For Wilshire Baptist Church
The Dallas Stars put up a good fight but they couldn’t close the deal in the Stanley Cup Finals. They let too many opportunities skate by, especially in the power plays.
I’m not a big hockey fan, but I start paying a little more attention during the playoffs, and this year I watched a few of the closing periods of the Stanley Cup games. I don’t know all the rules, and the long endless play wears me out, but I do love the power play.
In case you don’t know, when a hockey player commits a foul, he leaves the ice and sits in a penalty box for a prescribed length of time while his teammates have to battle with one less man than their opponents. That puts the opponent in a power play. I think it’s great fun because it throws the game off balance and forces the teams to change their strategies, especially the team that has one less player. The action becomes more frenzied during a power play.
I’d like to see the power play adopted oin more sports. Imagine basketball when it’s five against four for a while. Or baseball with a man missing in the infield or outfield for an inning. Cool, huh?!
Instead of what the NCAA and athletic conferences are demanding from college football teams in this COVID environment — forcing them to cancel a game if they don’t have a full roster with reserve players — just make teams have to cope with their attrition. If you can only put nine guys on the field, then so be it.
These rules would add some drama and excitement to the games; perhaps some innovation. They also might add some discipline. Get scored on in a power play and you might sharpen your game a little. Have to take the field a man or two short for an entire game and you might take masks and social distancing more seriously.
I’m glad that God doesn’t set the rules for life the way I’d like to see them in sports. We shortchange ourselves and each other enough already.