure can increase revenue, i think the players should have a vested interest in this type of media.

i have a friend that has ZERO interest in hockey... i told him to pvr the series, and he emailed me RIGHT after watching the 2nd episode on repeats, raving about how cool it was to see all the emotion, behind the scenes, uncensored, and how pumped he was to not only see the next episode, but watch the game. it got him interested enough to watch the winter classic. will it turn him into a season ticket holder? who knows, but its a step in the right direction

[tips09 0]

haha who was the guy in the airplane scene with the bomb in?

[ibeck 38]

haha who was the guy in the airplane scene with the bomb in?

Are you referring to Ben Lovejoy who got a puck in the face that night?

[flaming_june 2]

[shotty 7]

"they said it would get bigger with the pressure"

[lampliter87 8]

He means the guy dipping, no?

[dsjunior1388 81]

You can get flat screens and games consoles relatively cheap. Hell, even college students can get those. And they bring a new meaning to cheap.

Irrelevant. College broke is vastly different from real broke. It's all about priorities. Ours are upside down and sideways. No matter how much she might want to, a mother of three could never make the awful choices we make.

[shotty 7]

its the credit crisis in a nutshell. she got approved for a $1500 credit at best buy, racked it up and doesn't have the cash to pay it back. it didn't cost her a cent out of pocket. end of story.

[chippa13 1844]

Or, she got a flat screen pretty cheap because you can these days and a pc is all but a necessity these days and she may have received assistance to pick that up. At the end of the day some little kid received presents that he otherwise would not have so who really cares where the tv or pc came from.

[Drewhunz 3]

Another thread is dangerously close to being locked. Get back on topic now.