Winter Classic 2012: Why Outdoor Hockey is Must-Watch For True Sports Fans

With each passing year, it becomes apparent that sports are more about business and less about the game itself. And while the sporting world—like any other business—has always revolved around money, never before have sports been such huge enterprises.

It's why we have the BCS rather than a playoff system in college football. It's why we had the NFL and NBA lockouts.

And it is why, when we get something like the Winter Classic, it is so damn refreshing.

Sure, the NHL promotes the hell out of the Winter Classic. At the end of the day, the Winter Classic makes sense because it makes dollars.

But c'mon—it's just plain old cool to see these guys play outside. It suddenly takes you back to the frozen pond you played on as a kid, or in my case, the old tennis court with all of the loose stones scattered around where you took your roller blades and the one plastic net that the kid across the street owned.

We have so many things in sports now that create an artificial experience. Domes. PA announcers that implore fans to chant and make noise. Hell, artificial turf rather than grass.

And let's not get carried away—the Winter Classic is played in a rink that has been fashioned inside of a baseball field, after all, and not some pond behind a barn. But something feels right when you watch hockey being played outside.

It's that feeling you get when American League teams can't use the DH in the World Series. It's that feeling you get when you drive through the city and see a kid shooting around on a court by himself, working on various shots and post-up moves rather than spending his time dunking on a rim with no nets.

The Winter Classic somehow feels like hockey as it was meant to be played. It is the sport at its purest. If you can't enjoy that, well, you might just be missing the point altogether.

Hit me up on the Twitter—all the cool kids are doing it.