American Sports

My son Tom is determined to try all the sports that the New World has to offer - though not necessarily the obvious ones.

Having taken a crash course in lacrosse, a game clearly invented by native Americans as a way to club European settlers without getting shot in response, he is now signed up for an introduction to pillow polo, a sport which has nothing to do with polo nor uses pillows.

As you can see in the image above, pillow polo is a lot like hockey, but with softer sticks and a sponge ball. Nevertheless it is undoubtedly designed to get children used to hitting each other with sticks in preparation for a career in ice hockey's "world league", the NHL.

Incidentally, I was amazed to hear on the radio the other day that a recent attempt to ban fighting from ice hockey failed when nearly all the NHL's coaches and owners rejected it because the move would change the nature of the sport! Take these quotes from two general managers:

• "I think it's become integral in terms of how the game is played. I think it acts as a bit of a thermostat (...) and I believe that most of our fans enjoy that aspect of the game."
• "Any discussion about the elimination or abolition of fighting will be a very brief one. I don't think there's any support for that whatsoever."

Earlier this month, a 21-year-old player died from injuries he sustained in a fight. Last week (see video below), another player suffered seizures following the pummeling he received just seconds into a game.

(Notice how the referee just stands by and watches the fight, making no attempt to intervene?)

Meanwhile, my daughter Anna has chosen a far more global sport to pursue: gymnastics. Though this too could point her to another great American "sport": cheer leading.