This is the part of the interview that I found most disturbing. McGrattan justifies his chosen career by insisting that he is chasing a dream (still??), and that he seems to be worried about losing his kid's respect if he does not do everything he can to fulfill it. He says at one point something to the effect of: "how can I expect my kid to follow after his own dreams if I turn around and quit?"
Is he serious? As a parent and a child I find that train of thought incredibly disturbing. I would never set my own life in danger just to ensure that my kids learn a valuable life lesson, because it is so, SO unnecessary. I think I would more likely have lost respect from my father had he not taken every precaution to protect our family at the expense of quashing my own ambition. It's a very strange rationale to employ in an effort to justify his decisions, but it really strikes me as quite hallow and ultimately selfish. The message I received from the interview was that in the end, McGrattan fights because he loves fighting, and he won't let anyone or anything interfere with that. That is a borderline obsession.
The way I interpreted it is more like a lumberjack (which IIRC is the most dangerous job in Canada) justifying his line of work to his son. It's dangerous, and you can get badly hurt or killed doing it, but it's a job he loves and he will keep doing it.
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Originally Posted by fotze
If this day gets you riled up, you obviously aren't numb to the disappointment yet to be a real fan.
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I'm just thinking now how crazy it is to have a hockey team in Stockton. Seems like a horrendous idea. He's 100% right. Europe is infinitely better when you have no shot of the NHL.
Anyone have a video of the fight when he came back and fought the guy that knocked him out?
I don't think a lumberjack needs to justify their job. Our homes, furniture, paper products, etc all come from their line of work.
McGrat says he likes fighting and jokes how he's a maniac. He's clearly not a brain surgeon who had many other options. I think him being a goon or being a boxer or MMA fighter is what's best for him. People forget we are animals of the natural kingdoms, and some are built with extra chromosomes, additional thyroid, additional testosterone, and some have underlying temperaments and motives. If he wasn't a fighter he'd be in jail or the army or something along those lines. The guy is an ecological predator, going about his business in a healthy and contributing way
The message I received from the interview was that in the end, McGrattan fights because he loves fighting, and he won't let anyone or anything interfere with that. That is a borderline obsession.
I really doubt you see the irony of you stating this. You're such an obsessive anti-fighting zealot that you just accused a guy of being selfish for no reason other than the fact that he wants to continue doing something he loves. And that came in the middle of a post where you, quite frankly, stated that you believe no opinion but your own is valid, and that anyone who disagrees with your viewpoint is worthy only of contempt.
I really doubt you see the irony of you stating this. You're such an obsessive anti-fighting zealot that you just accused a guy of being selfish for no reason other than the fact that he wants to continue doing something he loves. And that came in the middle of a post where you, quite frankly, stated that you believe no opinion but your own is valid, and that anyone who disagrees with your viewpoint is worthy only of contempt.
Take a look in the mirror, dude.
You're right. I am really confused about how you got all of that from my post, in which I offered an interpretation of McGrattan's comments.
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Dealing with Everything from Dead Sea Scrolls to Red C Trolls
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Originally Posted by woob
"...harem warfare? like all your wives dressup and go paintballing?"
Teammates do certain traditions to foster team building and respect for team rules. Many times the traditions are conspicuously ridiculous, and the rookies are expected to adhere to them. The idea is that you respect all team rules, silly ones and very important ones.
The team will only be successful if 100% of the members buy in.
For the majority of the history of hockey guys like McGrattan were not in the NHL. Back in the day the tough guys could also play a regular shift. The one dimensional two shifts a game tough guy had what - a 20 year lifespan. McGrattan is lucky he came up in that time where he could make some money.
Enforcers of the past could no more play in the modern NHL than McGrattan can now. The game has evolved. Were McGrattan to have played in the 80s, he would be remembered as one of the guys who 'could play', because he kinda could.
That's not a bad goal at all. He beats two defensemen with 800+ games in the NHL and goes coast to coast.
The role is extinct because of the rules and the salary cap. The rules in the OHL and AHL should prevent true thugs from being bred like pit bulls, which I like. I think there's something very unnerving about having a teenage boy away from his parents filling the role of 'enforcer' on a junior squad.
Fighting doesn't need to go away, it needs a renaissance. Guys who take runs at people should have the threat of a beating in the back of the head. If a few more people had Evander Kane'd Matt Cooke, he would've been gone from the league years earlier.
I encourage everyone who has the time to see the encore showing of Ice Guardians this week.
98% of NHL players still want fighting in the game. All the team rituals and intimidation in the world can't get 98% of a group to agree on something like that unless there's actually something to it. The game moves so fast and people are able to get away with so much as it is. It's impossible to expect the refs to deal with this, because that's not how the game works. Refs let #### go all the time for any number of reasons. They don't protect anyone, especially not stars.
In the film, they show Gretzky getting clocked once. There were probably other times it happened, but there's a montage of fifteen-twenty times Sidney Crosby gets cheap shotted.
In a world without an instigator rule, I wonder if Johnny Gaudreau's life doesn't get a lot easier. You don't need to carry a McGrattan type to protect players, all you need is an Engelland. Someone who can play 15 minutes on the bottom pair and ruin some guys if they step out of line.
I don't know. Brett Hull seems to think he would not have been Brett Hull without Kelly Chase. When Gretzky was traded to the Kings, he didn't insist Jari Kurri, 4-time 50-goal scorer come with him. He insisted on Marty McSorely.
The NHL regular season is worse without fighting.
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The way I interpreted it is more like a lumberjack (which IIRC is the most dangerous job in Canada) justifying his line of work to his son. It's dangerous, and you can get badly hurt or killed doing it, but it's a job he loves and he will keep doing it.
Just a minor cringe worthy dispute with your use of "lumberjack". No one who knows anything about the job calls them "lumberjacks", at least out west here. They are loggers. I come from a family of loggers and yeah, I made a promise to my mom at a young age to never become a logger.
