No Staged Fighting... But We Can Make a Movie!

I would like to start today's blog post off with a quote by Stu Grimson on why he kept a photo of himself on top of his locker throughout his playing career:

"That's so when I forget how to spell my name, I can still find my f***ing clothes."


The reason I bring up this quote is because Stu Grimson was a fighter, and by that I mean a hockey enforcer. Grimson carved a career in hockey by carving up his opponents faces with his fists. Grimson played in 729 NHL games spanning 11 seasons in the NHL. He recorded 2113 penalty minutes and fought known hockey enforces like Bob Probert, Tie Domi and George Laraque (who eventually ended Grimson's career).

This is how he made a living

Many people might now know Grimson as a person who is against fighting in the NHL. He has had many sypmtoms that NHL players today like Kris Letang, Jeff Skinner and Sidney Crosby have dealt/dealing with this season. Those repeated blows caused damage to Grimson and now has memory problems to the point where he forgets his thoughts mid-sentence. Now this post is not to bring awareness to Grimson's problems and advocacy for less fighting in hockey but to the new movie being released in February called "Goon" starring   Sean William Scott or more commonly known as Stiffler. Goon depicts a hockey fan who attends a hockey game and becomes involved in a fight with a player from the penalty box. He knocks that player out and is invited to practice. He cannot skate but finds a way to carve a career in hockey. The movie even has a George Laraque cameo in non other than a enforcer role.

Now the movie seems like it will be hilarious and provide for a solid way to get a few laughs. But what really pisses me off is the fact that the NHL is trying to eliminate staged fighting and they come out with this sorry excuse of a movie based on....Staged Fighting!!! Like what the f*** is wrong with George Laraque?! The guy goes on twitter and says he does not like how he made a career and would not recommend it but then goes and makes an appearance in this movie. Like is he really that f***ing broke to have to be in this movie? Go make a few more SavyTech commercials why don't you. Derek Boogard and Wade Belak lost their lives to depression due to the repeated pounding their brains took in hockey fights. Bob Probert had a mild form of CTE visible in his brain due to fighting in hockey. CTE is a build up of protein that causes neurological problems like memory loss and abrupt change in attitude.

I am appalled that anyone would make this movie especially after the deaths of three hockey players due to fighting in the NHL. Though from a marketing perspective the awareness about fighting has never had a brighter light shined upon it.

Making the dough with dirty flow!!!

But then I stop and think that if someone offered me a job that allowed me to support my family above and beyond an ordinary person's salary but had to accept the dangers in the job, I would probably accept the offer. To say that is a dumb move is a contradiction. George Parros is a Princeton graduate with a degree in economics and completed a thesis. He openly states that if he could find a job with his degree that paid more then an NHL player and was half as fun, he would take it. Sporting News even ranked Parros as the 4th smartest athlete behind A's pitcher Craig Breslow who has a degree from Yale in Molecular biophysics and biochemistry with a 3.5 GPA. He was accepted to NYU's medical school school. (Holy Snikkies is all I have to say about that). 

The point here is that these fighters are not dumb athletes that only know how to fight, they know how to make a decision and sometimes that involves taking a risk to help others. 

As most hockey fans would ask, am I a fan of fighting in the NHL? The answer is yes. I like the fact of players dropping the mitts and chuckin knucks at each other. What I do not like is the team goof that has no relevancy to the game and skates around looking solely to fight. Case in point, Donald Brashear. Breashear could not skate, averaged less ice time then he had fingers and effectively became the reason why fighting, espcially staged, should be limited/removed. The all around tough guy like the pre-Steve Moore Todd Bertuzzi or Jarome Iginla who can dish it out but also handle business when it arises, is the guy I want to see in any hockey game. 

All in all this movie will be funny, but has no right glorifying this act of staged fighting. The NHL should have done a better job of not allowing this into theatres or at least lets hope a warning at the beginning of the movie. You can bet I will be viewing this flick but not for George Laraque and his cheap a** cameo. 

Remember fellow pine pony riders, keep your head up and concussion down!