Steve's Passion: A Brief History

Let me begin by saying: I hate basketball.

No, wait. Let me start at the beginning.

I didn't used to hate basketball. Back when I still thought this small white frame could ball amongst these 7'0 giants in the big leagues, I bled light teal and brown for my Grizzlies. And not the laughingstock, 4,000 people attending a game excuse for a franchise from Memphis. I'm talking about the Vancouver team, the one from the place that, you know, actually inhabits grizzly bears. Until Michael "Dream-Crusher" Heisley came through (nickname origin unknown), I actually attended basketball games, watching Bryant Reeves slowly turn from this into this. As the Grizzlies left, so too did my interest for a sport where music plays during gameplay, the first forty-five minutes are useless, and douches who bring giant cardboard Ds and fences are encouraged. But I digress..

Being a Canadian naturally comes with a little inferiority complex, but having a team ripped away to play in a place I had not yet heard of broke my tiny tiny heart. Since then I have made it my mission to avoid basketball at all costs, and focus on a sport that has carelessly spread joy and love to uninterested markets everywhere: the NHL. Every week or so, I'm happy to bring you my reasons why the NHL is totally more awesome than the NBA. First up: fighting fans.

NBA:



Fair. Sure, whoopass was applied, but certainly not in can form. For that we'll have to turn to:



Lesson: don't mess with Rob Ray. Ever. And for the ultimate smackdown, we turn to Mike Milbury, who somehow manages, in full hockey gear, to climb into the stands, confront a fan and pummel him with his own shoe. Game, set, match.