Bitter much? Yawn! Virg Foss was a sports writer for over 30 years I think I am going to respect his word, he has earned that credibility. So what fan base do you think this genius come from?
GATZKE, Minn. —- Virg Foss’ Herald column, as inane and rambling as it is, could be excused as the rantings of someone who is losing it, except that there has been no change throughout Foss’ career.
UND’s last game of its three-game series with the University of Minnesota is a prime example. Hard-hitting, yes, many of which were good, clean hits. Many more were of the cheap, head-hunting variety. The hit by UND’s Matt Frattin, which both Foss and Herald staff writer Brad Schlossman seek to excuse, was just the worst of many.
Had this hit been delivered by a U of M player against UND, those writers, the UND coaching staff and other Herald sportswriters would have screamed to high heaven. They certainly would have demanded that the hitter be ejected from the game (he should have been), suspended for at least three games and quite probably boiled in oil and drawn and quartered.
Where is the writer’s righteous indignation now?
Be careful what you wish for, Mr Foss. We agree that the officiating should get much stricter. But your beloved UND would suffer more than any team in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association from such a change.
I believe Foss missed his true calling. He chooses to see only what he wants to see and to remember only what he chooses to remember. In other words, he would have made a terrific politician.
By the way, given that a name change at UND now is long overdue, until permanent changes are made in the conduct of UND hockey, it would so appropriate to wear “UND Goons” jerseys.
Howard Lunsetter
I gotta tell ya, this could not be more right on. This is so obvious to those of us outside of the green bubble.
ReplyDeleteThe ability of some of the Sioux faithful to ignore reality is an ongoing source of amazement to me.
I'm sure you have some sort of mental mechanism that will keep you from viewing it any other way, but please know that the rest of us completely disagree with the view seen throught he green lenses when it comes to the chippiness of the UND play year-in, year-out.
JFR, he is a Sioux fan.;)
ReplyDeleteThe Frattin hit has been acknowledged by most Sioux fans (there are always exceptions) as being over the top and deserving of more then a two minute penalty. But what other "head hunting hits" were there during that series. I watched every minute of all three games and I cannot recall one.
ReplyDeleteFYI to all other schools in D1 hockey. Checking is legal, and it is a good way for less skilled teams to beat highly skilled teams. Frattin did go too far but he was punished for it. I don't get what else all these people want from the Sioux. Should they stop hitting altogether, apologize for working harder than other teams, apologize for having the fortitude to go into the tough parts of the rink, apologize for winning?
Funniest part is that if the Gophers had won that series we would not be hearing a peep out of any of their fans.
Seejowski, I agree the Gophers and Huskies want to play a finese/Euro brand of hockey and hate to play teams that will crease their uniforms. Physical play is seen as chippyness now?
ReplyDeleteI guess the Gopher fans didn't catch a few of their goalies antics during the Sioux and Gophs series.
Seejowski: B.S. - You would have heard from me. I love hitting but hate hits that can cause concussions or cause other serious injuries. I think it is a shame that a great player like Genoway is out of action. It sucks.
ReplyDeleteHas no one else seen the frame by frame of the Frattin hit? His feet were on the ice and his arms were down at the time of impact. All he was guilty of is charging, and he was punished accordingly, that is until McClown weighed in.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.areavoices.com/undhockey/?pg=4
5th story down
Charlie,
ReplyDeleteThat's fine if we would have heard from you about the Frattin hit. It was a hot topic and was a bad hit. But to all of a sudden take that one bad hit and turn it into UND being the dirtiest team around and playing cheap and dirty is a bit much isn't it? Not saying you have said these things about UND (maybe you have IDK) but that's what the letter Goon posted seems to be saying.
this "your team, or your fans, are the worst, or classless, etc, etc" mentality is such a homerism it almost defines the word.
ReplyDeleteif the sioux are the goonest team in the league, then why don't we have an excess of suspensions and other disciplines? do these homers think the league just loves the sioux or something? if that is the thought process here, well then it's not worth debating this with you because your sense of reality is too skewed.
all teams and all fanbases have "that guy" or "those moments". most sioux fans know that and most members of other fanbases know that, but ther's always a few who won't accept the fact that their team is just as guilty as every other team. (this goes for more than just sports: politics, religion, the corporate world).
those are the fans from other fanbases that almost always end up on sioux message boards and blogs.
i actually consider it a compliment, though. i mean, if you're not a yankees fan, you look for reasons to hate the yankees. if you're not a patriots fan, you look for reasons to hate the patriots. the sioux are hated for a reason and it's the same reason the rest of us love them so much.
Football fans listening in on this stuff must think hockey people are pansies. This never-ending crap with milli-second by milli-second analysis of the sequence of a check is beyond malarkey. The players themselves have moved on long ago. And if you should happen to discuss things like this with players you might discover that they have very little respect for the fans, who demonstrate a lack of knowledge of the nuances of the game and react insanely when the puck hops over a player's stick or some other unfortunate event occurs. It's one of the fastest games on earth, choices are made instinctually, by athletes moving at 30 mph plus. If it bothers you, watch tennis.
ReplyDeleteha! yeah, football isn't at all obsessed with instant replay and beating bad calls to death.
ReplyDeleteget over yourself, narcissistic concepts.
p.s. you don't have to read this blog.