This week, we hit the ice for some classics from my favorite sport: hockey. Most sports fans don't realize that many hockey games were in fact played over the past seven days, as is usually the case between the months of October and June. We'll also analyze a "special" Super Bowl prediction by a member of the New York Giants.
3. Giving new meaning to "high-sticking." One of the first things I learned as a youth hockey player was never to throw my stick at the referees. Apparently, this wasn't the case for the Toronto Maple Leafs' Nikolai Antropov. After exiting the penalty box in overtime, he threw his stick a good 20 feet. While this normally would have been okay (actually, probably not), the stick's trajectory was hazardously close to the game's two referees, landing Antropov an automatic three-game suspension.
Apparently, Antropov hurled his lumber to protest a questionable hooking call that eventually lost his team the game. While it's true that the act that landed Antropov in the sin bin wouldn't have hurt a fly - let alone a hockey player - there's no excuse for letting your emotions get the better of you. And of all the places to lose control, he chooses a hockey game! Shame on you, Nik! You get an error.
2. Disrespect at a fifth-grade level. Marek Malik has simply had enough. Since November 2005, when the New York Rangers' Czech-born defenseman scored in the 15th round of a shootout from between his legs, it seems that things have only gone downhill for No. 8. The stiff blue-liner, who stands as tall as Michael Jordan but plays like his grandmother, has faced much criticism from the ever-sympathetic Madison Square Garden faithful for his lack of physical play.
This week, while Rangers coach Tom Renney circled the Blueshirts' dressing room to shake each player's hand following a win, Malik "kept it real" by refusing to return the usual post-game gesture to his coach. The insolent act landed Malik a banishment from a practice and from the team's next game, which just so happened to be the one in which the Rangers retired the number of Brian Leetch. Now, it appears likely that Malik will be traded. The question is, who would take this big mistake of a fool? I certainly wouldn't.
1. Media training, anyone? This week, in true Joe Namath fashion, Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress predicted - almost to the level of a "guarantee" - that his team would defeat the unbeaten Patriots in the Super Bowl. Of course, the "guarantee" (or the extreme prediction, in Burress' case) has been worn out in professional sports like nothing else. But Burress decided to go the extra mile, and through some intense calculations and perhaps the help of a team of scientists, Burress forecasted the game's score as 21-17 in favor of New York.
Now, Lord knows I'm not the biggest Tom Brady fan, but when Brady stated that he was surprised that Burress hadn't given New England more points, he could not have been more correct. Plax, you don't claim an undefeated team that beat my beloved Washington Redskins by a score of 52-7 during the regular season will only score 17 points in any game. Now, if the Giants lose, the post-game press-conferences will be 10 times more heartbreaking. I'm going to go ahead and give Plax a calamity on this one. Let's see if I was right.
Jeremy Strauss is a sophomore majoring in environmental studies. He can be reached at Jeremy.Strauss@tufts.edu.
