Conservative Donnybrook

Taking a break from the political wisdom that is continuously spewing from the contributor’s and commentor’s keyboards, I thought I’d take a minute to stump for the great game of hockey. For those of you who missed it the NHL staged the first regular season game to be played outside in the United States yesterday. It pitted the Buffalo Sabres against the Pittsburgh Penguins, complete with the young star Sidney Crosby, at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo. More than 74,000 people turned out to see the game and it drew the highest TV ratings of any NHL game in ten years. The game combined exciting play with light snowfalls that reminded me of playing hockey on ponds when I was a kid and the northern Wisconsin lakes I was playing on last week.

In an era where sports have turned into big business, drug scandals are ruining the national pasttime and gambling scandals are calling the integrity of the NBA into question I urge all of you sports fans to take a look at the NHL. Players make, by far, less than any other of the four major leagues and are well known for their humility and focus on team as opposed to on individual. Plus, fighting is legal. What’s not to love?

Oh, one more thing. If you need a little more convincing that hockey is a great sport go out and buy Slap Shot. The best sports movie ever made.

With the new year comes a new smoking ban in my hometown of Chicago. It was announced yesterday that several states in France and Germany, including those states housing Paris and Berlin, have passed smoking bans. This all started notably with a country wide ban of smoking in Ireland in 2004 and Italy in 2005.

I admit that there are places where smoking bans are necessary. Corporate offices, hospitals and airplanes are some that come to mind. But when you start regulating smoking in bars, whose very purpose is to cater to vices of different kinds, you’ve gone too far. I would go so far as to argue that smokers should be able to light up at outdoor sporting events (Not being able to smoke outside? How rediculous) . Attendance in these establishments is optional and if smoke in them is so offensive let the market work and allow private citizens to open smoke free watering holes. I’d rather that government worked to solve problems that are in their domain (i.e. national security, coining money, etc.) rather than protecting me from myself.

UPDATE:  Here is an updated list of the groing nanny state in Europe.  It includes everything from smoking bands, to the regulation of smog produced by individual cars, to restricting TV commercials for foods heavy in fat, salt and sugar.  It will probably only be a matter of time before liberals here, who tend to view Europe as progessive and forward thinking, start trying to hammer the same laws down our throats in a blatant effort to create their vision of uptopia (read, preventing individuals from making decisions for themselves).

To my friends present, past and future, in Iowa: Please, don’t drink and caucus.  We, the rest of the nation, need you to serve as a good example and caucus responsibly.  Drunk caucusing has led to such tragic mistakes as Walter Mondale (’84), Bob Dole (’96) Al Gore (’00) and George W. Bush (’00 AND ‘04). 

As a drinker myself, I encourage you to nip away at that ol’ cider jug, whiskey bottle or rum barrel just as soon as you have finished your caucus responsibilities.  But please, hold off until the voting is finished!  We are counting on you to get it right.

Good luck, and may the best man (Thompson) win.