Hockey doesn’t need fighting

As I read Kent Resident Laurie Dunns’ letter to the editor, her response that fighting in hockey is integral to the game made me want to thwack my forehead with a ball-peen hammer. Yes, Susan Sullivan of Issaquah, I don’t think hockey is the sport for you or your 8-year-old. Imagine, thinking you want to expose your child to some good old-fashioned competition, and instilling the value that it’s not ok to fight? Who do you think you are, civilized?

Laurie also states that the joy of seeing fights at a hockey game is along the lines of going to a car race hoping to see a wreck. They are among the same lines of human entertainment, going back to the Christians vs. Lions, the very first pay-per-view.

They are alike, both being character flaws of our humanity. But teaching your child that there are two kinds of fighting and only the one on ice is okay is ridiculous. Yes, when young athletes get together and do battle, tempers will flare. I played many sports during my youth and were in a few fights. But we never stayed mad at each other long. That was because we looked at playing sports as a privilege, not a right. And fighting during every game branded you a hothead and you never got picked for a game again.

Fights are inevitable in many sports, where physical contact is a factor. But maybe if we broke up these fights right away instead of watching them like free cable, kids would get the idea that fighting is taking them away from playing the game. Which is why you got your kid out of bed at 4:30 a.m. for his 6:30 a.m. game. No, teach your kids to compete clean, to play hard and have fun.

Tell them it’s never okay to fight and only as a last resort. Let someone else play the “goon” on the ice. Fighting is not integral to the sport of hockey. It’s just a small portion of a great sport. And if hockey fights were stopped immediately, maybe the blood-lust fascination of it would cease as well.

Todd Nuttman

Kent