Keith Olbermann Would Like Hockey Players To Be More Like Basketball Players In Terms Of Disclosing And Playing Through Injuries

First off, I’ve never in a million years heard of anyone getting a grilled cheese at a hockey game before. Seems psychotic, but also sounds delicious so great work by Keith Olbermann to grab my attention right off the bat like that. Was just about to turn his stupid face off but then he dropped that grilled cheese line and I was hooked.

As for the actual content of the video, I guess I’m just a little confused. These guys all play 82-game seasons and then if they’re lucky enough to play in the playoffs, they have those extra games as well. At one point or another during the season, everyone is going to be playing injured for at least some amount of time. The game is physical as shit and that’s just the nature of it. And yeah, Olbermann is 100% right. Everyone in the NHL thinks they have to be Bobby Baun but I don’t see where the issue with that is. I’m sure this is a little naive and utopian, but you have to imagine that Ryan McDonagh playing through an injury in the last half of that series against Tampa went a long way in the New York Rangers locker room. That’s their captain (who still has 4 more years on his contract so it’s not like he’s playing for himself out there) who is going to do whatever he can to try and will his team to consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup Finals. Sure, he wasn’t even close to the best person out on the ice in games 5-7, but maybe the Rangers lost that series just because the Lightning are a really really good team and not just because Ryan McDonagh was playing hurt instead of taking himself out of the game and letting his team try to win without their captain on the ice (that was a really long sentence that was probably grammatically incorrect). I don’t know.

I’m sure that there are some players in the NHL who play through injuries because they have to (i.e. they’re playing for a contract extension etc etc). And I’m sure there are some players in the NHL who play through injuries because they want to. Either way, it’s just something that seems to be coded into the DNA of a hockey player that brings some honor to both the player and the game. If the Rangers won that series, people would be applauding McDonagh’s strength and determination. But since they lost, it’s an easy scapegoat to point to. Just let the players do the playing and quit trying to police the game with your bullshit 2015 mentality.