The Bell Chimes

You can see it coming - it is almost at an end.

It's an interesting parallel, actually, if you consider the similarities between hockey fighting and smoking. Both were wildly popular in the past, and both had the inherent risks and dangers brought forward over time. In the case of hockey fighting, I believe that the fact that we are in an age of immediate information relay means that the process has sped up but both are going the same way.

Legislation in both cases isn't (in the case of smoking) or won't (in the case of hockey fighting) make(ing) a difference. No, what's fascinating about it all is the fact that what is ultimately going to do them both in... is societal disfavor. You can charge $5, $10, even $20 for a package of cigarettes, and people are going to smoke... but once it becomes unpopular - well, then it's days are numbered. Right now, there's constant debates and discussions about hockey fighting, and there are the traditionalists who are fighting a passive fight - essentially saying "just let well enough alone". Nevertheless, I'm going to make a prediction: it will not happen during this season, but over the next few you're going to see hockey fighting gradually flame out, until finally it just disappears.

Let's hope we see the same with smoking - don't try to make it illegal, because you'll just create another revenue generating option for organized crime. Nope - just continue the campaign of unpopularity, and believe me... it's going to vanish as well.

The power of society is an extraordinary thing.

By the way, for what it's worth - I enjoy a good hockey fight.

~Guy