Check out this recent poll put up by ESPN – Toughest Match-Up
– People have absolutely no idea what they are talking about. Now, unless a gaggle of hockey players all around the US have decided to hop on and vote in this poll, there is no way that Alex Ovechkin gives up a single anything in a shootout to 99% of the voters. LeBron might give up a basket??? Larry Fitz would be nearly impossible to guard, sure, but maybe the QB tosses a couple bad balls, and you get your hands on one. Tiger Woods, anybody can have a couple good shots on a golf course, and maybe Tiger busts a driver out and enters the trap. And while all these things are equally impossible, there is no doubt in my mind, that the toughest thing for the public to do would be to strap on some razor-shoes, throw on some gear, take out a flat hockey stick, and pretend for one second that they could do anything in 100 chances to score a goal on an NHL goalie. Is hockey my favorite sport? No sir – but let me tell you this, I’ve played all 4 of these sports, and hockey is by far the toughest to just strap up and play. Think about learning to walk just before playing basketball – right, good luck.
There are many sports polls on websites every day, and when I feel the need, I’m putting up some of my thoughts on them. My goal is to somehow prove that people, when given a vote, will often have no idea what they’re talking about.
Until next time….
Toughest Match-ups
Guarding Larry Fitz – 15%
LeBron James 1 on 1 – 40%
Alexander Ovechkin in a shootout – 6%
Tiger Woods in match play – 40%
All impossible for the 28,277 people that have voted thus far, but I bet 7% of the people are actually right.
gotta love a column about clueless voters written by a clueless columnist … while i agree with the spirit of your argument lester, ovechkin is a left winger for the caps so typically he wouldn’t be standing between the pipes during a shootout … i think the authors of the poll intended to match the readers up AS the goalie and trying to stop ovechkin’s shot, in which case they still wouldn’t stand a chance
viking-fella,
I see where you’re coming from, but it was not my intention to claim one thing or another. i was just saying that the voters didn’t have a flying chance to do anything against a sniper like Ovechkin. In goal, that makes the most sense, and that being said, I don’t even think 80% of the people would be willing to give it a shot. That being said, trying to stop Ovechkin as a goalie is probably exactly what the authors of the poll had intended, so next time I’ll try to get more of a clue when I’m writing my clueless response. Thanks for the heads up.