by arthur Weinreb, associate Editor,
October 19, 2004
Some in the media are poking fun at the fact that the National Hockey League is in what will no doubt be a lengthy strike. The Toronto Sun, not the only newspaper to do so, has started a National Dice League. Following what was to be the 2004-5 NHL schedule, a pair of dice is tossed for every game that was to be played with the scores reported in the next day’s paper. The Sun’s coverage of the dice comes complete with team standings as well as promises of player interviews and injury updates. The paper also requests that readers not call the Sun’s sports hotline for scores as “the games are not real”. Who knew?
To no one’s surprise, the hapless Toronto Maple Leafs lost their season opener. It what must have been a thrilling toss, Toronto was defeated 4-3 in overtime by their Bettman Conference rival New Jersey Devils. The Leafs did however manage to rebound and beat the Ottawa Senators 5-2 in Toronto’s home opener. The win, together with the point earned for the overtime loss, put the Leafs at the top of the Cost Certainty Division. If the dice keep on rolling like they have been, this could be the year!
The invention of the National Dice League is a good way for the media to have some fun during what is destined to be a long strike. aside from providing a bit of humour it draws constant attention to the strike (not that those who read the sports pages are likely to forget) and allows fans to keep their anger up against the players, the owners or both; whatever group they feel is the cause of the work stoppage.
The day after the Toronto Maple Leafs were to have played their season opener, Toronto’s Citytv showed animated computer-generated highlights of the game that never was. There was something strange in watching those computer-generated players, skating, scoring and checking. Was this just a bit of fun like the National Dice League, or a hint of what will come in the future? Perhaps one day, closer than we think, hockey players and other professional athletes will simply price themselves out of the market. These “manual labourers” of the game will then be replaced by computer-generated players in games that could see Rocket Richard pitted against Wayne Gretzky.
Probably not--but it’s something to think about during those long, dark Saturday nights.