Late last night, a column by all-world sportswriter John Feinstein appeared on washingtonpost.com in praise of the Stanley Cup Playoffs:
What's really too bad about people not watching the hockey playoffs is that they are missing truly great theater. Because hockey flies under the radar most of the time, it is easy to forget just how dramatic playoff hockey can be.[...]
Hockey fans are rabid like no other sports fans. They bleed for their teams and feel an attachment to them like no other sports fans; perhaps because they understand that there are fewer of them, perhaps because hockey players remain the most accessible professional athletes we have. Hockey fans feel as if they know their heroes.
Wow. I can't remember the last time I read an actual column on the sport that was so positive about the game and its prospects.
Kudos to the Post for giving it some space. But here's a question for Sports Editor Emilio Garcia Ruiz: Why couldn't the paper make any room for a column like this, especially from a writer with the reputation of Feinstein's, in the print edition?
