For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for February 27, 2022

yikes… hockey players’ parents fighting one another

Truth!

those hockey players later became Canadian anti-vax truckers

Dang, when did Michael get so tall??

Elly do you not know what hockey parents are like?

That’s why the parents are ‘unarmed’. The “Sticks and Stones/(hockey pucks)” are left on the ice for the boys to use. And the boys are fully padded and wear helmets when they are on the ice.

There was a news story about an irate hockey-parent who actually killed his son’s coach!!

I think that happened around the time today’s strip first came out.

As Paul Newman put it in the original “Slapshot”, it’s just “old time hockey”! LOL

My brother was banned from watching my nephew play little league baseball.

When I was a teenager in the 1980’s we would sneak into every high school hockey game at the local arena. For some reason we couldn’t make it to one game near the end of the season. And that was the most exciting game: A huge brawl broke out on the ice. Even the goalies were fighting each other. Then the parents spilled out onto the ice. It took every cop car from two towns to bring it under control. Both teams, which were the two in top places, were kicked out of the playoffs. It was the biggest crapshow local hockey had ever seen, and still hasn’t been matched.

Thirty-five years later I still regret missing that game…

“-in a society where aggression is encouraged.”

When I was playing back in the 60’s and 70’s every game had fights. Benches cleared and everyone joined in although it mostly holding and talking except for the main event. After the game we went to the bar together. No fights after the game.

The old Rodney Dangerfield quip comes to mind.

Lynn’s Comments:

This happened, too. Some of the nastiest behaviour at the kids’ hockey games came from parents in the stands.

I thought Canadians fought by denying each other maple syrup.

I totally believe it. Altho this strip originated a few decades ago, all I can say is today its a whole lot worse. The ORU Basketball coach swings at the NDSU coach on the handshake line and starts a brawl. The UM coach swings at the WI coach during the handshake line for calling a time out with 15 sec left and WI ahead.

Why, just last week we had a hockey game break out at a fist fight.

The parents couldn’t play hockey when they were young, so now they do the next best thing (in their tiny minds).

I get that sports are supposed to be about health rivalry and athleticism, but occasionally we should stop and ask ourselves whether we might, without noticing it, have already allowed them to become more about ego, internecine violence and profit for advertizing companies.

PARENTS need to grow up.

par for the course.

I’m so Canadian, I was watching a fight, and a hockey game broke out.

I went to see a fight, and a hockey game broke out…

Oh, Helly? Would you like some seasoning for your FOOT?

Sport-o Parents are always much worse than the kids…

I’ve never seen a fight break out, but I have seen and heard some really nasty behavior & comments from parents at all sorts of kids’ sports events. It isn’t the kids who need to grow up. And some of it is very damaging to the child who has to live up to his parents’ unreasonable expectations.

Reminds me of any number of Little League baseball games I’ve been to.

Fighting has largely been removed from the NHL. Whole games go by with nothing more than scuffles and Roughing penalties.

They went to a hockey game and a fight breaks out!

Or. They went to the fights, and a hockey game breaks out!

I’m admittedly not a sports fan of any sort. But I find it disgusting (agreeing with Elly’s description) that “unsportsmanlike behavior” has reached such heights. That isn’t even a good enough name for it. If I ruled the world (an unlikely possibility, lol), anyone fighting, even verbally with insults, would be banned for the rest of the season. I know this would be impossible to implement in real life, but I love to imagine it!

That’s why I admire Wayne Gretzky. We never heard about him getting into any fights. He was there to play hockey!

This is too true to be funny.

And hockey is just the warm up for Little League.

Way back in the 1960’s,an episode of THE FLINTSTONES commented on boorish behavior by Little League parents.