What Will Probably Be My One and Only Hockey Blog. Ever.

I am not a hockey fan. In fact, Jon and I have a joke that if our kids ever start showing an interest in hockey, we're moving to someplace where hockey is unheard of. When I moved to Canada, I gave it a fair try. My friend Jane (who is a legit hockey fan) invited me over to watch a hockey game. I went, ready to learn the ins and outs. During the evening, Jon stopped by. Jon and I weren't yet dating. He scanned the room, saw a lots of guys, Jane, and me. He loudly proclaimed, "Julianne Fraley, since when do you watch hockey?" and later accused me of only going to Jane's house to meet guys. He might have been right.

I have probably watched hockey three or four times. In my whole life.

But, I am always up for jumping on the bandwagon, so I was rooting for Vancouver this past week. (When I say rooting, I mean I was rooting from a distance--I didn't watch a single game).

They lost. I was disappointed. I no longer live in Vancouver, so I couldn't go join the riots.

The what? Yes, the riots.

I really don't get it. I understand being a sports fan. I understand the mob mentality. But, really, people, riots? What happened is that a group of overpaid men didn't manage to get a small disk into a net as many times as another group of overpaid men. That's all. Is that really worthy of riots? They didn't plunder your village. They didn't rape your women. They didn't set fire to your fields.

Of course I get that lots of the rioters were probably just looking for a reason to get drunk and act stupid, and probably would have done similar things if the Canucks had won.

But, really, of all of the things in this world that might be worthy of such emotion and such an active response, I'm not sure that a sporting event really makes the list. (I know, I know, it's more than just a sporting event--it's the Stanley Cup, for Pete's sake!). What if we put that much energy into something that mattered? (I know, I know, this matters--it's the Stanley Cup, for Pete's sake!). What if the statistics on global poverty or human trafficking actually got us fired up enough to rally in the streets? If we cared as much about others as we do about sports, this might be a very different world.

That's all. That's my hockey post.