Special Coverage 2008 Fall Movie PreviewThe Must List2008 Fall TV PreviewSound Bites

''I went to a hockey game shortly after it was put on television in the United States and the NHL was expanding. And I was at a game where there was a bad accident and there was blood on the ice. And I saw 18,000 people stand up and scream. It was like they were being fed. I saw the police immediately run down to the bottom of the aisles because blood on that white ice is an exciting moment for the crowd. And I realized that that unprovoked sucker punch that can happen when somebody loses their cool is ignored or allowed to happen for entertainment.... I found [that] really kind of revolting.... This sport which requires such great skill was slowly being changed into a blood sport for the television cameras, and...the networks were pushing that. All the ads now for hockey have everything to do with violence and very little to do with the skill and sport of the game.''


Sign up for EW.com's The 25 newsletter!

Stay in the know and get EW.com's top 5 stories, 5 days a week (sent weekday afternoons).
Posted Apr 03, 1998 | Published in issue #425 Apr 03, 1998 | Order Article Reprints