Concussions in Hockey: The NHL Should Not Get Rid of Fighting

There is no spectacle in all of organized team sports like the traditional fight in hockey. Though fighting is frowned upon in many sports and actively discouraged, hockey is the lone bastion of raw physicality that is lacking. 

Watching a fight in hockey is an experience. Being in the crowd amongst several mildly inebriated gentlemen wishing nothing more than to see two grown men punch the life out of each other.  Many people in the media claim that fighting in hockey needs to end because it is a mark of uncivilized and base brutishness. In addition, it is a popular line for those fighting against concussions in sports. I agree that fighting is brutish and uncivilized, but calling for the end to fighting misses the entire point of why we love to watch full contact sports. 

Sports like hockey appeal to the baser instincts of people, our innate blood lust. We live in a sanitized and politically correct society where saying something that might offend, causes an uproar. As a society, we need an outlet for our collective anger and frustration, and that outlet involves two main ingredients: beer and hockey. Such a combination could only have a divine origin or a bunch of drunk guys wanting to see some live violence on the ice. 

In addition, the players that do fight in the games are typically, or traditionally, are not the best skaters or shooters. They simply have a passion for hockey and a chip on their shoulder. The enforcer not only intimidates the opponents and knocks out their better players in the game but also is a representative figure for the underdog.

If hockey ever eliminates fighting, then they are not only eliminating a time honored tradition amongst the beer loving enthusiasts in the stands, but also the underdog, and who doesn’t like the underdog?

Worrying about concussions is very noble and should be taken very seriously, but the players very well know the inherent risks of playing hockey, arguably one of the most brutal sports on earth. For the naysayers who dislike fighting, I urge you to simply go to a hockey game. I promise that you will be automatically drawn into the greatest live sport around.