Hockey: A man's game

As some of you may know, the Blackhawks beat out the Calgary Flames in 6 games on Tuesday to win their first playoff series in 13 years. The play was inspired, it was physical, it was down right dirty. The hitting was non-stop. Patrick Kane got body slammed into the boards missing a game, Flames went into the Hawks bench, and scuffles were prominent after every single stoppage of play. Former Hawk Rene Borque even puller on Duncan Keith's hair at one point. You would have thought these people were wild animals just out of the wilderness. The crowds were insane, every goal celebrated like it was the last, and fighting galore.

But as the time ran out on the series in game 6, the teams lined up at center ice and shook each and every hand of the opposition. This is a sight rarely seen outside of collegian sports, yet so fitting for what i had witnessed and the players experienced over a two week battle. You would think how can these two teams possibly shake hand, after trying to kill each other each and every day. But that is one beauty of sports. You compete, you fight, you kill yourself to prove dominance over your opponent. Much like other human instincts, the animal side prevails

Speaking of which, i recently read a book on the Science of Human Beings, and in the sports section, it claims that sport was created as a means of allowing humans to compete and battle against fellow humans, but with rules and regulations such that we dont kill each other. It makes sense to me. Many of us, especially the males, seek ways to alleviate our natural competitiveness and combativeness, in organized manners such that civility can exist while still satisfying out instincts. Fantasy baseball being a prominent example for those athletically-impaired individuals