This is for the Puckheads

Ed B's Ten Reasons to Love Baseball got me thinking about a few things. I started to wonder -- what sport do I consider the best? I mean, I live for Sundays to just kick back, eat junk and watch football. I love getting together with friends for playoff basketball. The Red Sox - Yankees rivalry has always gotten me pumped up. But I can't ignore my own emotions. It's always been there in my heart and I figured if baseball got a list, so can my top dog. If you're not a fan and I lose some readers because of it, so be it. But I'm going for it. Here are ten reasons to love the sport of hockey.

Constant Action - One of the biggest criticisms I hear from non-hockey fans is that the game is too boring and low-scoring for them. Hey, if you think hockey's boring -- that's your call. But next time you're watching a game, try to count to three while a player has possession of the puck. Almost every time, that thing is long gone before you can rattle off half of that count. In the time it takes between pitches of a baseball game, the puck may have potentially visited almost every player on the ice at least once.

Teamwork - Some will argue with me when I say that hockey is the truest team sport there is, but you simply can't have a superstar solely win the game for you. In baseball, your pitcher can throw a no-hitter. In basketball, LeBron or Kobe can win you the game (see: Kobe's 81 point game). Football is a close call, but I still see the same playmakers throughout the entire game for the winning side. Hockey literally takes an 18-man roster giving contributions every time they touch the ice. They all have to play offense and defense. If one guy isn't getting the job done, an entire line will struggle to succeed. Two minutes is a very long shift in a hockey game. As well as Ovechkin or Crosby may perform, there's no chance they win the game unless their other lines, their defense, and their goaltender are on top of their games as well.

Egos? Forget it - The highest paid player in the NHL barely makes 8 figures. Vincent Lecavalier is the only player making the $10 million plateau. No other major sport can say that, and most of those sports' highest paid players are up around (or over) $20 million. Hockey players don't care about the money. They don't care about the fame. They aren't on ESPN. They don't care about their stats or their image. They don't care about their hair or their teeth or virtually any part of their body. They care about one thing and one thing only -- winning games and competing on the ice every single night. You don't see players in any other sport who unconditionally love the game like hockey players do all the way across the board. To me, that point isn't refutable.

Gratification - Let's go back to the low-scoring argument. I agree that hockey is a low-scoring sport. But I also explained that it's constantly moving, and for me, that keeps the game interesting. If you go to the fridge or the bathroom, you could easily miss a big hit, a huge save, or a three-goal explosion on the penalty kill. The gratification of a hockey goal is unlike any score in any sport, in my opinion. Soccer goals are few and far apart (and let us not compare the two sports, please -- they aren't alike) but the action in between can be relatively unexciting from afar. Take my word for it. Being at a playoff Bruins game and experiencing the eruption from the crowd after a big goal is unlike anything else. Even watching those videos gives some people the goosebumps.

History - The miracle on ice will live forever. Some people identify it as the best sports moment in our country's history. But from a national standpoint, the tradition is starting to come back. I understand that nobody watches hockey. But I bet a good percentage of you saw this goal. If that doesn't speak for the gratification point I just made, I don't know what does. Our entire country, which doesn't seem to care about hockey at all, jumped from their seats to celebrate that goal. The lockout really hurt this sport, because back in the day -- the era of the Big Bad Bruins, for example -- hockey was a thing of beauty in the minds of most sports fans. I'm just waiting for history to repeat itself.

Skill. Just think about it. - Think about every major sport we have in our society. We're talking about some tremendous physical athletes in the sports of basketball and football, some great hand-eye coordination and sporting IQs in the game of baseball. What sport puts every aspect together in a more complete fashion than hockey does? If you don't have incredible balance, you can't get to the show. If you don't have an incredible hockey IQ, you'll never make it. If you aren't tough as nails, forget about it. If you don't have blinding speed or amazing strength, what do you bring to your team? No sport puts it all together the way hockey does. That's another one of those points that you'll never convince me otherwise.

The Fans - Speaking of never convincing me otherwise... can anyone actually say there are more diehard fans than hockey fans? Is there anything cooler than getting an entire packed-in stadium slow-chanting the opposing goalie's name? If you go to a B's game and you get tickets in the balcony, you're almost assured to get elbowed in the face, doused in beer, damaged ear drums, and an unforgettable fan experience. Trust me, I was at game four of the Bruins and Sabres last year.

Every Game Matters... to Them - It's an 82-game season, so you probably can't say that every game really matters. We see the Celtics rest their starters throughout their own 82-game season so that they can get to the playoffs healthy. Not in hockey. You're not getting tickets to a game only to see your favorite player taking the night off. It doesn't happen. You'll never see a player go easy or play timidly. Every game actually does matter to these guys, because like I said -- they unconditionally love the game. It's in their blood. If they're stepping on the ice, they're going all out. What sport offers a physicality similar to football and an unparalleled pace of play over a full 82-game season? You just don't see it anywhere else.

No Corruption, But Give Me Parity! - Admittedly, I've let my bias come into play throughout this thing. But I can't help but notice how little corruption and controversy there is in hockey. It's a bunch of guys just bringing their lunchboxes every day and playing the game. No performance enhancing drugs, no videotaping allegations, no rigged conspiracy theories, no recruiting violations or legal accusations that epitomize the modern day sports culture. It's as straight forward as it gets and there are so few problems of that nature. I guess that's part of the reason why it doesn't dominate the sports media these days. ESPN just loves controversy and nonsense. Hockey doesn't provide it, so what use are they? All I know is that hockey is a staple for its own fans and, despite a lockout a few seasons ago, its consistency and parity are what make those fans love it so dearly. Who will win the Cup this year? It doesn't matter who has the superstars, it just matters who is the hungriest for the Cup. It's the any-given-Sunday mentality applied over the course of an entire season. Every minute matters, every minute is pure, and it's all still as unpredictable as any other game out there. Good luck betting on a hockey game.

Uniqueness and Everything Else - I could go on and on, but I'm trying to condense my list to ten things. So my final reason wraps up everything else about the best game in the world. Have you ever actually thought about some of the aspects of hockey? If you're a goon and a stickler for the physicality ... what other sport actually allows its players to kick the living hell out of each other? If you're more interested in the skill level and impressiveness of the players, let's think about the flip side. Sure, I'm impressed by what NBA players do and what NFL players do and all that. But think about what they're playing on. A natural, everyday surface with athletic sneakers, cleats, etc. Things that humans are used to in their element. What happens when you bring all of those elements of speed, strength, agility, conditioning, and hand-eye coordination (I guess you do need a little bit of that to play hockey) to a sheet of ice? Oh, and did I mention these guys stand on blades of metal about 1/8 of an inch thick? I think the uniqueness argument has formed itself.

I know hockey is still a little ways off the radar, but I'll always maintain that it's the best sport. You can post your counter-arguments, and I'd love to hear them. But I'll just forewarn you -- they won't change my opinion. Still, if nothing else, I hope maybe this post got you thinking a little bit. Maybe you'll even go as far as to check out a Bruins game sometime soon. After all, they travel to Pittsburgh to battle Sidney Crosby and his Penguins tomorrow night.