8 replies to this topic

[QuacksMeUp]

What should Anaheim do with all the hats that are thrown onto the ice?

To get some ideas, here's an article on the subject recently spied on Puck Daddy

For years, fans have seen arena workers -- and more frequently, and thankfully, Ice Girls -- shoveling dozens of hats into large plastic bins to be removed from the ice.
Which got us thinking: Where do all of these hat-trick hats eventually end up?

[ladiesandgentlemen]

I just voted for Other Great Ideas because I think they should donate them to the NBA to be recycled into band aids, braces, nose and eye gear, and all the other comforting devices their players want as a result of all the devastating body contact they endure.

Also, some of them can be recycled into giant fake eyelashes (like that Flyer snow-ho looks to be sporting in the pic on that PuckDaddy article. ) for their Court Girls to wear.

[QuacksMeUp]

I just voted for Other Great Ideas because I think they should donate them to the NBA to be recycled into band aids, braces, nose and eye gear, and all the other comforting devices their players want as a result of all the devastating body contact they endure.

I just saw a few days ago one of the NBA stars, LeBron James? He was asked why he didn't shake hands after his team lost. Did you see that?! I was amazed that anyone could be less team spirited or sportsmanlike. I guess money's the only answer for these young men. The love of the game and their teammates be damned. It's a real shame. And, yes, they are pretty wussy too!

[ladiesandgentlemen]

I just saw a few days ago one of the NBA stars, LeBron James? He was asked why he didn't shake hands after his team lost. Did you see that?! I was amazed that anyone could be less team spirited or sportsmanlike. I guess money's the only answer for these young men. The love of the game and their teammates be damned. It's a real shame. And, yes, they are pretty wussy too!

I missed that. And to be truthful, I have totally lost interest in watching the NBA. To me, they embody most everything that is wrong in professional sports. I did have some respect for LeBron, but the league-wide 'tude is apparently getting to him, too.

What did he say for his reason not to respect the game and the players who play it?

[MrsBevo]

I swear I once read that those hats get delivered to local charities. Hopefully they are cleaned first.

[QuacksMeUp]

I missed that. And to be truthful, I have totally lost interest in watching the NBA. To me, they embody most everything that is wrong in professional sports. I did have some respect for LeBron, but the league-wide 'tude is apparently getting to him, too.

What did he say for his reason not to respect the game and the players who play it?

This is the exact quote to the media after his team lost in the playoffs and he wouldn't shake his opponent's hand:

"It's hard for me to congratulate someone after you lose to them. I'm a winner. It's not being a poor sport or anything like that. But somebody beats you up, you're not going to congratulate them on beating you up. That doesn't make sense."

To me, a baseball and hockey fan who has watched World Series playoffs and Stanley Cup Finals since a young kid and have witnessed the sportsmanship in just that kind of handshake at every single series end, what Mr. James-Winner-Whiner-Loser says doesn't make sense.

Here is a perspective by Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post on the incident. LINK

[ladiesandgentlemen]

This is the exact quote to the media after his team lost in the playoffs and he wouldn't shake his opponent's hand:


To me, a baseball and hockey fan who has watched World Series playoffs and Stanley Cup Finals since a young kid and have witnessed the sportsmanship in just that kind of handshake at every single series end, what Mr. James-Winner-Whiner-Loser says doesn't make sense.

Here is a perspective by Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post on the incident. LINK

Thanks for that, QMU. Good article. I like the part about "maintaining a level of sportsmanship that isn't optional." Many professional athletes seem to think they are above that.

Funny how Wilbon seems to cast Kobe in a sympathetic light by saying "If Kobe Bryant had walked off the court without shaking hands, two straight years in the conference finals, no less, he'd have been taken apart in the court of public opinion." Seems to me Kobe has weathered the storms of his own making just fine.

[Todrick]

Ducks throw them away.

But I do wish that we'd get a wall of hats(like Edmonton... i think its Edmoton), or a big case(like the jackets).... it's like a trophy to the hat trick.

[LightItUp4126]

I just saw a few days ago one of the NBA stars, LeBron James? He was asked why he didn't shake hands after his team lost. Did you see that?! I was amazed that anyone could be less team spirited or sportsmanlike. I guess money's the only answer for these young men. The love of the game and their teammates be damned. It's a real shame. And, yes, they are pretty wussy too!

I'm gonna respectfully disagree three. It doesn't mean he doesn't care or is unsportsmanlike, but he's 24 years old, and being expected to be the best player in the NBA, and the leader for his team. Nobody is really the veteran presence in that locker room besides LeBron, unlike in hockey where there are guys who have been there before on almost 95% of all the teams ever, and who know that losing isn't as bad as it feels right at that moment. LeBron just wanted to get off the court and that's fine. I understand why it's unsportsmanlike and I think that it was a showcase of poor judgment, however the entire episode is being blown out of proportion. He's a generally good guy who might have just a bit too much on his plate for such an age.

As for that hats, get a showcase going that's awesome what the Blue Jackets did.