Dear Editor,
Like millions of others around the globe I enjoyed the world’s most popular sport, soccer (or football, as most nations call it), as they vied for supremacy.
I am struck by some fundamental difference from Canada’s national game of hockey.
Hockey seems to have lost that desirable factor of sportsmanship.
Note how the equally tough soccer players enter the game holding the hands of children; how they all shake hands before and after the game, and how very often they apologize to an opponent they have fouled.
Hockey players, who certainly are no tougher physically, appear to be mortal enemies of their opponents, and often fight to the delight of their fans. Unless it is a final, there is no fraternization after the game, as the losers stomp dejectedly back to their dressing room.
Soccer is played for 45 minutes per half – no rest, no time out, and no time to visit the washroom, as you might miss a goal.
NHL hockey, which was definitely “Canada’s game†at one time, as we supplied the majority of players, is now made of 50 per cent Canadians and 50 per cent from other countries.
It is unfortunate that sportsmanship seems to have diminished as a requisite.
Mike Harvey, Langley