Jake Schaefer

Jake Schaefer Honors English III Persuasive Essay Sticks on Ice What is your favorite sport? (Now that is a fairly common question that virtually everyone in the world will be faced with at some time in their lives.) My response though, will always be Hockey. No other sport can compare to the sheer intensity felt in every second of every minute of every NHL hockey game. The speed of this simple game is breathtaking and keeps fans and players alike on the edge of their seats. A goal here, an injury there, they all know the outcome can change in the blink of an eye. NHL hockey is the most unpredictable, and advanced game of any major sport in the world and that is why it never fails to draw crowds of people back to it every season. For those of you who just have no interest in sports, perhaps hockey is the game that will intrigue you to take some step into the world of sports. Now it would not be fair exactly, to just start by belittling every other sport out there since I am a fan of many sports besides just hockey. Take baseball, for instance, it is America’s pastime, and just about the most well-known sport in America. Anybody can play it, young or old, just go outside and play CS some catch with your dad, your friend, your brother, or just yourself. It is a perfect family game that everyone can enjoy. The same applies for soccer, the most popular sport in the world, an electrifying sport that entertains everybody yet is so simple. The object is to put the ball into the opposing team’s goal, a trivial task that provides tremendous entertainment by how difficult the other team makes it to accomplish that goal. But regardless of the thrill of those sports, hockey always comes out on top as the definition of excitement. The spectacular dekes, raw hits, and unpredictability shape the greatest game out there. SUPPORT Now, one could possibly argue the aspect of hockey being a fast, difficult to comprehend game compared to other sports leaving them to find hockey uninteresting. In fact, this is a very misleading argument; the rules of hockey are quite simple compared to other sports. In baseball, there are numerous aspects that could leave you scratching your head, wondering what on Earth is going on. Take the drop third strike rule for instance, or the infield fly rule. Unless you are a strong follower of baseball, those terms could easily sound like gibberish to you. Another example would have to be football, one of the most confusing penalty systems in all of sports. Penalties such as “the tuck system” and “receiver eligibility” would require some research or inquisition for a newcomer of football. In the simple rules of hockey, most rules are blatant and do not require any outside information on the sport. Rules such as slashing, slashing with your stick, are obvious. Interference, interfering in a play, and hooking, hooking someone with your stick. All of these rules are defined in themselves and fairly simply. Using the idea SF that hockey is too hard to follow as an argument is just a lack of effort to explore the game on a person’s part. NICE PAR. Another thumbs up for hockey is fighting. How many other sports do you see where fighting is not only allowed, but encouraged by the fans? The NHL has it right, letting two players with growing tempers duke it out on the ice not only for themselves but for the entertainment of the spectators. In sports such as baseball, fighting could lead to heavy fines and major benching punishments. It never crosses a players mind to actually start going off on another player unless it is out of true anger. At that point though, players usually have enough composure to restrain themselves, but not for hockey. It is a bitter, teeth-grinding war on the ice and sometimes the fights just break loose, and the players go at it, providing that much more thrill. WHAT ABOUT THOSE WHO ARE NOT THRILLED BY FIGHTING?

One key element of the NHL that sets it aside from other sports is its sudden death overtime system. It has to be the 5 most suspenseful, anticipating minutes of any sport. The NFL allows a 15 minute overtime that gives each team a fair chance to win. The MLB allows an entire extra inning that once again gives each team a fair shot at taking home the win. The NBA, surprisingly enough, shows these events repeat themselves in a full extra quarter that allows each side to try their hand at a win. The NHL is the only sport whose game could end in an instant with just one goal. Granted, the NFL has the same standard of “whoever scores first wins,” the NHL does not leave it up to a coin toss to see who gets the advantage at the start of overtime. It is completely balanced, fair sudden death overtime. And if that isn’t enough, the infamous NHL shootout will be the ultimate decision maker for the winner. The best against the best, one on one, mono y mono. SAME AS SOCCER? The single greatest aspect of hockey that sets it aside from other sports though, is how different each player plays the game. Wayne Gretzky’s game play and creativity were so different from that of Alexander Ovechkin. Jim Craig’s style of goaltending is not comparable to Curtis Joseph’s since they are worlds apart. Every players slap shot varies, every players skating style varies, even their sticks are custom designed by each player. The near uniqueness of the game is phenomenal and people like that. It only adds to the excitement when you see a player do something and you think to yourself “Wow! I have never seen anything like that!” NOT TRUE OF LEBRON JAMES? Hockey sets itself apart from most sports thanks to a variety of reasons including its unpredictability that most other sports lack. In terms of rules, hockey may not be the easiest to comprehend, but it definitely is capable of understanding with relative ease. Players going toe to toe in the game also boosts hockey’s thrill with the entertaining fights, and hockey’s sudden death ranks as number one on the list of exciting overtime’s compared to the simple continuing of the game in other sports. Last but not least, the creative flow and originality of the game are the sum of the advantages of hockey. It can’t be summed up in just one word, but it is simply the best. Hockey, without a doubt, is not only the most fascinating sport there is, but it is also the most innovative and creative game to have ever been played professionally. HAVE YOU DISCUSSED AND SUPPORTED THE “CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE” SIDE OF HOCKEY? It is the greatest sport on the planet and if you don’t believe me, go watch an NHL game in person.

Jake: Some good arguments here, especially in par. 3. Paragraph 6 is a strong idea, make sure to support the claim this is different than other sports. You would benefit from a strong emotional appeal, something that SHOWS you loving the game, a love and excitement you cannot find in other sports. The thrill of fighting is still a problematic par. Remembering that your audience is hostile or neutral, fighting might be exactly what turns them off to the sport. Is it implied you think basketball and baseball would be better sports if every team carried an enforcer and brawling was an acceptable part of the game? If fighting is so thrilling, why not just go with boxing as THE sport? Think about what the overall criteria should be for evaluating a sport: fighting, overtime rules, uniqueness, etc. and see which ones are the most important for EVERY sport. Make the case these are the most important criteria, show that hockey best meets these criteria ( or best meets the most) and it will logically follow we HAVE to accept your premise.