--- In mnsports@yahoogroups.com, "stewthornley" <stew@...> wrote:
>
> Letter of the day in the March 31 Star Tribune:
>
> http://www.startribune.com/563/story/1091104.html
>
>
> Michael Russo's March 25 column about the possible elimination of
> fighting in the National Hockey League has some quotes from Derek
> Boogaard that indicate Boogaard seems to think he's the main
> attraction at the Xcel Energy Center. Boogaard says, "If you take
> fighting out of hockey, it might be exciting for 10, 30 games, and
> then the rinks will start emptying." All one has to do is look at
> the popularity of the sport at levels where fighting is dealt with
> in terms of suspensions, not just a five-minute penalty, to see that
> this is not the case. Mariucci Arena is packed every game, and the
> high school tournament is as popular as ever. And I have no doubt
> that my fellow fans at Wild games would continue to enthusiastically
> turn out and cheer their team even if Boogaard and his fighting were
> to disappear.
>
> It should be remembered that Boogaard has a vested interest in what
> happens. His limited hockey skills means he will be out a job if
> fighting is eliminated.
>
>
> JAE HUDSON, MINNEAPOLIS
>
City Pages, once a reliable weekly tabloid, now a shadow of its former
self (ace reporter Britt Robson couldn't take it anymore and left),
has a cover story on St. Paul's Darling, Derek Boogaard: Boogeyman
Drops The Gloves, March 28, 2007. Of course no such article would be
complete without "insight" from hockey hack Ross Bernstein, who
reveals: "I thought I knew a lot about hockey. It turns out I knew
nothing." Ross, why use past tense, when present will do nicely?
City Pages writer Kevin Hoffman went down wrong a terribly wrong path
the moment he consulted Bernstein, and it gets worse. Hoffman
positively idolizes Boogey, who responds with wrongheaded quotes such
as: "There's a ton of people who say I shouldn't play in the NHL.
It's a good feeling to prove those people wrong." and "When I go out
there and fight, it's just like scoring a goal." Apparently Boogaard
knows less about hockey than Ross Bernstein, if that's possible.
Hoffman sums up with a blow-by-blow account of Boogey vs. the Blues'
D.J. King at the Excel Center: "The Wild are up 4-1 and menace hangs
in the air. The next faceoff, the Boogeyman lines up opposite Blues
left wing D.J. King. The Boogeyman hesitates. He looks to coach
Lemaire for approval. Getting it, the Boogeyman drops his gloves."

In other words, like some pre-programmed Frankenstein, Boogey looks to
his creator, who tells him: "Go my son. Go and kill." The monster
slowly replies, "YES, MASTER." Beautiful.
Geo