Notable and Quotable

From Larry Brooks, writing in the New York Post ("No playing out string in honor-rich NHL")...

The NHL wants to be like the NFL, and I guess which league wouldn't aspire to be granted the kind of sacred cow status pro football has mysteriously and regrettably achieved in this country? 

Last weekend, however, in what was one of the great final weekends in NHL history, hockey reached a status the NFL wouldn't even recognize. 

It was a weekend showcasing the integrity of the athletes who are the fabric of the sport, and the integrity of coaches and front offices around the league that recognized their responsibility to compete when nothing was on the line for their own respective teams but everything was at stake for their opponents. 

[...]

And Detroit, starting with Ken Holland and running straight through the championship pedigree of that organization, recognized its obligation as well -- though the chance to KO the Cup champ Blackhawks was an obvious bonus -- in going to the mat to beat Chicago in overtime when the Wings might have taken the day off to get ready for the first round against the Ducks.

[...]

The NFL would never give you a final weekend like that. The NFL has a 16-game schedule in which teams try until they clinch playoff spots. Then, with league approval, they sit out starters, claiming the risk of injury overrides the integrity of competition. It's a sorry spectacle; scandalous, even.

Well said, Mr. Brooks, and I'll forgive ya the errors in fact about the Wings, given they won that last game in regulation time and our first-round opponent is Phoenix.  You could have mentioned that Detroit lost the services of Henrik Zetterberg, its highest scoring player, in that last, meaningless game due to a knee injury, services that could have a major impact on how far they go in the playoffs this year but thankfully haven't... yet.  Your other points are spot-on and are but a few of the many reasons I don't watch pro football.  Honesty and integrity in pro sports?  Who'd a thunk it!

There's more at the link... Mr. Brooks' piece is a very worthwhile read.

Added, 1230 hrs:  A short blurb from Steve Simmons' sports column in the Toronto Sun:  "And this is why Twitter amuses me: On Saturday afternoon, somebody Tweeted that the NHL has finally found an owner for the Coyotes: Just happens to be Pavel Datsyuk."  OK, that's Inside Tee-Ball stuff, but hockey fans geddit.  That's pretty damned funny, actually.